idosubaru

the alaskan market may be different. down here in subaru rich areas you might get $500 for it. in non-subaru laden areas you'd be striving for $250. you'd have to get really lucky or Alaska would need to be quite a different market to get $1,000. no way around my area. ive bought loyale's before and would never pay 4 digits for one. and i've only looked at ones in decent running conditions with no engine/trans issues.

i edited too, i knew it was something confusing. if anyone knows what they're doing it's certainly you!

make sure you got all the bolts out. (i've done that before)

there's really no need to buy a JDM engine, just find a good engine from the US to drop in. someone on here might even have one...with new head gaskets for sale...(like i do, PM me if you want it). /end shameless sales pitch/ that would be better than an unknown EJ25 from japan. but yeah it doesn't need to come from a manual trans car.

year, model, engine? any signs of external leaking anywhere? puddles under car, smells, etc?

Oh that's great, that makes it nicer since it's a nice car that you like. Keep in mind there's still possible repairs - starter, alterantor, calipers, master cylinder, drive shaft ujoints, transmission, cv axles. shouldn't really amount to much, but a new engine does not make a new car. i'm sure you're aware of that. Go with CCR for the rebuilt. There's no other option to consider really. They are a member here and have great customer service. It sounds to me like you got intentionally hosed. This problem was probably known about or the person knew it was a suspect motor. You indicated the light was flashing when you got it. So the car essentially *came* to you because it had problems. I wouldn't necessarily rule out a used motor again because of that. Sounds like you're ready to have a fully prepped motor though, so if you were still interested you could ask about fully prepping a used motor for the long haul. We can help you do that so you can price compare to a rebuilt. It's usually fairly easy to find a known good (wrecked), low mileage EJ22 in good condition with a warranty. i've installed a used motor before and it's not normally a bad ending like yours. i've never had a problem and it's common practice. Good luck!

oh, i'm not talking about room, i'm talking about how tight of a fit the actual belt is to the running gear - pulleys, sprockets, etc.

yep, sounds like you got a bad motor out of that deal. no way of knowing the history of that thing. it's not likely to be mileage based - but maintenance (poor maintenance) related. it was probably leaking oil and run low on oil at one point, damaging the bearings. install a used EJ22, they're not usually too hard to find. if the prices are bad, like you're paying someone to do it, it might be easier to just keep your eyes out for another EJ vehicle. they're usually not hard to find for a good price, particularly if you can find something that needs some minor (or major) work.

this will work to get it off, but getting it on is much more important (risky if not done correctly). the trans in gear and brake method will work. but you better be DARN sure it's tight. then when you think it's tight, try it again 3 more times, since this is your first time. i've done it but i don't recommend it if it's your first time. defiinitely use the brake, there's lots of play with the trans and car rocking. the ebrake isn't enough. bumping the starter is the easy way to remove. or the "ghetto" impact tool which is a BFH to end of your socket or breaker bar. just the timing belt is easy, but is that all you're doing? have you considered doing anything else? it's annoying but sometimes well worth it and prudent. that's a fantastic engine that's almost a gaurantee to make the next 60,000-100,000 miles trouble free if taken care of. I just pulled everything for my 1997 Impreza OBS last week and all of the pulleys but one were noisey and I replaced. I'd get an ebay timing belt kit before doing this job, they're only $60-$80 and they include all the pulleys. a new belt will fail once one of the pulleys seize. at 10+ years old at least your idler is going to be free spinning and noisy. compress the tensioner very, very slowly. do'nt be in a rush, the style in your 98 are notorious for failing when compressed. if the car is leaking any oil now is the time to fix that as well. the seals and orings are hard and brittle and leaks will only get worse. be annoying to take the timing belt off in a year or two to do a $3 seal that's right there after taking the timing belt off. lots of info on the board already if you have any questions about this.

the EA/ER series older gen stuff is really simple on the passengers side belt (they have two timing belts). the tensioner gives plenty of room for install. that seems like the way to go.

i've always wondered why they make the timing belts such a tight fit? how do the shops do these? do they have a trick? if there's a tensioning device of some sort that you're designing you basically have the ability to make it as easy or hard as you like. and EJ engines, at least some of them, are really tricky to get on. have you leave a pulley or two off to get them install and screw the pulley in place. i've had one pulley bolt strip because of the "install pulley" after belt is installed method. i'm wondering if there's a bit of safety built in to this, like they're tight in case the tensioner fails or something?

thanks a lot keith. sounds just like mine. i'll pick the part up monday and do it first thing this week. how long did your friend drive that RS like that? not at all or...? i've driven the impreza 50-ish miles so far and no problems. better quit tempting fate. i wonder if they're *semi-designed* to be able to withstand some amount of tensioner failure like this without hosing the engine? i'd imagine that was in mind....particularly considering how hard it is to get that stupid timing belt on there!!!!! interesting that it actually started making a noise last week before i did the timing belt. it was at 70,000 miles, so it's 10,000 miles past due. but it's been 70,000 miles since i last did the belt and compressed it.

if you don't get what yo'ure looking for here, trying NASIOC, those folks are doing this kind of stuff all the time. there's not as much turbo experience here. i'd probably just drop the EJ20T in there. i'd be more concerned about engine management than anything else. EGT's, etc.

make sure you replace the seal and the oring. the orings are extremely brittle and hard plastic by now. if the timing covers are in good shape not much oil should get on the belt. but if it does, definitely replace the belt while yo'ure in there. i had oil get on a belt two summers ago of a friends car. the new belt lasted a couple months.

there's not much over there on that side. just the hose from the radiator to the engine. but i'd assume you'd see that if looking. you checked closely under the hose/engine connection? JCE - coolant may just be running down the inside of the timing covers and for some reason coming out on the P/S. if the belt gets wet at all, i'd plan on replacing it. i had one get oil on it from a leaking crank seal and the new belt only lasted a summer - less than 10,000 miles. i didn't think anything of it when i replaced the seal. just wiped of fthe belt and reinstalled it since it only had a few thousand miles on it. broke soon afterwards. posted here and folks said oil/coolant degrades the compounds in the belt.

that's not true. Impreza's (OBS and sedans) still got the EJ22 in 99. Only the RS had the EJ25. the bottom line is that EJ25's have a lot more issues than the EJ22. there's no "right" or "proper" way to look at this, each person, consumer, and driver is different. many of the folks i know (even though i try to encourage otherwise), are basically buying as much car as they can afford. if they're paying $5,000 for a 2000 Subaru that's about the most they can afford. Having a $1,000+ repair in a year or two is not ideal for those kind of folks (which is many). and i would imagine there's a lot of folks like that on this board too - a $1,000 - $2,000 repair is not ideal.

all 1997+ EJ22's are interference

1997 OBS EJ22 started making a slapping/clacking noise with some occasional squealing too. I replaced the timing belt and all the timing pulleys with new ones except the tensioner pulley (the single piece style - not horizontal). The tensioner pulley *appeared* fine and compressed and decompressed fine. Swapped alternator and serpentine tensioner pulley. A/C pulley free wheels just fine and A/C works fine with no change when turned off/on. I'm wondering what kind of noise failing tensioner pulleys make and if there's anyway to tell they are failing? How long before this thing *goes*? Not that I want to tempt fate on an interference engine!

Maybe she could test driving a few H6 outback wagons. Better engine, safer ride with VDC and lots of nice trim options. And can easily get one for $12k.

i pm'ed you back, i'll take 'em.

ah carb - there's your problem! joking aside.... i wouldn't be surprised if the disty is off, it's very easy to get those wrong. folks are always having problems and getting them off. since this is getting unsure quickly - let's start with the basics: have you checked for spark at each cylinder? is the engine definitely getting gas? any check engine lights....hmm...carbed so it probably doesn't have check engine lights unless it's the one oddball 87 engine that has both carb and funky ECU or something or another? what leads you to believe this is a timing issue if you just got done rebuilding the engine?

Steve is a board member down around that area. I can never remember his username - XNRG or something? He's on another forum I'm a part of as well. He's got an Impreza RS with an EJ20G or whatever turbo swapped JDM motor in it.

if you pulled the distributor out, it's probably not installed correctly. never pull that thing out unless absolutely necessary. are you sure you're using the right marks on the flywheel/cam sprockets? (sounds like you are, just checking).

I have another 6203 bearing that says 6203-OULX i think on it. So are these all the same bearings? Someone explain the twilight zone music in my head?

I'm about to go buy these bearings and replace mine. 6203-2rsj seems to be the part number mentioned here and the outback forum. NAPA sells a "6203" bearing, so what does the -2rsj stand for? does that mean it's different than 6203 in some way?