Olnick

Sorry, but I'm having a hard time following this thread. I read a lot of conclusions being drawn and a lot of suggestions flying, but unless I missed something we don't even know if the EJ22 in question is an interference engine or not. Rogue, you should've stated in your first post what model year your vehicle is. It makes a big difference. Good luck.

A good old Seafoam treatment? Comments, anyone?

Where are the relays located, jimscat? (I could look it up but it's too early out here!) Aloha.

Way to go jimscat--congratulations! Could the squealing simply be belt tightness adjustment?

Perhaps if you made friends with birds . . . get to understand them . . . try to reason with them?

Water pump change out would be a wise preventative measure while you're in there. The seals you need--crank and 2 cam (it is SOHC, right?)--are shaft seals, so you'd have to get them at dealers. Check with Subie Gal, she works at a dealership in Seattle (Chapman's?) and can get you a good price. You'll also need a new O-ring for oil pump, Loctite (blue?) for the screws on the pump's back plate and Permatex (gray?) to seal pump to block. You really, really need to use the search function (at top of page) and look for Timing Belt, Oil Pump and Crank and Cam Seals--there are several wonderfully thorough step-by-step writeups on exactly what you need. Good luck--and any questions you have, just ask here.

It's under the water pump--find it from underneath the driver's side, front end of the car. It's inside the "elbow" connected to the lower radiator hose. Two warnings: 1) The experts say don't use anything except a genuine Subaru thermostat and 2) make sure you note the direction it points. Hate to say this, but if your car overheats that quickly you may have a more serious problem than just the thermostat. Does your coolant overflow have bits or particles in it? Does your engine oil look okay? Use the search function above and look up Setright's method for "burping" the coolant system. Then start searching under "head gaskets"--sorry.

Can't answer your question, badjer--am sure some of the "torque bind" gurus will have some good thoughts on it. But I would definitely go back to the shop and discuss it with them. At least you'll be on the record with them about the problem. Good luck.

This is getting well beyond my meager capabilities now frag! Could it be in the fuel delivery system--pump, regulator, nozzles?

Sure is a difference! The Engine Coolant Temp Sensor is an electronic device that reads the temperature and sends the information to the ECU (the computer) that governs the proper running of your engine. The Thermostat is a spring loaded mechanical valve near the cars water pump that diminishes the flow of coolant so your engine will warm up properly and then opens to allow more flow to maintain optimum operating temperature. By the way, don't get confused--there are 2 temperature sensors, one for the ECU and another that connects to your dashboard temperaure guage. They're located close to each other under the Idle Air Control Valve. Good luck. ((Ooops! Thanks for the information about the number of sensors, frag. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing a second one down there!!!))

What do you want, dependable daily driver or hot wheels? I'm sure the WRX would be a fantastic ride but I'd bet with any turbo you're looking at higher potential maintenance and repair problems down the road. But don't listen to me--I'm an old fogey whose greatest thrill is figuring out his mpg after a fillup! Good luck!

It looks difficult but it's not really! Look in your engine bay from over the passenger side fender--top center is the throttle body, just below it (angled slightly toward the firewall) is the idle air control valve and just under it (hidden in a jumble of wiiring and vacuum hoses) is the engine coolant temp sensor. It faces backward toward the firewall. Mine has a maroon color plastic cap/electrical connector. It's been awhile but if I remember correctly, you'll have to remove the air intake tube (MAF to TB) and some vacuum hoses to get to the sensor. If you remove the IACV it gets super easy to reach--be a good time to clean the IACV anyway! A 3/8 inch socket with a short extension and removal/replacement is a piece of cake. Good luck.

Good suggestion, Handtool. I did exactly the same thing recently and I too think it helped.

When you say "the dealer," do you mean a Subaru dealership? If that's the case you should be able to embarrass them into at least chipping in on the fix. If they refuse ask them for the name of the SOA Rep for your area.

Aw shucks! Sorry frag. Only other things I can think of are the TPS, as you mentioned, and maybe the Engine Coolant Temp Sensor. Lots of talk recently about them dying or getting weak but not throwing a code. About $20 IIRC, and might be worth a try. At any rate, keep up the good work. You'll solve the problem eventually. Aloha.

Excellent suggestions, Lawsonmh15. Well thought-out, logical and basic (good old "KISS")! Your observation about the ECU not sensing engine temperature properly is right on. When I replaced my engine coolant temp sensor it made a fantastic difference in smoothness and idle speed. Thankfully I got a code that told me to change it--I probably never would have figured it out on my own! Aloha.

Now you've got me curious. Bill Stan, did you have 3 different starters installed--or did you have the original starter reinstalled 3 times?!!

Happy to discuss, frag. 1) No idea about the torque value--I'm one of those guys who just tightens until it feels "right!" Not good I know, but it's always worked for me (so far!) 2) Simply tried to replace it where it was. Figured the original placement was better than any finagling I might try. If you do try some adjusting let me know what kind of results you get. Thanks (mahalo) for the PCV suggestion. Been meaning to do that and now you've given me the incentive! As far as the TPS--I tried that and got thoroughly frustrated. The crummy pot-metal screws they used to mount it got chewed up so I gave up. Something else I need to get back to. One thing that did help me is that I replaced the "engine coolant temperature sensor" just after I cleaned the IACV. But I knew it was bad because it threw a code. Between the two procedures the Legacy smoothed out tremendously. Hope this helps a bit. And please do let us know if you sense any difference with your nice, clean IACV! Aloha.

By the way, as far as I can tell right now the moving half cylinder (for lack of a better term to describe it) seems to moves very freely inspite of the fact that its covered with a thin and rather hard to remove coat of dried up oil and crap. One more observation--my valve innards had a wet, oily gunk inside. You might want to check the rubber hose that feeds air from the intake to make sure it's clear. Or maybe I need to check mine! I have a '95 L by the way--I suspect that they're identical. Alooooooha.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a strikes again! Aloha!

Yes, I think so. That's about where mine was if I remember.

[it's been awhile since I did mine but I don't recall a spring or any kind of mechanical connection between the grey controller and the axle of the valve. I do recall a rather strong magnetic-like attraction that took a small tug to separate the two parts. Once the controller/head was off, the axle was free to rotate--a very sticky rotation until I spray cleaned the valve body and axle, then it turned loose as a goose. Because of the magnetic attraction I assumed that the control head is sort of like a rotary solenoid to actuate the cylindrical valve through the axle. Only thing I can think of is increasing that "gentle pressure" slightly adn see what happens (that's a lotta' help, right!) Good luck and report back--now I'm anxious to know.

That would be my first thought too, Cougar. But he said the starter had been replaced 3 times!

So you bought it--congratulations! Hope you got it for a good price. Hopefully the "bit of oil" is no big thing, but you really won't know until you drive it awhile and see how much oil it uses. A little oil leakage may not be a big concern (it's kind of a Subie "thing!") I think you'd be wise to replace the timing belt as soon as possible. Also replace the crank & cam seals, reseal the oil pump--maybe even replace the water pump as a preventative measure. Search the forums--there's plenty of good info on here. Shame you didn't catch the oil situation before you bought. It might have been a good bargaining point on the price, maybe worth a few hundred dollars. Am still curious--what year is it? AWD or FWD? Best of luck.