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Which Subrau's are NON-Interference engines?


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i to believe that the 2.2 non-interference is the most desireble engine. but the fact of the matter is, any 2.2 WITH PROPER MAINTENENCE is a great engine. it is only when the t-belt is not done on time or off brand low quality parts are used that bent valves come into play.

 

which leads to this, when purchasing any used car without absolute proof of the t-belt change date/mileage you should do it sooner rather than later to avoid valve damage.

 

and as others are quick to point out, the 2.5 is good too, when service correctly.

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I can agree, my 99 2.2 has 226,000 miles right now. just did my timing belt that had 140,000 miles on it (I won't chance that again though). Showed the old belt/parts to 89ru today. if anything, my idle pulley bearings were about out of grease. Anyhow, asides from chasing this intermittent engine stumbling gremlin, it's been a great motor.

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Would a EJ18 for a 1989 1990s Legacy be a non-interference engine?

 

legos never had a ej18, impreza only. and i think 190 was the first year for legacy in the US. there is a 1.8L engine from the 80s, ea81 and ea82, but they have a different design. they are not in the ej series.

 

but if is an EJ18, then it is non-interference. it also used the same heads, timing belt, timing idlers, head gaskets, intake, etc. as the early (90-96) ej22. so lots of parts floating around.

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legos never had a ej18, impreza only. and i think 190 was the first year for legacy in the US. there is a 1.8L engine from the 80s, ea81 and ea82, but they have a different design. they are not in the ej series.

 

but if is an EJ18, then it is non-interference. it also used the same heads, timing belt, timing idlers, head gaskets, intake, etc. as the early (90-96) ej22. so lots of parts floating around.

 

Thats good.

They did sell EJ18s in Legacys but not availble in the states as far as I know.

Im looking at buying one. Im not sure but I think its the Carberated model too :)

The Cam belt hasnt been done in the whole time they guy owned it.

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  • 5 years later...

1996 EJ22's are non-interference.

 

I've seen one report of an interference 1996 EJ22 - but I don't put 100% faith in that unless it's the original owner (how many original owner 1996 Subaru's are there - not many), can verify the engine was never replaced (with a later year interference EJ22), and knows enough about mechanics to be certain of that.

 

If you do a complete timing belt job - in a sense it doesn't matter.  Belt, pulleys, and tensioner all replaced.

 

If the valves ever were bent - the heads on those engines are unbelievably easy to replace compared to later years - one of the easiest Subaru headgasket jobs ever.

Edited by grossgary
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If your spark plugs go through the valve cover its interference if not its non-interference. I just so happened to look this up earlier since I just got given a 97 that had a 96 motor in it and I wanted to be sure. 96 was a single port head noninterference motor.

Edit: on the ej22 motor only

Edited by mikaleda
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97-98 ej22 are interference and the plugs do not go through the valve cover.

They use the same single port heads as 96 but the piston design in 97 changed which makes it an interference engine.

97-98 heads will have solid lash adjusters on the rocker arms.

96 heads have hydraulic adjusters. Easy way to tell if its a 96 or 97 engine.

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97-98 ej22 are interference and the plugs do not go through the valve cover.

They use the same single port heads as 96 but the piston design in 97 changed which makes it an interference engine.

97-98 heads will have solid lash adjusters on the rocker arms.

96 heads have hydraulic adjusters. Easy way to tell if its a 96 or 97 engine.

Must not have been all 97 like that. The 97 my step dad has has plugs that go through the valve cover original engine
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Gotcha. Didn't want to say before that it couldn't be that way, because anything is possible, but I was thinking it was either a swap or a 2.5. The phase 1 and phase 2 heads are very distinctly different. If it did in fact have the phase 2 head design in a 97, that would be an oddball engine for sure, and something I'd like to have seen/known about in case I ever run across one.

 

The phase 2 heads do have the plug holes going through the valve cover, but the top of the valve cover is flat, rather than having the 4 big humps that the phase 1 cover has.

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