1197sts

Thanks for all of the input, appreciate it. The correct crank sprocket for the '03 MT Outback is the one with fewer teeth, and the cam gear has 6 nubs on it rather than 2 on the '01. The car starts and runs. I had assumed the MT always had a different crank sprocket than the auto, but it does look like the '03 has the same one that I've seen on many of the AT Outbacks.

Thanks for the info, my situation is kind of weird, the '03 did not have an engine installed when I started this project so I can't compare them, I am going to go to the local pick and pull and check it out. I hope they're different, it will not start with the stuff from the '01 installed. I did install an intake manifold from a MT '03, had to work around EGR issues, hopefully I'm getting close to having this thing running.

I am swapping an engine from a 2001 Outback MT to a 2003 Outback MT, does anyone know if the crank pulley and left cam pulley are the same on these two? I was under the impression they are the same, ?.

I've been chasing front end vibrations on a '01 Outback for a while now, I finally have it smoothed out. The primary problems were aftermarket CV Axles and bushings on the brake caliper pins. BTW, I have found the NAPA CV Axles to be ok, but I would prefer used OEM as a first choice if the boots aren't torn. Of course, there are lots of other things that could be causing your problem.

I've had no problems with the cheapo's that you can get on ebay. Sometimes its hard to determine which connector it has, there are two common connector styles, but it has just one wire going to the sensor so just splice your original connector onto the new sensor if needed and it works fine. I only deal with the NA engines, might be more critical on turbo models.

For the Transmission lights the bulbs can be replaced. You can buy the assembly if you want to but by the time you do the work to disassemble the instrument cluster its pretty easy and less expensive to replace just the bulb. The bulb is a "Miniature bulb wire terminal base" style, what is commonly called a wheat bulb. I found two bulbs that will work, 8640, and DW07. The 8640 is readily available from lamp suppliers (.55 ea.), the DW is no as common I bought it from an electronics supply site (.67 to 1.50 ea). It has the advantage of being rated for 15,000 avg hours of life, the 8640 is rated at 1,000. Some suppliers sell these lamps in qty of 10, some individually. You do have more disassembly to replace the trans lamps compared to the rest of the lamps in the inst cluster, but that is the case if replacing the lamp assembly or just the lamp. For those that are interested, the rest of the lamps in the instrument cluster are easy to replace, the larger bulbs are a glass wedge base p/n 194, there are several varieties of these, most subaru lamps have a blue sleeve, you can also buy blue lamps, much easier to deal with the p/n is 194B, this may vary with suppliers. You can also experiment with other lamps that are rated to last much longer, such as 194LL, 161, 161B, etc. These bulbs are installed in a plastic base usually brown in color Some people like to experiment with different colors, there are lots of options. There are people that have experimented with LED lamps with mixed success these are lots of places selling replacement led lamps. The smaller lamps are p/n 74, in addition there are a couple of odd ball lamps in the inst cluster that can be substituted with a 74. There are also long life alternatives to the 74, p/n 73 is a good choice and can be ordered in red and blue as well. The long life lamps generally are lower current so will be slightly less bright. These lamps are installed in a plastic base usually black in color. The odd ball lamp bases are usually blue or brown in color. To remove a glass wedge lamp from its base base take something like a small pick and gently pry the lamp from the side out of the base, work it out slowly from side to side it will pop out easily when you get used to it. You can also buy aftermarket lamp assemblies for the 194, 74 and others, this is little sketchy as its not guaranteed to fit, and its cheaper to replace the lamps anyway.

Re: Using heads from a blown block, I agree and have done so myself. My experience is primarily on the 251 heads, but I would caution with a blown block there may be bearing material and crank material in the oil, and these heads must be completely disassembles and cleaned, including a very thorough cleaning of the oil passage inside the cam. If you don't do this there is a chance you will destroy your new lower end. Throwing these heads in a hot tank or whatever type of cleaning system you have will not clean the internal passages.

ClassySoob, I have a lot more experience with the EJ25, but typically it is not cost effective for a DIY'er to overhaul an EJ bottom end. Certainly it is possible if you have all of the tools and experience and have a good machine shop that is experienced on Subaru's. You might try to find a good used EJ22. You can also buy a rebuilt short block, I know they are available for the EJ25, not sure on the EJ22.

Eeman1273, you might want to thoroughly check out the wiring. Check for open circuits and shorts to ground on all of the wires for the fault you have. The service manual explains the procedure pretty well.

I have a set of stock alloy wheels and tires from a 2003 Qutback that I would like to give to a friend to put on a 98 Outback. I have done a tire size comparison and the outer circumference is within 1% between the two. Will it bolt up with no issues?

The reason I was asking I have a 2003 2.5 for sale and a guy messaged me wanting to know if it would fit in an 05 Legacy, I am not super familiar with the 05 and newer. I agree, it makes sense to do headgaskets on any subaru engine that is new to me that I don't have much history on. Might as well do rings when its apart.

Thanks for the info, helps a lot!

Does anybody know, I have a 2.5 engine out of a 2003 Outback, will it fit in a 2005 Legacy (non GT)?

Do a good test drive. Make sure no Check engine lights on, or the AT Temp light flashing, which is like a check engine light for the Auto Trans. Go over bumps and drive in various driving conditions, check for the car feeling loose or jumping around the suspension repairs are expensive. Uneven tire wear can indicate suspension, steering, and alignment issues. Drive slowly in a tight circle to check the AWD. It should be smooth with no jumping around. Take a look at the general condition and check if regular maintenance has been done. Is the oil relatively clean, is the trans fluid been clean, is the coolant relatively clean in the overflow tank, is the engine leaking a lot, has regular maintenance been performed? These engines will last 300K if taken care of, but not if they are abused. Have the headgaskets been replaced by someone who knows what they're doing? In general the originals last about 150K, but that does vary quite a bit. Has it ever been overheated for an extended period of time? This is a little less common on the Phase 2 2.5 engines but I consider these engines throw aways if they have been severely overheated. As previously mentioned the aftermarket CV Axles generally do not run well, the ones with the green housing are the originals and run much better and don't cause vibration at idle.

There is a small modification that you may need to make, the PCV arrangement is different from the 2000 to the 2001. On the 2000 the PCV valve (old style) screws into the intake manifold and then there is a cluster of tubes going to the block and the air box. On the 2001 typically they use the "new style" PCV valve and it is screwed into the PCV pipe in the block with a simple hose connecting the two. The 2000 block has a non threaded pipe in the block so I typically jury rig a piece of hose to accept the PCV valve and rtv it in place then use the hose from the 2001 manifold to finish the connection. There is some variability in this stuff as all model years are not the same but typically this is what I see.

I have a story to tell about one of my adventures. I had bought a project car that was not running when I bought it and I didn't know much history about it. I was doing an engine swap because the original was seized, I had an engine from a 2000 Outback that I wanted to put in a 2001 Outback. No big deal I had done several before. I had done the headgaskets already on the donor engine so I just needed to just swap the cam gears, crank gear and intake manifold and some minor modification to the breather hoses in the area of the PCV valve no big deal. So I stick the replacement engine in and go to bolt up the flex plate and it isn't lining up the bolt holes are about 1/4 inch off. Come to find out the previous owner had put in a transmission out of a forester and the torque converter was a slightly smaller diameter. I had to take the engine back out to swap flex plates. I was a little worried until I did the research, I wasn't sure if a forester tranny was the right one but found out the final drive ratio is the same so it all worked out.

I replaced the left and right upper links and it improved the ride quite a bit, on the right link the outside mount was quite worn, on the left it was the inside. I am attaching a picture of the left link and a closeup of the worn mount. This job was easier than I anticipated with the wheel removed you don't even have to crawl under the car.

Sorry for the lack of clarity in this picture, its hard to get a good pic in that area. From what I can tell this is where the upper link attaches to the rear arm.

Correction, I think this is the upper link. This is the right side, the left is worn also but not as bad.

I am fighting a similar problem with my 2001 Outback, it gets very loose in the back end when I go over bumps. I was inspecting the rear suspension and I found what I think may be worn rear arm bushings. I am posting a picture can anyone give me some input on what this, I am not a suspension expert at all. How hard is it to change this if that's what I need to do?

Thanks for the input, I agree the tires are suspect. They look pretty new but still, who know what might be going on. There may still be other issues as well, I am going to check out the brake calipers and be watching and listening for issues with wheel bearings and CV axles.

I bought the car in non driving condition, so I don't know how it was doing before. I decided to put on my winter tires as a test, it made a dramatic improvement so I will be getting the tires balanced. Thanks for all the input.

Thanks for all the replies, I haven't had a chance to work on it yet, but I drove it some more. The vibration is a bit inconsistent, it sometimes peaks around 55 mph, sometimes around 65 mph. I do feel it in the steering wheel. It goes away below 50 mph. I don't feel anything in the brake pedal at low or high speeds. To give you a bit more info this vehicle sat for a while, probably a few months at least. I do have some other rattles and sounds and feel some small clunks I haven't identified yet they could be related.

I have a 2001 Outback that is new to me, it has a pretty significant vibration that seems to peak at about 65 mph. I immediately think of tires out of balance, are there other things that can typically cause this? This car has aftermarket CV Axles, can those cause this kind of vibration?