idosubaru

The EJ18 will drop in. I've swapped EJ18, EJ22's, EJ25's...it'll drop right in. Swap long blocks and keep your EJ22 intake manifold. They should both have EGR but i'm not 100% versed on the 90-94 stuff so best to check if emissions matters to you. EJ18 won't have a knock sensor, but the hole and threads will be there! It's kind of a silly fix though, a 15+ year old motor is highly likely to leak. It's just a matter of time for old seals, particularly having sat in yard or inoperable vehicle for X years.

oh okay, great i'll just swap that out.

check junk yards and buy one from the closest you can find. i wouldn't worry with low mileage JDM stuff, they're just as prone to head gasket and bearing issues as anything locally, i wouldn't pay premium for them. i'll ship you one for $1,500.

nah, no need for this as preventative maintenance. it's made it almost a quarter million miles without it...that's like driving to the moon yo! just leave it. if you do have the symptoms then you know how to fix it, so just sit tight and enjoy the ride.

depends on your skill level. i think it's easy. other folks wouldn't attempt it if you offered cash. you have to remove the timing belts to get to them. reseal the oil pump while you're doing it since it's right in front of you once the belts are off. replacing the water pump is smart too since it also requires removing the timing belt.

1988 XT6 5 speed manual 4WD works fine but the center diff lock button won't engage it. I currently swap vacuum hoses to engage the diff lock. I've already swapped buttons. Here's what I think will tell the issue to someone crafty - when I give the vacuum hose to the 4WD mechanism direct vacuum, the differential locks just fine perfectly like normal. Then - if I press the button, the center diff lock light will light up - so the circuit is all there and working. And then if I remove vacuum the diff lock STAYS LOCKED (light on and all) until I depress the button. So the circuits and all work. I think a person more adept than me at electronics would probably know exactly what this is. Probably a solenoid?

if you're really worried about this and want it fixed and want help with it - it seems obvious to me you'd want to know the engine codes. if the engine is telling you there's a problem, why not find out what it's saying? have the codes read and we'll tell you what they mean. like he said it's probably spark plugs and wires. makes sure the plugs are OEM NGK's and the wires are Subaru.

no that wouldn't cause the ATF light to flash. a better description would help. like specific stuff. it only does it at 10mph? (you also mentioned driving home at 80?) here's a really important question: was the ATF light flashing before this issue happened? or did they occur simultaneously. if they happened at the same time then obviously they are likely related.

i exaggerated, it doesn't really take that many tried, you should be able to get it. sounds like you're having a particularly good run here. i'm almost wondering if you have too much grease or something all over the boot/lip of the rack? that might make it slip off too easily once you get it in place? hold it extra tight, get what you can over the lip...then rotate the part that's you can get on into the area you can't reach...then holding each side you can reach work your way around while maintaining the position of the installed top part. again, tight and steady grip and it'll eventually go. keep trying and tweaking in slightly different ways.

the secret is trying 46 times. it's just really annoying, keep at it porc. problem is you probably can't get to the upper side right? just keep trying and pulling/tugging, it'll go.

95, one owner, garage kept sounds like a great car. bucky covered all the important stuff to look for during a test drive. i'd plan on having the transmission fluid changed if it hasn't been done. torque bind definitely isn't a deal killer. requires either Duty C or clutch plate replacement to fix. both not that big of a deal, about like doing a timing belt and can be done in the vehicle. being a well kept car though i'm doubtful you'll have problems. torque bind is caused by poor maintenance - infrequent transmission fluid change, not rotating tires, mismatching tires, improper towing, etc.

if you are also experiencing a delay in steering, or a lag, then your rack bushings might be shot. they are easy to replace. not at all out of the ordinary for a a vehicle your age. plus on subarus oil leaks tend to end up down on those components, causing the rubber to saturate and deteriorate.

Awesome, that's a nice story - thanks for the follow up.

what all did you do? just new pads and that's it? if it's just a little bit soft, often you just need to jam on it a couple times with the engine running (vacuum assist) to seat the pads, rotors, and caliper cylinder good. if that's not the case.... when you compressed the piston in, did you loosen the cap on the master cylinder (where you add brake fluid)? if not, then you likely blew the seals in your master cylinder and need a new one. when you push in caliper pistons the fluid needs to go somewhere, back to the master cylinder and that pressure needs to be able to release. i've never seen it happen on a Subaru but on other vehicles it can sometimes cause the master cylinder to fail if the lid is left in place. you're already done, but leaving the ebrake on will render he caliper housing immovable as well.

nah you're not wasting your time if everything else looks good. install a new pin and move on. i just got a car this year with some questionable maintenance done to it, i won't begin to list the absurdity. anyway one item was the roll pins were non-existent or sticking out. for the life of me I can't picture why that would happen, wondered if something was 'causing it' but now i figure the person doing the job did it. i reinstalled them properly and haven't had a problem with them. let's hope you have similar luck.

straight up swap.

yes, yes, what he said. my buddy had a heck of a time getting one off a couple weeks ago. he ended up using a 150 ft-lb electric impact wrench (i told him wouldn't work) and he said it got it off.

i've seen wrong parts in boxes before as well.

it would although considering it is dealing with timing components (unlike the crank bolt - EJ's can even run without that in place!) it would be a risky venture on an interference engine.

if you're desperate, just remove the axle leaving the joints in place to hold the bearings and run it 4WD until you have the time/patience/parts/tools/money to fix this right. doesn't sound like you'll be keeping the axle anyway, just just remove it for now. you'll have to let us know exactly what you mean by "fell off the transmission". the trans stub sheared off or probably the joint of the axle blew apart? sounds like that's the case since you mentioned the "pin" still being in. in that case i'd get another axle to fix it and replace the entire thing. without knowing full details i don't know that i'd blame him. there's no telling what happened if the bearings, or whatever problems were had, were left to go on so long that they started damaging other parts. and i'm guessing you weren't asking him to be throwing all sorts of parts and money at it - sounds like the opposite. maybe the axle is hosed, should rebuild the entire thing. maybe the front differential is hosed from all this too - better rebuild that. he may have honestly fixed what he thought was the problem and hoped for the best, knowing you weren't out to spend much.

i have no idea what that means. i've never had or heard of a problem with rotors fitting. if it's happened, i would think it's more anecdotal than anything else. Subaru is just plain confusing with brakes though - I would think it's more an issue of getting the wrong part than that part being "low quality". It's not black and white and much comes down to opinion. "All OEM" is certainly one way but it says as much about personality as mechanical advice. Even those of us who don't always recommend OEM, but have significant experience with Subaru's, know which parts to use OEM on and which not. In some cases OEM is not the best choice. But it gets confusing to folks that don't have the time or experience - for instance for EA/ER headgaskets OEM is not the best choice, but for EJ head gaskets I'd only use Subaru. Without time/experience it's understandable that folks wouldn't want to know all those nuances to parts, models, and engines. And the easier solution for anal, paranoid, anxious, concerned people is to just go all OEM all the time.

Because poorly seated pads or caliper function will cause pads to run against or closer to rotors which then run hotter and warp. If you want the calipers to work as intended and be able to pull away from the rotor as well as possible, then you would want whatever controls that to be in proper working order. That's why you should always clean and grease the slides and replace bad bushings/boots on the capliers, many shops skip that step. Those slides and the grease contained in the boot allow the pad to pull off the rotor when the pedal is released. Calipers don't have spring mechanisms like drum brakes, they're more likely to have dragging pads. As for the clips, they also control the pad since that's about the only thing the pad actually comes in contact with. With age/use, maintenance, they can be bent, distorted, mis-shaped, loose, warped, corroded, and particularly built up with debris, etc. You could try cleaning them, but they're cheap and if this guy is having issues replacement seems like a good bet.

i have regular rotors on my 02 OBW VDC and they've done well with a good work out - mountain roads, steep grades, pulling hundreds of pounds of equipment on trailers, etc. I got the NAPA ....Adaptive One ceramic hybrid brake pads. they work nicely and came with a complete kit - caliper clips and all that. The reason I mention those pads is that I would replace those clips, even if the pads you get don't come with them. Also replace any boots that look remotely weak/old, and grease the slides properly. This might help as much, or more, than slotted rotors.

really? is this true for all subaru axles, XT6, EJ? are those available at VW only? a likely bad idea would be to try and plug the hole in the boot with some pliable epoxy/patch-ish stuff after refilling with grease through a needle fitting. i would definitely reboot a good axle before buying another. i'd pay a shop/machine shop $50 to reboot it for me before getting another axle. shop across the street from work charges me $40 to install a boot if I bring them the axle.

i've also had the "string method" not work before (too short). i mean it's close....so it ends up being too short and you just get an inch bigger. should get close, but depends how close it is and how much adjustment you have.