idosubaru

use NGK plugs and OEM Subaru wires or at the very least high quality wires. those engines are not very forgiving of other ignition components for some reason, older subaru's it didn't matter like that. if the plugs/wires are unknown age/manufacturer then that needs to be checked. clean the MAF - they make MAF cleaner - the oil from an aftermarket filter may have saturated the miniscule hair thin wire in the MAF. or just replace it. they never really fail so just get a used one for a few bucks. i'm sure i've got 3 lying around. IAC valves - on older subarus cleaning them out can help, just spraying them down with carb cleaner if there are passages/valves that can get dirty and stick. i haven't had issues with newer gen so unsure if that could still help - but either way, same thing as the MAF the IAC's almost never fail so a cheap used one is a fine option.

post in the newer generation forum. pretty good youtube and other hits for SVX timing belt. align marks - remove belt, install new belt generally best idea is to get a complete timing kit with pulleys, tensioner, and tbelt. at 20 years old the pulleys are all devoid of grease.

no, they don't fit.

shuddering is probably just tire balance but i guess if the front end is bad enough maybe.... do the suspension first since you know that's bad. if you still have shuddering have the tires balanced. if they're that bad then you should probably replace the struts and springs. generally you can retain the springs but with prolonged driving on warn components the springs do more work, get compromised and can break. KYB struts are the go to struts for many Subaru people. it's not a hard job - 3 nuts up top and 2 at the bottom hold the strut to the car - so that's easy and takes a matter of minutes to get the strut off. the hard part is disassembling the struts - requires a spring compressor and is a bear of a job depending how much experience you have with such things. and you also have to get the top mount alignment proper so the strut still mounts to the car, once disassembled it's orientation to the lower mounts are not fixed. you have a couple options: 1. buy/rent a spring compressor and do it all yourself two options to avoid spring compressing: 2. buy the parts you want, remove the strut and let a shop/mechanic do the strut/spring swap for you, but you do the removal/install. 3. buy a used low-mileage strut and swap the entire assembly yourself. www.car-parts.com or look for low mileage take offs on subaru forums. there are no "loaded" struts - meaning new complete units like you can get for some cars, for subarus.

DOHC and SOHC doesn't really matter in itself. here's what you would do: bolt the original SOHC intake manifold onto the DOHC engine. if any sensors (cam, crank, knock, temp) have different connectors - just swap them out - SOHC in place of the DOHC ones. use your original SOHC igniter, coil, etc, you basically only want to swap the bare block/heads/cams, that's it. *** here's the only unknown you need to figure out (but this company probably knows this swap is possible, right, surely they've been asked): trigger points - the drivers side cam (top most cam for the DOHC) and crank sprocket have trigger points on them for the sensors, they need to be the same as the original engine. 1. first step is to simply remove and compare (or ask, google, search part numbers, pictures). if the cam sprockets have the same spacing/number of triggers then you're golden. install the engine as said and you're done. 2. if they are different then: install your SOHC crank sprocket on the DOHC engine, those should easily interchange, they just pull off and on by hand and cranks are identical. *** Here's the only thing I'm unsure of if you can do it or not - install your SOHC drivers side cam sprocket onto the DOHC engine 3. another alternative that will work for sure is to just bolt the SOHC to the DOHC block, then there's no cam worries since it's the same cam sensor/sprocket/triggers the ECU is looking for. could even swap just one side, drivers side to SOHC and leave the other DOHC but probably only me and a handful of others would do that, everyone else would poo themselves, LOL

or car-parts.com again, or ebay.

200k is no big deal, very reasonable to expect many more miles. i'd change the timing belt and coolant with a bottle of Subaru's coolant conditioner. timing belts are due every 105,000 miles or 10 years. so if the timing belt was replaced at 105,000 then it's due again at 210,000. interference engine - if the belt breaks the valves will bend so want to do that. at this mileage you want to replace with a timing belt kit - belt, pulleys, and tensioner. someone posted a gates kit on amazon that was only $100, they're usually like $150 - $200 on ebay. don't want to do this at the dealer - they typically only replace belts and to replace all of that is like $400 in parts alone. many of us also do the cam seals, reseal the oil pump/tigthen backing plate screws, and water pump while we're in there because it's all behind the timing belt and seals are only $7 each and very little extra time to do - crank seal is zero extra bolts, cam seals are one bolt each to get to. use Subaru only seals. the check engine light is no doubt the P0420 code it sounds like, at this point it's probably not worth diving into.

pull the timing cover and have a look at the condition of the timing belt, it's only 3 10mm bolts. inspect for cracking, severe glazing, etc. EJ timing belts don't fail that often - but as mentioned it's risky in that if it breaks you'll have valve damage. *** these things are cake for timing belts - can be installed in 30 minutes if you only do the belt...call it an hour your first time. personally i'd do the timing belt only right now - because it's so easy, quick, and cheap. then do all the timing gear, tensioner, headgaskets later. if the headgaskets are seeping coolant some folks have even added two bottles of conditioner, someone on here, GD i think has said it works nearly every time if it's recently started or not bad. obviously that stuff doesn't do anything if it's oil. these year/model headgaskets you can drive like 100,000 miles without ever replacing the headgaskest so you've got gobs of time for that. not that i recommend planning on 100k - they'll be leaking good by then probably, just saying you've got lots of time. friends 03 had a solid oil leak on his headgasket but the car had been wrecked twice, 250,000 miles and was in bad shape - wasn't worth doing headgaskets on. i told him to just keep adding fluids and driving it, it would be fine. he drove it another few years and like 70,000 or 80,000 miles. granted at 300k+ it was leaking really good oil by then...but you can pretty much predict it won't get bad that quickly. use the EJ25 turbo headgasket, not the one Subaru will give you for that non-turbo engine. unless they've changed something they still give you the same headgasket that was failing in 2009 EJ25's too. at this point timing belt is more important than the headgasket. i'd call the timing belt an as-soon-as-you-can-get-to-it item and the headgaskets a wait and see, you've got lots and lots of time to plan/prepare for that. this is of course assuming they've never been done before - replaced gaskets tend to fail in varying ways and quicker.

to some extent DOHC and SOHC doesn't tell us anything. some DOHC and SOHC engines are plug and play interchangeable. some DOHC and SOHC engines are not....so you need to tell us exactly what motor you're getting - not just DOHC or SOHC, that's meaningless at this point.... what exactly did you buy and why did you purposefully buy the wrong motor? a DOHC TURBO engine for your non-turbo vehicle? a DOHC JDM engine for your USDM vehicle? year, make, model, turbo/non turbo..JDM, USDM....

6 is ring seal 15 is torque converter seal go to subaru for those not really a necessity but man what a lot of effort for a $7 seal to go back in and do it later. never heard of the ring seals failing, not sure what would happen. seems more like a bushing than a seal but whatever.

i don't notice anything wrong, those don't ever really fail or pose issues. i don't recalling ever seeing it personally or on the forum. that seal was recently mentioned like last week by a guy wanting to pull it so he can see if he can install a distributor at that point - that thread has some responses on replacing that seal. otherwise it's not ever done...it's more of a plug than a seal maybe? there's no rotating part passing through it. doubtful it will ever leak, yours would be like the first.

JCE has a good point - EJ22's don't blow headgaskets unless they were previously overheated - make sure it actually is a blown headgasket. if you want to install the other engine then grab the exhaust mainfold as i said and it's a direct plug and play swap. EJ22's are robust and easily make half a million km's if they aren't severely overheated or run low on oil. you've got one of subaru's best engines they've ever made, there's not much gain in over thinking or over doing it.

two huge points here: 1. an engine is cheaper than headgaskets and intake manifold gaskets - which would be like $70? that sounds odd. don't buy a "head kit" or any head bolts, you don't replace those on Subaru's due to the type of headbolt/material used. they're reusable and never replaced. the last guy that replaced headbolts had his head gasket blow shortly after the work...LO 2. no need to pull that engine for headgaskets - look at it, all 6 head bolts are exposed - you don't have to remove any valve covers, cams, no valve train, nor anything like most Subaru engines. other Subaru engines are far more involved, this is the easiest one to do - they are so easy/quick that pulling the motor would be a waste of time. be sure to check out the DIY head resurfacing thread here. it's super easy and takes like 6 minutes to do it yourself. not even worth my time driving to a machine shop. EJ22's don't generally blow headgaskets, if it wasn't severly overheated you can probably get away without resurfacing the heads. but i consider that poor long term maintenance...but if you're only looknig for one winter, that's less than Subaru's 12,000 mile 1 year warranty they offer on their headgasket jobs which they don't resurface.

that's an odd failure, subaru racks rarely leak and it's usually when they're 20 years old. i've always thought that if i ever had this happen i'd actually...and i avoid additives like the plague...try some of that stop leak stuff. the power steering systems are so robust that it would be worth $3 to try in this case. if it doesn't work...what, you're replacing the rack anyway. the rest of the system is only a pump and hoses, no biggie. anyway - they're super easy to swap out. 1. remove exhaust manifold 2. disconnect 2 tie rod ends (you don't even have to remove the wheels - just loosen 19mm lock nut and unthread tie rod) 3. 4 bolts for steering rack brackets 4. 1 bolt to disconnect steering rack ujoint 5. 2 nuts for fluid lines on passengers side mark carefully ujoint placement to retain steering wheel alignment and tie rods for toe alignment. get a used unit, they fail so rarely and are so easy to replace that the cost of new/rebuilt is absurd. search for steering rack failures and you'll find 2000+ almost unheard of. car-parts.com and get a low mileage used unit.

ha ha - yes typo indeed. good catch, that should confuse the newbs!

there are multiple marks on the crank sprocket and people do use the wrong one and can experience valve damage. so experience in that he's seen it happen to others on the forums before for sure....

instrument cluster has a R light for reverse, so that may be an interior option as well.

those 97 EJ22 headgaskets are so insanely easy to do even with the engine in the car, i'd just do the headgaskets. for the same amount of work you get to replace valve cover gaskets, timing belt components, etc. the 1995 EJ22 will be plug and play and bolt right into the 1997, it's the same engine in those terms. the minor compression, hp differences are no bother. the one issue is that in 1995 EJ22's had dual port exhausts - you'd have to swap in the 1995 exhaust manifold as well. a minor point consider how involved an engine swap is. there is one advantage to the EJ25 - it is a non-interference engine. if the timing belt breaks, it doesn't matter. if the 97 timing belt breaks you'll have bent valves. and the 1995 has the old style tensioner which is more reliable - most 97's i have seen have the new style tensioner, that's right around when they changed. that being said - it's sort of a wash if you do proper maintenance - at this age the 1997 should have all new timing pulleys, tensioner, and timing belt. timing belt kits on ebay or amazon are $100 - $200. i think someone just posted a link to a Gates kit on Amazon for only $100.

switch is on the transmission case. alternately could tap the reverse light wires in the rear.

look for external headgasket leakage underneath at the head to engine mating surface. i wouldn't ever buy an EJ25 of this era without checking that very closely. check for torque bind. that's about it beyond normal stuff tires, brakes, boots, fluids, etc. it's due for a timing belt job in 10,000 miles - that's $700 at the dealer. which is sort of a good thing - if you buy it now you can make sure the timing belt job is done well - a complete timing kit and new tensioner. the dealer will only install a new belt, that's it. not a great 200,000 mile (next change interval) strategy.

there's plenty of room in the floor board? where your feet sit? it appears so far forward i can't picture it being accessible from inside the cabin?

copy, thanks. ECU comes out easy enough so i'll take a look under there but i'm not wasting much time, i think cutting and welding that frame area sounds like a pretty decent idea. if i can come in from the side it almost seems as if i won't need much room either, not much cutting at all.

if they're too rusted and it's a parts car i just torch the bushing out. makes me feel better about that stupid ($)*!$)&UT)*$!!!! rust when i get to torch it too!

you've found some subaru specialists right here! this forum is the best in my opinion as far as technical expertise and experience. a lot of the other forums are excellent but sometimes have to sift through inexperienced commentary too. welcome aboard. the forester sounds like the turbo variety - they have issues if they're not run on full synthetic their entire lives due to some unforgiving oil supply designs. if you can verify full synthetic changes that's a very good thing. otherwise, great vehicle. there are some subaru enthusiasts in that area, an SVX guy comes to mind but i forget his name and he doesn't frequent this forum. i have family in canton and go there from time to time, will be there friday actually. good luck with the subarus

if it was working fine before then my guess is the front diff will be far more problematic than the trans fluid.