idosubaru

what is break in grease? better than oil obviously because?

any check engine lights or recent work? if the CEL is on, the ECU is flashing the code for you in the trunk. the coolant temperature sensors are common. the sensor isn't the problem it's the wiring harness connector that plugs into it, they get corroded and cause a bad connection. check that connector - green, dirty, nasty is bad. if this is an 87.5 XT Turbo the MAF sensor (by the air filter) is another possibility. i had one once that had a broken wire inside of it. remove it and looking very delicately through it as the wires are very, very thin, make sure none of the strands are broken. they are very fine strands of wire running through the air flow. before i found it the car did just as you said.

i would have the EJ25 repaired, but $1,500 is nothing to me. what i know is that not everyone has the same financial situation, so i'm providing him with an alternative. i buy cars for people that can't afford them, about to get another tomorrow, i help people and i know what it's like for those that can't afford good vehicles to be stuck and not be able to go with the best option. i'm giving him an option, i never said it was the best one. EJ22 $500 + install $750 - sell EJ25 $500 = $750. you can get EJ22's cheaper and find mechanics to do it for $500. i'm estimating high and that will make up for new timing belts, etc. and he's still saving $1,000 over the head gasket repair. i'll let him decide if that's in his financial interest. there are success stories on here of guys having mechanics do the swap after providing directions from this board. it's quite common. "Yeti" username i think is a recent example, he was very pleased. it's not all that hard to find a good used engine. yes be cautious, yes it's possible, but don't bargain shop and get a warranty. if the very odd happened and you have a bad motor you're still cheaper installing two engines - $750x2 = $1,500....but that shouldn't happen if you buy from a reputable place that compression tests the thing or verify it came out of a running vehicle. lots of people have known good motors sitting in their garages too, he could post here in the parts wanted forum and get one cheaper from a known running vehicle...or buy one from a pull it yourself yard for $150, or buy an entire vehicle for $300....there's lots of options. i'll put them out there and let him decide what works best for him.

great, thanks john. was the 8-way wiring already in place in your 95 or did you have to retrofit that? what models have the power movable seats? thanks guys.

What years Legacy seats are interchangeable for a 1996 LSi Sedan? I have 1996 Legacy LSi leather seats and wouldn't mind picking up a nicer drivers side leather seat...maybe even heated ones. The junk yards list the 1996 as the only suitable replacement, I don' think that's it though. Are there different color leather seats? (dark/light)? The wagon and sedans may have different rear seats? Are the door panels interchangeable too across what years? And are sedans/wagon fronts the same?

here's the easiest EJ22 for the EJ25 swap: 1-603-424-6122 they're in NH and have a 1995 automatic EJ22 113k miles for $450. these guys in RI have a 95 for $250 but it needs to be an automatic, you'd have to ask: 143,000 1-401-766-5422

do not replace one headgasket (i can't believe they quoted a price for just one), and do not get a used EJ25. head gaskets can be replaced for around the $1,200 mark, call around and see if there are any subaru shops (not dealers) locally. my dealer charges $1,500 for both. if you can find someone willing to do it an EJ22 swap it can be cheaper. it's a very easy swap and you can find tons of information on here about it. you should be able to find an EJ22 for $500 or less (i picked up an EJ engine for $150 last year). pay someone $500-$750 to install and sell your EJ25 for $500 (yes you can get that for one with blown headgaskets - they are in high demand due to the head gasket failures). you could get out of this with some organizational work and $500-$750....and no more EJ25 worries. i see more EJ25's with internal failures than EJ22's...and that includes EJ22's that are older with higher miles (since they came out 5 years before the EJ25). rarely do i see EJ22's with bad bearings or thrown rods. so why not pay less and have less worries down the road? here's the thing - you've essentially been faced with the two most expensive, although rare (particularly the viscous coupling), repairs on this car. that's bad...but now that they are out of the way this car should last a long time...assuming it's in decent shape. if it's a 5 owner, rusted out, beat down special then none of that applies. but with a proper engine repair/swap you could get another 100,000 miles out of this thing. of course in that time you'll need some minor things like brakes and maybe an alternator or something. CCR is the best Subaru engine rebuilder period, you may want to talk to them. it'll be more expensive but easier and you get a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty with it.

WAW - if the relay is stuck would it always be on or only when the A/C is pushed? or would a failed/stuck closed relay cause it to be on all the time?? relays fail often enough that i would check those first if that's a possibility. is there a reason this is a problem? the fans come on, that's it? sounds relatively benign.

why do they put it on some vehicles and not others? i've seen up to 1998 Subaru EJ engines (EJ22) without EGR. in 95 the auto's had it but the manuals did not? even in the 80's - all Subaru EA82's had EGR but the XT6 did not.

definitely what he said - get a used unit. subaru trans, particularly manuals, very rarely fail, doesn't justify the cost of new or rebuilt. you area probably is light on subaru parts. the OBS listed in junk yards look to be kind of expensive for subaru transmissions, looks like there aren't many to be had - $300 - $700. these guys have one in Fort Worth for $500 1-888-535-0063, texas is probably going to suck for subaru parts.

it's a time bomb, you better sell it to me. PM me with a good price! what kind of miles are theses - city miles are killer, highway miles are your friend here. i'd rather have a car with 150,000 highway miles than a 80,000 mile city driver. there's a HUGE difference. also a manual transmission has a much better chance of making 250,000 miles than an automatic, but if you're changing the ATF, not towing or plowing snow and keeping your tires rotated/matching then your chances are better for sure...which it sounds like you keep good maintenance. for real, keep driving it, 200,000 miles isn't a big deal for this vehicle. make your replacement decisions based on a few suggestions. if you don't like messing with any repairs at all then 200,000 is a good time to consider a new vehicle. it will be due for at least $1,000 worth of work then, but you still got 50,000 miles of payment free use so take it. you've essentially paid for it with good maintenance, so use it and pat yourself on the back! if you don't mind a few minor repairs here and there then you could shoot for 250,000+ miles. If you do, I would bet you would need to replace something like a wheel bearing or alternator to make that mark. People driving older Subaru's that like reliability will address certain items as preventative maintenance but I'm guessing you don't want to go that route so i won't elaborate.

grrrrr......server.....

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.