sportsfan1026

Better late than never update, Intake manifold for a ADM EJ22 was all I needed to get my car running. Engine runs wonderfully, and I am very pleased. (Should have done this a long time ago instead of messing with the EJ25 head gaskets) I found a very helpfull guy at a subaru shop in Denver that had alot of resonably priced used parts and shiped them very quick. His and contact info are: David Moore 303-517-3300 djm@indra.com I also have nothing but good things to say about the supplier of the JDM engine CNS motors, they worked with me to accomadate my shipping request and the eninge was in great shape and very clean. Angela Hernandez angela@cnsmotors.com CNS MOTORS, INC. dba C N C MOTORS 201 N. HARBOR BLVD. SANTA ANA, CA 92703 714-554-0661 1-800-429-4210 FAX 714-554-1860

Thanks for everyones help. Found a complete intake manifold for a 95 2.2L in colorado for 50$ + shipping. I think this should fix my problem as it has an EGR. I will post up if this works. Ben

Nathan, Thanks for getting back to be, I have been doing lots of searches and keep seeing your post on this same subject. I reall appreciate you sharing your knowlege. My head is allready drilled and tapped for the EGR pipe, so that is not a problem. I belive my intake is drilled and tapped as well but I would like to confirm that the EGR assembly on a 95 2.2L mounts different than the 92 2.5L (one bolt hole and two holes into manifold on 95 2.2L) IF thats the case I think all i should needed is a EGR from a 95 2.2L and I am off to the races..... Correct? Thanks for everyones help. Ben

Hey everyone, Recently purchased an imported 95 2.2L JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) engine to swap with my Head Gasket challanged 97 2.5L engine. Using the adivce off of this board I got a 95 2.2L motor to aleviate most of the hassels with the swap. What I did not realize was that a JDM would casue problems of its own. My JDM engine did not come with an EGR system. The entire assembly is missing including the connections on the wiring harnes. I do belive that the head and itake manifold are drilled and tapped for EGR but it is not installed. Can someone confirm this? Since my 97 manifold will not switch with the 95 I have two chocies the way I see it. a) install a EGR system on the JDM intake manifold. AND I dont think i can use the EGR off my 97 2.5L can I? forget the EGR system and try to keep the ECU from throwing a CEL (If possible) I am sure that someone has done this and I would really appreciate a some help as I have taken the weekend off to get my car fixed and I afraid that I wont beable to get it done. Thanks Ben

Can any body help me on this....... Getting ready to order an engine but I am scared that the JDM engine will have issues with the intake manifold????? If some one could help I would sure apprecaite it becasue I can buy a ADM engine for about the same money but with alot more miles. Thanks Ben Bramble

I did not realize that I may have a intake manifold issue? Can you please elaborate. I know that pre 95' the 2.2's did not have an EGR valve. But other than that I was under the impession I was good to go with a JDM engine. Thanks Ben

Thanks for all of your help guys. Having a mechanic look at it is a little harder than it sounds. I live in rural Nebraska and the closest "stealership" is over 250 miles away and they sell 5 different brands including Subaru so I am not sure how good their service department know Subarus. As far as local mechanics go most dont want to work on any thing past a 350 chevy and they run and hide at the thought of an import. I found one shop that would look at it but he told me he had not worked on a subaru in over 10 years....... Another shop that i know of had a late 90's outback with overheating problems in and out for four months before I told my buddy to tell them to search Head Gaskets on this site. (I have not heard if they figured it out) I am sure that I could take the car to the denver area (300 miles) and find a very good mechanic but by the time i pay for all that I could have a 2.2 installed. Once again thanks. Ben

After two failed HG Jobs in my 2.5L see this post I have deciede to swap for a 2.2L in my 97 OBW I have searched the procedure and understand what motor I need to get. Thinking about using one of the companies that imports used JDM engines. Any thoughts on this? Any recomendations for a trustworthy company? Besides the obvious things ( water pump, timing belt, spark plugs ect) what else to you recomend replacing on one of these JDM engines? Thanks Ben

Nipper, Thanks for all of your help on this subject. The engine has not yet over heated since this last head gasket job. I have watched the temp guage religously and it stays right were it should. When I hook up my Scan Tool it tells me the temp is staying between 190 and 202. I know the temp guage works becasue my last HG issue casued a couple slight overheats and the guage worked then. Unless the the overheating is localized in the combustion chamber area only my cooling system is working properly. Thats why I cannot find a reason why I can blame the cooling system or my AC for the gasket failures. Thanks For all of your help. I think I am going to buy a USED 2.2 and rid my self of this nightmare. Any opinions on a good place to buy a used 2.2L engine. Thanks Ben

The following new OEM parts were intstalled during my second HG job. Water Pump T-Stat Radiator Cap Upper Hose Lower Hose Timing belt is new and tight as well. System pressure checks good with my Snap-On tetster. I dont really want to spend the money to check for hydro-carbons, i am allready starting to get the residue in my overflow tank and some crud on top of the water. Do you think I should try again or just buy a used 2.2 and drop it in? I dont have it here in front of me but the head bolt procedure in the haynes manual seems a little odd to me. Basicaly when it is all said and done the outer four bolts have 75lbs tourque and the two middle ones only have 22lbs (if i remeber correctly) Is that the procedure that you guys use? Do you think reusing the head bolts for the 3rd time had something to do with it? For the gasket to fail in the first 500 miles something is major is wrong and I cant figure out what it is. Thanks again. Ben

When I replaced the head gasket's 500 miles ago I could visably see where the cheap gasket had failed. I am not for sure that it is a HG this time but I dont know what else would make bubbles come out in my overflow tank imediatly after the car is shut off. Both fans are working properly I have checked that. The car has not yet overheated since the last HG job. But i am sure that it is coming. I checked the radiator during the last HG job and it appears to be good. Water flowed through it with no problem and no foriegn material was found. Thanks for your help, because obviously I need all that I can get. Ben

Short story. Bought with know HG Problem 97 OBW 2.5L AT 100K miles Complete engine rebuild with non OEM head gaskets lasted 10k miles saw the bubbles in the coolant resivor shortly after I started using the Air Conditioner blamed it on the cheap HG's. Just finished replacing the HG's with OEM gaskets, (Installed to exacty to specs in haynes manual) Checked head's and block both were straight. Heads also passed pressure test so I dont think they are cracked. Ran the engine 500 miles (no AC) and everything looked good, my coolant level was staying constant and no bubbles. Got brave and turned the AC on for 50 mile hi-way trip. After the trip coolant res was full and hose was bubbling worse than i had ever seen it. I dont see how the extra power the AC requires is "The straw that brakes the cammels back" on the gaskets. It must be soemthing else that i am not seeing. I would appreciate any hellp you can offer becasue I dont see any reason to try and fix this engine again unless I can identify what is actualy causing my problems. Thanks Ben

I am in the middle of replacing the HG in a 97 2.5L OBW for the second time. I did it the first time before I found this board and installed cheap NAPA head gaskets that only made it 10K miles before they failed. I want to do it correctly this time w/ OEM gaskets. Should I use the tightening procedure from my Haynes manual or is there something else you recommend ? Are new bolts needed? Any other words of wisdom you guys can think of that I am missing? Heads were faced last time and machine shop says they still are straight. Not for sure why the HG only made it 10K miles but I can see right on the gasket where it failed. Thanks in advance for you help. Ben

The heads were faced at the time of rebuild but I will check them again. I am also concerned that my problem may not be a head gasket but a cracked head or block. Since my head gaskets were changed 10K miles ago and are allready gone. I had the heads checked for cracks when they were done at the shop but is supose they could have missed a crack? How can I be sure that my problem is really my head gaskets?? Thanks for all of your help Ben

Is a hydorcarbon test something I can have done localy? Or do I mail it out. If so please give me recomendation to have one done. (perferably a site sponsor or something becasue this site is great and I really appreciate it) I realize it may be a waste of money but I would like to be sure before i remove my engine again. Also please advise a good web site to get some good OEM parts (sponsor again) Closest dealership is 300 miles away and they dont stock any thing. Thanks alot for all of your help. Ben

97 OBW 2.5 AT w/ 98K Bought of E-Bay not running w/ know head gasket problem. Motor ended up being in fairly bad shape. Compete Rebuild of motor (Including machine shop work to have the heads done) Used a generic gasket set from NAPA (including head gaskets) Had to work through a couple of CEL once the car was running. (That’s when I found this board and learned about the infamous 2.5 DOHC) Car ran great for 3 months and 10K miles. June came and I started using my Air Conditioner Let my mechanic friend (the one that did most of the work on this car) borrow car for a long weekend trip. He brought It back and said that it quickly overheated once on him but it went back to normal never to move again for the rest of the trip. He told me to watch the Temp closely. I drove for couple of weeks with no problem. One day I was driving and noticed my AC had stopped working. Looked down and the Temp Guage was all the way to the top. (Possibly drove it 3-5 miles @ 50 MPH like this) After that Overheating begin to occur more often. Never slowly always in the matter of 20 seconds it goes from normal to the red For awhile it would only overheat when I shut it off warm and then started it with in the next 5 minuets. (getting gas, running in to the store ect) I was able to work around this and drove the car while I tried some obvious things (thermostat, ect) It has now started to overheat more frequently mostly when suddenly slowing down after being on the hwy for an extend period of time. It now has to cool down for at least 20 minuets before the cooling system starts working again. @ Idle and immediately after shutting off the car I have bubbles coming out of the overflow hose. No black stuff floating in the tank but I am sure that is coming. Car has now become un-reliable and I want to get it fixed ASAP Here is my diagnosis: I Need new HG’S (Good ones this time) But what was the original cause of the OH? I only had about 9K miles on the new (Cheap ) Head gaskets. I don’t know if they are the original cause of OH or if they failed due to the car overheating but they need to be changed. Because the one time I drove the car while it was in the red was enough to make my new HG fail regardless. My current over heating is occurring when under a load exhaust gas gets in the coolant and forms a bubble that then causes an air lock when I start the hot engine (or now when I slow down) I never cleaned or checked my radiator after the rebuild. And maybe it was full of junk from the previous HG failure. It kept up with cooling for a while. But when it got warm out and I started using my AC it was too plugged to work properly and this may have contributed to the original overheating incident. Please let me know if you agree with me. Is there any reason to hold off on removing the engine, and doing the HG’s again.? IF I change the HG’s for good ones, clean or replace my radiator. I should be in good shape, correct? If you have taken the time to read all of this I really appreciate it. and THANK YOU For all of your help.

I need to get a used tranny for a 97 legacy 2.5 L AT Any body have any good recomendations? Looks like they are going for about 250$ + shipping on e-bay but I am a little leary. I am in Nebraska so i think that the Denver area would be my best bet, but i could ship it in from anywhere. Thanks for your help. Ben

I would second looking at the IACV I had the same symptoms and giving the IACV a good cleaning fixed it. My car was throwing a different code than PO 420 but it is still worth a shot.

So you’re basically saying that when I shift it into park the neutral switch is not working and the ECU still thinks the car is in gear. This then causes the CEL b/c the idle speed is not where the ECU thinks it should be? This sounds plausible, and it could very well be my problem. But, I am experiencing a high idle while in gear as well (1000-1100 rpm) this never causes a CEL but it is higher than it should be. Thanks for all of your help. Ben

A buddy and I rebuilt the engine ourselves. Well, he actually did most of the work and I handed him the tools. No sensors have been replaced. I would say that it takes 5-8 minuets for the car to warm up to approximately 200 degrees. If started and let idle. I would really appreciate any input you guys have. I don’t want to replace the IACV if that is not the problem. Thanks.

I am having the exact same problems w/ a 97 OBW100K Complete rebuild of 2.5L @ 99K. Car runs great as long as you dont idle it out of gear once it reaches temp. If you put the car in Park after it is warm CEL will come on and throw code P1507. (Code P0507 comes up on system test) I have discovered that cylinders 1&2 are not firing when it starts to stall. If I reset ECU, Start car, put it in gear right away I have no problems and have ran it over 500 miles w/ no CEL. I do have the slight shudder when i let off gas going down the road. I am thinking that this may have something to do with the temp guage as it only happens when it comes up to normal operationg temp. BUT using my Scan Tool (Great product by the way) i made a the following chart. RPM/Timing Degrees/Coolant Temp Cold Start,Idle to warm 1400 /39 /72 1350 /35 /91 1300 /35 /97 1250 /33 /104 1250 /31 /127 1375 /31 /180 1425 /32 /183 1475 /33 /183 1500 /34 /183 1513 /35 /190 CEL Comes on and car trys to stall 813 /15 /192 Bring Engine up to 1500 RPM 1500 /36 /198 After the CEL comes on and the car is running rough. I can remove the #1 and #2 Plug wires from the coil and the engine runs the same. This leeds me to belive that maybe the ECU it trying slow down the fast idle by retarding the timing. It then retards it so much that #1 and #2 stop firing. Could all of this be the IACV like the code says. I have tested resistance of the Valve and it checks OK. Thanks for all of you guy's help maybe indianaoutback and i can get this figured out.

Thanks, I will Check Lengths If i had the wires installed incorectly would it cause "arcing" when looking at the running engine in the dark? I checked that tonight and noticed arcing in several places along the wire's. Could I have gotten bad OEM wires from the dealer? What about the plugs I am using? No one had the NGK plugs (and I was in a hurry) so i bought the most expensive ones NAPA had which ended up being Bosch. The more i read this board I am begining to belive that my new plugs could be the problem. Thanks for all of your help

I bought a set of OEM spark plug wires for my 97 2.5L. Do each of them go with a specific cylinder? Or do I just put them on wherever? My haynes says they are unique but i cant find any numbers. Thanks

I will pull the codes As Soon as the scan tool gets here. But what could be causing no combustion in the #1 and #2 cylinders? Just 5 seconds after they are working fine? I will let you guys know the codes when i get them.

First let me say how happy I am to find a quality Subaru message board. I am a firm believer in peer to peer message boards being one of the best ways to truly gain quality information on a subject. I know this is my first post, and i will be VERY grateful for any help that I receive. Short Version: 97 legacy OBW limited 2.5L w/ AT Bought on E-bay with known HG issue (if I would have found this board sooner I may not have bought it lol) Car was not running when purchased Complete rebuild of engine. (Bearings, rings, seals, HG, valve job, ect.) New NGK plugs and OEM wires Engine starts great, starts idling @ 1900 rpm's with all four cylinders working for about 15 seconds. Idle then falls to weak sounding 1100 rpm's. (CEL also comes on at this time after a reset) After this happens i can remove the # 1 and # 2 plug wires from the coil with no change shown in the engine performance. spark plugs and wires have been switched and the problem stays at #1 and #2. I realize that I need to pull the codes and have a scan tool on order, but i would like to keep working on this problem. Anybody have any ideas? My assumptions: Not an incorrectly installed timing belt b/c the cylinders are opposite of each other. Could be incorrectly adjusted valves but I don’t believe so b/c i checked them myself after i got the heads back from the machine shop. Since i still have a spark @ 1 & 2 then it must be electrical (ECM timing, or fuel injector issues) Since it runs fine for 15 seconds (with high idle) i am thinking that the ECU may be compensating for something. I also may need to check my coil/igniter since the 1 & 2 cylinders are paired in the ignition system. I suppose i need to test compression but i don’t believe that could be the problem. Could it be a vacuum leak? I have checked 50 times for hoses not hooked up Any Other Ideas??? I am not very familiar with fuel injected or import engines so I am officially out of my comfort zone. So if I sound like an idiot please tell me. I would really be appreciative of any help I could get b/c i have been working on this for 6 weeks and am ready to enjoy my new (and getting more expensive by the day) Subaru. Thanks Again Ben