idosubaru

i know you said rear, but maybe the oil pump backing plate bolts are loose? i've never heard or seen it, but i think i've heard others say that can cause noises if enough of those screws back out.

yeah, this is a good topic dave. i replied to your other post about wheel bearings. well, while doing his wheel bearing his front pads were the same way. i had to remove the bracket and pound the pads out. i cant' believe they even worked properly they were in there so tight. they would not pry out with a screw driver, had to hammer them out. the inner was worn significantly more than the outer for his front caliper. i didn't think to file/grind the tabs down but will next time, that doesn't seem right.

You're wanting a larger radiator for offroading? Might just wait for the stock one, it might do fine? I don't think larger radiators do anything for the car since the thermostat regulates the engine temperature. A larger radiator only does something if it's needed. You're a smart cat so you probably already know that, but maybe for future folks that see this.

I've had three noisy wheel bearing issues in the past couple months, all with some mileage. In my experience they start with a "wub, wub, wub, wub" kind of sound. Often it's hard to distinguish from road/tire noise. I installed new bearings inmy 96 Legacy and it made noise right away even with the new Subaru bearings, meaning the hub was hosed. They made it 20,000 miles before giving out again this year. It kept the same general noise level for 20,000 miles. As soon as it started getting worse, it got worse quickly. Once it started getting worse, we probably put 500 miles on it before it got to the point the car was wandering and dangerous. So in my case - 500 miles once the noise started to change/get noticeably worse. My friends Legacy I just replaced front bearings on last weekend he drove a few hundred miles and it gradually got worse over the past couple weeks, they were quite loose when I pulled the hub Saturday. Don't know mileage though. If it starts to change and aget worse, i would lean towards the caution area. Mine got rather scary when it started to drift, pull, and wander on the road and that was just a rear bearing.

in more accurate terms those codes indicate the data isn't within an expected range. in a motor swap this may mean the cam sprockets are wrong. if he has the equipment to test that then wiring is the easier thing to test for sure. but it's probably a cam sprocket issue, which is simple since he has both engines and can swap them if needed. there is a known issue with 2000+ EJ engine. some have different cam configs and the trigger points on the back of the sprockets aren't where it's expecting so it throws those codes. you might even be able to call Subaru or look online at the various online parts place and see if those two engines have different CAM sprocket part numbers. if they do then there's a good chance that's your problem. if they have the same part number then good chance they are not the issue.

can you tell at all where it's coming from in general? front/back/under/top/left/right?

See! I told you it wouldn't be hard to find one, i wasn't making that up That could be a great car, hope it is.

awesome, they are nice. if you're doing this in the car and are using a drill, get a right angle attachment for the drill. harbor freight probably has china specials for $2, but their shipping is often horrendous for me, like weeks. while you're waiting on that tool you might want to consider Fel-Pro permatorque gaskets if that's not what you have. All others require retorquing on this engine and these have a great reputation for this motor. Most of "us", speaking of this community, use those gaskets and up the final torque value a bit.

There's about 3,400 things it could be. Realize we are very good (and humble ), but we can't see or touch the car. That's tough. So give us as many specific details as you can. You haven't given any details, but my guess is a broken timing belt. If it's original it's 15+ years old. Remove the left or right timing belt cover and have a peak. It's only 3 10mm bolts and that's it, very easy. See if the belt is broken. If it is, often you can hear a slightly "slapping" noise if any of the pulleys are still grabbing the belt at all. Has the timing belt ever been changed? Any check engine light, have you read the codes? Does it have spark? That's easy and important. Have you tried jumping it and do the battery connections look clean and tight? Turning over does not rule these things out.

i'm only on really slow internet now, so i can't check the links. in general having the head gasket done is quiet a plus, so sounds good. and yes the 2.2 is the EJ22. not trying to be too picky, it's a bit subjective. but for example: a one owner car, done at a subaru dealer, that's good stuff. a salesmen that picked it up yesterday to fix with his only tool, a leatherman, and flip doesn't give me warm fuzzies. you'll be dealing with something in between. these aren't necessities, just good points to consider if you get to see the paper work and ask questions: it's nice to have the entire timing components replaced (known as a timing kit - tensioner and pulleys), but not critically necessary. but having new belt, gaskets, and water pump is a definite plus, that's essential what you want. hopefully it has a few miles on it or has receipts so it's known to be a good job. there's very specific processes for installing head gaskets.

yeah, i own one. they are excellent for reliability, actually that's why i bought it for my wife. 5 years, never left stranded, we've put 70,000+ miles on it. the EJ18 and EJ22 are nearly bullet proof, just fantastic motors. if they don't run out of oil or overheat they'll essentially last as long as you care to do maintenance. i suggest test driving the impreza's and legacy's though. the Impreza OBS handles better than my legacy's i've owned. It's nice and snug and tight on the twisties, just a nice solid feel. it has the benefits of a wagon in terms of space but drives more like a sedan. Good room and the hatch and roof racks are nice. the downside is the OBS doesn't have the nice trim, options, leather, heated seats, and is just a generally smaller and lesser optioned and trimmed car. if you like newer, updated stuff and trim the OBS might not be a good fit. the nice thing is that the WRX 6 disc in-dash CD player is a direct fit. there are some pictures on here of lifted OBS - Andyjo comes to mind i believe is his username and some others if you want to check those out.

we have more combined experience than any Subaru dealer in the country and we can actually talk truthfully about it! a great car is one that's already had the head gaskets replaced, they aren't hard to find (I've bought two like that I think, at least one). the updated head gaskets do great things for this motor, don't be scared! CCR is a long time (a few decades) Subaru engine rebuilder and they will back that up. they're also members here and provide great technical feedback. the EJ22 was available in some 90's legacy wagons. the only outback you can get with the EJ22 is a 1996 manual trans. a GREAT car, you get the outback and manual trans/EJ22 reliability. it's an older car than a 2002 as well, so it's going to need a good going over - timing belts, brakes, water pump, etc. but really most of that stuff is going to be needed in a 2002 as well depending on mileage/history. it is worth it to buy one and put some money into prevenative maintenance, the EJ22 is just a fantastic engine. other than that only base model Legacy wagons got the EJ22 in 97 and up models. going to all EJ25's around 2000 or so (you can check cars101.com for all that info).

2003 outback 2005 engine i would guess you need to install the 2003 cam and crank on the 2005 engine. as for the sensors. you have two options to make sure the sensors are correct. check online or call and see if the 2005 and 2003 sensors are the same. if they aren't, or you don't want to look it up, install the 2003 sensors on the engine.

that's not right, but the newer ones are better. SOHC Phase II motors have substantial head gasket issues. so much so that Subaru offered an extended head gasket warranty to 100,000 miles for these motors (unlike the earlier versions which were not recognized by Subaru and had no additional warranty). that being said, I like the newer ones because they don't leave you stranded when they blow. the older ones overheat immediately and you're stuck. these newer ones just leak externally and don't overheat until you run very low on coolant, which typically takes a while because they don't leak much, just a slow seaping at first. makes them easy to spot too, where the older internal leaking head gaskets jokers could be really annoying to diagnose. your best option is to find one that's already been replaced or blown and have it repaired. then you know it's been done, they tend to have great success after being repaired. it's not hard to find them with blown head gaskets, they're for sale all the time. if you're maxing out your purchase price, proceed very carefully. i hate seeing people max their spending and then in one year need a $1,500 - $2,000 job. if that kind of repair isn't a big deal, then do whatever you want. yeah, all H6's are automatics. and with the VSS and such a manual swap would be a lot of fun, of course you could just disable all that gizmo-magic.

what are you coming from? if you're coming from the EA82 80's era subaru's you're going to think NASA built this thing. ours does plenty more than we need, i like it. but if you're coming from something 90s-ish you might be a little disappointed if you're looking for a sports car. don't get me wrong, i love ours and it drives great for us, but it's not a "fast" car either - keeping in mind "fast" is subjecive. that's not why we bought it. our wagon feels a bit more like a SUV than our other soobs (legacy's, impreza's, XT6), but those are all very low to the ground and hug the road like crazy. this car is big, heavy, a wagon, but has tons of safety features and improvements.

sure thing, I'm glad this was helpful, sometimes I wonder....:lol: i happen to have the info right here: From NAPA: My receipt says: WHL SEAL NOS 22026 The box says: SKF (brand) 22026 the SKU number (bars) 0085311182966 That's the front inner wheel seal you want for a 1997 Legacy. When they checked for me (if you believe the database!!!) the EJ25 and EJ22 vehicles are the same, so if yours is AWD it's the same part number, both being 1997 Legacy's.

Here's some notes for others needing front inner wheel seals for EJ's. This is applicable to all 1997 Legacy's. Advanced Auto Parts. Ordering an AWD front inner 1997 Legacy wheel seal (Ej25 or EJ22) will get you the wrong part. They claim (from some searching) that it gives you a FWD seal even though the database doesn't ask whether it's FWD or AWD. Which is doubly odd since 99% of Subaru's in 97 were AWD. So their database is wrong. Odd since I thought all FWD and AWD hubs and axles were interchangeable and would assume wheel seals would be the same as well. (minus ABS differences and the whack job 93 impreza splines of course). Off to Autozone, they had Timken seals. It was rather strange looking. The metal was not covered in rubber like every other seal i've ever seen. I figured no big deal, it's a big well known name. Well it was a horrible fit and didn't work. It wouldn't seat properly and I didn't like the exposed metal/no rubber idea anyway. I figured if it ever had to come out again it would be perma-rusted/seized to the hub with that exposed metal. Off to NAPA. Can't recall the brand, NATIONAL maybe? Anyway, it was a perfect fit. Coming from the NAPA database which yeas ago gave a distributor with 4 points on it for a 6 cylinder XT6 engine! Sometimes what auto parts stores have in stock amazes me. Sometimes how incredibly incompetent their databases are amazes me too!

there's an extensive brake interchange thread on here and NASIOC. i reference it all the time, check it out. i believe "jamal" is the username you'll want to search for, but don't quote me on that.

i like seeing previous damage, pictures, or knowing exactly what was done. ask for the paper work or pictures. if it's just a dented door or two which was replaced, that's no big deal. if the pillar was crushed, pulled, and realigned and all the air bags went off then you have concerns over how well the repair was done in terms of the safety given another accident. my H6 has side impact air bags, and i think this one should too, i'd wonder if those went off and were replaced properly.

yes....well 99% yes: the only issue you may run into is an early impreza FWD, they have different spline count on the axles. but you should be fine because i think it's only 1993 imp's that have that, only FWD, and even if it was a 93 FWD you might be okay. the axles are different but i can't recall if it's the inner joint (trans side) or outer joint (knuckles) that are different.

the 98 outback and forester have the exact same engine (EJ25) and harness, so take your pick. the 95 is entirely interchangeable between EJ22's and EJ25's, plug and play, so that's a fine option as well. phil has a good point, the EJ25 is a head gasket blowing (not too mention rod bearing loosing) maching, new headgaskets before installing is a good idea. an EJ22T or EJ22 is a better bet in some ways.

the yellow discs are the way to go. this is the worst part of doing a head gasket job. that being said, some of the first ones i did were with a wire wheel brush on a drill because i didn't know how to get it off and didn't know about these discs then. not a good thing to use at all, but none ever had problems and two of them are still running after 5+ years.

they can perform great at 200,000 miles, so don't write it off just yet. what is the general tune of the engine? wires, air filter, PCV valve? has the timing belt ever been changed? on the passengers side of the engine bay you should see a vacuum line going from the passengers side strut tower (it's connected to a sensor there) to the engine bay. close to the engine, just underneath and in front of the large air intake tube), you will notice a roughly quarter sized (but slightly thicker) small filter in line with the vacuum hose. they are $7 from Subaru, replace it.

and you are unfortunately correct, the rear quarters are not replaceable without cutting and welding.

for the front fenders, any Impreza will do. Not sure on years, but I'm sure 96-98 impreza sedan and OBS will work. 93-95 might work and later ones too. you can probably just check on line to see what years cross reference, one search on ebay will probably do it.