idosubaru

i don't know condition but those prices seem insanely low to me. 165,000 miles is no big deal for a properly maintained EJ. another 100,000 wouldn't be that surprising...assuming it has good maintinenance history. be sure to CLOSELY inspect the headgaskets and ask how long they are warranted (the previous repair). unfortunately dealers for that era install the same failure prone headgasket that was on the car to begin with. done right it should be fine but i'd rather see an upgraded gasket than the same thing that leaked in the first place. just make sure there are no current external leakages - a 05-09 EJ25's typically get worse very fast once they start to leak externally. i'd be careful downsizing, make sure you're not going to get annoyed at that. you can always get a hitch and cargo carrier or something if needed though. don't want to buy a car and be restricted shortly... my father in law gets 30+mpg out of their 2009 legacy sedan automatic. he lives in flat land and drives like there's an egg on the gas pedal. i would suspect an impreza to easily get the same. i'm sure you could google it.

don't believe retailers or are trying to make a buck off of services. oil changes are CHEAP because they want to drive you to their store to sell you services. it's a lure - and you're a fish, don't buy it. you haven't mentioned smoking so it's likely not leaking. when they actually leak the oil drips down and smokes off the exhaust. they saw a wet spot, no big deal and normal, and called it a leaking gasket. they're not lying but they are using all creative license possible to make a dollar. monitor oil level - that will tell you if it's truely "leaking" verses just wet. tell us how low the oil is after 3,000 miles. if it's a 2.2 liter the valve cover gaskets are insanely easy to replace. any friend can do it for her. the 2.5 liters aren't hard but take a little more time and need the spark plug tube gaskets as well.

don't waste your money on those kits. head bolts are not replaced on any EJ (or any Subaru for that matter). if your goal is inexpensive - then buy Subaru headgaskets and intake manifold gaskets and get it done as soon as possible. aftermarket exhaust manifold gaskets suck - they'll probably hold fine if you sand the engine and grind the exhaust nice and flat, but the Subaru gaskets are much better and hold up longer. heck - often times they're reusable. valve cover gaskets timing belts, etc, are easy enough to replace in the car anyway. you could still get valve cover gaskets and grommets and come in under that price too. rockauto.com has great prices sometimes if you can weave their shipping together. advance auto parts has some great coupon codes online too - 20% off, etc if you look.

i'm not a big JB weld fan but i will also admit i'm the minority. my experience is that it either doesn't work well as a long term solution or if it does there is likely some other better approach to repairing it. i'm not the kind of person that just wants to limp something along for a year (anymore LOL). i can't quite see how that fitting is attached but if that's a threaded ring at the base, how about unthreading it, cleaning it up, and resealing it all with coolant tolerant sealant - RTV or something. there's probably an oring associated with that somewhere right? i've taken radiators apart before and i know there are orings sealing some of the bits that pass through the casing.

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piston rings and valve stem seals do a leak down test or otherwise pressurize the cylinders with compressed air and see where it goes

if everything else checks out then it's using it internally: 1. intake manifold gasket 2. headgasket both can start slow and not cause any noticeable burning or other definitive signs. if the engine has ever been worked on before and it has aftermarket intake manifold gaskets, those may be leaking as the aftermarket gaskets can be flimsy and prone to leak. headgaskets will have a small leak from coolant passage into the cylinder. it will gradually get worse over time. once you reach a gallon per hundred miles it's the point where you'll see a bit of material at that leakage point "missing" at the block face and/or head, as if it's been warn down. it is as if that leak can cause localized overheating and degrades the metal there...somehow it wears it down though, i've seen it on vehicles driven for a long time drinking coolant. i took pictures of one a long time ago, i may have even posted it.

never heard or seen what that is. i'd rather do as little playing around inside the tank as possible unless there is a very compelling reason.

axle, knuckle, strut with brakes attached, pull it all as a big lump (and the wheels will fit your XT6 as well). that is if you want it to set high. if you want lower than you'll want a legacy sedan strut. your ABS preference doesn't matter anyway, you're not going to be installing it on your XT6. i was letting you know so you know which hubs/axles interchange. if you get the 200x OB that means you'll always want the 2001-ish and up axles with the tone ring on the axle. earlier ones won't work. but if you keep original OEM axles rebooted you'll never need new axles anyway.

1. what headgasket was used when they were replaced? 2. how badly was it overheated before they were replaced?

mix them up, no big deal, doesn't matter. new ones would be just as different as swapping used ones anyway. you'd have to buy new HLA, rocker, and cam to get a fresh start on all the riding surfaces involved....no one is doing that!

odd, i'll have to see if i have any of my old stretched ones. i saw mentioned somewhere about if the fuel filter could be putting extra pressure on this area of the fuel pump? like if the filter is clogged - could that be increasing the pressure back at the fuel pump and on that cap/oring area? seems plausible. and since neither of mine have had the fuel filter replaced that i know of at 160,000 and 190,000 i'm going to replace them anyway.

for brakes look up jamals EJ brake thread, there is no point in going over the mess known as 1990's Subaru brakes. all EJ knuckles are interchangeable. SVX and 05+ STi's get 114 spacing hubs so they require different wheels. forester, impreza, outback, knuckles are all interchangeable. they are generally ABS and non-ABS but if you don't have ABS it doesn't matter and you can use both. ABS has to obviously have ABS fitting for it to work. front struts are all basically interchangeable too with varying heights and spring rates. OB and forester struts will give a lift i suppose as they'd be taller. impreza and lower legacy sedans like GT's will have lower/shorter struts. all EJ axles are interchangeable. 90's EJ axles are all the same, around 2001-ish the tone ring moved from the hub to the axle. you can use later axles on older knuckles by simply knocking the tone ring off but not the other way around, you can't install a tone ring on an older axle. so for 1990-somewhere around 2000 or so knuckles you can use almost any axle 1990-2004...2009...i don't know when it ends. 2001+ knuckles have to have 2001+ axles.

you don't mention what vehicle, year, or engine but oil additives and stop leaks are a really bad idea as any long term solution. if it's junk then do whatever you want. if you consider this a good vehicle that has more years/miles in it then don't use oil additives/stop leak. the best thing for an engine crankcase is oil and nothing else. what gasket was used?

simple test - swap cylinders 1,3,5 coil packs with the ones on the other side and clear the check engine light. if the cylinder misfires "move" with the coil packs then you know they are the issue. a friend had this happen with his new to him 02 Outback H6. couldn't figure it out and i was out of town to further diagnose for him, ultimately a shop replaced two coil packs and it was fixed. fuel supply issue as well may cause a lean condition on that side of the engine. not sure how the fuel pressure regulator works on H6's...i doubt you'll end up finding the issue there anyway.

Subaru would be a good idea for these - or Fel Pro's that are identical. But the 2.2's don't blow headdgaskets so they are much more forgiving than the EJ25s and I wouldn't squirm at using something else. EJ22's don't blow headgaskets so they usually have been previously overheated which *causes* the headgasket to fail (clogged radiator, leak, etc). seeing melted timing covers or bearing issues on those is not uncommon so keep your eyes out for issues as you go along. good luck SJR

save the cash and resurface the heads yourself, it's actually really easy: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=126868&highlight=apocalyptic Fel pro gaskets are $40 for both, intake gaskets for $10 or $20, and orings for $5 - you're almost barely over $50 for gaskets if you can reuse the exhaust gaskets. Resurface yourself and you'll be coming in way under $100.

cheapest and best option is fix the current motor if it was otherwise running fine. headgaskets, intake manifold gaskets, and two lower cam carrier orings are all that's absolutely necessary and the machine shop work. you might need exhaust gaskets though original subaru gaskets can often be reused there. intake manifold gaskets should be from Subaru, the aftermarket ones on these EA/ER engines are flimsy cardboard and suck since they share a coolant passage. the cam carrier oring sku number is W0133-1642538 and here's a link to thepartsbin.com, that's the only non-Subaru carrier i've seen of that oring, auto parts stores won't have it. it's not a standard oring, it has metal structure inside of it. type that part number into http://www.thepartsbin.com if this link doesn't work: http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/?N=&uts=true&Ntt=W0133-1642538&x=0&y=0 they're about $2.00 - $3.00 at Subaru, you need two, one for each side. use the Fel-Pro gaskets - they are designed such that they don't need a retorque (which is an annoying procedure). the EA82 engines are really easy to do the headgaskets in the vehicle too, so no need to pull the motor. particularly with air tools - just zip all the headbolts right out. i do EA82 and ER27 (XT6) headgaskets in the car, much quicker and less work....well "did" before they all rusted to death around here. LOL

searched here, nasioc, forester and outback forums with little clarification of hub differences. i found lots of legacy-legacy-outback swapping info and impreza-forester-baja swapping - but little between the two.

Specific question is: does a 2000 Impreza front kunckle fit a 2002/2003 Outback? Russ has one for me but I'm confused on fitment since one I bought doesn't work. I'm also wondering what is different between 00-04 Legacy and Impreza front knuckles? They are not listed as interchanging? I picked up a used 2002-ish Forester knuckle and it's not the same as my 2002 and 2003 Outback knuckle? I'm out of town but will try to grab a pic of the forester knuckle. it has the ABS sensor going through the back side of the knuckle housing, not the top like the picture posted. Picture of the 2002 and 2003 front Outback knuckle attached.

DUDE! $33 oring that's insane! my 99 cent oring from Advance Auto parts - the packaging which I happened to have in the back seat says "64138.1" "2-1/8 x 2-5/16" type "advance auto parts 64138.1" in google and it comes up http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_O-Rings-2-1-8-In--x-2-5-16-In--Dorman---Pik-a-Nut_3490890-P_N3127_A|GRP2037___ here's a highly technical run down on the oring sizing and material: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/110-gen-2-2000-2004/41182-symptoms-fuel-pump-o-ring-problem-2.html

if i get bored i'll turn around at that same stop and see if i can get it to do it - does it almost every time i drive to work in that one stop...it is a very steep incline with the nose of the car pointing up, not sure if that means anything but it must mean more of a load or something. IAC makes sense - it's sticking but only noticeable under certain loads...headed out of town today so can't mess with it til i get back.

crank sensor didn't fix it....on to IAC valve. stalls at the same place on my way to work coming to a stop, interesting it does it at that one place and not other stops. IAC seems likely.

they have a retaining plastic thing in the middle of them and they do come apart....at least these do? i'm just going to clean them up and finish up the install at this point. i agree - i'm looking for some used knuckles too.

mike - what year is yours from? i'll go ahead and buy it for him probably so we have it to look at.