hankosolder2

Glad to hear you got it sorted. Re: A/C- you can (briefly!) jumper out the A/C pressure sensing switch, turn the A/C on and see if both fans kick in. Don't run the system for more than a few sec w/o a refrigerant charge. Nathan

Clutch master or slave cylinder? Was the clutch pedal limp feeling?

I think the deciding question would be "does it work OK if you shift it manually?" If yes, then there's a chance that a different TCU will help, if not, it's simply a matter of inadequate torque/power to meet your needs. Nathan

Gary, Yes, the engine harness, injectors, sensors mounted on the engine are interchangable, but I think plenty of other parts are different- particularly, the MAF and probably many other chassis mounted parts. You could compare the pinout of the ECUs- that might be completely different. (I.e. the engine portion of the wiring harness is interchangable, but the body/chassis portion may not be.) The OBD 2 vs OBD 1 issue is a bit of a red herring IMO; '95 Legacys are OBD 2 compliant more or less (OBD 2 scanners work on them.) I don't know about the '95 Impreza. Nathan

That's sure a strange one. Just a few thoughts. Is the idle speed normal or high? The subaru ECU kills one cylinder's injector if it detects overly high uncontrolled idle speed. I had this happen to me on an engine swap with sticking IAC valve and it was pretty baffling! I think it should set a code, though. I also think that there are some variations of the cam sprockets, vis-a-vis the pins for the cam position sensor. Are you sure you have the right one? It has to be a match for the ECU in the car, not the donor engine. Nathan

Did you $2K guys notice that it's an EJ22T? As in the turbo engine from the old Legacy Touring Sedan/Wagon? It definitely should be worth more than a standard legacy (at least to the right person) and definitely more than $2K! Nathan

I doubt that an incorrectly installed timing belt could result in a really high idle. Then again, who knows? I've had the experience where the IAC will stick after the car sits for a long time. Was it sitting a long time during the timing belt swap? You can spray it with carb cleaner (inside!) and work the "shutter" back and forth. It is spring biased to be somewhat open. As others have suggested, check vaccum lines, breather lines, etc. You can also try plugging the tube leading to the IAC. (either plug the hose in the middle or use two caps- one on the IAC end, one on the intake boot end.) The car should idle VERY slowly or stall (regardless of what the ECU is telling the IAC to do.) If the car still idles quickly, you've got air getting into the intake manifold somehow or past the throttle plate. Nathan

Just out of curiosity, why would a power steering pump failure be CCRs responsibility? (i.e., it's not part of the engine.) I remember reading one report here where someone said a CCR engine arrived sans the rear main seal, but that's been about it. I suppose the most overriding concern is the quality of the INTERNAL engine work (machining, clearances, cleanliness.) External parts which are mismatched or improperly assembled aren't good, but given some of the stories I've heard about rebuilds from non CCR sources suffering dramatic falures (throwing rods, etc.) this list of complaints about CCR sounds minor. I wouldn't make a decision based on some hearsay evidence provided by someone who wishes to remain anonymous and has had a "sample of one" experience with a generally well regarded company. my 2c. Nathan

It's unlikely that both injectors failed on one side, but to be sure, you could swap the injectors from the left side of the engine to the right side of the engine and see if the spark plug carbon fouling shifts to the other side as well. Do a compression test. It's possible one cylinder bank's camshaft slipped a tooth. Any misfiring? Nathan

I agree with Gary here...most consumers are not going to be comparing whether the respective cars they are considering purchasing are interference or non interference design. Even many of those who recognize the difference may plan to trade the car in prior to the TBelt change interval, so it's "the next guy's problem." I have seen cars with timing chains touted as lower maintainance compared to timing belt equipped cars. With the EJ22, one could make the argument that the modest HP gains of the Phase 2 redesign barely justify the loss of the bullet proof, non interference design of the Phase 1. Nathan

Well, I'm very excited at the prospect of a RWD Subaru, unless it's overly Toyotafied. Ultimately, RWD offers a degree of car control to the skilled driver that FWD and AWD don't. So long as AWD is at least an option on the rest of the product line, I don't see anything to get up in arms about. Those who want it can have it, and those who don't want it can enjoy gas savings, lower cost, etc. For accelleration, I would argue that AWD is advantageous even in dry weather over FWD... even a moderately powered FWD car will often have it's accelleration limited by wheel spin when trying to (for example) make a left from a dead stop at an intersection, where an AWD can simply gas-n-go. Nathan

Have you considered trapping and relocating the Martens? Possibly relocating them under water? It'd be neat if there was a way to intermittently pulse the coil pack when the car is off...that'd discourage them! How about installing a motion sensing alarm under the hood? Nathan

I think you could bypass the whole unit. You would probably need two T fittings (i.e. I think it has one "front" and one "rear" input from the master cylinder, and 4 outputs -one for each individual caliper.) Of course, there may be some insurance / liability implications of doing that. Your car, your decision. Nathan

It's normal for the 97 2.5 MT to have an EGR. You DO NOT reuse the 2.5 intake manifold on a 2.2 swap. You use the 2.2's intake manifold. Buy a '95 2.2 which was originally in an automatic car and it'll have an EGR. No codes, no problems. Nathan

Do you guys realize the possible side benefit of the existance of this neutral switch? Remote start on a MT vehicle! You'd probably want to add a relay to isolate the ECU's neutral sensing circuit from the remote starter's circuit, but it should be doable. Nathan

Broken hash pipe under the front pass seat of the OBW. Glad that I happened to find it rather than have it discovered during a police stop or something. It explains the burn marks all over the driver's seat. Nathan

I don't know the proper name for them, but the "German" style hose clamps are my personal favorite. They are like the regular band style clamps, but the serrations in the band part (which the worm gear threads in to) are stamped indentations rather than punched clear through. (The regular 'american' style clamps are indeed rough on the hoses- the rubber tends to bulge up through the punched serrations and then gets a bit shredded as you loosen/tighten the clamps. The "German" clamps are great and allow multiple disconnect/reconnects of hoses without chewing the hoses up. I think Bavarian Autosport sells "German" style clamps. (Google them ) I just buy them from the local import parts specialist. Nathan

A salvage title car CAN be a good value if money is tight - or a complete disaster. Try to discern WHY the car was a salvage title- Flood? Walk away. Stolen and Recovered or crashed? Since it's an older car with relatively low value, a fender bender could have been enough to render it a total & give it a branded salvage title. Run a Carfax and see when the damage happened- damage earlier in the car's life could be bad (in the sense that if it occurred when the car was worth, say, $10k, it must have been major damage to make the car a total.) On the other hand, if the car was repaired a long time ago and isn't showing signs of poor repair (rusting in repaired areas, water leaks, tire wear issues, etc) it MIGHT be ok. Figure out what part of the car was damaged and inspect it very carefully. Nathan Nathan

I think nowadays with that sign, your car would either be broken into by terrorists looking for fissionable material, or it'd be impounded by Homeland Security! Nathan

Although you won't see me clicking on "buy it now" -I don't think that's all that bad a deal. $1900 plus $500 for a junkyard 2.2engine, a couple of weekends of work and you've got a car possibly good for another 100K miles with a few repairs. Or, you could buy a "runs great" used Outback for $4-5K and find out you need headgaskets or a complete engine in the near future. Let's say you buy a new car for $25k and plan to keep it 15yrs, at which point it's considered scrap. Your cost works out to $1.6K/yr, not even including interest which will be significant. Buy a 10 year old car for $2400 (1900+500), keep it for five years and your cost will be $480/yr. Yes, the 10 yr old car will need repairs, but you'll be saving considerably on interest, car insurance, etc. Nathan

Will, Manual trans cars do not have an active FWD fuse, so there's nothing you can do there. I would suggest parking in neutral and setting the parking brake if there's a likelyhood of being towed. Given that the mainshaft of the transmission and the front wheels will both be free to rotate, this would put the bare minimum of load on the viscous coupling during a two wheels on the ground tow. I very much doubt being towed a block or two this way would do any drivetrain damage whatsoever. There is, of course, a risk of damage to the parking brake shoes, but they're pretty cheap and separate from your regular rear brakes. (The parking brake is a tiny drum brake inside the main brake disc, unlike many other cars.) You could also put a sign on the car stating that it has AWD and extensive damage will result from towing, car must be flatbedded only, etc. Might be enough to scare some tow operators off. You could even include your cell # and hope for the best (and the minimum of prank calls from people screwing with you!) Nathan

Gary, I'm just speculating here, based on information from other brand cars, but I would guess that the Automatic ECU has some extra data lines to communicate with the trans computer (TCU.) Many manual ECUs have a pin which goes to the clutch switch, so the engine idles down slowly during gearchanges. I'd be a bit surprised if they were plug-and-play compatable, but I suspect the only way you're going to know is to ask someone who has actually tried it. The only other possibilities (assuming the ECU is actually the same) is that the software in the ECUs is different (egr vs. non egr) or that the wiring harness jumpers a couple of pins together to enable/ disable egr sensing depending on what vehicle it's installed in. You could compare wiring diagrams.... Also, if you have a contact at one of the Subaru wholesale places, you could ask for the part numbers for a manual ECU and and automatic ECU to see if they're the same. Nathan