idosubaru

up to 1994 would work fine, a 1995+ would require some tweaking but would work as well. with any motor swap there could be minor differences there are LOTS OF GRAY AREAS with motor swaps...questions like "what year is best" is are really vague. the best year is the same exact engine you got. the perfect easy swap is the same exact year, make ,model, transmission as your vehicle. 1994 EJ22's are not identical in every way to 1995...but THEN AGAIN - in 1995 there are two different configurations...EGR and non-EGR equipped. autos=EGR and manuals=no EGR. then in 1996 they have a single port exhaust where the 1995 has a dual port. then in 97 they go to interference...these are all minor issues and can be worked around though. but it's always easiest to get the exact same engine, model, make, trans, etc. many look-up places, junk yards, mechanics and such do not know all the intricate details to know if it's just something minor to make it work or something much more sinister. so...depends what you're doing which one is best.

that is one sucky seal to replace, i would do what Gloyale mentioned and make sure something obvious isn't being missed here. like Skip mentioned earlier with the 3AT's - that has happened with 4EAT's before as well, i've seen it so it is possible but it was probably close to 10 years ago on an EA/ER series vehicle - first gen 4EAT's.

as with most things it's not always complete broke or perfect...there's lots of in between that can happen, this is your case. replace the bent valves, i would not get new heads or remanned heads. i'd send them to a machine shop myself and have them checked - for flatness and the valve seats, making sure the bent valves didn't wear the seats unevenly. or i'd ask, i'm not really familiar with what could happen in this kind of situation. glad you got it figured out.

to answer your question - no there shouldn't be any solenoid or anything for the ATF cooler lines...just hoses, clamps and metal lines. this is confusing because it shouldn't be complicated. if a hose is leaking, i would replace it and the clamp then top off your fluid. is there a reason that can't be done in this case? can you post a picture? all cars have two hoses coming from the transmission, what is so confusing in this case? and then the easy solution if you do not know is to follow the lines and see where they go...eventually i bet they end up at the radiator. two hoses carry ATF from the transmission to the radiator. the ATF cooler is not a dedicated unit on most cars (none really), but integrated in the side tank of the radiator. almost every popular car on the road is set up like this. sounds like the hose is bad or a clamp came off. typically on Subaru's the hose from the transmission meets a metal line around the back of the engine. this line carries fluid forward where another rubber hose meets the metal lines at the front of the engine. these rubber hoses will go to the radiator.

yep, any auto parts store will have this stuff, just make sure it's brake specific lube, that's all. they typically sell little tiny packets of it at the counter as well per job.

I just bought two of these, they were only like $7 or something like that, not much. the EGR system is crap. an unnecessary component that only adds parts, costs, and failure modes, that's brilliant. the XT6 has no EGR stuff and it's great...passes emissions, a 6 cylinder with the same gas mileage as an EJ22...Subaru went backwards on this one.

No this impreza won't have that problem. The head gasket issue is a MOTOR specific problem, not a MODEL specific problem. Stick with the 2.2 liter EJ22 engine and you won't have to worry about it, it's the EJ25 2.5 liter engines that have issues. The Impreza's (except RS) didn't get them until 2001+. very solid car. there is one significant difference between this EJ22 and your EJ22 in your Legacy LSi. The 1999 EJ22 is an interference engine. If the timing belt breaks then extensive engine damage will result - $$$$ if you're paying someone else to fix it and could require engine replacement. On an interference engine it is important to be up to date on your maintenance and to thoroughly check or replace all the timing components - because a bad pulley, tensioner or water pump will easily break a brand new belt. the earlier EJ22's had a 60,000 mile timing belt interval, double check this 1999 though - i replace the belt at 60,000 miles and then the belt and all the tensioners/water pump at 120,000 miles...then just the belt at 180,000 (unless something doesn't feel right of course). at 71,000 it is likely in need of a belt soon. at 8+ years old i would plan on replacing the belt and inspecting all the pulleys, my guess is the lower sprocketed pulley should be replaced and will be the loudest of them all.

this sounds very head gasket like but you want to make sure it's not something simple - air in the system, non-subaru tstat, clogged radiator, leak/loss of coolant, fans not coming on...etc. i've seen EJ25's with bad headgaskets pass this test and i think i've seen others mention it on here as well. same goes for compression tests too.

interference engine and single port exhaust.

being in central PA and having rusty bolts for various items your 4 hours is probably a good thing. thing is you'll want to consider at least having cam seal kits (the seal AND the oring, not just the seal), a crank seal, and oil pump sealant, gasket and o-ring on hand as well. if you're not experiencing any oil loss or HLA (ticking) noise, then maybe you won't need any of that. but usually it's never been touched and at least one of those things needs it after all this time/miles. i usually replace it all at the same time if it's never been done. good call on replacing all of the timing pulleys and tensioners. i prefer the cheap ebay kits.

good point - when it gets hot or is idling for awhile check to make sure both fans are coming on. they operate via a sensor and relay that can fail. yeah that's really bad. this is an interference engine, if your timing belt breaks you will likely experience internal engine damage requiring head removal and valve replacement. if you'd like to run this car another 50k or more then you should consider a new timing belt, water pump and any noisey pulleys (i would personally replace them all with an ebay kit) and the tensioner.

i'll be interested to see the compression test results.

i'm not sure what the ECU reads to determine a "misfire" code but if it's one of the engine sensors that isn't in use until it's up to operating temperature then that would make sense to me...of course the bad cam/crank would as well, i know a few people have had failed cam/crank sensors i'd be interested to know if those codes appear before/after the car warms up. maybe someone will unplug one for you and see! or you could try the same...clear your codes and unplug the cam sensor (easiest one to get to). that still doesn't verify anything if nothing happens, but if the CEL comes on right away that might prove something.

i'm not against spending more if it's something i can use. i just really don't know how/what i'll use it all for so it's hard to make a decision...freeze frame and seeing other data is stuff i don't even know how to do or use right now. i'll look around and see what's out there. thanks!

almost positive it'll be a 3.9 the only other possibility is 4.11..but not because it was offered just because i can't remember exactly. the manuals are the easiest to look up with a search. some plugging around here or on the internet will pull up a large spread sheet of all the manual trans final drive ratios. auto's are more difficult to verify.

no, definitely not. follow OB99W's suggestions above, or have the code checked again and tell us exactly what it is. if you ever have the codes read the best thing to do is to right down the actual code that the machine reads and let us know.

from your description it sounds like it is going too high (3/4). like others mentioned change the thermostat (use Subaru only on this one, the aftermarkets are tiny and far lesser in quality), and the radiator cap. when was the timing belt replaced? was the water pump replaced as well? keep us informed of other symptoms too.

i agree, sounds like the second one has issues. it sounds like the dedicated radiator fan is stuck "on". i think this usually means the thermosensor (i believe it's the only electrical gizmo that is screwed into the radiator - usually the lower passengers side i think?), anyway usually this thermosensor is bad or the contacts/electrical plug are just dirty. or the associated relay is shot/sticking. or the previous owner hard wired it. should be an easy fix, good luck!

definitely worth making sure it's not something simple but it wouldn't be that surprising for it to have a bent valve anyway. that there is no noise and it still runs doesn't mean much, it might be tweaked just a bit to keep it from seating flush against the valve seat. if i had to guess i'd still guess bent valve. yes the cam and crank sensors are relatively close to the cam sprockets and crank pulley. they're the only electrical gizmo's located directly behind these items, they typically have orange connectors and are very easy to find, the cam sensor is behind and on the upper side of the top drivers side cam sprocket. very easy to see and replace - one bolt and it's the only sensor back there that can read the cam position. i think it runs in 'closed loop' mode when it's warming up, so that's why you're not seeing any check engine light until it's up to operating temperature and goes into open loop mode where it's actually incorporating feedback from all the sensors.

in 1995 the auto's have an EGR set up and the manuals do not. i am fairly certain...and it looks like subaru360 knows what i am unsure of, that the 1996's are the same. the EGR issue is workable. just block off the EGR ports (one in the intake and one on the exhaust port of the head). that's not very hard to do at all. other than that it'll be a drop in swap.

right, i meant with the transmission - shifting and such. but this explains that: yep, that's torque bind. and this was the missing piece of information. this is what is causing your problems. you don't need to replace both axles, if money is tight just replace the bad one. when torque bind first starts usually you can change your fluid and make sure all your tires match and are properly rotated and you alleviate any further damage. back then it would have been a cheap fix. you can still try it, but by now the damage is probably done and a fluid change won't fix it. your AWD clutch pack is probably in bad shape and needs work. that's a rather expensive ordeal to pay someone to do it (roughly $500), the only good thing is that the transmission does not need to come out to fix it. the other good news is that your transmission isn't entirely hosed...if you did fix it and kept the fluid changed it may last the life of the vehicle. you have some options - you can run it in FWD - install the FWD fuse. this may or may not work since you've driven it so long like this. if it drives fine in FWD and eliminates the torque bind, then you're good. if it doesn't work you are essentially in "permanent" 4WD. you can remove the rear half of the drive shaft and just run your now "permanent 4WD" car in FWD. that's a FREE fix and the car will drive and perform flawlessly. i've done it. an even cheaper fix would be to remove both front axles and just drive it in RWD as it is. you would need to remove the outer joints and leave them bolted into the front hubs, but you'd entirely remove the axle, giving you RWD only. this would save you $175 for the front axles and "fix" your torque bind for now. you could easily drive it like this for a long time. i know people driving in RWD with transmissions that have torque bind. the FWD option is a better one though, i don't like the idea of relying on those clutch packs to continuously deliver all the power to the rear.

just shows the numbers? i want one that will tell what the code means as well. if it was just for my subarus' i could do without, but i work on family/friends vehicles so that will be a big help to just show me what the code is.

in my experience subaru's are not very drivable missing front axle power, i have experience twice, both in automatics. you can "move" them, but they exhibit very noticeable issues. i drove an XT6 around a little with one broken CV joint (BRAND NEW crap aftermarket axle a week old)... anyway, it would not drive properly. it would basically spin the front axle, then the rear would get more power and push it forward..then it would spin the front again...etc. it would rev, lock-up, move, rev, lock-up move...it's like the TCU was confused. it would move but not without noticeable confusion and erratic move/not move/move/not move type driving around in the parking lot. i got a 96 Legacy LSi this year with a bad front diff. it would do something similar...it would rev, you could hear the front diff spinning but not moving, then the TCU would kick more power to the rears and the vehicle would move. if you gave it too much gas it would spin the front diff...light on the pedal and it would maintain enough power to the rear to drive it. an interesting note for this guy - the ebrake, as WA mentioned, did not work in this Legacy. and certainly that would affect steering feel somewhat. but - i'm not sure how he keeps driving it without noticing anything else, that's confusing.

the 3.9 is annoying for highway driving as the RPM's are loud. but i doubt you're building this thing for highway driving! so why not drop the dual range in there?

if you have current TCU codes the POWER light should blink 16 times at start up...that is your "check engine" light equivalent for the TCU. does that light ever come on, i wonder if it's blown?