idosubaru

ahh...no intake manifold eh? intake manifolds are easily removed in the vehicle - so swap the drivesr side cam sprocket and crank sprocket, drop the engine in, plug it in and see what happens. if it's not working out then remove the intake and install an EJ251 intake manifold - it bolts right up to the Phase II EJ22.

that belt looks terrible to me.

LOL we don't know the conversation and who said what or what implications or qualifications or guesses were or were not made - so third party comments are limited in scope. i agree though - it's a parts car, end of story. $600 is steep for an unknown parrts car but $600 is cheap for an EJ25 so sounds like he took a gamble and lost. you can't buy eery $600 EJ25 you see and expect them all to be amazing. the car was a cheap parts car for a reason - why was it so cheap when you bought it? certainly you had some inclination? if the trans was good - i'd almost guess the engine is bad. a car with a missing trans can be assumed (rightly or wrongly) to have had a bad trans. i've bougth them like that before (and currently drive one of them) in which case one would expect the engine to be good....

+1 get a metal rear separator plate and it's associated screws (they are different). it gets RTV type stuff, no gasket. rear mains in Subarus almost never leak - and they are prone to leak if not installed VERY carefully. they are not nearly as forgiving as front crank or cam seals - you have to go slow, intentional, and precise with rear main seals in Subarus. i've always wondered why Subaru main seals don't leak?

every 1998+ i've ever seen has the new style tensioner. 1997 is a crossover year - i've seen both - though in my experience they usually have the new style tensioner. an old style tensioner is most definitely not a 1998 - maybe a 1997 - and more likely a 1996. that new style tensioner was used from 1997 - 2007+ so just look it up on subaru's opposed forces website and click on "USAGE" it'll show what years it was used on and it will show all 1998's i'm sure. or look up older 1996's if it goes back that far. or look at online Subaru dealers or stop in a local deal or look on ebay for that tensioner part and what years the OEM SUBaru tensioner applies too - you'll see a trend i'm sure as i outlined above. the old style tensinoer will never be listed for 1998 i don't think for OEM Subaru parts.

i wouldn't expect to see that style tensioner on a 1998 EJ22 either, though the new and old style tensioners can be swapped. i'm unsure how to tell long block differences.

it's pretty easy to get a front impact Subaru back on the road - replace the smashed bits and keep going. i've repaired some really bad ones without replacing the top radiator mount- the thing twists and moves by hand almost - it's obviously not extremely rigid structurally to begin with. pull it out with a come along, winch, etc - get things close, replace parts and drive it some more.

pull a fuel hose and see what sprays out - takes 2 minutes. as said - check passengers side belt - 3 10mm bolts will expose that side cover.

jezek - i doubt this guy will become a regular member and communicate through this site - this was more of a plug/advertisement - i'd hit them up on facebook if you want to talk to them. i'm sure traveling they're be quite busy and distracted by quite a few things as well.

a 2001 EJ22 intake manifold plugs right into the EJ25 vehicle. are you positive the EJ22 intake manifold won't plug into the vehicle wiring harness? are you positive it's a 2001 EJ22? maybe someone mis-informed you? can you post a picture? you need to swap drivers side cam gear and crank sprocket or verify they are the same. there are two styles.

those aren't compabible with legacy/outback.

the 2.2 can't be beat for long term inexpensive reliability. $500 engine - $500 install - $300 parts and you're coming in at half your current quote. the engine and install can be had/done for even less than those numbers as well. www.car-part.com If you get it repaired: 1. Use Subaru or Six Star headgaskets 2. Have the heads resurfaced

www.car-part.com I have a pair of tan front leather, electric adjustable, heated seats from 00-04 Outback.

the catastrophic nature of the event sounds largely oil starvation related - the heads are probably fine. if you're uncertain - have a shop pressure test them. Mark Small machine shop in Westminster and another in taneytown, MD and another in Eldersburg, MD can all do it...i'm sure there's gobs more around you. take them in and be done with it. otherwise www.car-part.com

I don't have a live data scanner, don't think my OBDII's do that. I have a cable for laptop...RR probably, but software install went wonky and never sorted it. What you say makes sense and probably is what is happening - but why would another 2002 VDC H6 wagon (same exact vehicle) not do that even though it ran much hotter than this current one?

Ignore the cracks unless the engine was severely overheated. on those particular heads - almost every single one on the road has those cracks between the valve seats. If they're severely overheated like really bad - the cracks could possibly extend down into the exhaust ports - that usually only happens on turbo motors and is rare, but it happens. so if she ran it low on oil, run the heads. if she overheated it - how bad? a machine shop can pressure test them and see if the cracks extend into the exhaust ports. you could alternately try and get water/light into the crack and see if they extended into the exhaust ports yourself? maybe search here and see if others have done that...i've never tested one, just ignored the cracks. *** note - a machine shop will likely freak out at those cracks. there's probably few if any shops around that will be familiar with 1980's Subaru heads and know how common/normal those cracks can be. you'll have to decline all their services and suggestions and worries about warranty that the heads are trash. 2.2 is a completely different redesigned platform with no compatability at all. heads won't work, engine can't be easily swapped (unless you swap out and splice in the entire wiring harness/ECU and make a bellhousing adapter plate).

As one of Subaru's best engines they've ever made, they do not blow head gaskets without reason. Subaru people/shops have been working with EJ22's all the time for decades, they aren't mysterious, difficult, challenging, or problem child engines. Should be simple: 1. heads are not flat or the repair wasn't done right - this sounds unlikely based on your skill level and thorough investigation 2. headgaskets (or bolts - purely speculative as i'm unfamiliar with aftermarket bolt quality?) are cheap 3. it was previously overheated severely and the block is compromised...cylinder liners shifted or something else. is there a way to test cylinder liners moving/shifting/misplaced/evenness? Address either numbers 2 or 3 and it will not have a repeat failure. If you feel confident the parts are not too blame it could make sense to source another block. www.car-part.com

I pull them out and repair them right there at the black boot cover without removing anything - splice in enough wire to shove each spliced joint far into the body and hatch or away from the hinge in a sedan - so they're removed from the flexing area.

i've done it before, you can use an EJ25D but you need to use thick headgaskets - the pistons protrude past the block and can strike the heads if you use a really thin headgasket. i forget which gasket i ended up using but i'm sure it woudlnt' be hard to figure out. not too mention the EJ25D is the worst engine subaru ever made. very high chance that a used EJ25D has been overheated before - and when they overheat - it is completely random, can be separated by months between incidents, come and go - and lend themselves to people liming them around for too long/too many times overheating...then they can get misdiagnosed many times...mechanic replaces radiator (i have one in my driveway right now - bad headgasket - mechanic replaced radiator 4 months ago...it's the headgaskets), then thermostat...more overheats in between....anway - they're just a risky engine. i'd get a SOHC Phase II block. that being said i have a known good EJ25D block that has a high likely hood of having never been overheated if I can't get it to a guy in California who wants it: $400.

Didn't clear them - light goes out on it's own so I assume codes are coming and going. VDC light comes on.....temp gauge starts to creep up (with definitive overheating symptoms)....let it cool down and the VDC light goes off on it's own. Coincidence - it does it like clock work, 100% repeatable, every time as described above, so that doesn't seem likely. At first I assumed it was miscommunication over the phone...those symptoms sounded unlikely...but now that i have the car and talked to them in person that's what's happening. There's a thread on subaruoutback.org from a few years ago where a guy details the exact same symptoms. But he never followed through and hasn't replied to a private message. Hmmmm, talking about it now - how about this conjecture: Maybe it depends on where the breech happens in a particular cylinder and a particular sensor gets hot locally before the engine sensor does? In other cases if the breech happens on a different cylinder, that particular mystery sensor doesn't get hot before the engine temp sensor.

i'll check alternator output and for crank pulley separation.

crack smoker isn't that a good guess Dave! i'm about to pull the engine and replace the headgaskets on this H6 beast. dealer confirmed exhaust gas in the coolant. i'm still perplexed about that VDC thing when I had the exact same vehicle overheating before that didn't do this? that just seems weird. actually i still have that vehicle on hand...maybe I should switch VDC controllers and see what happens. LOL

headgasket. fairly typical symptoms including randomness. the breech happens on the lower half of the fire ring and pushes exhaust gases from the cylidner into the coolant passage there. symptoms can vary...due to thermal, loading, and other dynamic characteristics, for instance the breech may only be exposed under certain conditions, hence the randomness. i assume the fans are coming on properly and it's been properly burped and ideally the cap and tstat should be from Subaru. but if all that work and testing has been done and the symptoms are identical....those items are unlikely the cause and that brings us back to headgaskets. use an electrical or chemical test kit to test for exhaust gases in the coolant - that is the best test. report results back to us.

how positive are they of the diagnosis? those can be tricky to diagnose, i'm surprised they caught it that easy. www.car-part.com should have them cheaper than that. ask machine shops (like the ones that do head resurfacing) to replace ujoints. that's what i've done before. hand them a ujoint and shaft and it's simple for them. i don't recommend it but i've put some miles on bad ujoints before. they can cause some serious damage when that thing lets loose and start taking out everything around it, so it's risky. you've got a good chance of making it until thursday just fine and yet a real possibility of it failing. if you notice increased vibrations and the rear view mirror shaking....i'd quit driving immediately. drive easy, light on the gas and brake. insert FWD fuse if applicable.

all 95 automatics have EGR. 95 manuals don't. i've switched stock EJ22 and EJ25 ECU's multiple times and noticed no difference. granted i wasn't trying to hit rev limiter. i was at canton pull a part saturday, thanks, got some good stuff! there's an EJ25 in a wrecked 03 outback - so presumably the motor is good. get that block and bolt your heads to it, 25+ hp bump for only $125 plus headgaskets? sell the heads for $100 and it barely costs anything.