idosubaru

i did have to put the rear seats down for this. this was pre-digital camera days so they are on regular film/pictures. i did just pick up a scanner but it's used, dont' know if it works. my power supply is fried too so my computer doesn't work...glad you brought this up i'll post that in off-topic to see if any computer guru's can help. i'll pm/email if i can and remember too.

i have no idea. but i doubt the EA series stuff swaps with EJ series so if someone put a gun to my head and said take your best guess, i'd say no.

that's close. the problem is with semantics, not facts. what do you mean by "get to"? if you mean to change it, then yes you have to remove quite a bit off the front of the engine to get to the timing belt to completely remove it. if by "get to" you mean to check the timing belt, then that's not correct. it's very easy to "get to" it in terms of just looking at it to inspect. remove a couple 10 mm bolts and you can look at the timing belt in all of 4 minutes or something. but just because you see it, doesnt' mean you're anywhere near close to being able to replace it. pull those few 10mm bolts and have a look. have to turn the motor over by hand, takes a 22mm to turn the engine over as you watch the timing belt. keep turning until you see writing on the belt. i'm not sure if the part number is even printed on the belt though....as many as i've done i just don't recall. after market belts don't always have the part number on it so if it wasn't done by a subaru dealer it could have some no-name brand on there. in which case you could look that brand up and ask them the mileage interval recommended for changing. they should have online resources/recommendations for that. timing belts aren't all that crazy of a job to do. they can be done in an hour or two....not that big of a deal. pretty good pay consider they're charging 600 or more! woot woot. i think the dealer will just tell you to replace it, doubt they'll rely much on checking it.....the last thing they want is to say "oh it's fine" then it breaks next month and you're trying to blame them for ruined valves and cracked pistons. so if you want to check it i'd have a friend look or do it yourself, i wouldn't expect the dealer to directly answer your question...they will say to replace it to protect themself and rightfully so as t-belt failure on these motors can result in major engine damage. i would do the same for anyone i'm doing a tbelt for.

you getting new or used, that will really narrow down this dicussion and get you better info. avoid or shop cautiously for old 2.5 liter motors (prior to roughly 2001). they can have head gasket issues. newer ones are fine and great cars. you need to look at them and see what you like...the ebay option is a great suggestion, check the styles out. i really dig the Subaru Impreza Outback Sport (OBS). They are like short wagons/hatchback sort of things. bought one for the wife and it's a great car, i like it way more than when i first got it. i'm tempted to start upgrading to newer subaru's from my old school fettish. tough...rugged...that's all oppinion. don't expect outstanding gas mileage on some of these AWD subarus' though. they don't get great gas mileage, but they do have AWD and reliability. that's the only thing i'd rather see different in the OBS...it's a 4 cylinder and gets worse or maybe the same gas mileage as my old school 6 cylinder subaru, the XT6 AWD. 25-28 mpg isn't that great for a 4 cylinder. but i dig it for the wife and she likes it too, so if i got her liking subaru's.....ding ding ding.... i fit plenty of deer in my dinky little XT6. i've had up to 5 in the trunk....got pictures. couldnt' close the trunk, but that's what ratchet straps and bungee cords are for. i strip all the carpeting out and drill holes in the bottom for hosing out or line it with enormouse pieces of thick plastic. deer are typically cleaned before loading so "guts spewing out" like previous poster mentioned isn't an issue. but thanks for the visual (yucK!) i have a full size ford F 150, but hate driving that big stupid thing. subaru all the way. has better traction anyway and LSD, just not the ground clearance but that's rarely an issue.

$1,200 is going rate from the dealer from what i've read on the boards. The new headgasket solves the issue. Don't keep overheating and if it has overheated be sure the dealer mills the heads flat or at least checks them first. I imagine they do it right, but i do everything myself and am skeptical of anyone else.

search the site for extensive information...probably the most posted about problem around for soobs. if it is always isolated to one cylinder, excellent diagnosis. this is probably a sticking hydraulic valve lash adjuster (HLA). if the tickign moves around more and is on random cylinders then it's usually oil pump seal related (just need a new seal/gasket). the ideal solution is to replace a sticking HLA with a good one. Mitzpah Engineering sells newly rebuilt ones for like 6 dollars each or pay 20/25 to the dealer. they will also rebuild yours for like $4. look them up on the internet. at that price i think i'd just replace them all since you're already in that far to the motor. if one got dirty enough to seize then the others could be dirty as well. if you don't want to replace then cleaning agents can and do work. MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil), Seafoam and ATF (automatic transmission fluid) all work well for this. Seafoam seems to garner lots of support and some excellent results for some people. Even frequentl oil changes over time can help, high quality cleaner expediates the process though. For MMO and seafoam, try one bottle of which ever you'd like to use added to your oil. See if it helps. If not, try two bottles at the next oil change. Or add one quart of ATF and the rest oil. I've used more than one quart before to expeidate the process but at that point be very careful and i wouldn't drive it around long with more than one quart of ATF in the oil. also my XT6's have a larger oil capacity i think...so i have more room to work with i think. I could be wrong though on capacity. i had 220,000 miles on mine that had ATF run in it after i first got it at 105,000 miles. engine ran fine at 220,000 until i ran it without oil by accident. whatever you choose to do, i'd pull a valve cover (p/s is easiest) and see how dirty it looks. if it's caked black with build up inside, then i'd plan on changing your oil often and add cleaners regularly (MMO or seafoam a couple times a year). If the previous owner didn't change oil often then that's why the motor is dirty. i've pulled motors with 100,000 miles that were caked black and in terrible shape due to poor maintenance and i've pulled them with 196,000 miles in excellent shape with the valve train/heads looking shiney new...i'd suspect those had very regular oil changes (that car came from the original owner, no surprise). that being said - be sure to change your oil often in a subaru. that might seem annoying compared to honda's where people neglect them to hell and back and have no issues like the tapping we have. but we also never need to have our valve adjusted like they do, due to the hydraulic valve lash adjusters. good luck and have fun

on the older motors you can actually unbolt the entire intake manifold assembly from the top of the long block. lift it up out of the way and either work on the headgaskets in the car or pull the engine. then drop it back in and lay the manifold back on top the long block. much easier than disconnecting wires, hoses, throttle cables, etc. i tried that for the first time this year and really like that method, should work on the newer models toO?

if the part number is on the belt or you can compare belts then have a look. the left and right belt covers come off really easy (just a few 10mm bolts). remove those and have a look. funny thing.... i asked this question about a month ago and really there's no way to know for sure. i think it best to be caustious and install a new one. call the local subaru dealer and ask if they can run the VIN and check the records on it. i've done that before once with good results, though not for timing belt information. requires a nice guy at the dealer of course, but worth a shot.

the shorter length of just the socket will work better than a long pipe for using the impact hammer method.

twice on two different XT6 engines i had a similar problem after having the motor out and down for a couple weeks to work on it. both times turned out to be a failed distributor. i got no codes and everything tested fine, but when i replaced the distributor it fired right up. you should be hearing the fuel pump cycle on when you turn the key, i have no problem hearing it and i have terrible hearing. if you put the ECU in diagnostics mode (connect the connector in the trunk), the fuel pump will cycle on every 1.5 seconds as it's testing. try this to see if you can hear it.

an EA82 with EGR system will get better or worse mileage than one without?

check the following: battery terminals have to be CLEAN and TIGHT. check both, make sure they are indeed clean and you should not be able to move, remove or rotate them around the terminal posts by hand. another easy check is to run a good ground wire from the negative terminal to a ground, on the XT6 the one by the oil cap has been a problem area for me. not sure where your grounding points are. i've actually used jumper cables to start the car before this way....only need one half of the jumper cables...so a jumper cable. clip one end on the negative terminals and then clip the other end onto the suspected bad ground. give the starter 12 volts and see if it will turn over, this will verify if the starter is good or not. starter is easy to remove, definitely no need to pull the motor, just a couple bolts to get it out. a little tight, but one of the easier jobs. it doesn't sound like your starter is the issue though. and of course the ignition could be the problem. check these three items out and i believe you'll find your problems.

EGR: can the valve fail or cause any issues with drivability? does it affect gas mileage? better with or without? i'll be putting my EA82 together shortly and am wondering what to do with this.

i told you it could be done! that's the way i would have went. i was interested at one time, but count me out on the buy.

this is normal, they can be a bear to remove. use a hammer and wail on the socket wrench handle. the impact will knock it loose before the clutch starts to move the car by the force. keep doing it a couple of time...wail on that joker hard with a heavy hammer....that will usually work. if this fails, the starter trick works every time. it sounds scarry but when you do it, it's like....dang that took 11 second and i'm done, sweet. make sure the socket is on LOOSEN (lefty) and seated on the crank pulley bolt straight and flush. then make sure the socket has something to rest against...either the motor mount or fabricate something very sturdy. lay it close and bump the starter, it'll back right off. just bump it quickly, just enough to break it loose. often the socket falls off, but the bolt will be loose, that's normal. i just wouldn't let anyone stand near there. not really much chance to hurt anything if you're careful. i've done this a number of times on tricky bolts and never had a problem on multiple cars...dodge, ford, subaru...

how about pic's of his work in your car?

i don't know jack about gear ratios so check this link out: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/USRM2/Transmission/gear85fsm.jpg

the XT6 AWD manual trans is 3.9. not sure about first gear, but it's only a single range trans.

HA HA HA HA HAA!!!!! late night laugh at work, thanks!

apparently they don't prefer PM. call or email them as they requested and you will get the help you're looking for. drag your cursor over their member name and click on it, you'll see the email option. it was also posted in their original thread, but the forum administrators changed the site and this thread was "restarted" without the email address actually posted in the thread. but just click on the name of any user and it will show an email option if they've chosen to make that available.

depends how much power you want. if you want alot of power then a turbo is the way to go. upgraded turbos', intercoolers, exhaust allows huge increases in horsepower. if you're happy with good power from the 2.5 liter then go with that. they have quite a bit of power and drive very nice in the large newer soobs. but NA engines are very difficult (read custom work, lots of money and time) to get large horsepower increases from. turbo's are very easy to upgrade. so if moderate power gains are okay, stick with the 2.5 they pull nice and you know something about the motor...from a friend, 50k miles on it. if you want gobs of power, go for the turbo.

received a box of goodies, all went well.

oh on your original post...not sure on timing belt interval. the 97 2.2's have a 60,000 interval. the 2.5's have some confusion down here in the states. at one point there were *two belts* offered, one for california spec cars (105,000 miles intervals) and everything else was a 60,000 recommended replacement belt. all the 2.5 belts you buy now (at least for the newer soobs) are the 105,000 mile belt. even if you order a belt for a previously 60,000 mile replacement interval equipped vehicle you will get the upgraded part number belt that is a 105,000 mile replacement interval. i'm not sure exactly what year motors this applies to though. it will be either 60,000 or 100,000 miles. if it's 60,000 miles then i'd look to have it done soon unless you can verify when it was done last. if it's the 100,000 mile variety then it's likely already been done relatively recently on this car you speak of. personally i'd like to have a look at it at least, timing belts are straight forward and simple enough (im' assuming you're in my boat since you consider head gaskets no problem), that you can go ahead and replace the belt. i'd want to replace the timing belt pulleys as well since they were likely not replaced even if the timing belt was. i actually repack the timing pulley bearings....i'm getting ready to post how to do that shortly.

copy that. AWD soobs are easy to find around here, that's why i'd be picky. if you don't have that luxury and can swing the head gasket yourself then tear it up. fortunately the headgaskets don't seem to *blow* in the traditional sense, more like they start a very slow leak that gets progressively worse. obviously they will blow in short order if you ignore your temp gauge and run it out of coolant. keep coolant in it and it won't blow.

i have an EA82 with 80,000 miles i could be convinced to sell, but you're too far. but the point is that i'm sure there are some around you available. buy the long block...unbolt your intake assembly (leaving everything attached) and swap long blocks and drop your intake assembly back on top without every disconnecting it. that works great, easiest way to do the swap.