ccrinc

That's pretty heavy for your transmission. I've bought the 75w-multi at NAPA several times. Works great. Subaru needs a lighter weight fluid than 90 weight. Emily

There's another point about JDM engines: not everything hooks up the way you expect it to. The "plumbing" is different on them. Not personally confirmed, but I've heard they can be a real PITA to make work. The price for that engine includes shipping of the engine, plus return shipping of your core and the full gasket installation kit. If you pick it up and return the core yourself, we deduct $250 from the price. Also, there's a "courtesy" discount for USMB members (which my newish office helpers may not realize yet), but you need to identify yourself as such. If you get one from a salvage yard (unless you pull it yourself) you're still definitely looking at over $2000 IF you can find one that old. And little or no warranty. Plus you still would need to give it the TLC mentioned above. We do bend over backward to stand behind our warranty, we use race bearings and turbo head gaskets because, well because they're just better. As for the car itself: that's a pretty good year. The newer ones are electronic nightmares. My oldest granddaughter and grandson both drive '93 Imprezas. Why? Because they're easy and simple to maintain and cheap to run. The '02 is similar. And, if you've looked at Craigslist lately, you know you can't buy a decent used Subaru for under $4,000 anywhere in this state. Gimme a call! (Well, not me...I've had 2 spine surgeries and I'm not in the office anymore, but Sarah or Cindy will be happy to help you out. Just tell 'em Emily sent you!

Well, crap: I just lost the really long reply I had typed. Grrrr Rislone is an ATF-like oil treatment. It won't help. BG Formula 44K is a fuel treatment which would only help a dirty injector. A bad injector o-ring would be more likely but you already replaced that. A 303 code is a misfire on cylinder 3. It has nothing to do with compression. It's mainly electronic. The EJ25 turbo engines are overloaded with electronic stuff. It could be the cam phaser, it could be a misfiring injector. BUT, until you get it properly diagnosed, you are just making WAGs. (Wild rump roast guesses ) I don't know about Shawn at RetroRoo, but we don't charge to check out or diagnose, because we aren't a repair shop, and because Rick doesn't believe in it. Here's our website: http://www.ccrengines.com . We would just need advance notice of a day or 2, midday or early mornings are best. Emily

1. Place the engine on TDC for the cylinder to be tested. 2. Remove that cylinder's spark plug - and only that cylinder's plug. 3. Screw the leak down tester's connection hose into the spark plug hole (this is better done on a cool engine). 4. Connect the tester to the hose. 5. Connect a regulated air supply set at 100 psi to the tester. 6. Read the gauge. Some testers use two gauges; one measures air in, one measures air held in the chamber. 7. Remove the tester and hose, manually turn the engine to the next cylinder - repeat. Also: http://www.gregsengine.com/cylinder-leakdown-testing.html NOTE: leak down tests need to be done on an engine that is at normal operating temperature! Hope this helps. Emily

Obviously, I can't make any comment here on the engine question (conflict of interest and all that), but whichever way you go, you really should do the clutch at the same time unless it was done very recently. If a shop does the install, most won't charge any extra labor because the parts need to be swapped anyway. Save yourself the labor costs for down the road. Emily

Yeah, here in Colorado, that was definitely a righteous buy. Cars like that go for $3K all the time. Glad to hear you're happy with it. Emily

Dude...please. If you have low compression in one cylinder (as you have already stated), it is NOT a "simple" external fix. It is NOT the timing, the plugs, the wires, an intake gasket or any other magically easy thing to remedy. Do the leak down test: it will point to where the problem is. To get to the rings, you have to split the block. At 200,000+ miles, you would definitely have to replace the rod and main bearings and everything else. Once you split the block, you are looking at a complete rebuild. Or a used engine. There is a small (very small) chance that your oil and compression rings in that cylinder are simply gunked up with crud. I've seen it more times than I can count. They get positively baked into the ring grooves to where they simply won't come out even during engine tear down. You can try (and I do mean "TRY") this to degunk them: do an oil change, but replace one quart of oil with one quart of Rislone (old time engine cleaner, but the stuff just works). Drive the car about 50 miles, then change the oil again. You might get lucky: at least it's a fairly cheap fix to try. This won't be a permanent fix, but could buy you some improvement. Emily

No.

OK, let's go for the low hanging fruit here, because you weren't specific about it. Which "engine" wiring harness did you use, the EJ22 or the EJ25? (That is, the wiring that sits on the manifold and connects to the main harness via the plugs.) Emily

If he doesn't take them, and they're in good shape, I will! Lemme know. Emily

^^^ This ^^^

I disagree about not needing them: they are there to protect both the belts and idlers/tensioners from getting damaged, primarily by road debris. Unfortunately, Subaru discontinued them ages ago. We still rebuild that engine and we have an awful time getting them. Good luck!

While it's probably likely that the head indeed needed changing due to the cracking, that's not going to have any curative effect on bad rings. 30psi certainly sounds like that's the problem, but a leak down test would pin point it better. Certainly sounds like you have worn rings to me. (BTW, if the timing was off, ALL 4 cylinders would be affected, not just the one.) Emily

Carbureted.

While I am still somewhat skeptical about the zero grade, after doing quite a bit of research over the last hour, I have to say that, 0w20 FULL synthetic seems to be the way you're going to have to go. Especially if a mishap occurs and you need Subaru to warranty anything engine-related. NO 10w30 in that engine!!! I also noticed that they say change the oil every 3000 miles or 3 months under "severe" conditions, which includes stop and go driving. Off the cars101.com site: Severe driving is > Repeated short trips, stop-and-go, extensive idling (basically any urban driving) > Rough, muddy, dusty, wet, humid, cold, mountainous, salty conditions (basically any coast, country, or winter driving) > Frequently towing a trailer. > Racing I do still stand by my "check the oil constantly" advice, especially during your break in period. (Some engines won't use a drop, some use oil right out of the showroom.) I'm also still not convinced that Subaru has completely fixed the oil usage problems. Good luck and enjoy your new car!

It's apparent that I have way too much lead in my right foot!

This, from an online site, also borne out by TSB 02-157-14R, states 2011-2014 models are affected: There have been complaints regarding excessive oil consumption in some 2011-2014 Subaru models with the FB2o and FB25 engine. Subaru has linked this issue to premature wear of the Oil Control Piston Rings. The fix is to replace these piston rings on affected models. However, the vehicle must be within the 5 Year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty to qualify, and must be exhibiting an excessive oil consumption issue. Since the 2015 is still of the same design, it would be prudent to err on the side of extreme caution regarding checking the oil frequently until it can be determined whether or not one's car will indeed use excessive oil. Call it "cheap insurance". It's certainly cheaper than an engine rebuild!

Note that the user's manual specifically states only synthetic oil. And yes, they specify 0W20: I still, as an engine builder, have my reservations about that even given the oiling problems. Emily ps/ Nipper: you do know the oil light is only for LOW oil, not oil pressure, right? Not that I'm surprised that the dealership didn't point this out.

I'm a fan of Valvoline myself. I use full syn in my car. Why would you want to us 0W20 weight oil? Do you have any idea how thin that is? And in light of the following info, you should probably rethink that: BE VERY VIGILANT WITH THE OIL LEVEL IN YOUR NEW CAR! I can't stress this enough: Starting in 2014, Subaru is one of 4 manufacturers who have known issues with excessive oil consumption! This is far worse than the 1 qt. per 1,000 miles we've heard before. For now, check it EVERY DAY and twice on Sunday. I believe there may even be a class action lawsuit going on...I'm sure you can Google it. If you let it run low on oil and the engine gets damaged, Subaru will NOT cover it under drivetrain warranty. Emily

Again, I am going to put my money on the torque converter. Classic symptoms if the engine is running correctly. http://etereman.com/blog/transmission-care/diagnosing-torque-converter-problems-procedures-for-all-vehicles Emily

Specifics! Specifics! Geesh!!!

Thinking about it, it actually could be just the torque converter seal, but getting to it is the same as doing the TC itself, which is what I would do if it was my car. Actually this has been the weakest point since Subarus went to the 4.44 avg. gear ratio. Here's some good information: http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/all-about-transmission-torque-converter-problems-sensor-seal http://etereman.com/blog/transmission-care/diagnosing-torque-converter-problems-procedures-for-all-vehicles Emily

The torque converter probably failed. It is the only real weak point on these transmissions. In fact, when people are putting in one of our engines and they have an automatic trans., we recommend they replace the torque converter with a rebuilt just like we would recommend replacing a clutch at the same time. It would definitely be spilling ATF from the bell housing and would not engage. Good news: a rebuilt (don't even think of a used one!) torque converter isn't expensive. It most likely did not harm the transmission. Bad news: you have to remove the transmission to get to it. Most shops charge about 6 hours labor to R&R a transmission. Emily

My comment from last night disappeared!!! WTH? I tend to err on the side of caution with these belts. Subaru may say 105K, but we've seen many fail way before that, especially out west here with our extremes of heat/cold and very dry climate which ages rubber prematurely. At least, take off the small timing belt cover and check the integrity of the rubber. If it's cracking or looks weathered, do it now, regardless of the mileage. Emily

The '05 Legacy GT will have the EJ25 turbo engine, not the EJ20. Emily