idosubaru

When they first start, it's nothing for the motor you have to experience very random overheating due to head gasket problems. fine for 100 miles...then bam out of nowhere up it goes. fine for another 50-200 miles. it'll get worse rather quick though so you'll find out soon enough.

the other difference is these EJ25's don't overheat, or at least until they run low on coolant. they just seep externally and it's usually easily visible on the rear side of the heads. be sure to inspect the rear head/engine mating surface closely for any signs there. these phase II's are much nicer for that, they won't leave you stranded like the older ones, that's why i dislike those so much. you can also run a car-fax. sometimes they show where the car was maintained, what services were done. and you can call those places and find out if the head gaskets were ever replaced. florida car, awesome!

awesome thanks Gloyale. i didn't know much back then so i didn't have a choice (and i had a free trans anyway), but glad to know i didn't swap trans for an easy fix.

if they've been done before and it's blown again??? i'd be concerned you have a cracked block, sleeves have shifted, block is warped or something. blowing twice isn't a good sign.

make sure you get one that's a cable clutch and not hydraulic. don't get a 1998 or up trans, that's the year the bellhousing changed.

you can't get much easier than those. 2 10mm bolts attach the bracket to the bumper. then plug it in. i have one as well and need the exact same head light too.

the air bags are really easy to remove. three torx bits and a connector. you will most likely hose the connector though, they are REALLY annoying to remove. i recommend the first one just cutting the body side connector off so you can learn how to work it off the car. they're really bizarre. let me just say how stupid those connectors are. "let's make them so difficult to remove, that when put in a tight space with no access you damage the connector trying to remove it?!?!??" stupid dorks.

i get the Subaru discount too, but they're still way over the top in costs to replace the pulleys. you should figure out what kit you need yourself. there's more info on here about those of us that have already bought from there, which companies, and you can even call them and verify. i don't have the time to do the leg work, particularly when i'm on dial up!

yeah, his is SOHC Phase II

you can put whatever you want in there. a V8 350 (already been done in a subaru), a turbojet engine (already done in other vehicles)...it all depends what you're capable of. i'm going to assume you're asking if it's a direct swap or not? the H6 engines are not a direct swap at all. you'll need to swap over the entire engine, body wiring harness and ECU and then splice the appropriate wires into your existing harness. huck put an EG33 in his Xt6 and phil put an EZ30 in his XT6, so yeah it's doable.

awesome, that was it, thanks!

i'll check again - i looked in the fuse panel. mine has a pull out tray that swings down. remove that and the fuse panel is behind it. maybe it's lower like you said - down by the engine release. thanks!

a call to a dealer asking for part numbers would verify if no one else pipes up.

clearance and space - the OBW's are nice. we just went from an OBS to an OBW for space reasons. i like the legacy/OBW's better than the foresters and impreza's. they're better trimed, optioned, and tend to be quieter/smoother rides. although the OBW H6 VDC we have sits really high and i like the way the impreza's/legacy's handle better. our OBW doesn't drive *quite* as nice suspension wise, but it's not a huge difference either and maybe i'm just not used to it yet. it is really funny stepping out, the OBW is much higher...woah, where's the ground already? get the H6 motor or the diesel if gas mileage is your preference. as for clearance, if you *need* that much clearance i would think a brand new subaru isn't a great choice, but that's personal preference.

if you're willing to pay more for a JDM, there are two options that are far an above better than a JDM motor. get a local, running EJ25 and have new head gaskets installed. a JDM motor still has original head gaskets on it = bad mojo. no way i'd pay high dollar or premium prices for an EJ25 with original head gaskets, that's a horrible choice. CCR rebuilt. you're talking $3,000+ for a new motor with 36,000 mile/3 year warranty. great folks, members of this board. don't need one now and i use them for EJ swaps, so it would need to be an EJ22. but...a non EGR EJ25 would be nice to have lying around just in case.

Where's the OBDII plug for an 02 OBW VDC H6? I didn't see it on the lower left by the fuse box where all the other impreza's/legacy's i've seen were.

location = Mars Hill - are you in Michigan? I can't imagine the EA81 control arm bushings being the same front to back. i'm not familiar with the EA81, but on every other Subaru the front and rear suspension is completely different and incompatible. 1stsubaruparts.com subarugenuineparts.com those places have some parts look up stuff, not sure if they'll have brat stuff or not?

i buy the timing belt kits off of ebay. they're too expensive from subaru or anywhere else. ebay will have kits that have everything, all the pulleys and the tensioner for the RS stuff. i think yours will be about $189 and include the belt, all pulleys and the tensioner/pulley assembly. well worth it to have all new stuff. (older models don't have the tensioner, but those tensioners are also less likely to fail). the oil pump - just order the oring and seal (it's also the crank seal, part of the oil pump). from NAPA you'll buy the anaerobic sealant and bottle of spray that goes with it. just ask them, the'yll know what it is. a blue tube and bottle. use that to seal the back of the oil pump. and have a bottle of locktite handy. at least one screw on the back of the oil pump will be loose. resinstall with locktite on the threads.

two things you can do right now that might help a bunch. the PCV valve takes one wrench and a couple minutes to replace. use a Subaru PCV valve and replace that now. it might slow some of the leaking. the passengers side cam oring which is on the rear of the engine. it's only 2 12mm bolts...or 10mm bolts. remove those two bolts, pull out cap, and replace oring. i just replaced mine on my 1997 OBS last week with 125,000 miles and it was hard as a rock. not what an oring is supposed to be like. since those two things are so easy, do them now and see what happens. maybe it'll help a lot and lessen your worries. once you're ready for the big deal, do everything at once - timing belt, water pump, timing pulleys, and seals. crank seal, cam seals, and cam orings. reseal the oil pump - one oring and anearobic sealant (available at any auto parts store). also remove any loose screws on the back of the oil pump and reinstall all of them with locktite. very common for some to be loose. your oil pan is not the major culprit here, i wouldn't mess with that right now. on the older stuff, the oil pans are a real bear to reseal. it looks easy but is a pain. you have to unbolt and lift the engine due to the baffles inside the pan and sump hanging into the pan. you essentially have to "move" the pan before it'll drop down, has to be aligned just right. and that position makes it run into stuff, so you have to lift the engine up to do it.

ignore all the air bag warning stuff. that's basically CYA stuff now for auto manufacturers and in this case it can be glanced over. there are hundreds of thousands of cars all over the nation that have never had the SRS system inspected. there's no need. your SRS light and computer will flash if there's a problem, that's all the dealer is going to inspect. now if you've had some kind of significant damage or repair to the bumper then it's prudent to check the front sensors. i'm with nipper, you have an interference engine, if the belt breaks your motor is toast. i think your timing belt is a 105k belt, but it and the pulleys are 10 years old. whenever you have your timing belt replaced i'd replace all the pulleys, tensioner and water pump so you're good for another 105,000 miles (or 105 months!). i wouldn't want to expect anything to last the full 200,000ish miles. i'm going to make up a number...say you have a %2 chance of a broken timing belt if you wait until 105,000 miles. that means you have a 98% chance of not breaking one. chances are good you're fine....but, that %2 sucks real bad when it ruins your motor. if you have an owners manual it always says things like "12,000 miles or 12 months". "105,000 miles or 105 months"....etc. in some cases it's important (timing belt stuff), in others it's not (air bag "inspection"). that's where places like this really help.

it is confusing and even though what he's looking for is almost all that's out there, either way you roll the dice the best way is to visually confirm/ask for sure. destination codes, i have no clue. funny they'd list the auto's like that. odd indeed. particularly considering i have bought a few.

i'd be more concerned with replacing the timing pulleys and tensioner than using a Subaru belt. but, i would use a Subaru belt on yours too. use a Subaru headgasket only. reseal oil pump, tighten rear backing plate screws with locktite, and cam seals.

that's a little misleading. this is REALLY easy for you. you want any intake manifold from 95-98 except from a 1995 manual trans. there are very few 96+ that don't have EGR. even the manuals, they have EGR usually. 96+ nearly all of them have EGR. it is VERY hard to find non-EGR manifolds in 96+ vehicles, i've tried! i've only come across one non-EGR 96+ manifold in my day and it was a 97 or 98 automatic go figure. i want the non-EGR stuff since EGR is a big worthless, pointless, decrease in reliability, pain anyway. so if you end up with one without EGR (which you won't), then i'll take it!

great cars with some hang ups. being as old as it is, regardless of mileage it's probably due for a timing belt overhaul. parts can be extremely expensive and hard to find. i've actually not been able to find a part for an SVX before (sensors). posting on multiple forums, asking Huck (local SVX expert), ebay, national junk yard database - zip. that's annoying. of course you'd want to join the SVX forum.

prices seem high to me for the miles, but those are nice looking vehicles. i'd want something with a few less miles on it for that price personally. i'd buy the one that has new headgaskets. really good chance at least one has already been replaced (i've bought a few like that). check for signs, do a car-fax, call previous maintenance places. you might be able to see where the head meets the engine what the head gasket looks like. i'd also prefer fewer number of previous owners (car-fax will tell you) and buying from a private seller over a dealer. dealers get cars at auctions (which i've been to before). there's absolutely no advantage buying from a dealer unless you have no time to know or check into anything about cars yourself (which you do, since you're posting here!). and definitely drive them for at least 10 minutes to make sure they don't have head gasket issues.