el_freddo

Even if the heads have had a shave as part of the HG service? Sounds like poor maintenance schedules or poor build quality of the engine. While I don’t work on Subaru engines for a living I do know my way around them and what to look out for etc. Over here I just don’t hear about these failures, particularly in the epic numbers you’re making it out to be. Going back to build quality, are your Subaru’s engines built in the US or Japan and shipped over? And yes, I’m aware that the EJ25 can “fully blow” a head gasket - just like any other engine can, not one engine is immune to this! We have the EJ20, EJ22 (up to ‘99) EJ25 and the H6s. Early on we got the EJ18 and a very few EJ16s. In the publicly accessible parts yards you’ll be hard pressed to find a H6 in there. EJ20/22/25s are readily available. Cheers Bennie

Welcome Ken! drop a link to your thread about the drivability issue in here so we can easily find it Cheers Bennie

Gotta love the L! Great pic doing the 4wd doughnut, I’ve got a video of mine but no pics doing that. Welcome to member life Cheers Bennie

So the spider gears in the front diff are good. But that’s not going to help you. Have you drained the gear oil yet? You need to check to see what comes out. That clanging noise doesn’t sound good. And to me, it could be a front diff issue, like a locked up diff or pinion shaft bearing that’s acting like a hand brake on your drivetrain. Must be a seriously dead bearing though! And to go so suddenly is odd. Or you’ve chipped a gear tooth that’s jammed up the system. Have you tried light revs and dropping the clutch, or trying for reverse and moving the vehicle? Honestly, I’ve never had an issue like this except once when I somehow managed to lock a rock between my rim and front caliper when in 4wd (L series), it locked all four and since I’d killed 3rd gear I thought it was a gearbox issue until I trailered it home and found the gouge mark on the inner rim. The other thing it could be is the gearbox is somehow stuck in two gears, like it’s in 1st and 3rd at the same time. There will have been something that’s gone wrong in the box for this to happen as there’s a pile of dedent “pills” that are moved by the selection shafts like a mechanical locking puzzle, hard for anything to go wrong unless one of the retainer plugs on the side of the gearbox is AWOL - which could also be where your leak is coming from. If memory serves me correct - there are three 10mm headed plug bolts on the LHS of the vehicle where these dedent pills are slotted in through, this could be part of the issue - or a red herring. It’s easy to check anyway. I hope it’s an easy fix, but currently it’s looking like a gearbox replacement. Cheers Bennie

Drive trains between your legacy’s and this Gen1 are identical from the exterior. Some minor “interior changes” were made to the head setup on your legacy’s. Diff ratio may be different but other than that it would be plug and play for the drivetrain. Interior is different, although certain things will cross over to your legacy’s, but I can’t really see anything you’d want from an earlier model... Cheers Bennie

I disagree about the service of head gaskets etc after the EJ25D. Once the leaky factory gaskets are swapped out for the replacement items it’s happy days. Idosubaru hit the nail on the head: sully and demand. There’s probably little demand for the JDM EJ25 since there are enough locally AND many workshops work on this engine easily with timing belt and head gasket maintenance items. Speak with anyone who is considering a head gasket job on a H6 and they’ll tell you it’s cheaper to get a replacement engine. Yes it has a timing chain, but this isn’t invincible either - and while the engine is out you might as well go the whole hog and replace the timing chain plus guides/tensioner etc while you’re in there. Then there’s the 80 something timing cover bolts (from memory) that I’ve heard are a PITA to remove. Replace them! End of the day, EJ25 = easy platform to work on; H6 platform not so easy to work on. The H6 will bolt straight in place of your EJ25 - BUT: you’ll have to run aftermarket engine management and tune it if you’re not going to run the factory wiring. Either way, both options there are big jobs. I’d only do it as a DIY as I know I can do it. Otherwise, buy a H6 equipped vehicle and go from there! Cheers Bennie

It’s funny how this plastic is a “real” issue for some, yet they don’t worry about the plastic end tanks on their radiators and heater cores. I’d much rather have a split intake than a split radiator or heater core end tank. The intake manifold is under zero stress compared to the radiator and heater core end tanks! Cheers Bennie

Further to this: - the short block option will require your engine’s heads fitted along with all the other gear from your engine, plus a timing belt kit. - the JDM long block will require your engine’s intake (and maybe sump etc), and a timing belt kit is advisable unless the long block is sold with this work already done - but I doubt that. Both options have their pros and cons. You need to weigh up what’s best for you as your situation. Cheers Bennie

Nah they’re easy enough to do with the door assembled. Not that it matters in this case since everything needs to be transferred over to the new doors. Cheers Bennie

I reckon that’ll serve you well! I’d probably look at adding some supports to the mounting brackets to reduce flex or future metal fatigue. On my L I’ve run with some roof rack that my dad got from a tip in the ‘70s. Fits perfectly and does the job, it’s a bit ratrod - and I’ve just picked up a tradies roof rack from a van, it’s almost double the size! So that’ll be cut down before long and fitted. I couldn’t go past it for $50! Cheers Bennie

If one wheel moves in the opposite direction to the one you’re turning the diff centre is fine. I’ve not heard of one seizing up like that before. Did you add more oil to the gearbox to top it back up to the correct level or just threw the Lucas stuff in? With out much more information than what you’ve given, and since April fools day was earlier this week, I’m reckoning you need a new gearbox. Cheers Bennie

But they didn’t chop the wagon. The brat/brumby has a longer wheel base than the wagon. The wagon has the same wheel base as the hatch if I’m not mistaken. Yes, yes it was. So much potential there that hindsight shows us it was a bad decision to go with the 4 door. Cheers Bennie

Have now! I hope it wasn’t too traumatic for those in the vehicle. Cheers Bennie

Valve clearances too tight causing the valves not to fully seal properly? How much shaft play in your carb’s throttle shaft? This can be an issue too. Cheers Bennie

It’ll be your oil pump or front crank seal. When you drive the leaking oil is blown over the sump area, always making ppl think it’s their sump gasket leaking. If it was, it would be weeping very slowly due to no pressure working against the oil. When removing the oil pump ALWAYS remove the crank pulley and NEVER use a hammer unless you want a really dead, almost two piece oil pump... Cheers Bennie

Brat (Brumby!) more desirable in my book. Better load tray setup - front and rear of rear axle, Baja has only rear of the rear axle. But the Baja drivetrain is “better” by today’s standards. The little EA81 in the brat does it’s job and is basically bullet proof but the power and torque of the EJ engine coupled with the AWD box is more desirable items to have under the bonnet of the brat. Power to weight ratio is awesome with this setupin the brat. At the end of the day you’ve got to be the one enjoying looking at it and driving it. The brat can feel quite agricultural if your other car is a late model. It’s a step up from a tractor with its heater and ability to do highway speeds I love my brat (Brumby), and hope to be doing an EJ22 and AWD box swap in the near future, keeping the stock drivetrain for later if I want to revert back to stock. Lastly, the brat had a very long production run compared to that of the Baja. Cheers Bennie Edit: the Baja is only available stateside. I believe it was a Subaru of America conception against the advice of Subaru Japan. Belly flop, but a very unique vehicle for the Subaru line up too.

That’s easy, ditch Facebook! Live on the forums!! Cheers Bennie

Removing the front guards makes it so much easier. And a good time to address any other issues under there while you’ve got full access. Cheers Bennie

I’d say remove the door and fit the new one while it’s still light weight! Then pull everything from the donor door and fit in the reverse order of how it all came off - I bet the door handle/latch mechanism will be last to come off, meaning first to go on. Cheers Bennie

No need to bust your nut on this one too much. Silverbullet has already done most of the hard work for you. As for Teamendor, they didn’t say they were an Arabian Prince promising all your dreams of resolving this dizzy module issue for a small deposit into their bank account did they? Cheers Bennie

Front legacy brake lines might work. I’ve heard of ppl using these on their L series when lifted. Or try forester front lines Cheers Bennie

Any engine can get an internal coolant leak from a blown head gasket - that’s exactly what a blown HG is all about. Cheers Bennie

You could be in luck and the issue turn out to be a dead timing belt tensioner. The tensioner makes a knocking noise very similar to that of a dead bottom end bearing. Using a stethoscope you can isolate the noise to the front left of the engine - near where the tensioner lives. If this is the case it’s happy days. Confirm by removing the left cam cover piece to visually inspect the tensioner - if it bounces while idling it’s dead. If it has oil residue on top of it, it’s dead. If you can’t see either of these, carefully getting the stethoscope onto the tensioner with the engine idling will give you a definite answer If the noise remains in the centre of the block area it’ll be a big end issue. @GeneralDisorder will be able to provide some different ways to deal with a dead bottom end All the best with it. Cheers Bennie

Neat trick on those spoilers we didn’t get anything like that here! When you say your 1000-1500 out with your engine swap, are you talking about an EJ22 swap? And is that the money you’ve sunk into the project already, or the money you need for the conversion? Once you’ve got an EJ in there and you keep the maintenance up, it’ll look after you. Mine is SOOO much better in every department compared to the EA82 - but that’s not hard to do either! Cheers Bennie

When the forester people worked out that they could get away with using only the two in strut lift without issue. Probably because they’re going for a two inch strut top lift with larger struts (if that’s possible) - or they’re going for a strut lift that’s greater than two inches without any subframe drop. But I’m only guessing as I don’t have a Foz and my mates with two inch strut lift don’t have any issues. Cheers Bennie