idosubaru

EZ outs are worthless. any time someone says "they worked", the bolt would have come out with any number of simpler and less dangerous methods. avoid ezouts all the time and save yourself the hassle of supporting crap tools. i know the temptation of having a busted, annoying, time-sucking bolt...and that ezout sounds tempting, avoid it at all costs. i can't see what yo'ure looking at and haven't done hardly any EA81 stuff, but here's what i've done before. you won't likely have good luck drilling the stupid-OUT, so drill a hole adjacent to the EZout to the point where you can "knock it out sideways" so to speak. then you can fix the mangled mess when you're done. usually you can leave plenty of material to work with, but even if you didn't, an insert or fix could be fabricated easy enough. as you have found out the hard way, EZouts are very brittle and will break rather easily. so if you can get a chisel or something on it, pound the snot out of it...should be easy enough to muster that motivation ehh?? get some good metal drilling cobalt bits and use lots of cutting oil and don't let the bit overheat. take breaks if you have to in order for it to cool down. if it quits drilling or cutting, don't force it (more breakage). Let it cool down, oil it, or get a new bit. if you aren't getting annoyed oiling it, you're not doing it enough. commercial machines have a steady stream of fluid to cool the bits, constantly spraying. the oil will make it cut much better, your bit will last longer too. good luck, this indeed sucks.

they're super easy, remove 4 bolts to replace rotors and pads. remove wheel. there's only two bolts holding the caliper to the caliper bracket - remove those two to replace pads. then two bolts holding the caliper bracket to the hub assembly. so - 4 bolts after the wheel is off and you're ready to replace the pads and rotor. you'll need a c-clamp to push the pistons back in. i mean i've done it by hand before, but i don't recommend that. since you're replacing the rotors, removing the old ones should be easy. i like to use a 6 foot digging bar if they're hard to get to pop off. unscrew the master cylinder cap before you compress the caliper pistons with a c-clamp. be careful, when you press the pistons back in, it's going to push fluid back up into your master cylinder, it could overflow. i have a large eyedropper to suck fluid out if needed. be sure to get caliper grease to regrease (not regular grease) the pins/slides - the two rubber boots that caliper hangs off of - clean those up and apply grease inside of them.

those are the single piston caliper disc brakes and the easiest to get right i think. there's only one single piston caliper rotor i think. what multiple listings have you seen - where are you buying? try a couple different online vendors, NAPA, Advanced, Autozone, Rockauto and see what you can figure out.

no one said that EJ18's don't have EGR? "misinformation" is uncalled for, particularly considering you have written the most incorrect comment in the thread.

yeah, just mark everything properly and reinstall exactly as it was. one method is to count the number of threads. if you unscrew it 13 times, then screw it back in 13 times. it's usually rather obvious where the "clean" and "dirty" threads start and stop from ones that were exposed and ones that were not. the only problem here lies in the event where you purchase after market parts. if they differ in configuration it's possible that they are a bit longer or shorter. in that case, i would guess the truest form of properly retaining your alignment is to take measurements. if you reinstall the critical parts of the components where they were you're golden. i've done a bunch of tie rods and never had a problem getting them resinstalled just fine. i actually just replaced a legacy inner tie rod without even removing the wheel or the outer tie rod from the hub. i don't recommend it though, i just wanted to see if i could.

the later EJ22's differ as well. the EJ22's went through Phase II changes like the EJ25's - around 1999 (though that was a mixed year) - by 2000 all are Phase II and not easily interchangeable between phases. the 99 Foresters got the first batch of the "newer" Phase II EJ25's with SOHC, was it a SOHC that you had? if you swap throttle body and wiring harness, maybe it doesn't much matter? no one ever said the EJ25 is a bad motor or that every single one will give bad experiences. so there are plenty of anecdotal "good" experiences, but you really did it the best way. the only reason i mention the EJ25 issues is that some (many) folks put $1000-$2,000 into something and can't afford that kind of repair soon after. so it's good to know upfront. then they can try and find one with new headgaskets or did what you did. and, frankly i think the JDM's are a bad option. better to just buy a local one and have new gaskets put on it. one issue isn't the car. anyone putting that kind of money in a vehicle should not be in a position where a head gasket repair puts them over the edge financially, but this isn't a financial board and that's how most americans live.

The cams also have an oring behind the cam cap, which holds the seal. you'll see 3 10mm bolts holding the cam cap in place...i think it's three. remove those and the entire cap comes off. then the seal is much easier to remove. it's kind of pointless to replace the seal and not the orings, they are hard, brittle and prone to leak now and only cost a couple dollars and takes only a couple minutes to replace. this same oring resides on the passengers side rear of the engine two. just remove the two bolts holding that little cap in place and twist it out. i use a screw driver to pry the seals out, but you gotta be careful. thing is, if you tuck it under the front of the seal, but just behind it, the outer sealing surface is protecing the inner metal from scratching, so if you're careful you cant' really scratch it once you get used to it and see it that way.

yes on all counts. you can compare hp and torque numbers if you'd like, but the EJ22 gives much better power compared to the EJ18. faster, pulls loads, towing, passengers, weight, interstate mountain driving...all of that noticeably better. the EJ22 is a perfect fit because it makes the car much nicer to drive but is just as reliable as the puny EJ18. the EJ25 is nice too, but it's not fast so the reliability issues aren't worth it to me. it's still just a 165hp motor. i didn't know the EJ18 throttle body bolted up to the EJ25 intake and this guy didn't seem to interested in much more than bolt in deal, but sounds easy enough to me.

2000-2002 EJ25's had a 100,000 mile extended headgasket warranty campaign, too bad it looks like you missed that? Suggestions for thought: Clutch retaining clips - you'll need two. There are three idler pulleys, I believe two are identical (the $50 one, but check to be sure). Some of your pulleys might be fine, that $30 sprocketed pulley though will almost surely need replaced. The others have a chance of being in good condition so you can consider buying those locally and returning if you don't need them. I just pulled a 115,000 mile 1998 OBW apart and 2 of the pulleys felt like brand new, but I don't consider that the norm either. machine shops normally get assembled heads, they're used to that. they won't have any problems with it. one suggestion is to call Subaru and ask them who does their machine shop work like this. then you're getting specific Subaru experience. Headgaskets are almost essential to use Subaru, it appears you're getting a Subaru kit for those. You won't need a new oil pump, they don't fail. It only needs resealed - one oring, crank seal (both of which you need for your new oil pump), and tighten the rear backing plate screws.

no, it won't work. you have options. the only way to make this plug and play is to get an EJ22 and bolt your EJ18 intake manifold to it (you can't do that with the EJ25 as the manifolds aren't even close). you would want to make sure it's an EJ22 with EGR (assuming your EJ18 has EGR, i'm guessing it does). the good news is the EJ22 is a better motor than the EJ25. if that's news to you search here or google for "EJ25 headgasket" and read all about it. the only option you have for an EJ25 is attempting to install your EJ18 intake manifold wiring harness onto the EJ25 intake manifold. based on your question i'm assuming you're looking for an easy swap, this option is not the easy one you're looking for and will entail some hurdles because the EJ18 is a goofball in some ways. of course you can install the EJ25 with the entire EJ25 wiring harness, but it doesn't sound like you're looking for all that.

i bet the difference is the part number. subaru liked to make minor changes for no apparent reason. i would think the reasons were sometimes less to do with any significant part changes as opposed to something internal going on...source of materials, casting, supplier, manufacturing process, accounting, taxes....who knows. the hubs should interchange just fine. right around 2000-ish they started having the tone rings for the ABS on the axle as opposed to the hub. that would certainly entail a parts change. if that's the case here, you would notice a tone ring on the hub on one and not on the hub on the other.

Right on, I'm familiar with the cambered bolts for the bottom strut mount. I always mark them and install them exactly as they were. I'll pull it next week and have a look at the mount and coil spring seating in the perches. Hopefully i've done enough "thunks" that whatever the problem is will show itself with some wear like you mentioned!

thanks dave, i'll pull it off and have a look. your remarks about alignment are dead on here. the car does pull a bit now with the new strut, even though i made sure to reinstall everything exactly how it was. oddly enough - the strut also seems "twisted" when i installed it, what i mean is when the top was bolted in place, the bottom didn't line up with the hub very well, i had to sort of torque it to get it to mount in the hub. is that maybe a sign the strut wasn't assembled right? what gives the strut "alignment", like the top bolts in relation to the bottom bracket? how is that set? could this extra "torque" i speak of be the problem?

I have no idea - I've never done anything with a mount before. I guess it requires a coil spring compressor to replace that part on the top? It only clunks in sharp turns, like in parking lots, that's it. It'll be like one or two noticeable "thunks".

1996 Legacy Lsi. This new-ish front strut assembly I installed is making a noise when I turn, like a light thunking sort of noise. At least I'm assuming that's what it is, I just replaced the whole strut assembly on that side and it's now making the noise I don't recall being there before. I want to pull it off and have a look - but i've never taken a strut apart before or anything, so what am I looking for?

Your title says 98 and 98, your post says 98 into a 95. That's a big difference as the model year makes a big difference in this case - one will work (98 into 95), one may not (98 into 98). You should clarify to be sure. Counter intuitive in this case, the same year swap is the one that could be most problematic. starter shouldn't matter, but that's easy enough to just slap an impreza starter on it if you have to. I've never had to "match the starter" so to speak on the trans swaps i've done, so i wouldn't think you'll have a problem.

right on dave, actually i kind of knew it, i'm just too busy to keep track of everything. not a big deal and easy enough to replace, i'll see how the leggo works and if not i'll buy one.

i know the obvious answer is "don't do it", but i have a 1997 Legacy air bag computer and a 1997 Impreza OBS that needs one. After working on a few air bag systems I'm realizing how simple they are. A computer, sensors, and bags. I think I'll give it a try. May check the Legacy sensors to see if they're the same.

what advice are you looking for? thoughts on different vehicles, old school verses Legacy's, or different transmissions/engines? there's one key in all this - don't end up with an EA82T!

the 98 heads will work fine on your 97 EJ25. be sure to use Subaru only head gaskets for this engine when reassembling.

if that was the case, there wouldn't be any SVX's left on the road. okay, seriously. the EG33 is not going to fit nicely. anything can be made to happen but if you're looking for a nice swap, this isn't it. but it won't be that hard either, just depends what kind of work you're looking to do. it'll clear (BAAARREEEELY) side to side between the frame rails. you won't be doing any work to it (like valve covers) without pulling the motor so do those and anything else before it goes in. the hard part will be front to back, you'll be very limited with room. but you can do things like move the radiator and play with the front radiator support. there's a chance the hood won't clear the motor. Huck (member here, but more prominent on the SubaruXT board) has essentially done this swap, but a bit easier since it's in an XT6. the XT6 is essentially an EA82 in most regards, the pistons, valves, springs, HLA's, are all identical - they just slapped two extra cylinders on an EA82 and called it a 6 cylinder. Anyway, but the XT6 does have some extra frontal room that EA's don't have i believe. But other than that everything else will be very similar...hmmm you said EA81 and i'm speaking of EA82, so i'm not sure how different those are room wise, but i don't think there's much difference. wheeling with an EG33 sounds to me like the transmission won't last too long, but hopefully i'm wrong. the EG33 is essentially an EJ engine in many regards and will bolt up to any EJ transmission. it will not bolt up to any dual range transmissions (US market anyway) because it won't bolt to any EA81, EA82, or ER27 transmissions. you'll need an adapter plate to make that work. engine mounts will drop in place on the existing cross member, that's the one bit of good news i have for you. the wiring is the nightmarish part, so obviously you're already down for that, so tear it up!

woah nice hit! this guy works fast. awesome! dave - all EJ18's i've seen have EGR, have you seen any that don't? I haven't really been around many of them. that's why i mentioned "most in his area", maybe there's something about location going on.

Congrats Shawn, that's great. Sounds like a fun day, hope the weather holds for you and everyone has a blast.

You know, I've never had to clean mine yet so I'm not sure. One of my Legacy's sunroofs leaks only when the car is parked nose down at an extreme angle, otherwise it never leaks a drop. I should probably look into that. Oh gotcha on the oil pump, you're right, they probably just replaced the seals. I typically replace them all with any timing belt change. For a few dollars and the labor already done, it's kind of a no brainer to swap out a seal that only costs a couple dollars but requires the timing belt (and all that labor) to get to it again.

you should be fine to 200,000 miles with maybe one more repair between now and then. go for it, 200,000 is very reasonable if the car has been taken care of. the sunroof leak is probably minor - the drains get clogged in all sunroofs. clean out the drain. as for the transmission "acting up" - if it's just the fluid lines then have them replaced. it's cheap and easy to fix. rest assured the quality of the car/assembly isn't to blame, this is rare on Subaru's...well sort of. it's obvious this thing is getting hit by issues of some sort. the clamps rusted badly, which deteriorated the hoses. doesn't usually happen, but the right salt gets in the wrong place and it causes problems. exhaust - all replaceable, again, thanks to the rust belt there. the oil pump should not have been replaced - you got hosed on that deal. blame the mechanic, not the car on that one. at most your old pump only needed resealed - tighten the backing plate screws, replace the oring and seal - 10 dollars in part (plus labor). the headgaskets are a sore spot on the EJ25. they have an extended 100,000 mile warranty on them for your year, looks like you just missed that. i've heard of some folks getting them replaced at just beyond 100,000 but you were probably way off. your timing belt and water pump should have been replaced at 105,000 miles. I assume it was replaced with the oil pump. Most mechanics don't do much more than replace the belt though which is a bit short sighted. with the S90 being rear wheel drive, the subaru probably sees the majority of your winter driving, so it's getting all the hard work. the rougher conditions are harder on the vehicle..particularly a number of the components you're mentioning.