idosubaru

he's in Georgia and I'm in WV so I'm trying to help him remotely and i'm not sure. he followed the FSM and just cracked the highest hose or whatever at the steering pump enough for it to drip fluid...something like that. does the same thing with the new pump and old pump so i don't think it's pump related since the old pump didn't have any problems prior to this.

Since it happened as a result of replacing the pump I wouldn't think it's the ujoint. Seems like it would be strange to have a perfectly fine steering, replace the pump, then the ujoint is bad the second you start it up. He said he's just going to live with it for now, it's not bad enough or causing any issues to warrant repairing. But someday he'll probably get around to it.

speedometers are often inaccurate, they typically read higher than you're actually going, that's fairly common. actually it doesn't work like that and has nothing to do with the ECU. it's a dynamic relationship, some cars get better gas mileage with larger wheels/tires. the Subaru XT6 comes stock with dinky 14" wheels/tires. Install 16" Impreza wheels/tires and highway mileage will increase. The 6 cylinder has plenty of power to move those larger wheels/tires and see a benefit. My castrated Legacy with EJ18 though in my sig - that thing gets horrible gas mileage with 16" wheels, the engine is too small pushing that heavy legacy behind and automatic. Smaller wheels and the mileage goes up significantly.

1996 Impreza. A friend had a leaking pump and replaced it. Unknowingly he added power steering fluid instead of ATF to refill it. It had problems from the start and he finally saw that it was supposed to be ATF. He flushed and filled it but said the power steering is like %70 now and hasn't gotten any better over a few days. He even swapped in his old pump (since it worked fine) just to be sure that wasn't the cause, same symptoms. He's bled and flushed the system and it's never taken me more than 30 seconds to bleed power steering lines so I dont' think that's it. So the power steering fluid caused the rack to fail? Nothing to do except replace the rack then right?

This is not at all a direct swap. It will not plug in. The intakes are not interchangeable. You'll get a check engine light for the EGR system not being compatible (you'll get two codes for that). Not sure what you're looking for, but this is more of a project than a direct swap. All of that info is already covered here, like which years swap and the differences.

no there's no other EJ22 that intake will bolt to.

You never mentioned whether they used Subaru headgaskets or aftermarket? TONS of information about this swap here, it's very straight forward and there is absolutely no customization required. you only need to get the right parts, all easily available. if you get a 96 or earlier Ej22 the timing components are really cheap (complete ebay kits, all new idlers for $80) and they're also non-interference. all of that pretty much means those engines can last as long as you care to maintain them if you don't overheat or run them out of oil. you need an EJ22 with EGR. that means: 95 from an automatic Any 96-98 with EGR and you'll need an exhaust manifold as well. Get one of those combinations and it's a plug and play swap, nothing extra has to be done. I would not get a rebuilt EJ25, unless it came from CCR or someone I really trusted.

Usually a repeat failure is due to the mechanic making a mistake. In this case, since it lasted a few yeas, I would say that's definitely the case. Repeat failures right after the fact can sometimes be cracked blocks, shifted sleeves, etc. My first guess is they didn't use a Subaru head gasket. Very typical for repeat failures on aftermarket head gaskets on this motor. On some Subaru's the aftermarkets are excellent...even better...but not on this motor. Use Subaru headgaskets or swap to another motor. An Ej22 swap would be cheaper than another Ej25, as the price for those tends to be really high due to the higher propensity for failure.

I've used non-POR15 stuff before, forget which brand but have since thrown the bottle away. It worked fine. It's been on my XT6 for about 5 years and held up fine as far as I know, though that car is a parts car now but still sits on my property. Any bead on the justy gas mileage yet Nip?

PM Sent, I think I can hook you up with that and a whole lot more.

If you can find one in decent shape (many are old ill-maintained and not worth putting much money into now), the EA82's are actually very reliable. Like GD said the SPFI is simple and fairly straight forward. Keep them from overheating and running out of oil and they'll essentially last as long as you care to maintain them. Timing belt kits are cheap on ebay and very easy to do. Do the timing belts, clean the idle controller, do a full tune up (plugs, wire, cap, rotor) and it's not hard to get 100,000 miles out of an EA82. You're more likely to need stuff like alternators, CV boots, etc....like any other 20 year old car.

Cars101.com is a subaru site with all sorts of year/model info on it. It's really hard to cover it all but I'm going to cover things that are important to me and maybe to you. Engines and trim level are the major differences, so you'll want to tell us what you're after there. EJ22's are better engines but EJ25's are in the nicer trimmed models with more options and all the OBW's except the 96 Manual trans OBW. Most Legacy wagons have the EJ22 except the GT and OBW - which have the EJ25. If you want leather, heated seats, nicer trim, etc, you'll want the GT or OBW or you can get any wagon you want and swap those parts in. EJ25's have headgasket issues, piston slap, and more internal engine failures as well. You can search here or google for info on all of those issues. You can get a lower end wagon and install the OBW struts to give it a lift. The impreza Outback Sport is a fantastic ride too, they all come with EJ22's up until 2001 or so. They're a little on the smaller side though and a little bit lower end than legacy's. But i'd recommend test driving one, we owned one for years and it was great for us. The EJ22 went to interference engine and more expensive timing components and less reliable timing tensioner in 1997. So a 1996 or earlier is actually a better motor if everything else is equal. If you get a 1997+ EJ22 it's still a great motor but you'll want to ask for suggestions here on proper timing belt procedures and it'll be more expensive. Ebay kits are $280 for those instead of the earlier EJ22's which are only $80.

aftermarket alternators are often risky. it's easy to get a good one too - but also easy to get a bad one. but three in a row is indeed starting to sound unlikely. i would do some proper testing, shouldn't be hard to tell if it's tested properly. they have machines to bring to your car and test it and the charging system properly. surprised they haven't done that yet. advanced auto parts, and i think autozone and other large chains have the equipment and do it for free. i agree with GD on the OEM units, cheaper and you get Subaru. i think last I checked it was $75 and like the 97 OBW's that had the recall.

Same as every other decision we make, paying less and getting less (in terms of risk). It's not quantifiable and anecdotal experiences mean nothing in a situation like this. Just because one person had a good/bad experience means nothing for this car. If you're comfortable with that risk then go. Sounds like you're not really asking and with your skills could care less about the risk of possible future repairs, I say jump on it and give it a whirl. I think the more miles/years you want out of it the less valuable it is. If you go through cars quick then yeah who cares. If you like 200,000 miles out of a vehicle then that's not as good of a fit. Why not buy one needing known work like engine/trans/suspension/body work or something for cheap and fix it? I guess they're harder to come by there than here?

i've never noticed any problems with any brands either, except when they get soaked in oil, so just make sure you don't have any bad oil leaks to get the belt wet it degrades the rubber. i've had new belts break in less than a year when oil soaked.

gotcha, it does seem weird to intentionally leave parts off a vehicle. actually none of mine have timing covers, I leave them all off, even newer EJ vehicles, except my 02 which has a chain lol. the folks that claim mushroom clouds will happen and won't do it are speaking about their own motivations, which are perfectly valid too, but not experience. there's lots of threads about that, so read all you want about running "naked" or without covers. "the import exports" is the local favorite ebay supplier of timing belt kits. although I buy almost exclusively EJ stuff, it's been a few years since my last EA, i suppose they'll have EA too. forget how the EA82 is set up but on some you'll need to thread the oil pressure sensor wire down and away from the belts (i run mine behind the tensioner pulley bracket to hold it out of the way) and leave the center cover in place for the oil dipstick bracket. not sure what everyone else is doing with that.......

if there's no known history of the car then it's hard to say, the guesses are as wild as the possibilities. sounds like a bad idea, wiring and engine could easily be hosed. but my time is valuable, i'm leaning towards more and more risk averse in stuff like this, doesn't pay. some people love the novelty of cheap, it becomes a game, or making something work that didn't have a chance, if that's the case then go for it. gotta roll with what drives you sometimes.

trans will bolt right up. the wiring and ECU will all be custom wiring, splicing, and installing. not for the faint of heart. it's a huge job in those terms.

there's no "conflicting" stories, it's just opinion and experience. this isn't nearly as black and white as you may think. i had a loose timing cover wear a hole in an ATF hose once, so you could argue they make them less reliable if you want one-off anecdotal experiences like that. LOL!!?? it doesn't really matter actually, do whatever you want. if you're anal and uncomfortable and you're time isn't valuable just install the covers. it's acutally not hard to install them, like with zip ties instead of bolts, such that they're not a PITA next time. if you don't mind taking advice and trusting folks that have done it multiple times for hundreds of thousands of miles, leave them off. at $60 or $80 there's hardly any reason NOT to replace all the pulleys, right? you have all sorts of options. the worst one is leaving 20 year old pulleys with not much grease left in the bearings. you can test each one, if they're good leave them. if not, replace them. but they're very expensive from subaru or individually and the chances of all of them being in great shape are almost impossible. replace the bearings. start sourcing bearings and have a shop install bearings in your old pulleys. will end up being more expensive than ebay. ebay kits - all new belts and bearings. oil pump, just reseal it. an oring, gasket, and seal and you're done. these engines are sensitive to oil supply, being HLA driven, and the oil pumps are prone to leaking. water pump if it's original i wouldn't want to go through all that effort and not replace it. but you can certainly chance it. there's no quantitative way to determine how long something will last, so it just comes down to how you do maintenance. go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" idea and wait and see. or keep up on maintenance. i like reliability, the extra effort to do it right is worth it to me, but not to someone else.

Oh I'm sorry - you mean if it will actually work? Yes *this* (not most though) EJ22, if it is indeed a Phase II EJ22 will swap into a 2001 EJ25. The transmission will be a different gear ratio most likely - probably a 4.11 while the other will be a 4.44. Transmissions will still likely be interchangeable though. As for the engine most of the time (so i thought, read later) you'll need to swap the 01 timing components (cam sprockets and crank sprocket) onto the Ej22. Some have said you don't always have to or there are two different styles, but I haven't seen that yet personally. basically the timing is different so you want the existing ECU to "see" the same info as the original engine - just transfer the stuff over.

Does it look like a solid repair? I've found the muffler shop repairs like this are rather short lived, even less than a year often times. Hope it lasts and maybe the rust isn't bad. Exhaust is really annoying to work with, particularly rusted out stuff, so $150 sounds like a great deal. Curious to see what these flange things are you're talking about, any online picks as I don't recall what these might be in the exhaust section?

yeah EGR will be the main hang up. you'll still want a 95+ intake manifold too for the wiring harness, the 92 harness won't plug in like the later ones. you can install one without EGR like I did, it runs you just have to live in a state that doesn't care about CEL's :-\

Low mileage is cool but there is a bit of novelty attached to it when speaking of older cars. I have better experience with average mileage engines that were regularly driven and maintained (harder to determine though). There's a theoretical side to older engines (cars) not being used often, driven much or sitting for long periods of time. Contaminants can sit for extended periods and gaskets/seals I don't think hold us as well either, can they dry out or...? That being said I'd buy this one if it was needed $800 isn't a bad engine price for the range of vehicles this can be placed in.

Sounds like you want to do this and are prepared, so have fun with it. I'm not a performance suspension person but it seems like a high end rebuild (rear coil overs) and sway bar would be imperceptible in difference from this kind of work. I'm not firm on details but there's also a newer Subaru rear strut that can bolt into an EA82...though I don't know which years and if the actual suspension is any different. Thought I'd mention it in case it's different in any way that might help your conversion, but I don't know.

I'm from Maryland and would be interested in picking it up. Have a friend in Westminster that just needs a commuter, I could help him fix it.