idosubaru

"it comes in pints!" shifting sounds erratic to me. since it's you post, i assume there's no check engine light or damaged transmission pan... lazy TPS? hmm, i don't recall what the last bottle/can/size was that i used was.

here's my thread that got limited response: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/124419-what-valve-spring-compressor-do-you-use/ the "C-Clamp" style compressors i've used suck really bad for Subaru EJ heads, so not sure what they're referring too - but all the setting and resetting and unsetting and cock-eyed compression due to limited space...was my experience so far. if i buy something i want it to be really good and quick, not time consuming and cumbersome. i'll just suck it up and muscle them out by hand with my hand tool before i do that.

subaruxt.com is an XT6 specific forum with lots of XT and XT6 members and information. we have the Subaru FSM's available over there as well.

EJ255 will require all custom work/parts: wiring - cut and label everything, have FSM's or pinouts for each wiring harness bellhousing adapter (SJR used to sell them, probably still does) or search for threads on how to make your own, it's been discussed. exhaust - turbo won't clear the crossmeber ***But otherwise the EJ engines bolt in place rather easily fitment wise. physically they fit rather easily with minor concerns (bellhousing being the onloy major one). the ER27 is a really bad candidate for a turbo. weak heads and more. have to go really light boost if you're just going to turbo an NA block, which won't get you to 230 hp anyway otherwise you'll need: turbo pistons (so probably a full or partial rebuild) custom exhaust and crossmember tweaking again the following is cost driven: fuel management - the stock ECU is weak $$$$$$$$$$$ or compromise with an SPFI injector and RRFPR rising rate fuel pressure regulator (inexpensive) if you're wondering what an ER27 is capable of you could look at what EA82T's are cabable of and multiply it by 1.5 - it's very close. EA82/EA82T's have the same pistons, pistons rings, bores, sleeves, bearings, valves, valve springs, HLAs...basically the same engine they just slapped two more cylinders on it to get an H6. so if you find old EA82 info, data, dyno charts - look at what they did and multiply by 1.5 to see what hp numbers are possible. but take note those have turbo pistons and they eat headgaskets...and blocks, and bearings for lunch....

i've never heard of a rebuild kits. i've disassembled them before and they are so weak in design i doubt they have rebuild kits. you can probably simply just clean everythign up and put it back together, make a gasket out of that sheet gasket you cut to shape yourself if need be. though i don't recall there being a gasket. paypal $42 to my username here at yahoo.com and give me an address and i'll ship one next week.

oh my word every valve spring compressor i've tried sucks terribly and is a huge waste of time on Subaru's. i started a thread before about what to use but haven't found anything yet that's priced reasonably. find that thread for other recommendations to chck into. they'll work fine for a few springs, some, many will rub the sides, then you gotta constantly fiddle with opening it up, sinking it in the head, releasing to get it back out, open it up wide to get it around the head, positioning the proper length, compressing, then only one retainer comes out because of the awkward angle, rubbing, and non-flat compression..so you gotta monkey around for a few minutes, and push/work the other retainer around while it's still in place in the valve to a side it'll come out on when compressed, recompress as far as you can before hitting the side of the head, then re-monkey around and adjust the compressor tool to move it to the next spring and do it again 10 more times.....it's awful. it also depends which engine you're talking about. they make a nifty, reasonably priced, little bolt on compressor for EJ25's and turbo engines with the recessed valve springs. i welded up a bolt on bar to do something similar on all EJ engines but it barely worked once and the flat plate steel i used was too thin and weak and bent under the pressure. i finally just cut a notch in a spark plug socket, ground it, ran allthread and a nut through it, put some large washers on the opposite end to place up under my arm and can compress all the springs by hand while removing/installing keepers through the notch cut in the side of the spark plug. some people will find compressing them by hand intolerable or impossible, so depends on you, but i'm glad to have a way other than spring compressors.

headgasket is only a 2.5 engine issue - not your 2.2. do a leak down test and verify if the pressure is being lost into the block or through the heads. if it's just the valve train, this particular year heads are super, duper, easy cake to remove. they're the easiest Subarus heads ever made to replace in the vehicle. just buy a used head for $50 or less and fix it. if the overall condition of the vehicle is decent and worthy of another few years it may be worth fixing, that year/model vehicle platform is not that hard to make 300,000 if it's in good shape. add up the cost of a used EJ22 (or even an EJ18 can work and can be very inexpensive and runs forever), a timing belt kit ($100 from ebay/amazon with all new pulleys), and a clutch (if needed - i'd do it while it's apart). if the vehicle and transmission is in decent shape and that cost is worth it for the condition of the vehicle, it may be worth replacing the engine. subaru's are expensive in your area so parts may be expensive as well. www.car-part.com you can use a 1996-1998 EJ22 (97+ EJ22's are interference engines and will have the new style tensioner - but save your old tensioenr and bracket on the 96 and use it instead on the 97 and 98 - just swap them out) a timing kit is a must on 97+ since they're interference. 95 and earlier EJ22's can also be used if you also get a dual port exhaust manifold with it. if you get a dual port exhaust manifold you can use EJ18's as well, they are inexpensive as there is little demand, mine was $150 with low miles and a warranty. just bolt the EJ22 intake manifold right to it and install the knock sensor in the top of the block, walla. i did it to my 96 Legacy. mine is an automatic and it's a little weak in the mountains with passengers, but i've put 70,000 miles on it, it's awesome in flatland. yours will fair a better being a manual.

it's not going to last, that's what they all do. it would very, very, very rare for it to "quick and never work again" - they almost always are intermittent. do the simple solder fix - it's actually really easy and doesn't take long at all - the cluster comes out in 15 minutes or less, simple. like 2 lower screws and two uppers for the black plastic surround 2 or 4 screws to remove the instrument panel then disassemble to repair. the car can be driven just fine without the instrument panel too so you don't have to worry at all if it takes longer than you thought, etc. i mean, you can't tell how fast you're going but just don't be stupid and it's pefectly drivable, i've done it a bunch of times, it's kind of funny and weird at first, but no biggie.

you need the turbo engine wiring harness and body side wiring harness sort, trim, prep, and label all the wiring (or pay someone on here to do it) splice and install EJ wiring into XT6 ECU adapter plate to mate the EJ engine to the ER transmission - or an EJ transmission with matching rear differential gear ratio cross member will not allow for stock exhaust routing, need to cut/notch/weld existing crossmember custom exhaust

we need more info than "i want to turbo it" - everyone just about "wants to turbo my car". you want to retain the engine, replace the engine with something else, are you doing the work, are you okay with custom wiring and splicing together new hardware....? Engine swap - this will all require wiring work, ECU, custom wire cutting, splicing, installing. it's not plug and play. EJ turbo swap EG33 (230 hp) EZ30 (212 hp) swap all three of those have been done by members of subaruxt.com (they're all members here but they frequent subaruxt.com far more). there are some folks on here that will do the wiring harness prep for you.

most typically replace it. they're cheap and easy to replace with the belt off. use a Subaru OEM gasket, the aftermarkets are thin cardboard. that being said - EJ water pumps rarely fail and generally give warning if they do...but i wouldn't consider it a good bet for 200,000 miles myself. it is more important to replace the timing belt pulleys and tensioner - those are far more likely to fail than the water pump. get the ebay or amazon kits for $100 - $200 with all new pulleys and tensioner. easier to find timing component failure than water pump failure online - i've also seen plenty of timing pulley/tensioner failures and have yet to see a Subaru EJ water pump failure. it happens, but it's rare. rarely replace the oil pump, no need too. tigthen the backing plate screws, one or more will be loose. use locktite if you're so inclined.

oh yeah - actually 1996 models had a spring recall or notice of some sort. i had one break on 1996 legacy as well.

indeed! definitely get it seated, probably just being stubborn, are you able to push evenly and straight on with everything lined up square?

fascinating how all that works, thanks! "hold back" was the word i was reaching for. based on your explanation, would this work...though I sadly see this is hurting the salesman which sounds like a terrible position: Negotiate price as low as possible, then deduct a few hundred and offer: "Call me when you need/want (careful word choice) a sale and I'll be here at this price" I have heard of people that want more specific vehicles also have less negotiating power over someone less concerned with color and accoutrements. If you want *that* color and *those* exact options and they gotta order it in and wait around...that may not play to the buyers favor?

some forums have threads where people share what they paid for a vehicle. i know subaruoutback.org has one. i'd go to a forester forum and look for a similar kind of thread. this forum is probably the best resource for Subaru specific mechanical and experiential expertise, not a resource on model specific new purchases.

also realize that dealers have expenses that vary wildly by location and the way they stock inventory from Subaru is a fascinating and complicated process/equation. so it's not as simple as "what did you pay for this car and i want to offer $200 more". inventory is stocked via contracts, changing valuations, credits based on complicated equations...etc. and then the business model as a whole is complex too...beyond just the sale of a new car.

welcome to USMB, i'm in Morgantown. they'll have different invoices and expenses, etc. if it's a hot Subaru market they'll be far less flexible than some southern dealer with limited sales. also they aren't likely to budge much from their typical marketing plan on a visit or two. you'll have to be very persistent, creative, on a vehicle that's not hot, and lucky to get a "better than average" deal. based on quite a few factors i would guess this area is not hurting for sales and you're likely constrained to their typical marketing plans minus small change here and there. if you're wanting to wheel and deal you might try bridgeport dealer first and see how it goes. a practice run and see what those numbers are like. once you know how they're going to play, add some questions and thoughts, and take that experience with you to morgantown. bridgeport may pull the "you don't live as close to us and aren't likely to service your car here so we're not that interested in negotiating" card. i bought my 2003 Outback off of Goshen Rd

what he said - replace the cooler oring. replace the oil filter - the oring on it may be compromised or sometimes weird things happen like the old ring stuck to the engine and wasn't removed so you got two orings in there, etc.

fluid changes are benign, you'd have to be really bad or unlucky for this to be fluid change related. you just emptied it then refilled it, right? can't get much simpler than that. and you already checked the level, ensuring no loss of fluid, etc. sounds good. i'd guess after the fluid change you were more perceptive and picked up a pre-existing issue.

i've seen that before. on engines that are run awhile with bad headgaskets the metal wears away like that, with a divot that looks just like that where the gasket breech is. i'm not sure why, i assume it's localized overheating that's partially to blame. i ran one of the motors like this, but it was 10 years ago and i can't recall how bad it was compared to yours. first step is to overlay a gasket on the block and see where your fire ring lands. it looks like it's mostly clear since the fire ring sits right on the bore, but if the fire ring is on that spot it's probably not going to hold. another option would be to take it to a machine shop and have them fill it with weld. not sure if there's a risk of localized overheating/distortion of the sleeve or anything but i would assume it's okay and it's already been locally compromised. if you're buying a $300 because of budget constraints then you might consider putting an EJ18 in it, those are easily found and cheap because there's zero demand. your EJ22 intake manifold will bolt right on top of the EJ18. if that's a dual port EJ22 then the exhaust bolts up, if it's not (all 96 and up EJ22's are single) then you'll need a dual port EJ18 exhaust manifold too.

you have stock sized tires? i'd wonder if it's bent. what year/model did the new arm come from? they are largely interchangeable so i doubt there's any difference at all. if it's the control arm i'd think it's likely bent. if you got it from a junk yard it's easy for it to have happened while it was driven or for a scrap car to have been wrecked or handled a lot in transferring - towing, pulling, yanking, lifting with fork lifts, you name it.

you do not need a new converter. unless the converter was damaged they last the life of the vehicle. any mechanic or shop that tries to replace it you should decline and look into options..unless you're okay with that expense. first step with *any* check engine light is to read the codes and tell us what they are. how many miles on the car. if it's an oxygen sensor code - replace the sensor. if it's a P0420 code then that's a debacle of a code, the worst code you can get, i dread seeing it. gobs of information on that. 1. make sure there are no leaks in the exhaust 2. make sure the engine is running properly and tune up items are in good order 3. clean out the intake with seafoam

it's highly variable. if you're close to the coast, don't get much snow, and the roads are flat, and the local snow removal is excellent - you may not notice much difference with snow tires with a meager commute and not much snow travel. otherwise snow tires are amazing and well worth it. if you want to keep the vehicle along time, get a set of dedicated wheels for the snow tires and your new wheels will last and stay in great shape much longer not being exposed to the winters. that's what most of us do.

i would attempt what rally keith said - just try to fab it together and roll. i've looked at them before and thought i would try the same thing if it ever happened to me - fasten the bits together with some kind of bracket or something. i had one to replace one time i think, because i remember considering this, but i think the wheel bearing ended up being bad so had to do the whole thing anyway.

never done a brat seat bolt but all larger Subaru bolts (with exception of maybe crank bolt) are 1.25 pitch bolts. Subaru's don't use a wide range of bolts so I would guess it's one of these 3: M8 x 1.25 M10 x 1.25 M12 x 1.25