idosubaru

Thanks Josh, I sent him a PM with link to this thread. *** For that matter *** I can post a picture of my current hinges and he can simply look to see if they're different....i'll go do it now. Thanks Josh.

I have a 2002 H6 Outback that I bought wrecked, rebuilt it, and recertified it, and registered it. It had been run off road at a high speed. One of the rear arms was bent like that as well - so maybe that suggests it's common? In my case I left that alone and figured I'd work on it later once I got it on the road if I saw any tire wear, pulling, or other issues. 125,000 when I bought it. 200,000 miles right now. So far no issues after 70-80k, still runs great. The good thing about a wrecked EJ25 is that suggests the engine and trans were running decent before hand, no guarantee though but a good start.

get another motor. A lesser option is to bolt your heads to another EJ25 block...that's if you trust your overheated/oil compromised heads/cam bearing surfaces. 99-2001 EJ22's will swap into your forester as well. rebuilds are not cost effective either...not too mention extremely time consuming to do it properly.

under normal circumstances that won't cause the seal to leak. the oil pump should be completely resealed, remove it and: 1. tighten any loose backing plate screws (usually 2 or 3 are loose) 2. new oring 3. new sealant around oil pump body 4. new crank seal gotta lock the motor in place to get some good torque on a 3 foot long pipe over the socket: 1. automatic - use a socket extension through the flywheel hold to hold it in place. 2. manual - in gear with someone pressing the brake pedal

you can do front and rear or just one, doesn't matter, whatever you want - people do it various ways all the time. get the entire assembly - braker, caliper pins, and caliper. some folks just swap fronts and sometimes there are cases where folks just swap rears (usually when going from drum to disc brakes) bigger brakes won't necessarily give you "more braking power". if your current brakes can lock up your tires (which i'm sure they can) then larger improvements will be seen with new brake fluid and new/better tires. if your current brakes can't lock up your wheels then the problem isn't the size, but something is wrong with the system - probably just 13 year old brake fluid.

yes it's been done..it's been discussed on here before. try searching here and google. it's more common in Australia, there's an Aussie member here (probably more than one) who has done it before...his username is something even has LPG or something in it!

That does sound like EJ headgaskets. You could test for exhaust gases in the coolant, but it hardly sounds necessary to confirm at this point. YES - resurface the heads. for two reasons. 1. first it just makes sense to get the best job you can out of such a huge job. i do GD's method as shown in that link. unbelievably simple, just did, doesn't take long at all. I use a 3M spray on adhesive and it works awesome, spray the paper, slap it on the glass and it never moves. When I pull the paper up the adhesive takes seconds to wipe off and most of it stays on the paper. 2. the most important reason to do it is that if an EJ22 has a blown headgasket it was almost certainly previously overheated at some point in it's life. i had the valves already out of mine, but i've done them with the valves in the head before...may depend which heads you have/valve orientation/clearance and how much you need to take off.

listen to us, not the yards, they don't know any more than the computer tells them, that's all they can go by. listen to us who are going by experience. http://www.car-parts.com is a great resource for parts but has the same limited scope on interchangeable parts though. end of discussion - this is a done deal then, you've already done it!!!!! 96-99 EJ25's are all completely interchangeable, plug and play, same engine for this discussion. so the swaps you've already done are the exact same swap you need to do now. that's the only mis-information I see:95 - 98 EJ22's. the 99 EJ22 is Phase II and different, ignore those. Be advised we are talking *specifically* about your situation, there are some other differences - like all of this is not true for 99 Forester or Impreza RS which got the Phase II EJ25 in 99. So....make sure you follow our directions/advice exactly and don't assume the wrong things. Don't get a 99 For or Imp EJ25.

*** An alternative if you feel compelled to try to reuse the Subaru gasket would be to coat the gasket with some of that copper sealant/spray or whatever folks use sometimes. They swear by it, search for it. I don't recommend it nor have I ever used it but maybe that's an extra hedge of protection if you're cutting corners? in this case I would bet it blows way before 100,000 miles. but the answer to that question is "yes" and "no", because it's a poor question. it actually depends which motor you're talking about. some Subaru engines can handle aftermarket/cheap headgaskets just fine. The EJ25 engine on the other hand is a horrible candidate to cut corners with. The focus here is on the ENGINE, not the headgaskets. headgaskets are just gaskets...but the EJ25 is an animal that should be known when you're dealing with it. EJ25's have significant headgasket issues - Subaru has redesigned the gasket multiple times and even still it can eat headgaskets like crazy. You can search google and read all day long about it, some Subaru forums (though not this one) have dedicated headgasket forums on them just for this motor. Add to that, your particularly DOHC EJ25 is the most grievous of them all. The EJ25's of later vintage are a little bit more forgiving but I still wouldn't trust a cheap gasket on them. If you want more information google "All Wheel Drive Subaru Headgaskets" and you'll get a website of some shop guys detailing some very technical information about the EJ25 headgasket. The answer can get even more technical than that - engine design in the 90's was outpacing available headgasket sealing technology. So while they were increasingly pushing the limits and lowering the amount of sealing surface, clamping area, etc surrounding the combustion chamber, the headgasket and sealing technology was not keeping pace with those increasing demands. Many manufacturers had engines with headgasket issues in the 90's as manufacturers tried to eek out 6 more horsepower every year. If you look at 80's Subaru headgaskets and compare them to modern headgaskets you will see this - the 80's stuff looks really basic and simple graphite stuff, modern gaskets are suave looking multi layered stamped steel, completely different approach. Those older gaskets had no issues, but couldn't hold up to pushing the limits that were being pushed though.... And there's folks more versed in this than me that can add more reading if you want to learn more. I suggest google, "EJ25 Headgasket" will give you weeks worth of reading due to the severity of the issue. So - all of this to say - the EJ25, for a variety of reasons even beyond what i've mentioned - is a problem child motor. When you get a cheap gasket, it's not about "it's just a gasket", it's a very particular engine with some very particular failure modes that you're up against. it is that which we are commenting about when we suggest which gasket to use, we're not just making this up or holding on to some kind of OEM ideology. for that matter you can look up Six-Star or Cometic headgaskets - companies have gone so far as to make their own specific solutions for *this motor*.

Subaru gasket 610 (last three digits of part number) only for this engine. anything else is very risky and not worth the few dollars savings. this is not a place where you want to try to save a few dollars.

two very talented jokers are posting replies to your thread - follow along closely, follow their suggestions, and answer their questions.

I'm weird and put gas into my gas tank. I used to put stuff in there...seafoam, MMO...then I guess I just got too busy to think about it. Gas is equipped with mandated cleaners, I would guess and hope that it's sufficient for most daily driving duties...but I can't claim that holds any water either.

intake gaskets aren't as critical with EJ engines as there's no shared coolant passage. exhaust manifolds are best from Subaru...it's fairly often you can even reuse the originals. i prefer getting the Subaru OEM brown seals, but have no reason for that really either. valve cover gaskets don't matter - i just try to find a reasonable kit that has the grommets as well. i used to go with Subaru timing belts, but have been opting for the aftermarkets for awhile now. i get the ebay timing kits with all new pulleys and tensioners. i don't want to reuse the original pulleys and tensioners, they do fail.

i have one of the outback maplight assemblies that have the sunglass holder thing in it. i bought it for my Legacy LSi, but it doesn't fit the sedan.

on 99's it is - same basic idea like you said. later models went to a really nice and easy bolt-on style hub/bearing that's much easier.

I installed one, never ran the motor, and when i asked even then everyone said to replace it anyway to get it to seat properly. So I did. Stinks to eat it but it's such a huge job it's not worth it to me to repeat. If you don't mind doing the job again then do whatever you want.

wipe them off and let them sit and they'll shrink back to normal size eventually, maybe overnight? did you type that part number into google: http://www.worldimpex.com/parts/subaru-o-ring_1910718.html i've never heard of anyone replacing the HLA orings.

you won't get one. doesn't matter, completely interchangeable so it doesn't matter which MAF or ECU you use. the only CEL will be if you used a non-EGR engine in an EGR equipped vehicle. nope. yes

What is the difference between Impreza and Legacy hood hinges? Dave has two and isn't sure if they're impreza or legacy, is there an easy way to tell the difference? Everything I have and my friends have is legacy stuff or i'd compare.

that is seriously cheap, loaded with pads, pins, new boots, and clips and brackets too? core charge?

with that kind of mileage new valve stem seals would be nice. i'd be interested in buying the 99 heads if you have them.

if you want a diagnosis you may want to start with what the engine was doing and symptoms previously, the leak down tests probably aren't a good place to start. compression tests and leak down tests are generally pointless on DOHC EJ25's...all EJ25's for that matter. they *do not* show headgasket issues. almost all failed EJ25 headgaskets even pass both of those tests - they just don't fail that way. if you flog it, beat it, overheat to oblivion and such eventually those tests will show something. but for original headgaskets and normal conditions those tests are pointless. your results are probably from just carbon build up hanging the valves open a bit. i've disassembled a bunch of heads where that's common. just did one last week. the valves are just hanging open a little bit due to carbon build up. no big deal, a leak down test is nice in some situations but is nothing like the high RPM dynamic situation in an engine where minor losses don't mean anything over those kinds of durations. if the engine was overheating - then you probably had headgasket issues. EJ25 DOHC headgasket issues are easily diagnosed, they're so easy that i've never had to really do any tests at all. car overheats completely randomly. radiator or coolant losses will be completely predictable overheats - EJ25 DOHC headgaskets are not predictable at all. bubbles in overflow tank indicate exhaust gases getting pushed into coolant passages. and when running hot - if you turn the car heater on it'll blow hot for a minute and then cool down to ambient temps even when the car is running hot. all of this is DOHC specific, the SOHC have different symptoms and failure modes...though are just as easy to diagnose....

Pointless to clean or replace those strainers. They're never in need of cleaning and they aren't a filter at all. Even with 200,000 miles they're clean. It's like the screen in your window screens in your home. If it was clogged you would have serious trans issues and be needing a new trans, not a new filter. Fuel pumps have a sock on them too that's the same principle as the screen and no one is ever replacing those...and by design there would be far more merit in replacing some of those (the ones in line with the fuel flow verses the in tank styles) than these AT strainers, but no one is. The only value you'd have in pulling it would be to install a new oring, but without any current issues and your frequent oil changes I wouldn't worry about that. If you tightened the trans oil pan - make sure the bolt holes aren't "dimpled upwards" so to speak. i've seen it before where the bolt holes aren't flush anymore due to tigthening, it makes them "concave up" and the mating surface not flat due to tigthening the bolts like you said you did. you can try to press/tap them down, file it flat, etc or get another pan that's flat. maybe a significant amount of sealant would make up for it, i don't know?

i would run Beck Arnely stuff, I generally favor them for suspension/brake stuff if I don't go OEM. Rock Auto should have nothing to do with it - they're just a distributor. Maybe the stuff has some age or whatever but they've got no say in the quality of the parts. rebuild kits cost a few bucks (i've bought them as cheap as $3 before) and it takes a couple minutes to rebuild one. a shop set up to rebuild them would take about 5 minutes or less to rebuild a caliper...the logistics, boxing, and keeping track would take longer. they could rebuild 10 in an hour. EJ calipers are insanely easy and quick - there is only one part - the piston. basically just resealing the piston to the caliper bore. 1. remove piston 2. clean up piston and bore 3. reinstall piston with new seals/dust boot/clip older EA/ER stuff has to be "turned" on since it's threaded front piston due to the front integrated e-brake, but they're still just as easy, just a little more time.

thanks luckytexan, that looks good for me to try. where did you get it, i don't recognize seeing it before.