idosubaru

right, bolt on. i have an EJ22 intake bolted to my EJ18. hard to imagine an EJ18 performing better than an EJ22 at any RPM based on the way they drive - but that is in much heavier EJ cars, i've never driven an EJ18 swapped older gen.

what they said. block boring/rebuilds are very expensive so the obvious answer to your question, since finances are a factor - is to just get an EJ22 or EJ25 and bolt it in. there's nothing to it, it's really easy. i removed an EJ25 from mine and installed an EJ18, you'd just do the opposite, very easy. though i'd stick with an EJ22, much better motor and the swap is less work since your EJ18 intake manifold bolts right to an EJ22. manifold doesn't bolt to an EJ25 so you'll have to swap wiring harnesses, or get creative. not hard but a good bit extra work where the EJ22 is bolt up....and far more reliable...and much cheaper. they're a dime a dozen compared to EJ25's.

i've always thought the hard part is all the bits that fall out/off when you remove the tailhousing. i can't even recall what they are or how to describe them but there are a few that come off and aren't in-your-face-obvious as to how it goes back together. a picture of that would make this job very straightforward. good luck with your linkage issue, that sounds annoying. might want to start a separate thread for the shift linkage issue?

should be fine just replacing the boot and inner tie rod and cleaning everything up while you're at it. hopefully the rack seals are fine, doesn't sound like you mentioned anything about leaking steering fluid. i never get alignments after simple parts replacements like this, it's unnecessary if you keep track of where everything is. measure or count turns, it's not hard to retain your alignment. alignments are way oversold.

really easy swap. auto and manual motors are identical, so you gain nothing by swapping motors. in case that's the only reason you were planning on swapping motors. i personally do not like buying unknown EJ25's with their propensity to blow headgaskets and even worse - lower end bearings. i'd rather keep a known good engine any day regardless of miles. manual trans are 4.11 or 3.9 gear ratio while your outback auto is currently a 4.44. you'll need to get a matching rear differential for it as well. or just convert it to FWD - you're in austin anyway? If you still need to swap engines, ANY 1996-1998 EJ25 (and 1999 Legacy's/Outback/SUS) will work. (99 Forester and Impreza RS will not). as for transmissions you can almost install any EJ manual transmission from 1990 into the 2000's i believe - they'll all bolt up and drop right in with minor differences and work arounds here and there depending on years/model etc. Easiest way to do this swap is to get a complete car rather than piecing it together as you go. It's nice having all the bolts, brackets, clips, hoses, etc that you need. And honestly if you look around that can even be the cheaper way to go - it's not hard to get a cheap car that's wrecked or a blown motor (if you just need the trans), etc.

i've seen some of the aftermarket hoses don't look right when you look at them, but once you try both ways of installing and cut one side down they fit. just did this a couple weeks ago to an EJ motor and it was an upper hose. the last two aftermarket EJ hoses i've bought were not perfect fits at all. they worked though.

Fixed: When two terminals on the relay were jumpered the fans run. So I wired the two thermoswitch wires right into those wires at the relay. So the thermoswitch completes the circuit when it gets to temp. No need for a fuse since that circuit is already fused and no need for a switch as the thermoswitch is still cycling it on and off. I used a new alternator plug since it fit nicely on the thermoswitch. Works fine now. Only took 30 minutes, I'm just slow with electrical stuff and without any details in the FSM I was learning as I went. Thanks for the help all, electrical is not my thing.

i did that this morning and nothing happened, fans wouldn't come on. funny thing i tried jumpering that "6 volt" wire to positive instead of ground - obviously a bad idea as it short circuited, sparked, heated up quick - but the FANS CAME ON. that's awesome. i guess something is wrong with the circuit from the thermoswitch to the relay? maybe that "6 volt" wire is the one that goes to the relay somewhere? unfortunately this multimeter doesn't have a continuity setting for me to isolate which relay terminal is connected to the thermoswitch.

a spare tire doesn't deform to the same size contact patch - i would presume because it's at a higher psi? i think what it comes down to is a narrower tire might need more psi so as not to deform more than normal. many of us run higher than stock psi as it performs/wears better. so if you run smaller tires maybe you should as well to maximize the wear, mpg's, and performance of the tire.

tire size does not matter at all - has nothing to do with it. indeed the car can't even "know" what tire size it has nor does it care. actually many of us swap wheels/tire sizes all the time and change them drastically, the offroad guys put huge tires on theirs. but it doesn't matter - the 4 on the car need to match, what actual size they are has nothing to do with. that's exactly what he (she! ) said - just the other way around. he said "the car will sit lower" which means the 55's sit lower....which means the 60's are taller....just like you said, but looking at it from the other side so to speak.

excellent call, i'm going to try that today. if it doesn't work i'm wiring in my own connector and wiring. the alternator connector fits great on the thermoswitch and i have some new ones so i'll use that to create my own wiring from the switch to the relay. i found that +12 volts at one of the relay terminals would turn the fan on. no grounds will turn it on - i supposed because the relay isn't getting tripped to supply the 12 volts? I found that one, but it's generic and gives no pinout/wire color information. don't even know if it showed the relay/thermoswitch - just the fans. thanks! a 3 second cursory glance under the hood of my 87.5 XT Turbo suggested they were the same, but maybe not or it's only XT's.

already did that numerous times. no change. i can ground or power (forget which) one of the relay terminals and the relay clicks and the fan comes on, so the relay is working, it's just not getting properly energized by the thermoswitch. what's awesome is the Subaru FSM doesn't have a wiring diagram at all for the *main* fan - or i didn't find it anywhere that it seems it should be located anyway. all sorts of other obscure needless info but nothing about the main engine cooling fan, that's awesome!

miles - i jumpered that connector and nothing happens. (thermoswitch is fine) if i knew which wire was supposed to provide 12 volts to the thermoswitch circuit i can fix this. but the FSM is missing info on this wiring. both thermoswitch wires and both relay connectors are all ground. doesn't one need to be +12 to power the circuit? they can't all be grounds? but - the thermoswitch wires - one shows 12 volts, the other shows 6 volts - something is clearly wrong there.

XT6. Same basic set up as an EA82 though. Fan comes on when jumpered at relay - so fan and wiring there good. Swapped relays and switch in radiator and still won't come on. The FSM doesn't have pinouts for wiring so not quite sure how to test switch/relay/wiring for continuity/ground, etc.

good, i'll leave them then if they aren't wear items. i didn't know if they lost their k-constant over time or what. i just want stock performance so if they don't loose much i'll keep them.

now that you say it, that is the only option that makes sense for 99% of people. remove the 20 year old compressor, tank, sensors, solenoids, orings, etc from the equation, well worth the effort no doubt. funny thing - one of my XT6's is currently running the opposite - front air struts and rear coil overs. the 2" lift causes the rear air struts to leak (pressure on bushings not even enough or something) because the top strut mount bushings also seal the top of the strut where the rod passes through. even with brand new bushings it wouldn't seal it when lifted. got some high performance marine grade sealant for when i install the lift on my new XT6 to see if that holds. but with the way the rod passes through multiple fittings/bushings i'm afraid that's not even going to work. eulogious - you moved from CA to WA or i'm confused?

any tips or tricks for why/how on compressing the springs? i just received my struts in the mail and this will be my first time ever doing coil over work. did you replace the springs? i'm wondering how much height i'm loosing with old springs? how much do springs cost, i couldn't find any at auto parts places so it's subaru or aftermarket only i guess- meaning big $?

awesome, this becomes easy! YES! finally something goes your way! :banana: exactly, just yank on it - they pop out and pop right back in. i mean do it carefully and methodically, don't just beat the living snot out of it! 10 times easier than drilling. or at least even if you're drilling, doing it out of the car would be much simpler. if you don't have good tools for this kind of thing to get it out yourself just take it to a shop with a press or something else, they can get it out in about 90 seconds for the price of a beer.

i'm %99 positive i've bought from CNS before but have no memory of specifics. 3 seals sounds odd - you'll need 4 cam seals and a crank seal if you're replacing that. first part number comes up with this in google: http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/98-99-25-SUBARU-IMPREZA-RS-LEGACY-TIMING-BELT-KIT-EJ25_140502053483.html which looks the same as CNS's listing on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-99-2-5-SUBARU-IMPREZA-RS-LEGACY-TIMING-BELT-KIT-EJ25-/140502053483?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20b693326b shows 5 seals? is that the same PCI components of yours and the same auction you purchased (i guess not since it doesn't include water pump). second part number is water pump, water pump oring, and water pump gasket part number, like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Boxes-GMB-Water-Pumps-Subaru-160-1120-/260645402333 3rd part number looks like a valve cover kit - cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, and grommets: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-99-2-5-L-SUBARU-DOHC-16V-VALVE-COVER-GASKET-SET-EJ25-/190478311921

get the car off the ground, rotate it so you can access from underneath and then get the exhaust out of the way. if it's bad you'll need that extra room to work. you can start drilling - it's going to take awhile and be very annoying. use lots of cutting oil or have lots of bits on hand as they'll dull quickly. if it's an automatic just yank on the axle really hard or pry on it and the stub shaft will actually pop out of the transmission. it's only held in place by a circlip which will come out attached to the end of the stubby shaft. then you can put it in a vice or many other methods and be more precise about it. if it's a manual trans you can't do that, the shafts do not come out.

i know you said you checked them but check the timing belts again? sounds like something is off. are you positively using the correct marks on the crank sprocket, sometimes folks use the wrong mark? should be able to check stored codes using the black/green connectors - a certain combination is "Read Memory" mode. may have to clear them, wait for it to come back though if there are multiple codes. maybe it's unrelated to the timing belt change but it's unlikely.

this hitch does appear to go *over* the muffler where nearly every other one i can find (ebay, etc) seems to go *under* the muffler.

silly rabbits - it's easy and yes it can be done just as he says. very, very simple to do actually. i'll elaborate latter on options, there's plenty and it's easy. but - the rear air struts don't hold up to extra weight very well. i'd consider just getting new struts/springs - how old are the struts/springs that you have? or even better yet - upgrade them to something more appropriate for what you need. i've had engine/trans etc in the rear of my XT6 (all 4WD XT6's have air suspension) and they'll just sag with all that weight. if you're still interested in doing this: if they left the wiring and air lines in place, then it's just a matter of bolting up struts and plugging them in. if the compressor/tank/computer is missing - you'll need those installed. or you could fabricate your own air supply. you can splice in a valve to the rear struts and just air them up yourself. if everything is missing, just install your own valve to air them up and you're done. have one of those 12 compressors and air it up as needed. that would actually be more reliable probably by removing all the leak and failure points like solenoids, sensors, a ton of orings, low grade compressor, computer, etc. no wiring at all - just air it up. it's really easy to do. the air struts are actually nice because they ride nice and can be more reliable than conventional struts, never really needing to be replaced...but getting good parts and replacing all the orings, etc to get them reliable is hardly worth it for anyone.

muffler doesn't seem to be it - i dropped it out of the way. but who knows i'm not sure how this thing is supposed to go. compared to a friend 97 Legacy sedan i have now and my 96 LSi it's definitely different - it has the holes that the hitch *seems* to line up with. there are two holes in the bumper beam on the SUS (that the 97 and 96 Legacy sedans do not have). those two holes line up with two cylinders with holes in them - but pushed up against the car there's a gap and they won't sit flush. and while not positively restrictive getting it tucked up under the rear bumper cover as well is really tight. pushed flat against the car - it's like the attachment points are there, but don't quite "reach". maybe the SUS got an outback bumper or it's own i guess since outbacks have indents for the hatch i think?