pocketxgirl

You may also want to keep in mind that an alternator for a first gen legacy is 70 amps and the one for a 97 Outback is rated at 100 or 105 amps.

Um, that was a joke, right?

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll pull the relays and see what happens. At least it'll narrow my searching if nothing else! I think I left out some important info on this thing. When we (my son and I, it's his project) went to pull the motor, everything had the wrong fastener in it. And I don't mean the bolts were mixed up, I mean the majority of them were SAE with 10 years of rust on them. One of the fans had a single bolt and duct tape holding it on. About half of the bolts on the timing cover were snapped. What little coolant was left was Dex-cool.We bought the car from a kid who had been driving the crap out of it. It did, however, have brand new heads, and brand new timing belt, and new idlers. My theory is that this kid had his timing belt snap and it smashed all the valves. He got new heads and a timing set and slapped them on. He, or his friends, kind of rigged the car back together and started driving it like a race car. Then punched a rod through the block on the interstate and said screw it. This is why I think the that a relay went bad (they have all since been replaced) and the fans were just wired to run all the time. I think the transfer solenoid is truly an issue. The torque bind isn't as obvious as a fire truck coming at you, but I've felt it enough times to see the writing on the wall. Why I can't get the codes out of the TCU is a mystery but not as much as those fans. It's like a chinese water torture and it's making me crazy.

The temp gauge on the dash is reading below half, which is normal if my herd of other Subies is any indicator. And I watched the temp steadily climb from cold start this morning on the "live data" setting of my scanner until I hit 180 and decided that I had seen enough to know that the ECT was sending good data to the ECM. And there are still no trouble codes, either. Hmmm... So I have a new (and... desperate?) thought. if YOU were going to hard wire the fans to come on every time you turned the key, where would YOU do it? I can do mechanical stuff all day long but the electrical stuff doesn't come naturally to me. If I had wired the fans to constantly run and then posted the pictures on here, EVERYONE would have a good laugh!

Ok, all the ground straps are fine and I think the code in the TCU is for the duty C solenoid since the car wouldn't go to FWD when I popped a fuse in there. So, so much for the hot tranny theory. The harness also looks, for the most part, unmolested. Any other ideas?

Heads from a 95 2.2 will have an EGR and dual port exhaust. They'll just bolt right up. If you search "frankenmotor" you'll find tons of info.

Oooooh, I checked the ground by the battery but totally forgot about the strap by the airbox. Thanks!

So here's a thought... Since I can't seem to get codes out of the TCU, do you guys think the fans could be on if the trans temp sensor is malfunctioning and reading hot? This is what I did to try and pull codes- Located the black plug under the dash and put a grounding pin in #5 with the key out of the ignition. Turned KOEO and waited for flashes. Nothing. Tried the other grounding pin with the same steps and nothing. Ohmed the pins to chassis and they're both good grounds. Tried again but this time started the engine. 16 flashes then nothing. Am I missing something? I also tried the secret handshake about a half-dozen times for fun but didn't get anything. My next thought is that some genius may have hard wired the fans to switched B+ because they weren't kicking on so I'll see if I can spot any splicing.

The harness, crossover pipe, and sensors are all from the 2.2. The longblock came from a 95 (dual port) and the intake assembly from a 98 obs so it was plug and play. Thanks for the offer, after I pull out all my hair I might just take you up on that!

Have you tried cleaning the IACV?

The ej motors have been around for a long time (twenty something years?) and they all function similarly so if you want to tear the 1.8 down and get familiar with the layout, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Kind of like with Hondas how a B16 is similar to a B18 and to a B20. Same family. The 1.8s are pretty bulletproof and can take a lot of abuse. Unfortunately, they're also pretty gutless and as the saying goes, "there's no substitute for cubic inches." I would probably not spend a lot of money trying to mod a 1.8 unless you have money to burn. If you are pretty determined to turbo this Impreza, the easiest option would be to find a smashed SS Legacy with a complete 2.2T and start from there. Easiest option doesn't mean easy, though. You'd have to swap the crossmember or notch it, swap some sensors, swap fuel pumps, find and install a fuel management system or fmu, wire in the knock sensor, and then spend months tweaking things to get them to run correctly. Probably some other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head, too. You can kind of see where I'm going, right? :-) I know nobody wants to hear this when they have big dreams of big power but start small. The experience and knowledge you'll gain will be worth it. Or you could always buy and older SS leggy and blast around with it for while. It won't be a wrx but they're still loads of fun!

Both the test connectors are unplugged. I was going to plug the scanner in tomorrow to see what the ecu sees as far as temp. I was hoping to watch it rise on the live stream until it hits operating temp but now I'm not sure what I'm hoping for. The harness was changed with the engine so any break in the circuit will likely be a PITA to chase but I think I've used up all of the easy options...

For a self described noob? It might be a little more than you want to tackle. I've seen a few 1.8 motors with turbos. They're cool but still a lot of work, and the most PSI I'd probably push in it would be 5 or 7 pounds before I'd be worried about breaking something. It would definitely be a labor of love because in the end you wouldn't be breaking any land speed records with it. Dropping a 2.0T from a WRX is a wiring nightmare that I wouldn't feel comfortable messing with. Some guys are wiring gurus and are fine merging harnesses or even swapping the whole she-bang ( and I mean everything down to the tail lights), but I'm not one of them. I've seen a lot of Subies for sale that are halfway through a turbo swap because the enormity of it all became too much for the owners to wrap their heads around. If you want more oomph, drop in a 2.2. Then you can have fun with some extra HP while you really research what it would take to put a turbo motor in there the right way. :-)

I'm with Miles. I've never seen a 22e with an external head gasket leak. The very few gaskets that I've seen leaking on those motors have all been close to 250k miles and leaking internally.

OK fellas, I have to admit that I'm stumped. I bought a 97 legacy GT sedan (230k and 4eat) with a blown motor because I had a 2.2 that needed a new home. The car had been sitting in a lot for about 8 months with a rod poking out of the top of the case. When the tow driver put the jump box on the battery to get the car in neutral, the fans kicked on. Both of them, on high. When he went to unload the car, the same thing happened. As soon as the key went to ACC, they both roared to life. I stuffed in the 2.2 and it started right up, BUT those darn fans are still kicking on as soon as the key hits ACC. I've replaced all the A/C relays under the hood and all the wires going to the relays are plugged into them. Both of the ECT sensors were also replaced. There are no check engine codes. (the AT temp light does the 16 blinks of death at start-up, and even though I don't think it's related, who knows? I tried pulling TCU codes with the 5 pin jumped and the whole gear selector dance, but couldn't get anything out of it.) Oh, there is also a Clifford alarm installed but isn't connected. It's looks to me to be professionally mounted, but was obviously disconnected from power many moons ago. In the morning I'll plug the scanner in and check the temp reading from the ECU just to make sure. These things are making me crazy! Anyone have any ideas?