q240z

HAHAHAHAhaaaaa! He said "real Stanley screwdrivers.":lol:

Yup, Harbor Freight's the way to go. $10 or so will get you a tough 3' breaker bar. Put it on and stand on the end of it. Use the pipe if you have to, but don't break your back trying to lift it, ferchrissakes.

Good buy, chilly. It was kinda dopey that they didn't do the timing belt when they did the head gaskets, but you knocked 'em on the price so it's all good. Now about that 2" lift kit, the nerf bars, and, of course, the Sylvania Silver Star headlights... ;-)

And yet it was still taking you where you needed to go! Now THAT's a Subi for ya!

You might first toss a good-sized piece of aluminum foil over the exhaust pipe, so the gear oil doesn't gunk up your exhaust. Form it so it guides the exiting oil around the pipe and straight into your drain pan.

Yeah, I'm really pleased with it. If I remember the news stories about Ford Explorers rolling over, it was always due tires blowing up because of underinflation. There were two reasons why I ran them up to 40psi--they were visibly slightly more worn on the inner and outer edges from the previous owner running them very underinflated, and higher inflation pressures are recommended to improve fuel economy. I'm pretty sure that running the tires 8psi over the Subaru's recommended pressure, but 4psi under the tire manufacturer's rated max, isn't compromising safety or handling. Hell, I live drive the beltway around Washington, DC. The real compromise to my safety is the way all these idiots drive!! From http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/youcan/html/ccr/ccr20030101gm.html "...Most vehicle manufacturers recommend tire inflation pressures that are a compromise of comfort and safety. In the vehicles owners manual are listed a range of tire inflation pressures usually to compensate for loaded and unloaded conditions. One of the most important changes you can make is to keep your tires inflated at the highest recommended level. If the manual gives only a single inflation pressure, read the information on the sidewall of your tires concerning maximum safe inflation pressure and add 3-5 pounds of air making certain not to exceed the stated maximum inflation pressure noted on the tire..."

Well, yes, except that the previous owner drove around on 10-15psi for who knows how long. The tires are rated up to 44psi. I figure I'll run them high for a while, then drop them down to the recommended setting.

It took a $13 exhaust valve, a $180 gasket set (almost all of which I didn't need), a valve compressor, grinding tool and grinding compound, $32 worth of valve shims, not to mention a long weekend getting 'er done, but the $1200 '97 OBW runs like an absolute top. I aired up the tires to 40 from the 10-16psi the former owner was running, put a measly 13 gallons of regular in the tank and took off chasing rumors of Amish markets in southern Maryland. We found the markets. The shoo-fly pie is excellent. The crab on Solomon's Island was the champ. And the Subi did just what MAINTAINED Subis do--it just kept on running, and the temp gauge was rock steady even with the AC on hi in 97* heat. Those pesky oil and coolant leaks it had when I bought it? Gone. Three cheers for new oil pump o-rings!! But the shakedown cruise did reveal that the front rotors have a bit of a wow in them. I'm debating whether to have the old OE Subi stuff resurfaced, or go with new aftermarket replacements for all of $20 each. But who cares!!?? The thing hasn't even consumed a half-tank of gas yet and we drove almost 200 miles!

The crank damper isn't just for turning belts. It holds the timing belt gear in place. It's got a rubber isolator that helps to counteract engine vibrations, too. When it's not firmly attached to the crank, those vibrations start hammering bearings and work hardening things. A good mechanic should be able to look at the crank nose and keyway and know whether or not it can be salvaged. You cannot weld a crank and cut a keyway with the crank still in the engine. If it was me, I'd take a good look at the crank nose and keyway slot. If they're not FUBARed, toss on a new key and a used damper, locktite it, torque it properly, then check the torque once a week for about two months. But if they're toast, don't waste your money on replacement parts because they're just going to explode.

Haynes gives a warning about the later version, but if you're working on the '97 OBW in your sig line, I don't remember seeing any warning. Since my vise was one of many tools that didn't make the trip cross country last year, I got by using a jack and my Jeep. Now that I think about it, it took about 2 minutes for it to compress all by itself. It moved so slowly that I couldn't actually see it. Make sure the holes are lined up.

The 2.5 DOHC is an interference engine, but as long as you had your crankshaft timing mark where it's supposed to be, the pistons will all be quite far from the valves. The only other problem you could have is if you spun the valves far enough that the intakes hit the exhaust. But if you mostly followed the directions and only spun the cams in the wrong direction, you should be fine.

I'm just wrapping up a valve job on my '97. Heads came off pretty easily with the engine still in the car. I wouldn't pull it unless you have kingkong hands or arthritis. As long as you're pulling the heads, plan on doing all of the usual seals. $180 gets you a fairly complete OEM gasket set. Also, Sears sells a valve spring compressor for $20. Valve grinding paste and a grinding tool are about $11. Don't forget the anaerobic sealer for $7 and RTV black for $3. Toss a short rack of good beer in for fun, and you'll have it cracked out in a weekend. Oh! You will also need an inch pound torque wrench (on sale for $19 at Harbor Freight right now) and acetone to clean up the gasket mating surfaces. That should do it. May the force be with you!

The name on the reciept is Minooka.

Subaru 2.5 DOHC oil pumps are famous for developing leaks. Always replace the o-ring, they say, when replacing the timing belt or any other time you have a chance to pull the oil pump. So, as part of the valve job I'm doing on this new rig of mine, I pulled the pump and discovered this. Though I'm not exactly familiar with this particular engine, I thought that was an odd shaped o-ring. Even more odd is that the hole it came out of looks like this. Kind of a square peg in a round hole thing, don'tcha think? Here's the deal--the timing belt and oil pump o-ring was replaced by a dealer in Pennsylvania 4k miles ago. I know that because it's a one-owner car and I called the local dealer, who read that fact right out of the computer. Here's the curious part--the local dealer is the one that wrote up a $1000 estimate to replace--you guessed it--the o-ring in order to stop the oil leak. But if the dealer could see that another Subi dealer had replaced that part less than 4k miles ago, why would they attempt to charge the woman $1000 to fix it? If anything (if they were honest, IMO), they should have suggested to work something out with the dealer that did the shabby work. A few stupid mistakes on the part of shabby mechanics led to me getting this car for $1200. If you don't do your own work, the lesson here is to 1) know your car 2) always get the old parts and inspect them closely. If you see anything that looks curious, don't just take it in the a$$. Wait! Scratch that! If people actually knew something about the vehicles they drive, I'd be SOL!

The basics: a Subi & a garage Then: well-stocked toolbox jack stands pirate sword & baseball hat grease & caulking gun homebrew-stocked kegerator valve compressor frosty, chilly tap parts washer torque wrench, penetrating oil, impact drivers, taps & dies, grease, various parts from the car you’re working on, cordless drill (works great for driving Jeep jack), kitty litter, puller set, and battery charger Honda CBR1100 Fire extinguisher, screw, nut, and bolt collection Oh, yeah…pint of homebrew

HA! Break out the ten foot breaker bar extension for that one, eh?!

Yeah, the starter method doesn't work everywhere. My '94 Accord has a damper pulley bolt that's cranked down to 180lbs/ft. I didn't even try on that POS. Subi runs 80-90, I think, and the starter spooled up just as it normally would.

Switch to decaf recently? Plug replacement is required about the same time as timing belt replacement, so it's not much of an issue, really. Especially on the DOHC model, where cylinder gasket replacement seems to be about as commonly necessary as timing belt replacement. Even if one was only doing a timing belt replacement, I've been using the "bump the starter" method for about 25 years on a wide variety of makes and models and haven't had a problem with it yet. My comment about pulling the plugs was just an attempt to point out that there are a variety of ways to stop an engine from starting if you're a spazz who can't adequately control the starter. Point being, if you don't want to invest in the specialty tools, there are simple ways of doing the same job without them IF you're mechanically competent. Since torquing the damper bolt involves turning the bolt in the normal direction of crank rotation, using the drivetrain to hold the engine or jamming a screwdriver into the flywheel would suffice without posing any risk to the valves. But if you're a Haynes worshipper, by all means try to use their recommended channel lock method for removing the cam pulleys. But your recommendation of using a chain wrench on the cam pulleys is risky, if the archives on this topic are to be believed. But to each his own, I guess. I'll just use the hexagonal portion of the cams like the Japanese engineers intended.

FRESH UPDATE I just got an email from www.1stsubaruparts.com telling me that their Overhaul Gasket Set doesn't include valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, or the half-moons on top of the head. I wish they'd advertize it as an Incomplete Overhaul Gasket Set...

AVAST YE!! You posted this four minutes after I edited that brainfart out of my post! You must have quoted me before I snuck the edit in. Good call, btw.:-p

Well, that's a thought... But there's no sign of valve contact with the piston. This is just one of those great, unsolvable mysteries.

I guess I left out one part of the play by play--pull the spark plugs. Kinda figured that was a no-brainer. My bad. How do you go about "locking up the engine" in this conservative method of yours?

Here's the thing--you don't need a chain wrench to pull the crank damper pulley. Toss your 3' breaker bar on it and rotate the pulley until it is firmly wedging the end of the bar against the ground to the right of the pulley, looking down on it from the front of the engine. Go use the ignition key to bump the starter. The engine rotates clockwise while bolts unscrew counterclockwise. Just a bit will do. Voila! Done. Next, ignore Haynes' stupid advice to use a giant pair of channel locks to hold the cam pulleys in place in order to remove the pulley bolts. I have the identical pair of channel locks that they use in their pictures and they WILL NOT WORK on the 2-4 side of the engine. Even if they do work on the 1-3 side, don't try because you could seriously gouge or destroy the pulley, or worse...bend a valve, when the channel locks lose their grip. Which they will. Instead, thank the fine Japanese engineers who put a built-in hex nut on the camshafts and go get your big-boy crescent wrench. Taking sensible precautions so as not to bend a valve, put the wrench on the hex nut thingy and brace it up against the frame rails (or head, depending on which side you're working on) so that the cam cannot move when the bolt is loosened. Put a rag between the wrench and the frame (or head, as appropriate) to protect your paint. Badabing! It will come loose in no time and your pulleys will love you for it. btw, does this site have a forum for this sort of DIY advice, or do you guys just rely on the search feature to find nuggets like this?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! And a pattern, perhaps! #3 it was. This car was religiously serviced at Jiffy Lube. They lost one of the two clips that holds the air cleaner halves together and, rather than letting the mechanically ignorant former owner know, they just mooshed the two halves together and used the one clip. When I bought the car it was running like hell and the air cleaner housing was up on one corner. There was evidence that unfiltered air had made its way into the engine (more dust than you would expect on the clean side of the filter and in the intake). There's a screen near the MAF that would stop stones from getting through, but it wouldn't surprise me if some grit made its way in and got stuck between the valve and seat. Just a thought, mostly because I hate Jiffy Lube and try to blame them for every single problem I encounter in life.

Well, it could have just been one of those parts that didn't come off the assembly line quite up to the standard. Hard to say, really.