el_freddo

I replace cam and crank seals as a part of the timing belt service. You don’t want to deal with a leaking seal because you didn’t put in the extra bit of time and effort to swap the seal. It’s not like the seal is easily accessible. With the EJ timing kit the crank and cam seals come as part of the kit from what I remember. I now buy the parts individually as I get genuine when I can. Better bang for buck in my experience. EA82, I’d run whatever timing kit and have a spare kit on hand with a set of tools to do the job on the side of the road if needed. Cheers Bennie

Certainly did - L series dual range in Gen1 dual range EJ cases. Worked a treat. That box was swapped out for an AWD L box with phase 2 EJ gearbox front cases and gearing. Yes. Front diff stubs are held in by a circlip on the inside of the spider gears. L and EJ interchange. Driveshaft lengths are still different so a custom length shaft is still required. Over here we got the NA MPFI EA82 L series that has the EJ spec 25 spline front diff stubs and the good 1.59:1 L series low range. It’s all Lego! Back on the 5 stud swap with bigger EJ brakes, you still need to work out something for the rear hub as the L and EJ rear hub setup is completely different. Cheers Bennie

JesZek, 2020 is not a good year to say the least. You’ve put into perspective how lucky we are over here during the pandemic and I wish Melbourians would quit winging about it. Very sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad, especially so unexpectedly. You have fond memories of him and I’m sure you will keep them alive, same for the Mercury. While it might be painful to look, work on or drive it, that vehicle is one very huge link to many good memories with your Dad. Look after it and in time you will enjoy driving it because of your memories with your Dad. All the best mate. Bennie

Subaru did start out with a 10mm pump. As oils thinned out so did the thickness of the oil pump rotor. No change to housing that will interfere with anything else. If it’s EJ it will bolt on to any EJ block. Totally agree. More safety gear makes ppl more complacent. Look what happened to that dude in Cali that died in his automated Tesla. He was meant to be watching/monitoring - alas he paid the ultimate price for not watching. Cheers Bennie

The problem with the gearboxes is hard gear changes - and constantly. Many WRX gearboxes break second due to hard high rpm gear changes. Mods or not, the extra torque produced on boost isn’t nice on gearboxes due to shock loading etc. AWD traction doesn’t help either. The EJ251 as I mentioned in Numbchux’s “help me decidel thread, cops the poor reputation of the EJ25D and the crappy factory HG didn’t help. Swap them for MLS HGs. The H6 HG seems more seems more economical to swap the whole engine for an import create engine. I’ve heard issues with burning valves if valve clearances aren’t done at the service intervals. I don’t have any direct experience with this, just “heard” about it. The Gen3 is a solid platform. What sort of soft raiding are you planning to do? Either way, an auto will spoob all over a manual, more so that you don’t have a low range in the manual. Cheers Bennie

It’s not really an issue. Just something GD replaces as a part of his major service that he does to provide a warranty he’s comfortable with. I’ve got two EJ251s in my family. Both high km, same oil pump from factory. Zero issues. Both have HGs swapped for the MLS units. Main “issue” now is regular maintenance such as oil changes (and filter), then the “big one” when the cam belt is due for replacement. Bloody good engine in my book - they cop loads of flak from the reputation of the EJ25D. Cheers Bennie

That thing really IS mint! EJ swap it with a manual gearbox and keep it! Cheers Bennie

The EJ22 will be just fine. You’ll break things if you’re being stupid in it. The EJ253 will be fine too - if you take it easy. Spinning wheels generally isn’t an issue, it’s when you go to doing them and they have more traction that you first thought. Of course constant purposeful wheel spinning (as opposed to breaking traction once rolling or when in the wet) will end up killing the gearbox. You WILL want AWD with the EJ253! Front LSD can be fitted with the 1.59:1. Some shaving of the LSD housing may be needed. I have an OBX in the front diff of my L - I run factory MPFI/turbo L series driveshafts to mate to the EJ style 25 spline diff stubs. Works a treat. As mentioned, the wiring cut down for the EJ253 will be the issue if it has the immobiliser or CANBUS. I’m sure the immobiliser can be worked around. A mate just put a 2001 EJ251 into his EA81 hatch, drops in as its SOHC and it goes mint from what he tells me. Cheers Bennie

True, thanks for point that out to me. I was adding to your comment as to why this may be: Cheers Bennie

The EJ18 would be even more bullet proof than the EJ22 - same bottom end, different bore diameter essentially, less power. Cheers Bennie

Ease of finding parts. Slightly more sophisticated engine management with the use of the knock sensor. EJ22’s are very common compared to the EJ18. Over here it’s much easier to find an EJ22 compared to an EJ18! Cheers Bennie

This will now mean your subaru can be hotwired and off it goes. To do it properly, if it’s possible in the first place, is to tap and mess with the security wiring to the ECU and possibly other components so the security is effectively bypassed by the remote start - and is the only thing that can bypass it. Chances of being stolen via hotwiring? Pretty low. Thieves will steal your car keys to steal your car these days. Security in the vehicle is a zero issue with this method. Cheers Bennie

Ditched it and made up a smaller bottle of about 1L capacity from a juice bottle that fitted the pump in the neck of the bottle. Retained factory filler neck and plumbed into bottom of the bottle. Then cable tied upside down into place. Works well. Cheers Bennie

That’s stock ride height. If the 2wd struts were fitted it would sit like it was a door slammer drag car... Plush suspension ride, it’s an EA82 running on a platform that is very similar to a VW beetle, it is far from luxurious! Nice looking L too. Very similar to mine before the mods began! If GD finds this thread, expect a harsh reality check the way he sees it - “dead platform, many nla parts, get a Chevy truck etc etc”. Maybe you guys in the US need to look further afield for aftermarket replacement parts as we seem to not have any issues with that over here - and I hope I haven’t just jinxed our parts supplies in saying that! Cheers Bennie

GD will tell you what’s worth your coin and what’s not. Personally, anything with canbus is not worth buying - my opinion is you’re buying a ticking time bomb that may not be resolved with anything other than scrapping it and getting a new car ;( And hang in there guys. These are very different times and everyone’s mental health will be taking a dive more than a normal year. And we haven’t found our “covid normal” yet. Time will tell whether it’s like a zombie apocalypse that lingers around picking ppl off randomly or if it fades into another regular flu like the Spanish influenza 100 years ago. Kudos to those looking after their aging parents. 102yo ey @brus brother!! I don’t think I could handle that with my mum, she’s about to hit 70 next year. Good thing is a celebratory cruise ship venture is off the cards for us (we didn’t want to go anyway). Mask up, stay safe and keep calm hand hygiene is paramount in these times too. I think I’ve met all the hand sanitiser I’ve ever used in my life before this year over the last six to nine months! Should’ve got shares in these companies last year... hindsight is a bitch. All the best with future employment opportunities for those out of work, hang in there because this shall pass. Cheers Bennie

That’s how my first conversion started. Got an EJ20 for $100, then ended up getting an EJ22 engine, loom and ECU. Haven’t looked back. That EJ20 is now going towards another project. Cheers Bennie

Rotor pin has nothing to do with cam timing as it can be pulled out and incorrectly installed - throwing a red herring into the mix. Cheers Bennie

Look for rust. Typical places: - windscreen surround/corners - under rear fixed side windows, followed by the wheel arches - rocker/sill panels - body work behind the front guards in the section behind front wheels - good place to trap dirt, road grime and moisture - generally under the vehicle, especially if in salt country - at which stage this will rust out super quick anyway if not treated properly. Engine will leak oil like a sieve unless pulled apart, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned before reassembly. If the EA82 blows a head gasket, replace it with an EJ22. You will thank me later Hoard parts! Cheers Bennie

EJ22 engine management is the go. It’ll give you the option of upgrading the block later down the track. You will probably have to fit a cam angle sensor as I don’t think the EJ18 uses one - another reason to avoid this setup. Cheers Bennie

Not necessarily. If they just set and forget there could be many underlying issues that come into play once you drive off and things start moving as the suspension does its thing. Cheers Bennie

Doing a factory efi EJ22 install is much easier than fabricating parts for dizzy and Weber in my book. Cheers Bennie

It doesn’t matter which cam is at 12 and 6 o’clock, so long as both aren’t at the same and the crank lines up each revolution. Cheers Bennie

@89Ru - the centre diff will make the clunk noise in either direction and no noise in a straight line. It sounds like a dull knocking sound that’s speed and load related. I don’t recall any skipping or real binding sensations when a gearbox I put in my sister’s Gen3 had a shot centre diff. Good to see it was only a drive shaft though! Easy fix if not frustrating at the least. All the best! Cheers Bennie

Are you sure it’s not a centre diff clunk noise when turning? Cheers Bennie

Looks good mate! I hope mine is that good one day!! Cheers Bennie