Snowman

grossgary's estimate of $300-500 is basically what it would cost to replace all the seals on the front of the engine. Most of the cost is labor. For most people, it would be between 3 and 4 hours to finish the job. The reason that everybody suggests timing belts, water pump, etc, is that you have to take most of the same stuff apart to get to the oil seals, so you would avoid paying for the same labor twice by having all that work done at the same time. It's up to you, but that's pretty much standard procedure for older subarus.

I went to look at a 1990 Legacy today, and the only real problem is the transmission. Reverse works fine, and in D, it works great for 1st and 2nd gear, but it just revs out beyond that. I don't know if it's related, but the "power" light flashed several times upon startup. My understanding of the 4EAT is absolutely nil at this point. I'm going to have a peek at some FSM's this afternoon, but does anybody know what would cause such a problem? The owner thinks that the tranny is shot, but I'm wondering if it might just be a solenoid issue or band adjustment problem. Anything you know about the 4EAT would be very helpful. Thanks!

Yeah, what's the deal with the PCV valve modification?

That's really bizarre about that one suddenly going bad. I haven't a clue why that would happen, but I suppose that the plain-water thing may have something to do with it. Unless I'm in a pinch, I always put in an OEM thermostat, and I've never had trouble with those. I got one from CarQuest that didn't work when it was new!

I would imagine that brake cleaner or spray electrical cleaner would be the most similar, but since the special stuff isn't expensive, I'd rather not risk ruining a sensor.

Here's a collection of anecdotes from my soob adventures this summer, all relating to SPFI EA82s with varying degrees of hesitation and other drivability problems. Please read, enjoy, and maybe even learn something. Round 1: 1992 Loyale with horrible hesitation and bogging at all speeds and most throttle positions. The fuel pressure was a little low, so I replaced the fuel pump with little or no effect. Next, I tried replacing the fuel pressure regulator, again with no effect. After that, I started testing sensors and swapping them out with known good ones just to see if anything would change, and nothing made any difference. I also put on a new fuel filter. At this point, I was probably 20 hours and several hundred dollars into the project and had accomplished nothing. Eventually, I talked myself into going to talk to a local mechanic to see if he had any suggestions. He sold me a can of MAF sensor cleaner and suggested that I try it, just to rule out the possibility. So I sprayed the stuff on the sensor, started up the car, and it ran perfectly! I almost pooped myself! Round 2: 1989 GL that ran okay up until about 50% throttle then had no power after that. It wouldn't even do 55 on the highway. Pulled the MAF sensor out, since that was the problem with the previous car, and it looked like it was covered in black hair! Keep in mind that this car had 277k on the clock, so I would expect some dirt in there, but this was impressive. Used the MAF sensor cleaner, and it got a lot better...the problem is still there to some degree, but the car will get up to around 80mph, and the hesitation isn't nearly as bad. Round 3: 1994 loyale that came to me for a tune-up. After doing the plugs, cap, rotor, PCV valve, air filter, and fuel filter, I drove the car, and it was a little boggy, but more worrisome was the pinging under load even on flat ground. I rechecked the timing, which was spot-on, and then started scratching my head...what would cause such an issue? Then, just for kicks, I tried the MAF sensor cleaner once again. No more bogging, no more pinging. Wow. In case you're wondering, I'm not being paid to advertise this cleaner. I had just never heard of this problem before this summer, when three cars came to me with the same issue. Hopefully, this will help keep somebody out there from going through the same frustration that I did.

Hmmm, the TPS discussion is interesting...I'll have to keep that in mind. Another thing I discovered this year that blew my mind (I'm going to start a separate thread) is the profound effect cleaning the MAF sensor can have. They actually make a special spray cleaner for this sensor, and it makes a world of difference for EA82s that have bad hesitation.

Very cool. I do agree that an older Legacy or a Forester would have looked better.

That's a new one on me. I think my auto professors will get a kick out of that.

I've got the same lights, and all I have to say is, "D***!!!!" They are not cheap, but they're sooooo worth the money (I'd definitely try to protect them somehow if you're going to be out crashing through the brush). Lightforce also makes various colors of Lexan covers for them, which are suited for different driving conditions. I've got the blue ones for driving in blizzard conditions, and they make a huge difference. There's a lot less light reflected back off the snow.

If you do put a canister purge solenoid in place of the EGR solenoid, make sure that it operates identically. If I remember correctly, the EGR solenoid applies vacuum when power is applied, while the canister purge solenoid vents when power is applied. Their operation can be switched just by changing which ports the vacuum hoses and the little vent cover go on.

I'll have to go look at my car in the morning to see exactly how it's set up, but I had a similar problem when I did my swap (no fuel, no spark). The EJ22 ignition relay control wire got skipped when I was hooking up the power supplies. I was using a haynes manual and a chiltons manual when I was wiring it up, and neither of them made it clear that this wire had to be spliced into right next to the relay. It looked like it would be powered up if I hooked up one of the other main power wires, but that wasn't the case. As soon as I provided IGN power straight to that control wire, it fired right up and ran great.

So let me get this straight.... I can use the existing legacy springs and strut tops with the outback struts, and all I need to do is drill different mounting holes where the rear struts meet the body? Also, does anybody know how the legacy vs. outback springs compare for height and spring rate?

Thanks for the replies. I tried the external fuel tank a few minutes ago, and it made no difference. I forgot to mention that the engine idles perfectly and runs great at less than 25% throttle, so any "hard parts" like timing belts are pretty much ruled out...would jumping a tooth on the passenger side be able to cause such a problem though? Plugged exhaust is something I hadn't really considered. I think I've got a spare Y-pipe I could try. It just seems that in all the cars I've dealt with previously that had bad cats, the engine still ran smoothly but just lacked power. I'm also going to hook the pressure gauge back up to verify that the new pump is working properly. Any other thoughts?

I will worship anyone that can solve this problem for me! I am quite frustrated at this point. A friend's 94 loyale (SPFI) acts like it's not getting enough fuel when accelerating. Any throttle position beyond about 25% results in horrible bucking and hesitation, and the engine will rev out but without any power. I bypassed the fuel filter and measured the fuel pressure using the only gauge I have, which reads in increments so large that I can tell you that the fuel pressure at idle is around 25 psi plus or minus 5 psi, which is less than the spec for that car. I replaced the fuel pump with a new one (adapted a pump from a Ford truck because it costs about 1/4 as much...the pressure rating on this pump is like 60 psi, so it should be more than adequate). The pump made no difference. I then tried clamping off the fuel return line, and the pressure jumped up around 50. With the increased pressure, the car ran great. So I replaced the fuel pressure regulator. The car still acted the same way. At this point, I started looking for other possible causes, and have replaced and/or thoroughly tested the following: throttle position sensor, mass airflow sensor, coolant temp sensor, PCV system, EGR system, carbon canister and canister purge system, spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, spark plug wires, and ignition coil. Edit: I also tried swapping the fuel injector and IAC valve, which also made no difference. Tomorrow on my lunch break, I'm going to set up a small outboard motor fuel tank on the roof and run the car on that in order to rule out the possibility of a fuel pickup problem in the tank. Any other ideas? I am getting really close to running out of things to try. Thanks.

I already talked with Jerry about it, and I'm really not sure...aside from trying a different distributor and/or a different ECM, as well as going through all the sensor tests in the FSM, I'm not sure what else to suggest.Hope it works out for you in the end.

Have you verified the reading with a voltmeter, or are you going by the notoriously inaccurate dash gauge? This could also be caused by a defective ground that increases its resistance as it heats up.

Another vote for cam timing being incorrect. It's easy to screw up...happens to the best of us.

I've done plenty of deep snow driving in various subarus, and with some exceptions, lack of visibility due to snow coming over the top of the car becomes a problem before traction does. As long as you've got decent tires, no other car or truck compares to a Subaru for snow-going abilities.

The most common thing that causes an intermittant CEL on those cars is a bad EGR solenoid. By itself, it really doesn't hurt anything...the harm comes from the fact that some other problem could come up and you wouldn't know it since the CEL is already on due to the EGR solenoid code.

Yup, Subiemech is right. I do enough engine work that I like to keep an overhaul set on hand, and I always just buy the EA82T sets...if it works for the turbo engine, it'll work for the n/a engine.

Interesting...I'd always wondered about its function as well. I'll have to give it a try next time I drive an auto Legacy. Is this a Subaru only thing, or do some other cars have it too?

The EJ22 in that car is (in my opinion) one of the best motors Subaru, or anybody else, has made. What you describe is a relatively common thing for the EJ22 as well as most other Subaru engines. It's also pretty easy to fix. You can replace the front crank seal, cam seals, oil pan gasket, oil pump o-ring, and rocker cover gaskets in an afternoon. If the rear main seal is leaking, you'll have to pull the engine to replace it, which takes another couple of hours. All of this is very easy to do compared to just about any other car out there, and the parts are not terribly expensive.

Have you considered finding a gen 1 (90-94) Legacy with low miles (less than 100k)? You could get one for $3000, and with proper maintenance, it'll last another 150k-200k...and the purchase price plus all maintenance costs will be less than 12 grand. If you're worried about "expensive repairs", consider the cost of blowing a timing belt or a head gasket on one of the newer motors. The gen 1 EJ22 is not damaged by a blown timing belt, and is generally a lot less prone to headgasket failure than the newer motors.

That's kinda strange...so let me get this straight, the oil pressure will fluctuate while driving, even if your RPMs and engine temperature remain relatively constant? Another thing to check out would be the relief valves in the cam towers (I assume that the ER27 has those, since the EA82 does). If you take off the rocker covers, above the camshaft, there will be an oil pipe bolted to the cam tower. This pipe is fed by the oil relief valve, which uses spring pressure to regulate the oil pressure to the cam. If the spring is worn out, it could be dumping too much oil into that pipe, which wouldn't affect the pressure much when cold, but at a hot idle, it could bring the pressure way down and maybe even cause some lifter noise. I think that was happening in my EA82 before I swapped it out last summer. If you feel like diving into a project, I would follow gary's advice and either reseal your oil pump or just put a new one on (not a bad idea at your mileage, and really not that expensive). At the same time, you can redo the crank seal and cam seals, as well as the timing belts and water pump if necessary. It's kind of a big job if you've never done it before, and it would probably take a day to finish, but it's really not that hard and would be a great learning experience. If you feel confident enough to drive it 800 miles and need a vacation after school gets out, bring it down to Haines and I'll have a look at it.