heartless

do they still have the rear oil separator plate like on the older 2.2s? If they do, my bet is the leak is from there, and no amount of "fix in bottle" will fix that. The only way to fix that is pull the engine and reseal properly - and if you are going to do that, may as well do all the other stuff it needs. If the body is still in good shape, it might be worthwhile to do it. 200K really is not that high on the mileage. My 02 Forester has 260K and going strong As already mentioned, it is fairly rare for the main crank seal to leak.. yeah, it does happen, but not that often.

if this is a manual, yeah, downshift.. cruising rpms should be in the 2500-3000rpm range.. 1500 is way too low

Tire clearance will be the biggest issue for this swap.. as already noted, the standard Legacy spring perches sit lower on the strut than the Outback version does.. take a look at your tire clearance now, maybe even take a measurement from the bottom of the spring perch to the top of the knuckle to compare with a standard set at a jy.. If there is not a lot of tire clearance currently, you probably will not be able to do the swap without buying new, smaller tires as well.

most here go up, not down.. not sure how much of a response you will get. Can I ask why you want to go lower? standard Legacy (non-outback model) is typically a little shorter than an Outback - maybe 1.5 inches or so - standard Legacy struts & springs would most likely do what you want. and KYB is the recommended strut, be very cautious of those "one piece" things.. Would also recommend getting new front mounts as well.. the bearings are probably shot if they are the originals

you should be asking the Junk Yard to find you another tranny before that warranty you paid for runs out. That is what the warranty is for.. should have been done long ago.

My 2002 Forester finally hit that 260K milestone yesterday on a short outing...

not hit or miss if they are taken care of. it is the ones with sketchy maintenance history's that are the ones that fail sooner my '02 Foz (EJ251) had 214K on the clock when we bought it, first things done were basic maintenance - oil change, timing (full set), coolant flush & new hoses, basic tuneup stuff. I then addressed the mismatched tires that were put on it when it was put up for sale. then did brakes all around.. in the last 4 years have done struts, one wheel bearing, and addressed a coolant leak (pipe that runs front to back on drivers side), and replaced the filler neck - other than that, just basic maintenance.. She has been running strong for me for 4 yrs now and currently sitting at about 260K

apparently even KYB does not make struts specific to the 05 Baja - https://www.kyb.com/catalog/ (also looked at 06, and no go there, either) the do, however, make the top mounts, which i agree should be replaced.

brand new from RockAuto https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/subaru,2002,forester,2.5l+h4,1378739,electrical-connector,oxygen+(o2)+sensor+connector,2604

ah, ok... i have an 02 Foz, but kind of need mine right now, lol why do you think you need to replace it? broken wires?

Never "assume" things.. you know what they say about that... i would suggest you start by downloading the factory service manual for the vehicle http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ there are in fact two O2 sensors, one up close to the engine just after the junction of the manifolds (Y pipe), and the other is well behind the wheel well area - roughly in the vicinity of the gear selector (i know because I need to replace that one on my 2002 Foz) at the end of a secondary cat/resonator.. not sure what that is a picture of, but it does not look right (ie: correct) to me.

what is it for? where was it located?

yup, same here..

probably tension needs adjusting, but check the belt for cracking. If you see cracking time to replace it.. if no cracking, just adjust the tension a little a good metric socket set, spare belt, and a ready to mount spare are pretty much the number one requirements for a long trip.. also a good jack and tire tool, to get the spare on the car if needed. On a long trip, i might carry a bottle of premixed coolant, and a quart of oil or two.. maybe a bottle of tranny fluid (also used as power steering fluid) and a small bottle of brake fluid. Probably wouldn't use all of them, but nice to have handy if needed.

eh, the 3.0 isn't that bad.. mostly just random codes that come & go all by themselves - like i said, fussy sensors... but yeah, stuff is a little more expensive for it, too mine is the auto version, but yeah, same blue..

like! I have a heated one on the drivers side of my 02 (mine is the same color, too), also not wired up yet.. =/ but yeah, i like the look of those.

i have a 2002 Forester with the EJ251 that is just about to hit 260K - headgaskets were done long before I got it, supposedly around 85K mark.. runs and drives great, no major issues at all the other half has a 2006 LL Bean outback with the 3.0 - he has more issues with his than I do with mine.. fussy sensors and such, lol, but he is slowly catching up on the mileage, well over 225K at this point.

seems to me I had to go thru an online Subaru dealership parts dept to get springs for the 90 Legacy I had some years ago.. (like more than a dozen yrs ago) and it was difficult to find them then. I was also converting mine from blown out air struts to standard struts/springs, so I HAD to get the springs.. but yeah, look up the part numbers for them and search that way. as an alternative, you might also try searching on car-part.com for good used ones.. Coil springs are pretty robust things, so odds of finding some decent used ones are pretty good.

gotta love those "ah-ha" moments, lol Glad you have it figured out now and good luck with the adjustments. hope it works for you.

Apparently it is not being understood.. you do not use the arrow when installing the belt! The arrow has NOTHING to do with belt installation. when installing the belt, you need to be using the hash marks (circled in red here) (1st set of images posted by Rampage) Yes, that is exactly how it is supposed to be for INSTALLING the belt.. The ARROW is used for adjusting the valve lash, as described in the 2nd set of images posted by Rampage. Installing a belt, and adjusting the valves are two completely separate procedures.. you need to follow the correct procedure for installing the belt, then move to the correct procedure for adjusting valve lash - they are not one and the same.

good god, that is a ridiculous price for fuel hose. i used to be able to get it for like 70 cents a foot. If you cant find it for a reasonable price by the foot, try looking for 5-6ft sections (and not at Napa - try other sources - Advance Auto, etc, local farm supply house, whatever you can think of)

as long as you can get... if you can buy it by the foot, get about 10-12 feet of it, that should be enough to do the job, with a little left over

the lower connector drawings are the correct pin orientations... the wiring diagram connectors are laid out only for ease of drawing them.. do NOT use them for pin orientation.

Yes, that axle being "out of round" as you put it can indeed be the cause of your issue. Aftermarket axles are a known problem in these cars, often right out of the box. another thing to look at would be tranny mount - make sure it is not torn/broken from all the vibrations.

yeah, you probably will not find a replacement tank for a 30yr old car that is not in the "classic collector" realm. Depending on where the leak is, and how bad it is.. getting it lined is probably your best option. That said, it will not be an easy task to get that tank out of the car.