idosubaru

there you go GD, an example i think you said you haven't seen much of, if at all. i've seen a few failures like this too. +1 i agree. the Phase I EJ25's are repaired all the time, they typically just have bent valves, not a big deal. i'd also entertain repairing them. though i can understand if you're paying someone to do it you'd not like to take chances on the labor. you would use any DOHC EJ25 to replace your engine. 1996-1999 DOHC Ej25 is a direct drop in replacement. there are a few variations but it'll plug and play and bolt up to your trans. if you get an early enough 1996 it'll even have the old style timing belt tensioner - which means more reliable (the newer ones fail more often) and the timing belt kits on ebay are really cheap for those too. for the Ej22 (same timing pulleys) the ebay timing kits are like $80 instead of $200 for a complete set of pulleys and belt. so $100 cheaper timing kit. get one of those ebay kits for whatever engine you get, they include all new timing pulleys to prevent this. many of us on here use those all the time.

great motors for reliability and cheap maintenance. beat the snot out of it and it'll keep going. they already said it, i'll add some details. swap over any EJ22 manifold, it bolts right on. if the EJ22 manifold doesn't have EGR then just plug it up on the engine as all EJ18's had EGR. the last one i installed didn't have a knock sensor but the hole is already drilled and tapped in the block, so just screw one in and plug it in. they do lack power as compared to the EJ22 and it's noticeable in certain situations. the EJ18-EJ22 difference seems to me like a lot more than the EJ22-EJ25 difference (from a swapping standpoint, not just vehicle) but that's only experience with newer stuff i've swapped so they're much heavier than older stuff i think.

no special tools needed exactly. ball joints aren't that hard actually. save yourself the hassle and get a pickle fork. they can be terribly seized and not come out. there's a ton of threads where folks have wasted considerable time trying to remove them and i used to do the same. a pickle fork makes what sometimes is a couple hour step turn into 30 seconds. get one. maybe that's just because i'm in the rust belt? i haven't done a ball joint by itself on an OBW so i'm not sure the easiest way. i would just unbolt the ball joint, drive a pickle fork through it to separate it from the hub. that might give you enough room to just replace the ball joint. if not - just unbolt the two strut mount bolts on the hub and that will give you the room you need to replace it. mark the orientation of the top strut mount bolt head (not the nut) , it's cambered and affects alignment. i just hit the head and strut body with a chisel at the same time and line those back up. it's a rather "rough" adjustment, it's like a micrometer or anything so don't fret over it. good luck - as long as the pinch bolt isn't rusted it's a very easy job...with a pickle fork. soak the pinch bolt with penetrant if it does appear rusted, but don't get any in the bearings/around the axle.

common failure, heated seats don't typically last long. replacement is possible but rather complicated too. i swapped the entire seat. there's some other threads about it. the heated seats are weak. i didn't install the extra set i bought into my other car like i thought i would because the OBW that has them isn't that impressive. the car warms up so fast that by the time it warms up and i feel it through my layers of clothes the car is already blowing hot air. and even then if the rest of me is 10 degrees i could care less about a few squares inches being warm. given the difficultly in fixing i consider it novelty, but it is a nice novelty. maybe i can install two seat heaters in each seat, would that warm it up quicker?

The newer cars...starting around 2002-ish or so in some models - have the LATCH system - it's a set of clips in the crease of the back seats for attaching car seats too. there are two sets of two for each side, passengers and drivers. you can't see them as they're down in the crease of the upper and lower portion of the seats. there are two in the center and two on the sides. the ones on the sides are attached to the seat brackets (on the ones i have - sedan/wagon may differ?). i'm wondering how the center two are fixed to the car? they aren't on the spare set of seats i have so i assume they're bolted or welded to the car?

a lot of your comments here aren't right. where are you getting this from? unless we're missing something you might be confusing EJ18's and Ej22's - EJ18's were never interference, so however long they were offered in impreza's, those would be non-interference. EJ22's in impreza's were interference 97+ as others have already stated - same as legacy.

i doubt you'll want to downgrade from an impreza to a justy or XT anyway, that's a significant difference in style of vehicle.

what GD said. pretty sure the justy takes it hands down. i'm not really familiar with the justy but it's probably not a great fit for reliability and long term use or high mileage use. at this point it's hard to find a 20+ year old car in a mechanical condition that it's still capable of the same mileage it was off the showroom floor.

For vehicles equipped with LATCH - how are the center LATCH clips attached to the vehicle? The outer ones (at least according to the OBW seats I have in the garage) are fitted to the seat brackets. So i'm curious where/how the center two are attached? Bolted, welded...something else? Last resort is unbolting a seat to look, but thought someone might know.

105,000 is the timing belt change interval and it's a $700 dealer price tag so that's good to be aware of. nothing model/vehicle/year specific comes to mind but familiarity with newer models decreases rapidly.

it is generally accepted that issues decline the newer they get. somewhere around 2003-2004 and up is generally considered good years for EJ25's. there's a certain element where it's hard to tell on newer cars though. issues gradually show up over time, newer stuff is simply too new and valuable to be reported and talked about as often so trends are harder to establish on newer stuff. more likely to just be paid for and done.

server upgrade. he originally thought there was a temporary failover (backup) but things changed so it's down until the upgrade is complete. new drive, new OS, he's almost there.

the interference notion really doesn't add any complexity. you have to know or understand like one additional step, but that's a drop in the bucket. GD doesn't see mechanics this way. most of the rest of us know what you're talking about, even those of us that do all our own work. it's just something we see differently. i would guess there's one thing in this world that GD is not proficient at and should he endeavor to try it he would run into things that are hard but easy for others. folks that aren't mechanically inclined experience those same things here. time is huge. some folks do a great job of focusing on work/career and then can enjoy the rest of the lives, not being consumed with saving or making a dollar at every turn. i've tried to be more like that recently because there's too many ways to make and save a buck and that's not what I value.

not sure if 1roughneck has a check engine light or not, but in our state of WV that doesn't matter. in many states it does. i'd check that to see if you get a check engine light or not. i'd also ask if he has a manual or automatic. automatics may be less forgiving. i swapped engines in my legacy and have since swapped ECU's, TCu's, and other stuff to get it to shift better but to no avail - the trans just doesn't seem to shift when it's supposed to. still a daily driver and runs fine - but i'd stick with the right engine unless there's a very compelling reason not too.

not sure if 1roughneck has a check engine light or not, but in our state of WV that doesn't matter. in many states it does. i'd check that to see if you get a check engine light or not.

:lol: i haven't heard anything.

You've had good luck with the sube shop? I had one questionable experience with one of their employees a couple years ago. Doesn't much matter since I do all my own work but was curious.

yeah, all standard stuff. they can be REALLY tight. i had one my 900 foot pound air gun wouldn't get off even with a torch last year. first time i'd ever seen one that tight. came off with a really long steel pipe.

awesome. you can remove the rear top mount and flip it upside down, this drops it down like roughly an inch. being adjustable maybe it doesn't matter but keep that in mind once it's all done if you need to tweak it some.

heat shields are notoriously noisy too. in my experience 97's are usually the new style tensioner which tends to fail more often. you can remove the timing cover and see it bouncing/moving around when you start the car sometimes. i've seen them fail similar to what you're talking about when they first start - noises that go away.

6 or 7 years on the road - 30,000 miles a year would be 210,000. that's a lot but not that uncommon. that's some nice longevity to keep up those miles. good luck on the search. 2000 - 2002's were under a 100,000 mile extended head gasket warranty campaign. be nice to find one that's already had them done or, assuming there's a quantitative reason they cut it off at 2002, find a 2003 or 2004 engine. sometimes you go with whatever you find, but if you have choices or know something you might get to choose too.

someone posted some pages/pic's in my broken clutch cable thread from the HTKYSA manual. got some good diagrams that might show the clutch cable fitment for you. older subaru's have hill holders to so it might mention that? i can't recall off the top of my head the exact details and other than the XT6 all my stuff is auto's at the moment.

it's not a flood - sounds like typical rust belt stuff. i've seen newer stuff do this seemingly prematurealy as well. those bolts are prone to rust. there's no integrity issue at all. if you really want to do something about it, do it sooner rather than later. i've seen those bolts shear off but i'd imagine you've got some time, the threads need to be rusted good for that. my 02 OBW's were rusted good. i seem to recall one wouldn't even thread back in properly.

crack, look another morgantown member?! i'm just outside morgantown but no leads or Phase II EJ22 stuff myself. good luck with the swap, you can borrow my engine lift if you need one. yeah hendersons has been good. last year they wouldn't mail me a little part because i'm "too close" 60 miles, :lol: maybe it was just a guy having a bad day.

i think shims means the ones that ride on the caliper piston or backing plate of the pads right? i wouldn't worry about those too much. i probably wouldn't even replace them until the next brake change. if it's the clips that hold the pads in place on the caliper bracket then i'd replace them for sure as soon as possible. any build up there can cause the pad to hang.