idosubaru

i wouldn't, they very rarely fail. if you're doing a trans swap or if you like having one of everything (like i do), then sure grab it. but otherwise there are far more failure prone items on your car than a TCU.

no. what octane gas you use wont' affect the suggested usage of FI cleaners. if you're asking because of the "fuel cleaners" in the higher grade gas, don't worry about it. all gas has sufficient cleaner in it...it's probably regulated or mandated by law. it's been advertised that the higher octane has "cleaner" in it. what they don't tell you is the lower octane has it as well. fuel system cleaner isn't a bad thing and there's good uses for it, but it's not dictated by what octane you use (everything else being equal).

make the decision based on knowing that you might have head gasket problems that run about $1,500 to repair at a shop. if in a year or three that kind of repair and getting stranded somewhere is going to sour you, then move along or come up with another game plan. if you're okay with that, then buy it. the people i feel for, and hope to protect, are those that pay as much as they can afford for a vehicle then have this kind of bill shortly afterward, that is no fun for them. HC test is a good one to do, but there's no 100% accurate test for head gasket failure on EJ25's. all of the tests work 'sometimes'. i've been asked by local mechanics to check out an EJ25 they were puzzled with. passed the HC and compression tests but was still overheating with new radiators, thermostat, etc.

PM sent. i was out of town for most of two weeks when this went up and missed it until now. too late?

read up on the internet about this, lots of good information you should know. you need to know what kind of refrig your car has and some basic stuff. assuming you read and get a basic understanding: as a quick do it yourself check before doing anything, unscrew both of the caps and look down in them. if either one looks wet then you just found your system leak - the shrader valves are leaking. you can tighten or replace them. although replacing them requires a special tool that can pull them out and insert another one without releasing coolant. on to refilling yours: buy a can at any auto store that already has the adapter on top. it will only fit one of the two fittings you see - that's the one you use (of course!) turn the car on and the a/c all the way cold and the highest fan speed setting. follow the directions on the can (like shake can, don't turn it upside down, etc) and hook it up to the port that it fits (remember it only fits one, real simple) keep adding until the a/c gets cold inside (might help to have a helper) do not keep adding refrigerant...more is not better....unless you like dangerous situations and expensive repair bills. i'd get some with the "system sealer" in it for good measure.

Change your oil frequently yes. It might be the style of driving you're doing too. Are you doing any short trips and letting the car sit for quite some time? Not many miles? The engine might not be getting up to operating temperature, which causes this too. Of course it could still be a small coolant leak too.

Here you go Gloyale, i found it on the SPX site: Part #: 499207300 Link: http://subaru.spx.com/detail.asp?partid=499207300

you can order tools from here as well: http://subaru.spx.com/detail.asp?partid=499207100 that's the other cam tool, that you don't need. you need the older like this, right:

i asked a while ago, though i can't recall which tool it was for but i think it was this one, and they told me they couldn't order it and i'd have to go through the maker/supplier/distributor or something like that. maybe you could call first once you get the part number? this was for my first EJ25. i ended up not finding one and discovered it's not really needed so i never got one. if i was doing as many as you i'd follow through on getting one though.

the cheapest car is the one you own. for me personally, i want a subaru for a number of reasons, but not because they get the best gas mileage. but that doesn't mean i can't entertain the thought of 35 - 40 mpg or the best gas mileage i can get out of said poor gas mileage soobs. one reason i won't go honda, i can't buy excellent late model honda's with low miles for $500, but i can subaru's. also i don't know honda's nor have the time to learn now. if anyone wants to pay the bill for me to quit work, learn honda's so i can buy them and play with them, then email me!

this seems to be a good example of "what do you have to loose". so even i, the known JB Weld cynic, give an approving nod to the idea. i think 7/16" threaded stock will thread into the hole as well. that's probably the easiest non-JB Weld solution. cut to length, thread through, and use a nut. or i suppose you could try a 7/16" bolt.

yeah the hole in the head is stripped, it needs retapped or heli-coiled.

that's great that you've had good experiences with yours, but trends don't come out in small numbers. and, like for you, trends don't matter to many people. a small increase in reliability is an eye roller for many people. so it comes down to personal preference. EJ25's are less reliable and a few people will take the small reliability increase over hp. EJ25's have head gasket issues, piston slap (which EJ22's have but less often), and they also have more rod and main bearing failures as well than EJ22's.

you're in denial, get over it!

There's no "average". Proper maintenance helps a lot. 150,000 seems to be a good time for problems to start, but that's just a random number that by no means applies to any specific vehicle. At 95k you shoudln't have anything to worry about if it's running fine now. Don't overheat things (engine or trans), keep the tires matching, inflated and rotated properly, and change your ATF. after market trans coolers are not necessary for all vehicles, the system is designed to run at a certain operating temperature. installing one on a car that doesn't need it could theoretically have the ATF running too cool. if you're not towing, off roading, driving through mountains, etc then it's likely you don't need one. this is assuming your radiator is in good shape since it does the cooling for your ATF.

there's still a chance the engine is good so you hate to just throw it away and incur a huge expense needlessly. but then again you probably don't want to pay for what nipper said to toss a new belt on and do a compression test if the engine is bad. a leak down test wouldn't cost much of anything and doesn't require the timing belt to be in place. there's no way for us to say given we don't know all the details of what transpired and we can't see, touch, hear, or work with the engine. i'd be leary of a used EJ25 (unless the price is real good like DB said). don't pay top dollar for a junk yard EJ25 - they are head gasket prone and not worth $1,000+ (not including labor). you'd hate to be out $2,000+ only to find you need $1,500 headgasket by years end (seen it happen, happens on here too). good luck.

i'd make sure to change the oil a few times relatively soon afterwards just in case there's metallic particles still coming off of anything. filter should stop it, but i'd at least do the first two or three changes quicker than normal. that's good news, i've seen them seized before. ironically i have the oil pump out of a seized motor in another perfectly running motor now. the engine seized due to oil starvation but the pump was relatively untouched and the belt did not break.

the engine was starved of oil, causing your scoring and belt to break. ironically enough the HLA's will not necessarily clatter before the engine seizes. i was surprised to see it happen myself!

shaft scoring typically happens when the engine is run low on oil at some point. i've seen it a couple of times. i've seen dozens of TOD soobs with zero scoring on the shaft though, so my guess is that typical TOD doesn't cause shaft scoring. of course if it was severe or not a normal case...then maybe. but my guess is no. air bubbles shouldn't deprive the shaft of enough lubrication to cause damage.

maybe you could check the wiring or clean the threads in the block with a tap?before going to any trouble i'd wrap the threads of the sensor with about 10-20 wraps of plumbing tape. taking care to wrap in the proper direction so it doesn't come off as you thread it back into it's place.

no, but doing a proper head gasket job should give you plenty of reassurance. i'd blame the blocks more than the heads, but there are entire threads devoted to "why" EJ25 head gaskets fail you can read more there. the blocks are where the majority of the material has been removed to allow for larger pistons, not the heads. use the newer head gaskets...although i've seen some claims that there is no "new" or "updated" head gasket.

what year/vehicle, i think some EA82T's don't have a knock sensor. if you're familiar with the knock sensor on XT6's or any EJ engine, they're all about the same location.

Knock sensor for EA82T? threaded into the top of the block towards the rear, near the bellhousing mating area. it will be threaded into the block with a wiring harness plugged into it. i believe they lean more towards the passengers side if i have to take a guess but are close to center.

same in my area, i bet his area is a little more devoid of subaru's than ours though. private owner vehicles can give you better value than dealer vehicles with zero history. number of owners is nice to know. a one owner vehicle is worth more than a 4 owner vehicle. and maintenance hisotry? when was the timing belt/water pump changed...that's a $500 item that's due on both right now if you don't know.

i've done all of this and more. i'd guess it's around 150 pounds reduction. i haven't seen much difference between having all the rear drive train in place verses removing it for highway driving. i don't track city driving enough to comment on that, but i would guess it's more noticeable there. weight doesn't make much...actually any noticeable...difference for highway driving. i can carry lots of weight or passengers and get the same highway mileage either way. so weight isn't much of an issue for those incurring high mileage and fuel costs. i'm sure large loads would make a difference but a passenger or two worth of weight doesn't make any noticeable difference in my experience for highway mileage. the cheapest car is the one you own so if it's a financial decision then do a cost benefit analysis and make your next purchase reflect nippers sentiments.