idosubaru

the board member offering great prices is Toney: number is 1-800-542-1516

i'd replace the tensioner. this is an interference engine and not worth causing serious damage. try online discount place like 1stsubaruparts.com or Liberty Subaru, be sure to ask for internet discount. there's also a usmb member that offers discount subaru parts, i'll look up and post their info. i've dealt with them and they are most helpful.

Ms. Dickens, your best bet may be to do some research (won't take long). though i know you're new to the forum, it may help to search the Forum for "headgasket" and "cracked block" and see how many responses you can come up with. or start a new thread asking for anyone that has ever personally seen a cracked block due to overheating.

no need to appologize, sometimes new threads are started and the poster never returns yet the discussions continue. sometimes threads dont' get instant or many posts either, you just happen to be fortunate...depending how you look at it.

now i add a quart here and there if needed. one quart is %20 so i'd start with that much for now. i've done more before in the past, but haven't really needed to in a really long time. better to start light and work your way up only if needed. give it time and it may gradually come clean. i'd run about %20 ATF or MMO or seafoam in it personally and drive it around like normal like that. keep doing that and see how it is in a month. change your oil all the time and keep an eye on how dirty/clean it is when you drain it. if it's really black you're not changing it enough and that will hurt the HLA's. as a matter of fact, depending how dirty the motor is internally any cleaner could quickly dirty the oil so keep an eye on it. dirty oil is bad for HLA's.

TOD does effect performance for sure. run ATF, MMO or seafoam in your oil to alleviate it. if you know it's in one cylinder only then it's likely related to the HLA's being dirty. change your oil OFTEN...all the time. it can take some time. start with low dose...then increase if you don't get results. often you see results immediately, sometimes it takes awhile. if yo'ure comfortable, pull the timing belts, cams and replace the faulty lifters. cylinder #1 cam is much easier than drivers side. it can be done in an hour or two for those that have done it alot. (don't have to worry with disty, more room than the drivers side, no ATF hoses, etc). if the TOD moves around (occuring across multiple cylinders) then it's likely oil pump related. repalce your oil pump seals

how much increase? what are you looking for? like i said NA will be very tough to get more power out of. you can do everything above and you won't notice much. it will not make the car fast. you will not get a "WOW" experience by doing anything simple to an EA82. advancing the timing is a great idea though if you want to run higher grade gas. very simple, 10 minute job. but you'll likely need higher octane. myphalyx did some dyno tests on his XT6 and i think he got 7 or 11 hp increase just with timing advancing. that's alot for NA, but not very noticeable while driving. and that was on a 6 cylinder, not a 4, so expect lower numbers, close to the same percentage.

if you're not looking for much power, a complete tune up can help a good deal. test compression so you know you've got something solid to work with if you're looking for significant gains. a normally aspirated (non-turbo) is hard to get more horsepower out of. i completely resealed a guys XT EA82 a couple years back (3AT transmission) and it ran better after i was done. against my recommendations he had the heads ported, polished and upgraded delta cams....$1,000+ worth of work...and it was not very much increase with all that work and parts. i think the reseal alone, new head gaskets and a valve job and cleaning everything up might have been most of the increase. but it was by no means "fast" even with all that work. that's why i say a basic tune up....plugs, wires, cap, rotor, carb stuff, timing belts, changed trans fluids will all help some. open up the intake and exhaust a little should help some. a turbo is much easier to extract power from, so your best bet for performance increases you can feel is to go with an EA82T.

agreed, i'm not interested in experience anyway, he's been lied to or misinformed. i don't know sam but if i did i might pat him on the back for a heck of a last name! HEY - where is this dude! i think he traded it in already!

not sure why you're fired up. i was asking where the crack was, i never insinuated the dealer or you at fault for anything. maybe you thought i was joking? i was literally curious where they would have a tendency to crack. i never implicated you or your dealer, i'm glad you're comfortable there. i'm just a hobbiest, but no need to tear me down. i'm an aerospace engineer at NASA, i've had plenty of classes relating to stress, fatigue, failure, materials, engineering, casting, foundry, isotopes, alloys, etc. and i've happened to pull apart lots of motors that have overheated and not overheated. i don't like his dealer lying to him, that's the bottom line. i have held the same point all along, they have been unfair and lied to him. that's my only stance and i don't think he should tolerate that. i was even trying to make it humerous as i'm finding it amusing that he still hasn't returned!!

i was searching for some swap information this morning and saw past thread on swapping a turbo into an NA car. use the search function...click on "advanced search option" or whatever it's called to narrow it down. i used "2.2 swap" and "2.5 swap" searching in "titles only" and the "New Generation forum" and saw some good threads.

did you see the crack yourself? i'm curious where they crack. this would be good information to know so those of us that frequently work on motors know where to look. it certainly can happen. it is very unlikely and would require extended driving while overheating or horrific luck. my biggest beef with these idiots is that they a$$ume catastrophe even though it'$ not likely without explaining anything. they $hould explain the $ituation and let the cu$tomer decide. i would totally understand if they highly suggested replacing the motor because they don't know and they won't take the risk or tell the customer X amount of dollars to pull the heads and check it. but they are absolutely lying by saying "it's a cracked block", i would trust them no further. if i can't trust them there i trust them no further. has this guy even returned to and read this thread yet? ha ha!

i'm about 30 minutes from Frederick. not many MD members. there is one other very active MD member and he's in frederick, other than us two not a ton of active members that i can think of. i know another guy around the philly area but he lives in DE and is very active here as well. they will likely both chime in.

intake bolts are problems on the EA82 and ER27 as well, i've had many many of these snap. if you have any more that are stuck, spray liberally with Liquid Wrench or PB BLaster (don't use WD40, not nearly as good). try to get it down or around the bolt hole if there is any access at all. if they come out a little bit then start to bind or won't come out, tigthen them back down, then loosen, then tigthen. repeat this a few times before trying to get them all the way out. tap the head with a hammer. if you can get it out at least about 1/4 inch, this has often worked great for me, use a prybar to exert alot of upward force on the bolt while simultaneously turning it out with the socket wrench. need enough room under the head to get the prybar / digging bar under it. i've had alot of bolts that come out a little bit, but then spin in place and won't come the rest of the way. drills and sawzall can finish a really tough job.

i was just doing a search this morning and ran across two other threads from the past that don't mention any issue with the starter. never saw anyone have a starter issue, here are some examples, this is copied and pasted from my notes i'm keeping from this website: ________________________________________________________ Just finished putting a 95 Impreza 2.2 into a 98 Outback. Both were autos. All worked fine, but the flex plates are different size, by about 1/2" dia. (don't ask me how I fournd this out). You will need to keep flex plate from your Outback and bolt it up to the impreza engine. The Air conditioning mount bracket has smaller mount bolts as well. Keep all the brackets from your Outback. __________________________________________________________ well after gettin my 95' 2.2L engine outa the impreza donor car.. i set in to putting it in today.. started at 9:30 finish and drove the OBW for the first tim in a couple months at 4:30.. woulda took less time but i had to take it back out a 2nd time cause the wrx torque converter and flex plate would not work.. had to put my 2.5L flex plate and converter on..

good point. they did have massive flooding so it was flowing water and probably very forceful, i've been in and on fast rivers before and they are quite scarry and powerful. maybe he misinterpreted the circumstances - blaming the car and really it was the fault of the water pressure against it.

congrats on the SVX, they are sweet machines. timing belt - depends, have you ever done one before? it's not an easy job for someone that's only ever changed oil. but with any experience it's not that bad. great cars, two notable issues with them that can be avoided with proper maintenance: you would be most wise to immediately, and i mean find out when the store opens and be waiting at the door, install an aftermarket transmission cooler. the SVX is notorious for eating transmissions. an aftermarket ATF cooler and fluid change would be most wise. they only run $30 and are easy to install, best $30 you'll spend on the car. and check into tightening your lug nuts i believe. another oddity is that the wheel bearings fail at an alarming rate, my memory is vague but i *think* lug nuts not being tightened properly will adversly affect the wheel bearings. if that's the case be sure the wheel bearings are always tightened to the right specifications (most shops and people just wing them on 'cause it doesn't matter so long as they are tight enough not to come off). you'll want them at the right torque value if i'm right...again i'm not positive of the cause but the SVX definitely can eat wheel bearings. i know someone that replaced bad ones and the new ones quickly failed..... he learned the hard way. and don't crack your windshield, dealer only and $700 for a new one.

that's not off topic at all keith. he needs to hear from people that know what they're talking about to avoid the run around.

panic. he's a newscaster? non-technical, plays on emotions no offense, but i see that type of person performing less than ideal in a situation like that. over-generalization yes, but i highly doubt he's the most technically sound individual around. who would you rather rely on to get you out of a compromised and deadly vehicle....an airline mechanic or paris hilton? i bet he leans towards the paris hilton side of dealing with life and death situations.

i doubt they were wrong either about the codes and fans, they were probably right. they were'nt "wrong" about the hairline crack either, they just completely lied or creatively worded it....let me explain so you're educated about your circumstances: about the hairline crack, anyone on this group that has replaced a dozen or more headgaskets themself will tell you that is highly unlikely. i was a little harsh in the last post, but that marketing drives me crazy. they're using a very liberal definition of "engine" to scare this person into a very expensive and unnecessary repair. can you tell dealerships and shops have screwed over my friends and family numerous times in the past? i have not. you may have a serious internal leak and the engine (the long block) is hosed. but the engine (short block) is likely fine. if by "hair line crack in the engine" they mean a "hair line crack in the headgasket", they are probably correct but using a liberal definition to scare you into a very large (and i repeat unnecessary) repair. if by "hair line crack in the engine" they literally mean a "hairline crack in the block casting" they are probably wrong or banking on the %1 chance of that happening (i have yet to ever see it on the any subaru over-heat that i've seen). so i appologize in saying they are straight liars, but they are being very creative in their use of the english language.....at their customers expense. i like being straight forward. if you want to help with their next yatcht payment, then by all means have them replace the motor as it will certainly solve your issues. if you want your car reliably and cost-effectively repaired without supporting those bafoons, then listen to this group. pardon my distrust of dealers or my disapproval of liars.

you likely do NOT need a new motor...hold tight while i babble on..... here's what i would check immediately, or someone here can answer. unplug the connector yourself (it's really easy to get to, takes about 42 seconds). look at the fans and look at the one plug on the fan. unplug it and see if your CE light comes on with the car running. do this as a test to make sure that a disconnected fan will throw a code and CE light. on all older subaru's the CE light will not come on with the fans unplugged, maybe the newer ones are different, but i would check to be sure myself or ask someone on here, they probably know. while you're doing this you can check what nipper said and see if the clips are still on the connector. i would also fill it up with pure antifreeze and drive it around a bit - don't let it overheat, but get it up to normal temperature and look for signs of antifreeze leaking under the car, in the engine bay or out the exhaust pipe and let us know what you find. did the car overheat at all before the CE light came on the first time? what came first the CE light or the overheating or did you never see the temp gauge before the CE light came on? subaru is not liable. even if they diagnosed it *wrong*, there is no way to prove anything, so i'd abandon trying to prove them wrong. most likely the body shop or broken tab like nipper said. in the winter it won't overheat unless the car sits at idle (no air flowing over the radiator and no fans to pull air through) or you load it up a hill or towing, etc like nipper said. did you ever idle for an extended period before the CE light and overheating episodes. if you let the car idle before (say 10 minutes or so) and it never overheated then the connector was plugged in at one time...or better yet do you ever remember hearing the fans run, they are audible when they kick on if you have the windows down or are outside of the car. ask anyone who rides with you frequently if they recall, they'd be likely to hear it as yo'ure in it while it's on most of the time. this stealership is also completely and utterly full of crap if they told you a hairline crack in the motor, i would walk away and deal with someone else if that's really what they said. there is no way they could even prove a hairline crack without disassembling the motor and checking the failure point. if you're misquoting their diagnosis i take back my harsh statements, otherwise leave now. overheating *normally* blows a head gasket, that's a very common occurence. the XT6 i just got out of a few minutes ago had blown headgaskets. i knew the previous owner, his sister drove the car while it was overheating and blew the headgaskets. i got the car from him, replaced the head gaskets and the motor runs great, had it for about 25,000 miles and 3 years now. my friends headgasket blew on his neon - replaced gasket and it ran great. my parents van overheated and blew a head gasket...same deal, another guys subaru XT overheated and blew a head gasket and i replaced it for him, ran great. i think you see a pattern, i have yet to see an overheat do anything but require a new headgasket. i just ordered 2 today for an XT Turbo that i overheated and had blown head gaskets - $44 for the set, i'll install them this week and the car will run just fine. you most likley just need new head gaskets. head gasket jobs are posted about all the time on this site and they run about $1,000 - $1,200 at a dealer. did they do a compression test? a leak down test? did they give you any details or just look at it and say "hairline crack", because that's impossible to diagnose in practice. i'd replace the head gaskets (have someone like me who won't BS you about your motor, not that dealer). if you do'nt like that idea, have someone do a compression test and/or leak down test for you and give me the numbers and i'll tell you what i think.

if crankcase ventilation was this bad of an issue, i would expect your oil stick would likely be popping out an inch so. does it ever do that? if that much oil is getting into a cylinder i would pull the plugs and see which one/ones are getting terribly fouled. that will tell you if it's related to one head or one cylinder or if it's not cylinder related at all.

the RPM drop would only occur with an automatic, not a manual. could it be that while rated at a higher hp/tq, the 2.5 had lost some efficiency over the years due to age, overheating, bad headgasket. i assume you replaced it because the head gasket was bad, so it probably hasn't been running at top efficiency for some time. might be why a fresh 2.2 feels nice and has lower RPM.

i've pulled and played with plenty of NA, but this will be my first time touching a turbo so i wasn't sure what "high temp" hose was. thanks for the info.

Toney is occassionally on the board offering Subaru Parts at excellent prices. email: subaruparts@johnphils.com I have bought parts from them (be sure to talk to Toney and tell them you're from the usmb), you'll get good deals and no B.S. or go to www.1stsubaruparts.com excellent prices as well. i like ordering on line, it's cheaper, or the same price if you have one of those rare relationships/dealers, and no down time running to the store is another advantage. if you have internet at work, you get paid while you fix your subaru.