Snowman

If you've got a good way to lift it, pulling the motor is WAAAAAY easier in my experience. I know lots of people like to drop the tranny, but I would much rather spend that 6 hours or so standup up than crawling around on a cold, wet floor.

Oh good, at least somebody does listen to me.

What exactly does PO420 supposedly stand for? I have been told, and my personal experience with two different cars indicates, that if you're getting a code for "catalytic converter inefficiency" or " #2 oxygen sensor" or anything like that, most likely the second oxygen sensor is worn out, which seems to happen after a while on these cars. It seems that cat problems are pretty rare on EFI soobs, but they do happen. As long as your first oxygen sensor is working fine and the cat isn't plugged, it will NOT affect fuel economy or performance. The second oxygen sensor is only there to make sure the cat is doing its job. I would bet that if you replaced both sensors, the code would go away.

Interesting....did the guy say who recommended to him that he run that mixture? Fact: Water is able to transfer more heat than antifreeze. Here's the thing about antifreeze that most people forget: It does a whole lot more than prevent freezing of the coolant mixture. Among other things, antifreeze has additives that lubricate the water pump, prevent foaming and that type of cavitation (there are other kinds...ask a diesel mechanic), prevent deposits from forming in the engine, prevent corrosion, and keep the pH pretty close to neutral. If you were to reduce the mixture in your Soob, you're taking the chance that the water pump might wear out faster, that more corrosion will happen, that cavitation may happen, that the pH might go acidic, and that more deposits will form. Maybe none of that will occur, but the thing is that you don't know. The first thing that comes to mind when you said that it's a Porsche club is that MAYBE, due to cooling system design and how they're driving, those guys NEED the extra heat transfer ability afforded by the weaker mixture, and they're willing to sacrifice the other things that antifreeze does. Depending on how old their cars are, maybe they were designed to run a 20% mixture. Of course, if they change their coolant more often, then the additive levels would probably be high enough that no problems would develop, but that's all guessing on my part. How cold does it get where you live? How about any place that you might consider driving to? You'd have to double check, but I would venture a guess that a 20% mixture would freeze somewhere around 0 degrees F. If it gets that cold, your engine is most likely going to have a cracked block, which can really ruin your day. Up here, it usually gets to around 20 below duing january, but I also sometimes drive up north where temps can reach 50 below or colder. Taking that into account, I mix the antifreeze in my cars at 75%, which supposedly brings the freeze point down around -60 or -65. Many people don't know that beyond that, a stronger mixture will actually freeze at warmer temperatures. Straight antifreeze freezes somewhere around zero if I remember correctly. Now, I know that I'm sacrificing some cooling capacity in order to prevent a freeze. However, I've never had overheating issues or even gotten my car above the normal temperature range, even in 80 degree weather with heavy loads. Maybe up over 90 degrees, some problems would develop, but I've never been there. So, I'm pretty sure that you've got plenty of cooling capacity if you run the standard 50% mixture. Wow, that was a lot longer than I had initially planned. I would also mention, while we're on the subject, that in my experience, the vast majority of cars on the road today have badly neglected cooling systems. If you change your coolant every couple of years and all the hoses every 4 or 5, your car will thank you for it. I won't get started on SCA's or coolant filters.

Is 304 a cylinder misfire code? I have a customer that had a bunch of misfire codes, and I'm pretty sure that most of it was caused by water in the fuel (it always happened in the winter, and usually after it had rained). Try a couple bottles of Heet in the gas and see what happens.

Yes, unless you want to add an extra set of lights to your trailer for turn signals, you'll need one of those "magic boxes". I've just gone to my local Parts Plus store and they looked it up in their catalog.

I agree that either there is another mechanical issue or driving habits are causing it (no offense, I know lots of people that are really hard on clutches). Most of the ones I've seen have gone at least 100k. Sometimes around 50 or 60 if it's ALL city driving. Even my mom, who slips the clutch for about 30 feet every time she backs out of the driveway, had the clutch in her 97 OBW go for 110k before I preventively replaced it (still had another 10k or so in it when I pulled it out).

The cams are supposed to be 180 degrees from each other. If they are both in the same position, it probably wouldn't run (never tried it myself). I know, it's a weird way to set up the timing procedure, but that's the way it is. If the timing is off by even one tooth, it will run like absolute crap. (Yeah, I've done that before, as it's a pain to see the alignment marks while the engine is in the car.)

Back in Anchorage for another year or two for now.

Good to hear from you Brad! I'd be up for heading toward Fairbanks a ways and "meeting in the middle".

So, does Sunday work for you guys?

I've put a WIX unit on a friend's car it seems to have worked fine for a year and a half now. Oh how I wish the older cars had a spin-on tranny filter.

Pay attention to this guy! I've done it three times, but you have to be super careful not to get the hole too off center, or you will be replacing the whole knuckle.

Good to hear that it's going well! Although I do like to bash the EJ25 a bit, it's still a Subaru engine, and when compared to most of the stuff on the road today, I'd say it's a good motor overall. It's got its weak spots, but well taken care of, it does fine.

I've bought timing belt covers from Subaru before. Amazingly, they're not that expensive. Other than that, check junkyards.

They can leak either from the oil pump shaft seal or the O-ring type gasket that seals between the pump and the block. If yours has more than 60k on it, it probably leaks from the oil pump seal, and when that happens, it generally means that the shaft is worn so it will never seal right again. Hence, a new pump is probably the only way to go. Have you tried 1stsubaruparts.com or any of the other discount OEM sites?

I'll start off by saying that I don't recommend ordering from their website itself. Instead, call the phone number and ask for Jason in parts. I dealt with somebody else there once, and I never will again. Just tell him that you were looking at their website and wanted to call to make sure that the order was done correctly, and you'll get the same discounted prices. Another tip is to make sure you have the VIN of your car, as the Subaru parts catalog often requires it. Most of the time, he's pretty good at getting the right stuff without the VIN, but it never hurts. I've ordered somewhere between $4000 and $5000 of parts from them in the last three years. The prices are generally very good, they ship stuff as soon as possible (I've had to wait for some parts that they ordered from elsewhere, but that's usually pretty fast too), and I have yet to get a wrong part. Also, Jason is very knowledgable, and he'll make sure that you get all the stuff you need for a job (i.e., if you order cam seals, he'll ask if you need the O-rings too). Overall, my experience has been very positive and I would recommend them to anyone.

Summarizing this thread for easy consumption: 1.EJ22 is non-interference (in my opinion, this is the most important factor) 2.EJ22 wiring is simpler 3.EJ22 has a proven track record of low HG failure while the DOHC EJ25 tends to have a high failure rate in comparison and the SOHC EJ25 hasn't been around long enough to be sure. Also, the SOHC EJ25, though apparently not prone to blowing HG's, is prone to external coolant leakage from the HG's. 4.Assuming that cost is a factor, EJ22s are generally a fair bit cheaper.

I know they switched stuff like wire color and connector design around a few times over the years, but 88 and 89 should be essentially the same. As far as the 92 vs 88, maybe they changed back later on?

I learn something new every day! (Of course, I forget two old things every day....) Thanks for the correction GD.

Any EA82 radiator will fit into any EA82 car. The only differences are one-row vs. two-row and whether they have fittings for a tranny cooler or not. I always put two-row radiators in cars that I work on. If you've got a turbo car, do whatever it takes to get a two-row. Your engine will thank you for it in the long run.

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but I believe SPFI was available in 2wd EA82s starting in 85, and 4wd EA82s starting in 88 (maybe some of them had it in 87, but I've only seen carbs on 87's). California may have had it earlier on the 4wds as well. But, to be sure, you could order pistons for a 94 loyale and you'd definitely get the right parts.

Oh, I get what you mean about the CEL now. I think it should be on when the connectors are plugged in...I guess just to let you know that they're plugged in. You can connect and disconnect the plugs with the engine running or not and the ECM won't care.

I was just thinking about posting an invite for such an event, and lo and behold, Matt beat me to it! Matt knows the area much better than I do, so I'll leave the location up to him. I think the most fun could be had by going out on some backwoods roads as soon as there's a little bit of snow. I don't have a lifted car right now, so serious offroading is out of the question for me (hopefully that will change soon!). Just to suggest a date, how about Sunday the 22nd? That would give people time to plan for it. I'm busy with school stuff on Saturdays, so that's pretty much the only time that works for me, unless we wanted to go on a week night or something. How do your schedules look?

If the procedure is the same as for the SPFI cars, which I think it should be, you connect the green connectors, then set the timing to whatever your manual says...should be like 20 degrees BTDC. CEL coming off and on...have you read the code(s)? The most common problem I've had that caused the CEL to come on intermittantly is the EGR solenoid, but without reading the codes, you can't tell. Good luck!