Idaho subaru

I've parked my '92 wagon in the same spot at work for 4 days now. Pretty happy about this sight.

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj605/Idahorec/7671D7CE-E214-43EE-B297-D76DE13BE3E7-610-000000D8586FB1FF_zps5e94619f.jpg

Idaho, did the PO put them in there nice and tight out of ignorance?

Well, the PO was an older lady, so I imagine they were last replaced by a shop, or they weren't, and she was told they were?

I don't know, just glad the threads came out of the ordeal intact!

Bosch plugs suck.....

I've heard that a lot here on the forum. It's funny, back when I was a teen, you were the shit if you could afford to pay 4x more for Bosch plugs!

I Dont wanna sound like a prick, im not trying to come off that way, but if you use the correct NGK 2756 copper core plugs, maintenance interval is 30,000 miles. So changinf them every 30k, they should come out easy every time. I rarely use anti-sieze on plugs because thier either 30k plugs, or when i get a car that has the original plugs and the car has 150k miles, they come out easy because of the stainless steel threads. Just fyi.

Not a problem, I agree. I bought the car two years ago, drove it for a year, then pulled the motor to do timing and seals. I had a lot of other commitments, so that took about 9 months for me to get the motor done and back in the car. Plus I had bought a '97 in that nine months, so I wasn't as motivated to get the '92 finished as fast as I otherwise would've been since I still had a wagon to drive.

Anyhow, to make a short story long and miserable, the car always ran great, it just leaked a ton of oil, so I just never concerned myself with checking the plugs. Plus I'm not not one to fix things that aren't broken. But, since I was pulling the engine to do a bunch of other stuff, I thought I'd treat her to some new plugs, but as I said above, they were so resistive, I abandoned that idea for awhile.

So I don't know how long they had been in there since the PO had put them in, and I've only put about 7500 miles on it since I bought it. I was just sure that I was going to lose some threads on the endeavor! Really stoked I didn't.

I didn't see any reason for the plugs to have been so hard to get out though. The threads were clean (not shiny, just not cruddy). I've never had plugs be hard to get out due to age, only over torquing/ being stripped.

BTW, they were Bosch plugs, I replaced them with ngk's.

I finally tackled a task I have been dreading for about a year......I changed my spark plugs!

I know, big deal right, well I thought it was going to be. I tried to change them last year, but I could not get them out. I have changed a lot of spark plugs in my time, and I have never had any give me so much resistance. And when I have had similar resistance on an import, it always ended badly for the treads.

It tried again a few months back before I put the engine back in after doing timing and seals. Again wy to much resistance for my comfort. So I just sprayed a bunch of PB Blaster in each hole and tried to loosen them a little so maybe some PB would get in there then retightened them.

The engine ran great after reinstalling it until just a couple weeks ago. It developed a stumble on acceleration and a miss at idle. I was hoping it was the TPS, so I tested it and it did not have a smooth ohm curve, so I changed it and that seemed to help some. So I decided to check the plugs again, still really resistive. So I thought, maybe they will come out easier hot. So I let the motor run for about 20 minutes, then checked, and while they were still harder than thy should be, they weren't as resistive as before.

So I went for it, and while I was still afraid there was a good possibility of this simple project going south, it didn't. They all came out hard, but the treads looked good. I tried to chase the treads but 13/16 socket that my tread chaser uses wouldn't fit in the spark plug hole, so I just lubed the new plugs with some PB and they threaded right in by hand most of the way.

Anyhow, like I said, should've been a simple and quick task, but it took almost an hour to complete this simple task, and I feel like I dodged a bullet!

Took it for drive afterwards, absolutely no stumble or miss. Actually spun the tires off the stop sign!

If your oil separator plate is plastic then I would replace it.

Agreed. I got a metal one figuring it would be plastic, but it was metal.

Since the motor was ready, I put it in, without replacing the head gaskets, hope that doesn't bite me later.

Got everything back together except the radiator and belts. Going to pick up new belts and hoses tomorrow, along with a fuel pump. If I have time, I might be able to try and fire her up tomorrow.

Well, I have mostly been posting on the 2nd gen forum with my '97 wagon. But I have been quietly working on refreshing the 2.2 out of the '92. The timing belt needed done, and it leaked so much oil, I only had to replace the filter once in a while! Then the fuel pump went out so I decided it was time to tackle everything at once. So I pulled engine and tore it down to replace every gasket and o-ring short of splitting the case. Against my better judgment, after talking to many people, a dealer mechanic and a local subaru mechanic, I did not (yet) replace the head gaskets. Everyone said if they aren't a problem, to leave them alone. So far I am resisting the urge to do it since the engine is on a stand.

So anyhow, I've done the cam seals/o-rings, oil pump, water pump, oil pan, water crossover o-rings. Everything has been subaru, except I scored a cool gasket set from JCWhitney that had all the timing cover seals and gaskets and a whole slew of seals and o-rings for $25, so it has all new timing rubbers.

Today I installed the the timing belt, pulleys and tensioner. Pulled the drive plate, resealed the oil separator cover, new o-ring on the service hole cover, new rear main seal, then put the drive plate back on and finished up the timing covers.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll drop the long block back in, get the intake on and get everything hooked back up. Then all I should have left is the fuel pump, and she'll be ready to hit the road again.

97 wagon, 2.2 - 186,000

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj605/Idahorec/97%20Legacy%20Wagon/BB14C5A0-3D86-4953-81BF-A11A0A817866-653-000000484D7B5D98_zpsf4c47d28.jpg

Rather new to forum, thought I'd post a picture of the wagon I just picked up about a month ago. All I've done so far is tinted the windows. 1997 Legacy Brighton AWD 5 speed with about 180,000 miles on it.

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj605/Idahorec/image_zpsd9f79a6d.jpg