jim milewski

well then it isn't the center dif as I put 80 miles on it Sunday with no problem, I know somewhere there is a disconnect between the front and rear drives, but for now I have something, amazing little car

is the center dif the dif between the two rear driveshafts, or is it part of the tranny, at this point I'm not concerned with restoring back to AWD, just don't want to have a stray piece of a broken tooth or something lock something up, maybe I'll jack up the rear and spin the wheels and see where the "disconnect" is, the dif in the rear or in the tranny itself, thanks

really stupid, should have known better, but I towed a 2000 MT Impreza with a dolly, yep, front wheels up, rear down, in a bind and had no other option, so, at about 5 to 10 MPH no problem, as soon as I got a little spped up the rears screeched and then a loud metalic grind,,,,then the wheels are free, so I get on the interstate and make the 120 mile trip home, then it dawns on me duh, this is an AWD car, the obvious hit home. So this morning I start the car after repairing the first problem the radiator and it goes in all gears and drives fine, I doubt I have rear wheel drive, actually I can live with that, I live in a flat area, but I have a slight noise from the tranny, sort of like baseball cards flapping against bicycle spokes but hardly noticable. I wonder if it will get worse or just stay as it is, I do this sort of thing regularly...sigh

ya, that makes sense bratman, because my 00 Impreza which would be phase 2 has no MAF whereas the 98 2.5 does

the 2.5 donor engine overheated and the head gasket on one side was bad, I had the heads planed and used Felpro blue viton head gaskets (their newest gasket at the time) I followed the somewhat complex head torquing procedure and hoped for the best, I replaced timing belt, water pump and the radiator (which was the culprit due to a leak), now as it sits totaled out in my driveway (they're a little top heavy I guess) I can say 6k miles and it ran great with no leaks and the temp gauge always right in the middle and no knocking it seems as though if it was to fail it would have by now and the 99 Legacy with leather seats and 150K miles for sale with the blown engine may possibly be gotten for around $400, i'm going to make an offer of $350. I also have a 00 Impreza wagon with the 2.2 SOHC and can see why it is so well liked. In my limited engine knowledge (mostly Triumph air cooled push rod twins) it seems to me the opposed 4 cylinder is the perfect engine design, seemingly perfectly balanced with a power pulse every 180 degrees, When I did the engine work on the 2,5 I thought wow, what a well designed engine and it seemed substantially stout, after doing some reading on the forum and seeing cars with the 2.5 for sale with blown heads was a disappointment

Will a 98 2,5 EJ25 DOHC go into a 99 Legacy Sedan presently with a blown 2,2 SOHC, I have a totaled out Forester donor vehicle with the 2.5 I did the head gaskets, timing belt/water pump and clutch on with less than 5K since the head gasket job. I have the ECM computer for the 2.5. Both cars are 5 speed manual.

Well I offered him $1100 and we have a deal, my first 2.2, will be in my yard by later this afternoon, is the 2.2 noticeable in the gas mileage over the 2.5, hope so

thanks for the info, I have four new great winter tires from a Legacy on aluminum rims, 15", will these fit on an Impreza

I'm going to go look at a 2001 Impreza wagon, I have a Forester with a DOHC 2.5 that i replaced the head gasket on so I'm familiar with the look of it to recognize one when i see one, hopefully this Impreza will have a 2.2 SOHC (I see they are well liked, and I want better mileage). Are these non interference engines, the belt shrouds will tell me if the SOHC or DOHC, but not sure how to know if it's a displacement of 2.2 or 2.5. It is a 5 speed with 150k miles and the CEL is lit for cat or O2 according to the ad, what seems a fair price, he is asking 1500 or best offer, thanks. For what it's worth the Fel Pro blue head gaskets on the 2.5 are holding up good

the Forester is a 98 5 speed dohc, I think they were green

yep, you got it bratman!!! my passenger side fan would run every five seconds with key on regardless of engine temp, I connected a plug in underneath the dash above the left knee yesterday as I was underneath doing some other minor wiring, two parts of a connector were staring at each other but unplugged, well plugging them together causes that fan to run when the key is on, unplugged, back to normal fan operation. What is the purpose of plugging them together?

the passenger side cooling fan kicks on and off with the key on, engine cool, at about five second intervals, there is a relay that sounds like a hazard flashing that is clicking, any ideas?

Fairtax, I take it in today for inspection, you're right about removing the bulb as they look for it when turning on ignition, beside they do readings from the diagnostic plug anyway, I get about fifteen miles before the CEL goes on after a code clear so they shouldn't detect this minor fault, in that it passes and gives me some more time I just don't want to look at a CEL staring at me. The engine won't stall when removing one plug wires but idles so rough and poor that it does confirm the plug wire just pulled was a good firing cylinder

presslab, excellent, I wouldn't had ever figured out how it knew what cylinders were the culprits, I didn't figure that the pin on the ECU sending the pulse to fire could sense anything because the igniter would act as a buffer and voltages and resistances would pretty much all be the same (igniter has been replaced so I know it's good). All plugs are firing and if I pull any one of the four off the coil the engine nearly stalls, but my idle now is not as smooth as it was and there is a slight "shake" to the vehicle at idle (one or two cylinders low compression or something). The plug wires are brand new Denso and my son put new Pulstar plugs in, the engine is the DOHC 2.5 and the tranny is automatic.. Maybe possible lazy injector? The codes 303 and 304 have been for months now, inspection is due by Nov 1st. Anyone know what ECU pin goes to the CEL? The codes stay off for the first fifteen miles after I clear them.

On a 98 Legacy, I get a code telling me cylinders 3 and 4 are misfiring, car runs fine, what and where is the sensor detecting these misfires, just curious

now looking to fuel delivery issue, or I may fix this issue with a 1" x 1" piece of black tape, anyone now what pin on the ecu turns on the CEL

I have a similar issue going on right now, same year, just want to get throught the winter, made quite a few changes, igniter, plug wires, coil pack, still the flashing CEL, one thing I noticed was how white the plug was (lean???), so the fuel pump as ivan pointed out comes to mind, before i do it I'm gonna check the inline fuel filter. My flashing CEL comes on at 60mph, and the misfire made my post cat o2 sensor send code 0136

thanks for all the good info, the igniter and coil pack has been changed out, took out and replaced plug 3, but plug 4 comes out real tough and I thought I may be damaging the threads so i turned it back in, it is firing though, the trouble codes are 0303 and 0304. I can't get an inspection sticker with a lit CEL so I'll clear it when I pull in and hope it stays out...lol

well, it's not the igniter, this trouble code just doesn't turn the CEL on, it flashes it, got a coil pack here

thanks, I think I have a spare igniter somewhere, i'll start there, common sense fix upstream problems first and as you say it could very well take care of the other

I have codes P0303, P0304, and P0136. Swapped out the coil pack and plug wires are fairly new, any thoughts, igniter? A few times the CEL would flash as I was driving but the car ran fine. On the P0136, that's the post cat O2 sensor, right? There was a small section of the exhaust I removed right after the cat and sensor (looked like a very slim resonator and not long), I put a piece of pipe in there, wonder if that's the cause, the car runs fine.

turning it over with the coil pack voltage unplugged to stop plugs from firing (to get a sense of the turn over rhythm) the engine has a definite "skip" and is not uniform but erratic, probably salvage parts off it for my 98 Forester and get $100 for scrap at this point, besides the engine the rust has done quite a number

yes, check engine lite disclosed fault with crank position sensor, I swapped it cause I had another, no better, same deal, my question is now this, can the engine "jump" timing by a tooth or two on the belt, I know being a 2.5 dohc it's an interference engine and will lock up if timing jumps enough, could this have jumped just enough to inhibit starting? I will add there is a faint to distinct "popping or backfire" in the intake at times when it turns over, as I said fuel and spark are present, still don't know if fuel pressure is up to spec, starting fluid couldn't make it run either.

thanks, it's a 98 with 150,000 with a 2.5 DOHC, I;m gonna do the starting fluid

Hi, my Legacy won't start, has spark, turns over, sounds like it's gonna start (for a second or two) then just cranks like out of fuel or spark, but as I said I have spark although plugs have not been checked. I disconnected the fuel line and turned the key on, I get about a second or two of fuel flow then it stops, I know the ECU and fuel pump at some point needs verification the engine is spinning from a rotation sensor (located at the driver side intake cam?). Any help appreciated....thanks