99obw

Also keep in mind the kind of oil you are using. 10w-30 is generally considered acceptable down to about 0°F, but at that temp it will be quite thick. 5w-30 is generally considered acceptable down to about -15°F. These are just rules of thumb. The thicker the oil when cold, the harder the starter and battery are going to have to work to spin the engine.

I am not a big fan of synthetic tranny fluid. I have heard too many horror stories, plus it's very expensive. I used the Valvoline Dura-blend Dexron ATF for several years in our outback, no problems but most likely a waste of money. Currently I am using Mobil conventional Dexron III, about $14 a case at my local club store. I think the best thing you can do is to use a name brand fluid and change it often, i.e. drain the pan and replace that volume of fluid once per year. Tranny filters should also be changed periodically, though I don't know the details for your year. Make sure you use the proper type of fluid, I assume your car requires Dexron but double check.

We have the rear cargo cage and keep the dog in the way back, and we use a horse blanket (I think that's what it's called) to protect the rear seat from the kids.

Sodium chloride, and lots of it. They don't call it a breaker bar for nothin'! (My daughters insisted that I use the banana)

When replacing my wiper motor I ran into the same trouble. The outer nut came off with some blaster, but it took some soaking. I had a really hard time getting the arm off of the shaft. I ended up buying a battery terminal puller, which worked great. The nut under the arm is NOT a lock nut, but it might as well be. I soaked and soaked before trying to remove it, but when I finally did the housing of the motor broke before the nut broke loose.

This theory about trapped air is BS for a couple of reasons: 1. Many head gaskets have failed without the cooling system ever being touched by anyone but the factory or a dealer. Are Subaru and their dealers incapable of getting all of the air out? 2. My heads were straight as an arrow after the gaskets failed. Clearly not a gasket failure due to warped heads. The gasket failed at the bottom of the cylinder, not near the top where trapped air might be. I put the original heads back on with no machining, filled the cooling system with no fancy bleeder, and almost 60k later everything is hunky-dory. Proving anything beyond a shadow of a doubt is impossible, and proving the nature of complex problems such as the Phase I EJ25 head gasket failures requires a huge sample size of data. Does this person have that? No. Does Subaru? Probably. I'm not saying that an air bleeder is a bad idea, I have seen and used them on other makes and they are great. What I am saying is that trapped air does not fully explain the HG failures on these engines. I think the answer is closer to open-deck design, poor gasket design, thermal cycles. Do I think that air in the cooling system can contribute to HG failures, yes.

I guess that does make sense for a '95 motor, but I thought the EJ22 became interferential in '97. That is exactly the kind of information we need. So is it safe to say that the engine could come from a donor car with either a MT or an AT? That shouldn't be too hard to do. Would the head gaskets need to be replaced at that point? That still leaves the issue that the intake doesn't have the EGR ports cast into it. Thanks for the detailed information Emily! Very helpful.

I had an idea Jake. I could pull the timing cover off of that '95 EJ22 in my shop and see if it has the timing belt guide. If it has it that may verify that it needs to be from an AT car. Let me know what you think.

Our '99 outback has done that for the longest time, almost since new, at around 30-35 MPH. I am convinced it's the axles. I just drove it to the store and it seems to be getting worse.

I found this site, that lists a one year only EJ22 for the legacy with auto tranny. http://www.cnsmotors.com/subaru.htm "95-95 SUBARU LEGACY AUTO 2-PORT SOHC W/EGR EJ22E" Perhaps the missing bit of key information in your search is the auto tranny.

Malfunction indicator lamp, OBDII terminology for the check engine light.

My $0.02. I am commuting to work today in some really icy conditions and I wouldn't be without my studded snows. My wife chose to stay home today even though her outback has blizzaks.

Methanol based drygas can cause harm to fuel system components. I only use isopropyl based drygas for this reason. I would put a couple of bottles of isopropyl drygas in it and fill it up all the way. When was the fuel filter last changed? Many times the ice will collect in the fuel filter causing fuel delivery problems. How many times has it been run out of gas? That is really bad for the fuel pump, perhaps it's on it's last legs. Has the MIL come on? I would be surprised if it was running that bad as the result of a fuel delivery problem and the MIL wasn't illuminated as the result of a misfire. Makes me lean slightly toward coolant temp sensor. Here in NY we have oxygenated fuel (10% ethanol) year round now, so drygas is obsolete. I have a bottle I will give you.

I saw some permatex gasket remover as Napa today and I grabbed some. If it works it will really speed up resealing jobs, as cleaning up the mating surfaces is very time consuming. Thanks for the tip.

How's the search going Jake? Just thought I would touch base and let you know the shop is busy this weekend, putting main and rod bearings in a friend's '94 Jeep. Next weekend and the several immediately following look good. If when you get the engine you want to bring it over just PM or give me a call. Scheduling a week or two to get the JY engine prepped before installation may make things much much easier. Good luck in your search.

It's not nearly as ugly as I thought it was going to be. Looks too much like the Lexus SUV to me.

If you use the search feature you will find many helpful threads on this topic. Speedometer failure on '99 outbacks is very common. The speedometer head usually needs to be replaced, the part is about $100 and it's very easy to do. The quote you received amounts to theft, as a good mechanic should be able to do it in an hour. Let's say they charge you double for the part and an hour of labor, that would be $300 MAX. I didn't calibrate ours when I did it, and it reads within 1 MPH now, well within tolerance. My advice, either find a new shop or do it yourself.

I think those are the result of line boring the heads for the cam journals.

As a follow up, this is a response a friend of mine got from SOA on this issue: Thank you for contacting Subaru of America with your concerns. The automotive industry generally follows standards for speedometer and odometer accuracy as set forth in SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Standard J862. According to this Standard, the odometer records actual distances traveled within plus or minus 4 percent at 20,40 and 55mph. Tolerances such as this are acceptable due to the finite usable number of gear teeth on the ring and pinion drive assemblies and other measurable factors. With regard to road speed, a tire may experience as much as a 3 percent change in revolutions per unit of distance from 30mph to 90mph due to a change in rolling radius caused by centrifugal force. Yet another variable to consider is that a speedometer is calibrated at room temperature by instrument manufacturer. SAE Standard J678 outlines recommended calibration tolerances for the instrument itself. But, consider how often a vehicle is operated outside of the parameters of room temperature. Considering the factors which affect the odometer readings (takeoff pinion design limits, tire make, tread and construction, inflation pressure, tire growth, tire size, centrifugal effects, operation temperature and load increase on rear axle) a certain degree of tolerance is to be expected.

The SAE dictates that speedometers should be accurate to within +-4%. Our suby is about 1 MPH slow with it's latest speedo head and the jeep is about 3 MPH slow.

Thanks ferret, so that's an affirmative on the timing belt guide. That makes getting an engine from a MT car pretty important unless the guide can be purchased from the dealer or JY. I wonder if the guide from the 2.5 will fit on the 2.2?

Bump

My experience has been that a good yard should know what the engine came out of, and certainly the year. Does the engine have the VIN on it anywhere? A helpful dealer might be able to look it up, and a helpful JY might give you the VIN over the phone. I'm not sure about the 2.2, but AFAIK the 2.5 manual transmission engines have a timing belt guide that the auto transmission engines don't have. Can anyone confirm or deny the presence of this guide on the 2.2? That might be important for Jake to know. Jake, have you called any of the JY's and talked to them yet? What do you know?

Not on a Subaru Legacy.

Timing Belt Parts, '97 2.2l Legacy L Note: Does not include tensioner. Prices from 1stsubaruparts.com 10/27/03 QTY_____Part #__________Description__________Unit______Ext___ 1 21200AA072 Thermostat 9.19 9.19 1 21236AA010 Thermostat Gasket 2.49 2.49 1 21111AA007 Water Pump 66.71 66.71 1 21114AA051 Water Pump Gasket 1.91 1.91 1 13028AA102 Timing Belt 44.96 44.96 2 13294AA012 Gasket Rocket Cover 10.46 20.92 6 13271AA051 Washer Rocker Cover 2.21 13.26 2 806732150 Camshaft Oil Seal 6.02 12.04 2 806946030 Camshaft Housing O-Ring 2.89 5.78 1 806733030 Oil Seal (Crank) 5.38 5.38 1 806919050 O-Ring (Oil Pump) 1.93 1.93 1 45167AA030 Radiator Hose Lower 10.00 10.00 1 45113GA022 Radiator Cap 10.13 10.13 1 45167AA020 Radiator Hose Upper 10.00 10.00 1 13586AA041 Sealing Belt Cover No2 6.45 6.45 1 13581AA050 Sealing Belt Cover R 14.57 14.57 1 13594AA041 Front Cover Seal 15.28 15.28 1 807615081 WP Bypass Hose 7.46 7.46 1 806923060 O-Ring (not sure) 2.23 2.23 1 11810AA000 PCV Valve 6.75 6.75 1 73323AC000 Drive Belt 7.46 7.46 1 809218270 Drive Belt 8.06 8.06 Total $282.96