porcupine73

Hm, good point, 600rpm would be 10rev/sec. That noise I hear is maybe twice per second so it's not every engine rev as I thought. I haven't heard it in a few months now. Hopefully these noises will go away!

Hi dmanaenk! '96 legacy brighton here too, sweet rides no doubt! anyway i get some good rattling just above idle which is loose heat shields. Sometimes but not always at idle it sounds like something is knocking once per engine rev, never figured out what it is, sounds like something hitting around the flex plate or whatever that is between the engine and AT that the starter engages to.

D1driver, sounds like a plan on replacing the timing belt! Highly suggest going OE on that belt. Also check for loose/leaking idlers. Might want to replace crank and cam seals while you're in there. NOTE: you must lock the cams on the DOHC before removing the belt or you could smash the valves into each other if the cams turn.

A cheap actron reader from pepboys reads the codes on my '96 legacy with no problem, '96 actually has to be ODBII per federal requirements I believe. I've climbed steep winding grades with this '96 with no issues but with a full tank of gas, maybe if there's not much in the tank it can run the pickup dry?

Well if you're concerned about differences in gas prices between different octanes, then just calculate the cost over how long you plan to keep the car, like if premium is 30 cents more per gallon than regular and you plan to keep the car 150,000 miles if you get 24 mpg then the cost is $1875 which is actually less than that because of inflation and you pay it over the time you have the car when you buy gas.

Did you put a new gasket on the new thermostat? It should be replaced when replacing the thermostat. It does not come with the thermostat, at least not the OE thermostat.

Well basically if you have a particular level in your overflow tank and you see it going down over time then of course the coolant is going somewhere. Usually when cold I fill to the line on the tank. Just after changing the coolant I usually fill it up a few inches more since it usually gets sucked in eventually and even if the overflow overflows it just spills out, maybe not environmentally friendly but it will work.

I always replace on schedule. If you have a 2.2 non-interference engine the biggest part of the gamble is you could be stranded. If you've got the interference type the gamble is either $$$$$$ for replacing potentially bent/knicked valves/dented pistons or spending time and money doing it yourself.

If it's just low i'd doubt flushing would make any difference, though it's never a bad idea to keep the coolant fresh esp. if you're using conventional high silicate 'green'. You definitely want to make sure all air bubbles/pockets are out correctly; there are other threads on how to do this. Just pouring in the new coolant til it won't take any more almost guarantees there will be air pockets.

Does it seem to happen right when you start going uphill or after you're going uphill for some period of time? Could maybe tap in a fuel pressure gauge and tape to outside of windshield to see what happens to fuel pressure going up hills?

You need to make sure all the marks line up. It should still start if you're only one or maybe even two teeth off but more than that who knows. You need to verify what marks you're looking at, i.e. _not_ the arrows on the cam sprockets but rather the hash marks, etc. The marks on the belt will not line up on every revolution.

Sorry if I missed it but did you put in the ECU that came with the engine you're swapping in? Seems like I read something like this in another thread with a weird no spark/weak spark thing on an engine swap and it went away when the engine's actual ECU was installed.

Pretty sure the requirement is 87 octane, I don't think it's a 'high' compression engine or anything, unless you have a spec b or something then it might have 10.7:1 and be able to use 95. Plus your knock sensor might help if there's any real issues. edit: i stand corrected; cars101.com says for the LLBean it's 91 octane.

Sweet sounds like there's codes to read. I don't know how to read codes on the pre odb2 models. There's probably some connectors under the dash to plug together or something. I'm sure it's in other threads on here. The front oil leak should be the easier of the leaks to fix as you don't have to pull the engine to remove the timing belt and do the cam seals and front crank seal (which is on the oil pump actually). The timing sounds about right, that's what I see in my '96 2.2 at idle anyway. About the #3 cylinder, how about if you disconnect the plug wire to some other cylinder, do you still not notice a difference or is it just with #3?

Interesting about the handling changes b/c when I replaced mine after it broke on my '00OBW I didn't really notice much difference with or without it so I wonder if maybe I need new endlinks or something.

Hi and welcome! Is the #3 plug wire in good shape where the connector pops onto the plug? Basically the thing sparks the two opposite cylinders at the same time so if #4 is firing then it almost has to be plug wire or maybe coil pack since you already changed the spark plug. Oil leak from the inside the timing cover is most likely oil pump o-ring or has come unsealed from block, not sure if this early a year had the thing where the screws on the rear oil pump cover that holds in the rotors tended to back out thus forcing oil out the crank seal. and/or could be the cam seals. Should be pretty obvious if you get the timing belt cover off. Oil leak at the drive end might be from the rear main seal, i think from other threads maybe the thing is plastic that holds the seal and should be replaced with an updated metal one, bad thing being engine has to come out to do it. I have a '96 legacy and it shifts hard from 1-2 also though I changed the fluid and everything it still does it, not sure why, but doesn't seem to be causing any issues.

Does the oil separator have another name? I know i've seen it in other threads on here but in the diagram the closest thing I see is a 'baffle plate' but maybe i have the wrong diagram.

Well I found on another board that said the EJ251 is a non-turbo EJ25; EJ253/EJ255 designed to take boost and supposedly came in Forester XT and Legacy turbos. It also mentions an STi EJ257.

I got mine online from a Subaru dealer for $71 plus shipping. I don't know which ones you were look at on ebay, like this one looks similar to the one I got from online Subaru dealer. This pic shows my new pump on the left and old pump on the right which will at least show what a recent OE pump looks like. There used to be cast impellers now apparantley Subaru has switched to all stamped impellers. The main difference I notice is the one on eBay has less fins on the impeller, it might not be the high velocity version. edit: Oh the other difference I notice with the eBay one is that the pulley is a shiny metal wheras on the ones I bought it was black. edit2: Oh the one on eBay doesn't seem to have the rubber strip in the little groove either.

Not sure who makes the water pump for subaru but i think they're reasonably high quality and not all that expensive, maybe $70 online, even if an aftermarket were half that price i'd still go OE.

Well I don't know if there's much else you can do. If it does it with two different crank pulleys, then the only other elements there are the crankshaft itself and crank pulley bolt.

Sounds like it's just not true with the crankshaft. If it's always been that way then maybe the very end of the crank snout is a little off thus resulting in the crank pulley not seating perfectly squarely. Couldn't find any specs off hand for runout.

Hi, did the problem start after you had the fluid and filter changed? How long would you say it takes at most? With ATF warm (between 140 deg F and 176 deg F) the average of three attempts from N to D it should take less than 1.2 seconds. From N to R it should take less than 1.5 seconds. It says if N to D time is longer than 1.2 seconds line pressure is too low, low clutch is worn, or one-way clutch is not operating. Interesting it doesn't show any times for cold fluid. Oh just thought of something else: have you checked the fluid level, maybe it's low?

Yah, I saw that happen on my '00OBW while I had it apart in the garage this summer for timing belt work, though not as bad as your pics. If I dripped sweat or there was any condensation on on anything in there it had a little rust on it by the next morning.

If you shake the pulley with your hands can you get it to wobble it all? Were the threads for the bolt in the crankshaft clean and did you put a little oil on the crankshaft bolt threads first?