idosubaru

can you post a picture of the hoses? and 4 or 6 cylinder? auto or manual? check your fluid levels - particularly the engine oil, coolant (in the radiator and tank), and power steering fluid levels. a leak should show itself there as well. but the pictures will help us more. you mention "large hose", that probably just means the radiator hose if it's the largest rubber hose you can find under there. the coolant/radiator hoses are the largest. they are very easy to replace. just make sure you properly refill with coolant, get all the air out, and it does not overheat. the 4 cylinders are particularly sensitive to air bubbles and overheating if you don't get them all out.

doesn't sound like head gaskets and if the compression tested fine then you're probably okay. normally these things have bad compression numbers if the head gaskets are blown. what values did you get? but of course an EA82T with a blown headgasket sounds familiar. you replaced plugs, cap, and rotor - replace your wires too. i wouldn't do anything until you replace those as well. any check engine light? CTS gets corroded terminals and causes issues similar to this, though that's more common on the XT6's. There's a few other options but those are two common issues i can think of.

John - i've done this swap (except into EJ25 since mine is an LSi), call if you have any questions but it's really easy. 40,000 miles on it over the past few years. the EJ18 manifold and hoses are convoluted - like 360 said, strip the EJ18 completely down, remove everything and bolt the EJ22 stuff to it. block off any holes that are left over. i even blocked off the EGR but they don't care about the CEL in this state so it doesn't matter. My EJ18 was dual port exhaust (i thought they all were?) and EJ22 in 96 should be single so you *may* need an exhaust manifold. i used an EJ25 exhaust manifold (since it was already on the car). knock sensor hole is already there, just thread it in place and bolt the manifold on like you already found out it seems. it ran fine on my EJ25 ECU. i swapped in an EJ22 ECU and noticed no difference at all. the EJ18 ECU i tried was completely different and doesn't plug in.

what kind of subaru? not all make lifts for every generation. i have a 2" SJR. Gloyale (highguys) makes kits too.

Add a bottle of Subaru's stop leak to it. I'd personally add two bottles if it's already leaking. Occassionally the conditioner can stop an existing leak. Keep topping off the fluid and these things can run another 100,000 miles while leaking externally. Just don't run it low or out of coolant and it won't overheat. This is classic EJ25 headgasket issues, happens to thousands of people. Subaru had an extended 100,000 mile headgasket warranty for them from 2000-2002.

Sounds like you're on top of this and replacing the Duty C is the only option. I'd replace the Duty C with new, I believe they're around $75-$125 if you don't want to go back in again. The intermittent nature suggests to me the clutches are fine and with the Duty C new, fresh fluid, and proper tire rotation I would not expect those to fail. So while replacing the clutches and hub isn't a bad idea, I wouldn't hesitate to reuse them either and would prefer those being "used" over the solenoid. I'd post on here in the parts wanted forum. I had a known good trans with a bad front diff and sold the entire rear housing to someone in your shoes - clutches, hub, duty C. Someone might have a bad trans for parts that they know is good. If you found something like that maybe used would be more attractive. You could call around yards and ask if they have any bad trans to sell parts off of, but a gamble that will be. Though usually they're wrecks or blown motors so you can guess the trans to be good. And I'm sure you know you don't have to pull the transmission to do this job.

right on! smack, duh, i just split an EJ25 block a couple months ago! when swapping pistons do you have to hone, new rings, etc or can you swap pistons from one block to another with the existing rings in place and call it good? probably just going with the thicker gasket but still curious about piston swapping for future reference.

Good deal, congrats! There's a few XT/XT6 owners on here. Can't think of anyone specific from Indiana with an XT but there probably is someone fairly close in the midwest, I can think of two folks over that way but not in Indiana specifically, they're both members here. Check out subaruxt.com for XT specific information, parts, etc. We have the Subaru XT/XT6 FSM hosted over there as well for free, go grab it. Let me know if you have any problems registering as there were some issues since a recent upgrade. PM me here or email me.

Phase II EJ25's are some 99's (Forester and RS) and all 2000+. the Phase II HG problem is benign compared to the Phase I. Phase I I wouldn't consider a reliable vehicle personally unless it has new OEM headgaskets on it (preferrably done by me or someone that knows these engines). Phase II I would drive anywhere as they don't leave you stranded. But i drive a lot. 18 hours to Maine and 18 hours to New Orleans last year....28 or something hours to Colorado, so I view risk a little differently than most. The Phase II's won't leave you stranded, that's key for me. And due to the lack of overheating the bottom ends hold up better, fewer lower end bearing issues like the older ones.

As for the timing belt - does the car-fax show who did the work? If it does, call them up, or stop in, and have them print or tell you all the work that was done to it. I've done that numerous times. I usually find a sticker on the windshield, receipt or card in the center console or mixed in with paper work/owners manual in the glove compartment box. I haven't called a place yet that wouldn't give or tell me their records. A call to a local Subaru dealer might pull up some info to if they can search via your VIN and they're willing to help, but i've never actually tried that except twice when i knew for certain a car had been to a particular dealer. What mileage was the belt replaced at? The passengers side timing belt cover is really easy to remove - it's only like 3 10mm bolts and a few minutes. If you can replace the trans fluid you can remove that cover. Once it's removed you can look at the timing belt and see if it's been replaced or not by looking at the printing on the belt. You may have to start/stop it a few times, or turn the engine over by hand with a 22mm socket to get the part of the belt with writing to come through that side of the cover. You might find the ATF was done already by checking for records but if not: Use any ATF that meets the standards in the owners manual, there's no need for anything special. I generally stick with name brand stuff rather than the el-cheapo generic stuff, but I would never say that stuff is bad either. Frequency is far more important than what brand you get. Your car should also have a trans filter as well. Good luck with the new car.

thanks will for offering up some thoughts. so DOHC heads won't even work on DOHC engines with that gasket? that might convince me to try it, what's going to break the head or piston or both? LOL why does subaru offer two different gaskets? I think Gloyale thought the DOHC valve reliefs would not "line up" with the SOHC valves. i saw 46.2 for DOHC and 50 for SOHC.

That gasket is 1.4-1.5 mm thick. Cometics offer 3.5 mm thick gaskets. So %95 chance with the thicker ones? LOL Strange no one but Gloyale has looked into it.

Are you sure will that SOHC heads on DOHC block? Just checking since Gloyale said his wouldn't work?

The thickest gasket cometic offers is 140 thousandths, or 3.5mm's - over twice as thick as the stock 1.52mm's. I wonder if an extra 2mm's would be enough to gain the necessary clearance? Is there anyway to measure/check this without buying/trying them? Cometic said they could figure it out if I knew the cc's of the EJ25D head and the cc's of the SOHC EJ25 head. Where can I find that, the FSM doesn't have it?

Crack, i was going to do this same swap for the exact same reasons to help someone out. I guess you can't comment on if a thicker gasket would remedy this issue? Cometic makes different thickness gaskets, wonder if they know the answer? I doubt I'll crack the block, seems time consuming. Did you crack the block to swap pistons or no? What all did you do - did you re-ring it, hone it, or just swap and go?

Will it work? I already searched at NASIOC (main thread is 14 pages) and here nd it's not covered since they're all going the opposite way. I know i've seen folks (subaru360 i think) comment on it here but can't find the posts. Pistons clear the deck on the Phase I EJ25's....so....does that prevent Phase II EJ25 heads from working on it? Gloyale doesn't think it will work: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=114580&highlight=Phase+block side note: Do Phase I EJ22 pistons clear the deck face too?

timing tensioners fail and cause knocking/slapping.

subaru's opposed forces website is a really good resource for this. it shows different part numbers for legacy and outback fenders. it shows the same part numbers for foresters with different trims (S and L), which i've interchanged before by just swapping trim.

2005. good resource is cars101.com, a subaru specific site, while it includes another generation, it distinguishes 05 as the new year, here's the section on 05 outbacks: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/outback2005.html

your best bet is MWE axles - $90 for XT6 axles and they're better than anything else you're going to get on the open market except for Subaru$$$$$$$$. read all the issues with new axles from folks doing a lot, and not merely anecdotal amounts, of subaru's and you'll see a pattern - buying aftermarket axles is a waste of time. i finally realized this after quite a few vibrating, clicking, leaking grease, and even completely exploded "New" axles. I no longer waste my time - i get good Subaru axles and reboot them or (as more common with XT6's since they're harder to find), MWE. MWE -%100 success rate, well worth the effort and cash. i've never gotten into swapping parts - but can you use another axle - like an EJ or EA and install XT6 CV's on the end? i think you've looked into that before right? if that's the case maybe MWE would ship you just the parts you need to build the axle you want.

if you're already into i'd at least go with a used dry one. "parts wanted forum"? good luck, i feel your pain...these things rarely fail....but that would be really annoying too.

if they're getting any fluids on it then that's the problem. i installed a new belt that didn't even last 10,000 miles on a friends car that was leaking oil badly and getting on the belt. i'd turn everything over by hand that affects that belt - the oil pump and all the pulleys. next focus on the cam shaft and see if it's got any abnormal resistance (compare to the passengers side).

the 2.2's are so robust that if you get one in good running condition they're easy to keep that way. timing belt and timing components replaced - reseal it with new cam/crank/oil pump seals and valve cover gaskets and run it a long time. they're so cheap that it's not hard to find one usually. rebuilds are generally cost prohibitive, easier just to get a known good engine.

the timing tensioner can have slop in it as it's hydraulic and will "give" making a loud rapping noise under different loads. it can be mistaken for rod knock and more ominous issues. this is an interference engine though so if it is that, you want to get it looked into right away.

they bolt right up so swap away. folks have EZ swapped other subaru's so bolting the trans up shouldn't be an issue. kingbobdole (phil) has one in his XT6 with a manual trans (FWD even!) and there are others. if the H6 ends up being a VDC model you are unlikely to be able to retain that feature since it's integrated with the AT. i doubt you'll have transmission issues unless you're really tearing it up. for average daily driver i'd swap a manual trans into an H6 any day if i wanted one and not worry about it because i don't really drive them that way. if i were constantly laying into it working it, i'd start to lean towards beefier trans and clutches.