idosubaru

Hey it's two Rick's! Thanks for the input GD, this is good friend of mine. I helped him get the car, did the timing belt on it, etc. If it turns into anything major then I'll probably end up helping him fix it. I was confused to about what you meant on the phone - "in" verses "out" - i thought you meant the opposite. RP - (GD knows his junk, he's unlikely to be wrong). check the transmission fluid immediately. Probably a good idea to just change it and get some quality synthetic fluid in there. I never checked it and you probably haven't either? Shame on us! If you're up my way at all or we're meeting on the 19th I'll just bring stuff and we'll change it.

Without knowing the history who knows. Was it wrecked? That would make me feel a little better...maybe? Anyway, the timing belt likely slipped. Typically you only need to pull the heads and replace the bent valves and there isn't any catastrophic problems. Not a big deal and actually a plus since it's a really good idea to replace the head gaskets on this known problematic headgasket motor. Nice to have new ones before dropping it in. But on an unknown engine it's a little sketchy. I'd probably just return it...but depends all what kind of deal you got, how you feel about fixing it, how the car looked, engine looks...etc.

I did a quick plugging around on the interweb (you might want to try that as well) and that does seem high. But I'm not well versed in leases at all, don't think I've even ever talked about them before until now! Seems like you should be coming in a good deal less than that. Read some of this thread about Subaru leases for instance: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef9ddb3/314 Hmmm, sounds like you might be getting worked over in NY, surprise, surprise?!

no, not at all. that's not a TB sign. No, definitely not. Stick with straight gear oil like is supposed to be in there, go with some synthetic if you feel like it. My guess is 200 miles did no damage.

i still can't believe you got the control arm bolt out, how did you do that?

There are two bolts that hold the entire distributor in place. I believe it's one of those that broke/or stripped right? With those two bolts removed the entire distributor assembly (with cap and rotor) can be pulled up...and actually removed from the engine. If you pull it up only a little bit, like an inch, then drop it back down chances are it's not lined up correctly. There are teeth at the bottom of the distributor that engage with the cam. There's only one way for it to be installed so these gears are properly lined up. If you pulled up on the distributor (those two bolts would need to be removed), it may have jumped a tooth. They are enormous gears (relatively speaking) and definitely could only jump teeth if you pulled the distributor up.

Make sure the trans isn't loosing ATF - there's a slight possibility in 4EAT's for ATF to be pushed into the diff I think, I've heard of it before I believe. In that case it wasn't added, but there's a bad seal in the trans. If it really was added wrong then there's no telling what, if any damage, occurred. ATF is a lubricant, not meant for differentials and horribly out of spec but at least it is an actual lubricant. I wouldn't be surprised either way. Good news is differentials almost always give you ample warning signs, like noise.

ball joint is out of the hub but still in the control arm? that's really annoying. You probably need some heat - like a torch to expand the control arm. Penetrant is a good idea too - Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster, etc. as for the axle being stuck, man you are getting HOSED on this job!! i'm surprised you seem to have a great attitude still - that's awesome, keep it up! i suppose a puller (pusher) is a good bet. In my experience you're never going to get it out but just beating on it. Like you said you need to be very careful pounding on the axle as it starts to mushroom the head, destroy the threads. This makes the axle unusable and it won't pull through the hub if you get it started finally. I just had to deal an axle like this recently, pounded the snot out of it before it would come out. I can't recall how I finally got it out. Again, penetrant is a good thing. Just be careful and don't get it in the bearings which are accessible from the inside of the hub (Where the axle slides in and seals against the wheel seal). might want to ask for suggestions next time you have to dig into any hub related work in regards to all this sticking and corossion.

sounds like the distributor came out and is off a tooth or so. you're positive it didn't come up at all?

nah, won't be the blizzacs. that does sound terrible even with a lift and all that. my buddy is running outback struts and 16" WRX rims on his base EJ22 legacy sedan and i think he gets decent like 25mpg or something. keep in mind - if you have larger tires you're traveling more miles than your odometer says, have you already figured that in? it wont' be much different but 10% higher possibly. plugs, wires, air filter, and dragging brakes. with every brake job make sure you properly grease the caliper slide pins and replace any boots that are even slightly cracked. i pulled a caliper off last week to work on something else and i had recently done a brake job, the caliper was very stuck in the pin eventhough i thoroughly grease the pins. the boots had a slight tear in it.

ah gotcha, now i think i'm seeing it. the stub shafts on 4EAT's actually pull right out of the transmission, they're just held in place by a circlip and yank right out, and pop right back in. maybe it's not seated properly or something is up with the clip? i wouldn't expect differential issues since you haven't mentioned any noise?

I would not choose a JDM engine, but sounds like you're up for it, so you can use that motor rather easily and I think it's a fine fit really. (well, might want to check on that EGR issue, I didn't look for that). These motors rarely have intake manifold associated issues. Personally I would actually RATHER use your intake manifold than one that's been sitting for who knows how long and Japan miles are all city miles and unknown mileage at that. Most folks with 200k and 300k aren't having any issues with intake manifold stuff, very rare, so I wouldn't rule it out because of that if you're cool with that motor. Good luck beast!

don't touch that bolt next time, it doesn't need to be removed for an axle job and is a pain. remove the top strut mount bolt and loosen the lower, that's all that needs to happen to get the axle out. it's much easier and those bolts are not nearly as prone to issues like you're experiencing with the control arm and ball joint. strut/hub rotates out, axle comes out, and you're done. very easy. as for your current situation, that just completely stinks. avoid using extratctors like the plague. they plain suck, they'll just break on a bolt that large. as for the ball joint, it'll come right out with a pickle fork 100% of the time. borrow or buy one. they tend to rip the boot though - so proceed slowly and grease the snot out of the forks, or just plan on replacing the boot. good luck, any machine shops close by you can drive the car too and let them extract the bolt? call around, sometimes you'll find a machine shop capable of actually working on something in the car. personally i'd leave the bolt in place. not sure what it looks like or what's left, but you could drill and tap the existing bolt and put another bolt in it. That's what I would do. Not sure if there's a way to slap a nut over top and weld it, doubt you have any material left close enough to the top to keep form welding to the crossmember, it needs to pivot.

i thought you'd chime in!

Is the runoout/tolerances, is that something they can look up, standardized or marked on the inside of the rotor - aren't there numbers in there? I often take a stock of rotors to the shop across the street from my office - I just drop off a stock of rotors and never tell them what they are from and they turn them. Not sure what numbers they're using to test and turn? Nearly every post offering suggestions is still ignoring the question and point of this thread. Newer stuff having more warped rotors than older. That's the issue he's referring too, not all the possible idiosyncrasies of rotors, he's well aware of that. These suggestions only underline the entire point of him starting this thread, because an older car should have worse conditions....older, cheaper parts, maintained worse, other poorly maintained systems, etc.. older cars should be having more rotor issues.

the coil placement has nothing to do with anything, i'm not sure why you keep obsessing about the coil? you're going to be removing the entire engine harness anyway and using yours. JDM's are not "drop in" from that perspective. the plugs/wiring are completely different (at least the ones i've seen). you use all your goodies and gadgets and just the JDM long block. real simple, remove intake, install yours, end of story. coil pack is gone, you're using your coil pack. 115k, not sure where that number came from but it's not realistic. they blow at completely random mileages, it's not a wear item, it's a defect.

legacy diffs are different, but it might still be possible, not sure. i feel like folks have already done 4.11 and 4.44 conversions so i think it's possible.

i'll add that buying a complete vehicle is much simpler than piecing it together and not hard to do cheaper. it's easier to buy a complete car (wrecked, rusted, etc) than buying all the little bits you need.

coil placement doesn't mean anything. you're using your intake and coil, ignore the JDM intake stuffs. i would ask them minor questions like this, they're the ones you're paying and getting the product from. they sell this stuff all the time. you want to pay top dollar for original head gaskets? these were failing under warranty when they were new, mileage gains you nothing. at 10+ years old I'd plan on replacing the timing belt stuff.

EJ engines are picky about ignition stuff, i'm not making that up or exaggerating. If you have a no start and engine code it's hard for me to ignore that fact. I'm not sure what makes them so finnicky but having spark means nothing - like I said I've seen brand new wires, right out of the box be nearly undrivable - misfire codes and massive bucking - I'm sure new wires have spark, it's something else the EJ's don't like. A no-start on unknown wires sounds totally reasonable to me. I've never seen a knock sensor cause a no-start/no-run but maybe it's way off and retarding timing? should run fine with it unplugged. If it's bad, you'll need to replace it anyway, so do it I guess?

diff shafts off center left to right? i can't imagine that being your issue. 3" lift still? i bet the aftermarket axles are your problems. i've had horrible luck with aftermarkets and good ones get noisy with the lifts i've put them under.

After the destruction you said you replaced the rotor? Did you replace the cap as well? The out of alignment rotor and ensuing damage may have whacked the cap contacts out of alignment?

MORE EJ wheel bearing fun! I have another rear one too, this is getting really old!

as an engineer i suggest to not put this question on your resume for real, it's only wiring, what's your question? The later models have a few more horsepower and the nifty plug, so why not, eh? might want to describe what you mean by "hack" and what you're trying to do. in general, get a car, swap the harness into whatever you want and run it? Chux - is it really a technological marvel to go from OBDI swap to OBDII swap? It's not like it's a paradigm shift or anything right? Same basic principle.

How many miles and has the timing belt ever been replaced? THis is an interference engine if the belt breaks you'll incur severe engine damage. Best to replace the belt and pulleys on time. If you have check engine lights your best bet is to start there. Best to clear them an see which one returns. Baring that, the two issues you have are very common. Knock sensor - covered a zillion times on here, replace it, follow directions given in other knock, sensor threads, search for those. Includes all pictures and details from Subaru. "misfire random" is the actual code? i've never heard of that one. usually it's cylinder #3 misfire or something like that. anyway - probably plugs, wires, or coil - again, very common. again - mileage and have the plugs/wires ever been changed? Plugs should be OEM NGK and wires should be Subaru, these engines are not forgiving with aftermarket wires. As a matter of fact if you have after market wires, that could be your problem. I've seen a no start before with brand new wires (aftermarkets) on EJ engines.