idosubaru

the tent will not fit in the XT6, not even close. it is HUGE. The H6 is out no matter what, there's no way that's changing.

in the US you can swap them all day long from like 1990 - 2000 - any forester, legacy, or impreza. yours being FWD means you don't have to worry about final drive ratios matching. over here the bellhousing changed in 1998 - but evenstill they're swappable, very minor changes. not sure what differences might arise for you guys though.

"gutless" is mostly reserved for the old generation forum ! although the EJ18 isn't splendid behind an AWD automatic. anyway, the EJ22 will perform just fine. i've never minded and most folks on here that have done it have no complaints.

if you can do the work yourself and would like some more miles out of this car i'd keep it and do it right. if done right you could expect quite a few more miles/years out of this car. normally i'd say repair the motor but if yours has been bad for a year i'd be concerned about the longetivity of the motor. if you do it i'd plan on going the full road and doing all the timing belt components as well - all new pulleys, water pump, timing belt, thermostat, and reseal the front while the timing belt is off. i would not go with a JDM motor. these engines have too many headgasket (and piston slap and bearing problems) to buy any used motor. Option 4 (cheapest and most reliable option) is an EJ22 swap. plenty of info here about that and it's plug and play, no harder than swapping another EJ25 in place. far more reliable than an EJ25 and way less money. and if you get a 1995 or 1996 EJ22 they are not only interference but complete timing component kits are only $90 instead of $200 for the 1997+ kits. That's what I would do. For only a few hundred you have great reliability. The transmission might be fine. Have you ever changed the fluid and do all the tires match evenly? If not I'd change the fluid a few times. These are 4WD transmissions the tires need to be rotated and properly inflated. Not doing so wears internal transmission components.

yeah i'm not one to push safety limits when towing. i think it's going to be the XT6 if i can take care of a few minor things before then.

97 is a weird year as i've seen them have both style tensioners. pull the drivers side or passengers side belt cover - only 3 10mm bolts each to inspect timing belt. personally i'd plan on replacing it. not because of the belt but because this is an interference engine and it's unlikely that they replaced the pulleys. you don't want to rely on 13 year old pulleys in an interference engine, they loose grease over time. they do seize and when they do they will break the belt, new or not. you have two options, pull it apart and replace the pulleys that are questionable (will probably be a few). or get an ebay kit that includes all the pulleys, they are much cheaper than the pulleys individually and you have all new pulleys. that's what i typically do. hate to say it but i'd replace the water pump too, same reason due to age. but you can leave it if you'd like of course, these water pumps are very reliable.

The car starts and runs fine in Park but won't go into Drive? I'd pull the gear selector and have a look at the button and solenoid mechanism.

i would think how and where you hit will make a huge difference too. also impacts are bad.

is this a legacy or what? idle control are notorious for issues with age/mileage/dirt, though i don't have personal experience with this in legacy's so i'm not familiar with how their idle control is set up. typically they only need cleaned.

Any New generation subaru wheels will work except SVX and newer STi's (I believe it's 2005+ that won't work). I've seen some of the newer larger 16" tires rub on some older subaru's that don't have much wheel well clearance - 2006 Forester XT Turbo tires for instance, they came with just a slightly different tire size than most 16" wheels and rubbed on my 1997 Impreza and 1991 XT6 AWD with air suspension (although the XT6 was easy to remedy by bending a dust shield and they are currently on that vehicle).

glad to hear you have options, sorry to mention it, hate to see folks getting hosed. the first time it happened to me i had no clue what to do, who to call, where to get answers, etc. glad it sounds like you got a good start.

in the US (not sure, but don't think there are any differences) the 1997/98 EJ22 will drop right into the 1998 EJ25 vehicle. you do not need to swap any electronics or computer stuff. take the entire EJ22 and drop it in the car - it'll bolt right up and plug right in, easy. the only part you'll need is a single port EJ22 exhaust manifold. the EJ22 has a single port exhaust, but the 1998 EJ25 vehicle will have a dual port exhaust. you will want the EJ25 sitting next to you so you have access to a few minor things like a/c bracket and power steering lines, but it's really simple.

you won't be after i solved your problem for you in the other thread, go check it out!

I've had to deal with this before and I'd totally do things differently to do it over. They gave me the run around and all sorts of ambiguous maybe's, might's, and not sure's...and claimed things that weren't true. You're left on your own and they no that if you don't have a lawyer. Luckily none have ever jerked me around since then, but if they ever do I'm getting a lawyer immediately and sticking it to them. Good luck, hope you can pull something off. I would want to sue the company, they don't want to have to deal with courts and usually would rather settle a small claim than show up. Are you SURE it's too late to just let a lawyer do it? They know all this stuff.

agreed, that's a waste of time on such an involved job. i'd just get some good components (even if used) and install those. there's probably folks on this board with these parts crawling all over the shed that they're tripping over. just ask for some used valves, guides, and components. i have dozens of them, but not the time. i'm sure you'll get a hit in the parts wanted forum.

he's got another thread on this in the New Gen forum, post there. MODS - delete this duplicate post?

swap in that other starter and see if that fixes it, that sounds like the problem. solenoid probably isn't the problem since it sounds like it's actually moving and doing something. you could even rebuild the starter, usually just needs cleaning or new brushes. i''ve even fixed them by just disassembling and cleaning the insides and reassembling, but i'd consider that a temporary fix.

seized motor doesn't turn at all - even with a socket and 4 foot breaker bar. of course i'm sure there's varying degrees of damage. anyway - starter clicking and poor turning is in NO WAY an indication of a seized motor. it's a no start condition, which is a common symptom of thousands of possible problems. did you try to jump it? alternator? starter? starter solenoid? ignition? battery? i'd start by jumping and testing the alt/battery.

there's a site-suggestions and questions forum, might want to post there so moderators and such see it. i would not think you have to wait to post pictures, but maybe it does work that way.

i don't think that's true, where did you hear this? i already indicated above that the CAM pulleys need swapped, but it's not an auto-manual difference.

interesting. the computer can be affected, it may even have an internal sensor of some sort? a read through the FSM is in order if you can't find info you need elsewhere.

control module is under and behind the radio. requires torx bits to remove (some require security torx bits). did the air bags go off when the accident happened? if it was in an accident and the bags didn't deploy then maybe it just needs a new module. FSM says they are "one time use only" items. that's not true on older ones as i know folks that have swapped just bags and reused old computers after a wreck, but all the newer ones that i've done needed the computer replaced after an accident.

i've already tried , i guess we just wait until he screws up a few seals trying to install it before he'll pay attention. i get the feeling this is a one second at a time kind of deal here....nothing matters until it's an emergency...we've all seen that type before. here's an analogy for this situation: "a piston rod broke and shot a hole in my block - so i'm going to reinstall a new rod and bearing through that hole, so my question is - do i JB weld or Epoxy the hole in the block?"

in some cases you can swap EJ22 and EJ25 engines straight up. not in this case though. to make it work you need to swap cam sprockets. you're welcome!

a quick google search of Subaru airbag code 11 22 gives: Driver's side airbag or control module/ Passenger's side airbag or control module. Was the car ever in an accident? Odd that the light would go off. It almost had to have an accident for it to have multiple codes. If i was just a "glitch" or "connection" or random failure I'd only expect one code. You can buy a set of front bags and the computer. I've heard of folks just replacing the bags before, but I've always had to replace the bags and computer. My guess is older vehicles (which I never work on - like first gen 1990-1995 stuff) may be simpler. All the newer ones I've done I've had to replace the computer as well.