idosubaru

awesome, good job getting it taken care of and glad to hear it finally worked out for you. thanks for sharing the happy ending with us! now, hopefully the rest of your time here is for regular maintenance and no crazy surprises like that again.

good feedback MM on the valves and switches. is it purely random or does it seem to vary with "load" at all - like different characteristics when cooler/at night/during really hot days/etc?

it's just really annoying, nothing that hard about it. remove all the bolts, drop pan, clean both surfaces, reinstall with new sealant and/or gasket. if it's an emergency and it looks doable - how about using a self tapping sheet metal screw into the pan, then pull the dent out - or a spot welder to weld onto the pan and pull - like body work. then worry about it later. ghetto, but i'd be wanting a new pan later anyway and do it when it's easier...besides if the trans is toast then who cares?

use Fel Pro permatorque headgaskets by the way. highly recommended for the EA82/ER27 engines and they dont' require a retorque like the manual suggests.

if it's time for a clutch, then pull the engine. if you're doing it all by hand (no air/electric tools), pulling the engine gets some extra sway. if you're doing it all in one day and have a bad back then maybe the engine should be pulled. get some air/electric tools if you don't have any. it's nice to zip out all the intake/cam/head bolts. it's a topic that varies wildly and is basically personal preference. i do not pull engines on older gen vehicles, they're too easy to do in the car for me to bother wasting the time. i've definitely wasted more time and had more glitches on an engine pull/install than i have with doing headgaskets in a car. i can have the passengers side head off before an engine would be pulled out, so it's a no brainer for me. i even leave the engines in for ER27's (the 6 cylinder version of the EA82 - same pistons and valves). roughly 50% more bolts and i still leave those in. get yourself a high quality cleaner - those rubber-made-for-aluminum (usually yellow i think from NAPA) discs to clean the block surface off with. insert it in a drill. if you're going to be cleaning surfaces by hand, definitely pull the engine, that just takes forever anyway cleaning by hand. with a drill though it cleans right up. GD on the other hand, as well as many others, always pull the motors. i would not expect the 30-minute engine pull and install comments seen on here sometimes. while maybe possible that certainly is not an average to be expected every time.

there isn't much clearance between the pan and the sump inside the transmission that pulls fluid out of the pan. if the dent is bad enough it could be restricting flow to the trans. if the fluid is that bad it needs changed immediately. one drain and refill is only going to get %40-%60 of the fluid out. jack up the front of the car and you can get up to %60 out. that is why multiple changes are often recommended. it needs fresh fluid and an undented pan, see what you got after that. is the AT light flashing 16 times on start up? radio sounds whacky - just pull the fuse for it for a couple days and see what the trans does. that would isolate the radio circuit so it can't "be the issue", not that i can picture how it could be anyway, but just to rule it out for you as you're driving with crazy twilight zone stuff happening to you.!

did you check pressures? sounds like it's off a little and just going out of limits at certain times. that it's "getting worse" may suggest it's a slow leak. most common leaks are the two orings on the compressor fittings. 15 minutes and it's resealed. did an 00 forester and 03 OBW in the past year.

my bad, headgasket job. sounds like a decent enough prior owner. if you got good vibes it wasn't burnt up there's a good chance the bottom end is fine. smell the oil!? EJ22 will require the wiring and ECU as there's no compatabiliity with EA82 stuff. but you only need an adapter plate to attach it to the EA82 trans (unless you're using an EJ trans), other than that they fit in the motor mounts and engine bay just fine. there's a good write up, might want to scan that EJ swap write up. EJ18 would be the same basic swap as an EJ22 but they can be had cheaper typically if price is any concern. lower end rebuilds aren't typically done too often on these motors for a variety of reasons but it can be done.

i thought you had, but i can't keep track of everyone's cars/projects, etc. sounds like you're on it. did you adjust the valves? knock sensors fail fairly regularly so you could install a $30 ebay special now, but they're not hard to do on the car either....annoying and tight, but still only a 20 minute job. being an automatic, you could replace that little quarter sized filter inline with a vacuum line on the passengers side from the strut tower to the engine. has a piece of foam-ish type material around it. i've seen those cause EGR codes and automatics shift very poorly. they're $7 from subaru. PCV valve would be a good idea too. install ATF lines on the transmission *before* you drop the engine in, much easier having that room. i often install a really long ATF hose that goes all the way from the trans to the cooler. this reduces the multiple clamps where they tend to leak anyway and bypasses any metal lines that some models have that tend to rust out anyway. fewer leakage points.

nice job and great pictures. thanks for sharing. you replaced bearings ($20) and brushes ($20) for a total of $40 on the rebuild? are those a generic size of brushes, could probably order them online now that you posted the size?

the coolant looks different than what i'm used to seeing but being at the tstat housing it's exposed well to the elements. rust is also more than i see, but just keep plugging along, clean it up, and don't worry about it. that stuff alone doesn't look alarming.

last time the fluid was changed? are you confident it's clutch related and not trans related? as soon as it starts making the noise - what happens if you push the clutch pedal down? noise goes away? if you hold that speed does the noise sustain? given how many miles you got on that clutch though that sounds likely, fairtax covered that well enough.

how many miles on the motor? what kind of expectations/driving/usage/mileage you want. the higher the mileage and reliability expectations the more likely it is you won't want this motor. EA engines do fine with a reseal, but the overheating is a little unnerving. seems like a shady seller? how badly was this thing overheated? long term or severe overheats do bad things to oil and rod/main bearings and they can fail.

reseal rear separator plate. if it's the plastic variety, the metal is better and won't crack. need matching screws to go with it (or go get your own). clutch kit if MT? throw out bearing, pilot bearing, clutch retaining clips. oil pan can't be resealed without lifting the engine.

no.

he said "no CEL", which is impossible with the EGR unplugged unless the bulb is out (a few of us have tried rewiring, swapping non-EGR ECU's and intake manifold harness so far to no avail.) i wish someone would figure that out. have the codes read - if there's a code but no CEL then your light isn't working. and the code itself may be very helpful in tracking down this issue.

pretty sure all sensors should be plugged in - can you post a picture of the sensor that's not plugged in? if it's running rich it could be dumping too much fuel and burning up your catalytic converter - too much fuel will ruin them, maybe even melt/clog them?

have the plugs and wires ever been replaced? any check engine light? is it idling high or any other symptoms at all or drives perfect? maybe the ECU temp sensor isn't working properly, CTS. i've never heard of those failing but maybe it's not plugged in (though then i'd expect a code and unlikely it got missed twice with both intake swaps)....so unlikely but maybe worth looking at.

i've seen that before dave, please tell me what that is. TPS?

good job, that's exactly how it goes. doesn't matter that the EJ22 was out of legacy or impreza - they're all the same. all 98 EJ22's would have a single port exhaust and the carbon canisters have two varieties on the menu. good job working it out. if the CEL is on the first step is always to read the code. guessing it pointless when you have a red light flashing at you and the codes can be read for free at thousands of auto parts stores across the country. the OBDII scanners are invaluable though and only $50 or less on ebay.

fluid change doesn't apply to you, you have to fix the trans by replacing the VC. in a manual transmission the center viscous differential fluid is in a sealed, non-serviceable unit and the fluid is not replaceable. the fluid you drain from the trans has nothing to do with the fluid in the center diff. the auto's and manuals work *completely* differently, they are not related in any way at all. so what applies to auto's does not apply to manuals. in your case there is no cure for torque bind except to replace the center diff with a used or new unit. or wait until it completely fails to permanent locked and remove the rear driveshaft and run it in FWD. or wait until winter...maybe it'll be less noticeable in the cold, or won't matter when the white stuff starts flying!

have you ever seen that SVX mod/controller for the shift resistor, it played with firmness of shifts as well. there was a company making that at one point.

not sure if this is how you should do it, but the old generation forum might give you more exposure to this swap. the EA81 is a great engine in terms of longevity and ease of maintenance. engine fits in rather easily, but let folks more familiar with it speak, this swap (or the other way around) has been done before.

oh and to stay slightly on topic...sorry nip!!!....has yours always done this or has it gotten worse or anything? there's a shift resistor and while i would expect it would throw a code if it wasn't working maybe it could degrade or another model might shift better? XT6's are the opposite, a sort of delayed shifting between 3rd and 4th, so i actually unplug them to firm it up. in the SVX community i believe they make some device to firm up shifts...seems like it shouldn't be too hard (or already done) to go the opposite way with it?

odd for a car that is quite popular in mountainous regions, seems after a few decades they might figure that out? has anyone attempted anything to mitigate that or just unfeasible because of gearing? gas mileage in D3 is not what it is when i use my foot in 4th.