idosubaru

information like vehicle, engine, mileage and possibly more are important. in general - no. subaru considers small amounts of coolant loss normal.

awesome, nice hit! yeah i've run into what GLoyale mentioned before. takes some searching to find one and find one that someone will sell.

the junk yard databases show that same number ECU's come from both auto and manual but do show that the part numbers need to match (though the same part number ECU can be found on an auto or manual??)...hmm... $130? not sure which number you need, there appears to be 3 or 4 different ones? $25 1-800-527-8521 22611KA102 $40 1-800-525-1538 22611-KA103 $45 1-866-570-6522 22611-KA104

no - it's what the XT is called in other countries. they may look different but be identical in every significant way. yes, it had to be because you said a 1986 XT. those didn't have spyder intakes. not until 1987 did they come with spider intake.

1988-1991 all XT6's are completely interchangeable. and i'm almost positive EA82 are well. i know that doesn't help, but there's a chance they're compatible.

the 1999 is a 105,000 mile replacement belt. your best bet is to plan an inspection and water pump replacement at 150,000 miles and leave the one that's in there now. if you install a new belt you're next timing belt replacement is around 175,000 miles. on interference engines it's not a good idea to "expect" a water pump to last past 150,000. they easily can but since this is an interference engine any timing belt damage can potentially ruin your motor. and being driven by the timing belt it's possible that a failed water pump can take out your timing belt and the engine with it. completely ignoring your belt i would still recommend an inspection at 150,000 miles of the timing belt pulleys. you want to check all of the pulleys too and make sure they are all free spinning and not noisey...which they get over time as they loose grease. replace any noisey ones. if it were me i'd probably just replace the timing belt early...install a new belt and water pump around 150,000 miles. they're only $60. for something that's relatively easy/inexpensive to address on such a reliable motor, it's worth doing it right.

depends what you mean by "on purpose"...just to make stuff interchangeable, no that is not why they do it. they do it to keep costs down. if you have a particular set up...it's not cost effective to retool, redesign, reconfigure, and remanufacture everything from scratch. building on what you have reduces costs and can be more efficient when leveraged to your advantage. the demand for EJ25's is high. this is one way can really tell the extent of the problem. blown head gasket EJ25's can sell easily for a few hundred dollars up to $500. a known good EJ25 can fetch $1,000 and that's with original head gaskets. the prices are high because demand is high....because they blow headgaskets-a-plenty. replacing the headgaskets is generally a fine idea and gives you a perfectly reliable engine. the only thing you have to worry about is a cracked block but there's really no way to test for that. chances are small though and assuming the car wasnt' consistently driven, abused and overheated it should be fine. the more it was overheated and driven that way the higher the chances are of it having a bad block. so if you're going on someone elses's word that doesn't know much about cars proceed slowly. look at EJ18's and EJ22's....a dime a dozen. they are EASY to buy for $150 (more in less subaru-rich areas)...from a yard, low mileage, with a warranty....you'll never even come close to finding a consistent source of EJ25's for even 3 times that amount.

what? an EJ25 blowing a headgasket...that's hard to believe?!?? just kidding - those are classic EJ25 HG. it's never a bad idea to check other things and make sure it's not something simple. correct, i would plan on keeping the known good EJ25 stuff. yep! nope, just leave the ECU either way it'll run great.look at that, almost all answers you wanted to hear!

yeah, that's completely benign, a non-issue, no big deal. and at this point there's nothing telling me you need too. i'd still consider replacing the radiator cap, they are a maintenance/replacement item and they're super cheap.

how old are your plugs and wires? (are they OEM?) replace your plugs and wires and i bet you pass just fine. happens all the time...fail....replace plugs/wires....pass. which means one of two things...the plugs/wires make a significant difference or the tests have quite a variation.

im' assuming this is a GL wagon (EA82) and not a GL hatch (EA81)? different motors. why was the head pulled to begin with? where is the crack? if it's in the exhaust ports the head is junk. if it's between the valve seats just reuse the heads. almost all EA82 heads have cracks between the valve seats and for these engines that is fine. you can have it pressure tested too, that only runs $40 around my area. these older cars are really cheap and easy to find for sale, but with all the timing belt goodies and new clutch it'll be hard to find one with those major maintenance items up to snuff.

read or get an owners manual or do a search here/internet. in the end if you're still wondering, i would disconnect the driveshaft, it's REALLY easy. no need to remove any axles, that's way too much work!

i think the EJ18 has HLA's? i would look that up. is it HLA ticking or rod knock? i know older gen stuff with HLA's get diagnosed with "rod knock" and it's really much more benign and only HLA noise. it can be VERY loud, like sounds like a diesel and seems like you shouldn't turn the car on...but it's not really that big of a deal. aside from that, check your timing gear. make sure the tensioner isn't loose or faulty and replace the belt with a known good used one. compression/leak down test might come soon after if it really is a bad problem, i'd wonder if you have a valve problem with all that back firing?

important question - are you absolutely sure the temp gauge is rock steady with the a/c off - this is an a/c on only issue? i wouldn't concern myself with an oil cooler, that's not really going to do much for you. double check those fans and make sure they are always coming on. since i believe they are relay operated it would be easy for them to work one time and not the next. clogged radiators are VERY common problems. at this age if it's the original it's really due for another radiator....but you could try and flush it. the a/c condensor and/or radiator fins may just be clogged. have a look, do they look really dirty and stuffed full? this is unlikely as they would have to be really stuffed full of dirt to get to this point. replace the thermostat with an OEM Subaru thermostat. keep your eyes pegged on the gauge...it may be worse than you know if you've never driven in the summer before. in other words it may never overheat without A/C now. but if it's only 80 now it might overheat at 100 degrees without a/c...just depends what is causing it.

nothing to worry about, more like something to keep your eye on. you mentioned adding coolant...over how much time are you adding it? subaru even considers a certain amount of "coolant consumption" normal on brand new cars so just that you're adding some isn't that alarming. how do you know your radiator cap is good? i would check the radiator cap and the hose that goes from the radiator to the overflow tank. make sure the overflow tank isn't just leaking. most likely nothing. keep checking the coolant, don't run low and it likely will never overheat. if you start loosing coolant at an alarming rate (i don't know if it's alarming yet, but doesn't seem to be), then you need to revisit this thread and update us with details. has the water pump ever been replaced? rebuilt or subaru and how long ago? do the air bubbles continue into the overflow tank after the car is turned off?

dual port means the heads have two holes for the exhaust and single port means there is one hole in the head for exhaust. just crawl under your current car and have a look. you'll see "two" pipes coming off the bottom of the engine. your new engine will only have one. the exhaust pipe needs to match the engine (holes in the heads). a two hole header won't fit on a one hole engine or the other way around. 2 port heads = 2 port headers 1 port head = 1 port header 1995 EJ22, all EJ18's and all EJ25's = 2 port heads = 2 port headers 1996+ ej22 = 1 port heads = 1 port headers

awesome! exactly what i would have done, excellent choice! latest non-interference you can get, low mileage....awesome engine! you'll just need a single port exhaust header from a 1996+ EJ22. it'll bolt right up. your existing 1995 header will not bolt up to your new 1996 engine. it should be, that shouldn't apply to these years/engines.

low fluid - a couple dollars brake problems - big range charging issues (alternator) - $200 (new) less for a used one the simplest and most likely is low fluid. fill it and see if it goes away and hope they don't say "oh sweet now we can ask full price for it!!!!"...or hope that's what it is and do it yourself.

yes he means a 95 automatic transmission. search for 96-98 EJ22's as well, it's best to expand your market to lower the price and increase availability particularly in a subaru light market (like yours may be?). if you use a 96-98 EJ22 it can be from either a manual or automatic and you'll just need to get the exhaust header with it (it will bolt right up to your existing EJ25 exhaust system). this would be my preferred method, it's a more common engine and newer. although keep in mind the 97 and 98 models are interference engines (as was your EJ25) so you'll want to make positively sure that the timing belt and all the pulleys are in great condition. if the belt breaks you'll have engine damage. and...if you're having problems finding any close enough at a decent price, then you could also search for 1990-1994 EJ22's as well to see what mileage/prices are available. if you find one of those, you'll need to also buy a 1995-1998 intake manifold though as the pre-1995 intakes are different and not OBDII compliant. 1995 from an automatic 1996-1998 with exhaust header (this is what i would prefer personally) pre-1995 and a 1995+ intake manifold

you'll want to make sure this makes a big difference in how you go from here. no. 1995 and earlier EJ22's = dual port exhaust 1996+ EJ22's = single port exhaust. you can't bolt a dual port exhuast up to a head with only one exhaust port in it...well maybe you *could* bolt it up...but wow would that be silly! round peg in a square hole type of thing.

hhmmmm...

the great thing about the Phase II SOHC head gasket issues is that they are very easy to spot. if you don't know, find out where the heads (there are two on subaru engines) meet the engine block. inspect the rear mating areas of the head and block, that's where you'll see evidence of seapage. not too mention these head gaskets leaks are far more tolerable than the earlier versions. these won't over heat unless you let them run low on coolant. as long as you keep them from running low on coolant and overheating you can essentially keep driving them. the earlier models can be bad but might not show themselves very easily. they are sneaky jokers when they leak internally and don't show themselves but sporadically at first.

yes, it does - that's why he needs to do all the intake wiring steps i mentioned above.

nope, EJ25 issues extend beyond 1999. you can search here or google, or Yahoo for more info on that. this 2001 will have SOHC PhaseII head gasket issues which are different from the earlier models you mentioned, but they have HG issues nonetheless (what a STRANGE word!?!?). good price from a dealer? that's a lot of miles...at least for what i'd imagine a dealer is charging for it. they've probably barely got anything in it. drive in tight circles and check for torque bind. after working the best deal you can (there's TONS Of profit in used cars), then require them to flush the trans fluid before you'll buy. it'll also be do for a $699 (subaru's price) timing belt job in only 25,000 miles. price goes up as you include the water pump and any noisey pulleys, which will need to happen as well. water pump $100, pulleys $100 each, tensioner $100...it can add up quick, even to $300+ if you do it yourself just for parts. i'd let them know you're not excited about the prospect of a $500-$1,000 tune up in a year or less. i'd consider asking them about this after negotiating the best deal you can as well.

the 1996 OBW should be a DOHC EJ25 - in that case it's a dual port exhaust. NOT SINGLE. but that would have been easier to deal with than the problem at hand now. you'll need to bolt the EJ25 flexplate to the EJ22 or use the EJ22 torque converter and EJ22 flexplate. (basically the flexplate and torque converter have to come from the same vehicle.) the EJ25 intake manifold won't bolt onto your EJ22. make sure the 1996 OBW has EGR (it will) and that any engine or intake you're considering also has EGR (the earlier EJ should as well). you have a couple options: 1. you can try and fit the EJ25 intake manifold wiring harness onto your EJ22. i've never done it but it shouldn't be too hard and i can't think of any glitches. this would be the cheap way since you have all of these parts. 2. you can get a 1996 EJ22 intake manifold. this is what i would do just because it's easy. it will bolt to your EJ22 and plug right into the EJ25 wiring harness. no transferring wires, sensors and it plugs right in. i wouldn't hesitate with the goodyear belt. the subaru belts are only $59 i think though, is the goodyear cheaper?