idosubaru

oh man that is so annoying. on grades with snow you literally can not stop, absolutely baffling - would a manual do the same...in neutral...in gear?

how vintage? how about a 2005 mandolin!?!?!

i am as well.

the external leak of your vintage engine is "better" than the previous internal leaks the same motor had from 96-99. whatever you do, just don't let it overheat, that is critical.

thanks for posting this, i had horrible problems last year, i am so glad to read this thread. being new to antilock brakes i didn't realize they would install something so pathetic in a vehicle. they trade a marginal improvement in safety in some areas for an enormous danger in bad weather...when driving is most difficult? in this case ABS is a POS. my 1997 impreza OBS ABS system totally pissed me off last year, completely worthless. note my location....west virginia, terrain is steep, we get snow. on steep hills with snow it was literally IMPOSSIBLE to stop with the ABS, my wife couldn't even drive her own car. i don't understand how more people are not in accidents because of it. i had to drive the car, put it in neutral and the emergency brake was the only way to actually stop the vehicle. without the e-brake the ABS would pulse and pulse and never stop the vehicle. it wasn't even ice or that bad, any time it was snowy. my XT6 would stop on a dime with plain old all season tires. my XT6 is unbelievably better in the snow than the OBS...same transmission, no antilock brakes. Achilles heel as nipper said is an understatement.

nice! i could use that on some of my projects....shear off a bolt - beat the tunnel...drop a screw in a tight spot - beat the tunnel...something just barely won't line up - beat the tunnel some more...break something - beat the tunnel...light bulb blows - beat the tunnel...heater quits working in the garage -......

yep, your stock lug nuts will work fine. nice "sig"...i mean title, bratman, goofball!

yes, replacing the tensioner is not a bad idea at all. labor should be minimal, the old one has to come off and be compressed, you could almost argue that a new one is easier and quicker to install since they come pre-compressed and pinned! more importantly than the tensioner is the fact that all of the timing belt pulleys have 150,000+ miles and 8 years on them and you're expecting them to last to 250,000 miles (the next timing belt change). it is fairly normal for at least one to be low on grease, a good mechanic can tell and will replace those if you ask. usually the lower sprocketed (toothed) pulley is the one that's the worst of them all. they are very expensive from subaru, i myself actually replace them all but i buy aftermarket kits that have all the tensioners at a reasonable price so i don't have to guess which ones might be okay for another 100,000 miles or pay ridiculous dealer prices. with these long intervals it's hard to say which pulleys are good for 100k, 200k, or 300k.

how about oil changes? kidding aside, there's only so much you can expect from a 20 year old vehicle. i would guess that you didn't buy a 20 year old vehicle because it was in excellent mechanical condition, all tune up items were addressed, it was a one owner car, or it was in pristine condition and top dollar vehicle. just a guess. usually it's the other way around, people drive 20 year old cars because that's what they can afford, they're comfortable with them, know something about them, they're easy to get, and they are reliable if you like the trade off of cheap reliability and 20 year old expected maintenance items. but of course you know this, you're PO'ed that the car is dead, that is annoying for sure. good luck figuring out a solution.

i'd probably look into getting another engine. rebuilds are costly, the most economical solution if you're spending that kind of money is to let CCR do it for you, let their expertise and excellent warranty work in your favor. or get a used one. i saw a $275 one for sale around here recently, which is a fair deal. if you can manage your engine wisely you could even install an NA block, they are far easier to find and cheaper. of the handful of oil starved and frozen EA/ER series engines i've seen, typically the oil pump, cams, and connecting rod bearings all show signs of significant wear. it's probably rebuildable, but not something i'd undertake.

they are very easy to replace, but i really don't want to pull the hub. you can actually replace them without even jacking the car up, just turn the wheel and reach around the tire from the front of the car. a couple minute job literally (minus the rust of course). thanks for the offer john, i already have two new sensors. they wear so much (maybe it's just this area, snow and such) that i wanted brand new ones on mine.

anyone have much luck removing stuck ABS sensors with a sheared off bolt head? doesn't look like much room for a drill but i have a right angle attachment. once the sensor is off are the bolts usually frozen in the hubs too? i have new ABS sensors so i don't mind ruining the old ones to get the bolt out.

Okay i'm ordering that metal plate part number above and now i'm looking for the gasket part number. thanks guys.

does anyone know if these separator plates are universal to all EJ engines? i have a feeling the parts people won't know, they'll just punch up whatever the computer has on it, which might be plastic? the one i have is neither black or aluminum - it is white???

most likely head gasket - coolant bubbling out the overflow is very common.

good point UB - how do you know there is oil in the coolant? dark stuff in the overflow reservoir doesn't really mean much. more info!

awesome! i guess it sounds like you're already done, but when trying to get lifters to hang in place without falling i use grease and jacking that side of the car up will give some lift to that side of the engine and gravity will begin to help a bit more.

could be a couple things, head gasket seems most likely. has it ever overheated, every notice any loss of coolant or antifreeze? has it ever had any major engine work....the more specific details like this the better for diagnosing a car without ever seeing, hearing, touching, or smelling it!

i guess it's already a manual trans FWD, that would be easier than an auto trans. all this work for a vehicle that's "ugly, and rusted, and a pile"...really? make sure you're going to have it for awhile if you're putting all of that work into it. maybe it's easier to just find another 4WD subaru to play in? time=money and as cheap as subaru's are that would be the more economical route. if your insurance gives multi-car discounts, sometimes your rates decrease with a second car (mine did).

based on what you've said about buying this car in the past, you bought it used. if so, do you know whether or not they were replaced before you bought it? good mileage, consider yourself lucky!

yes on the beating a dead horse close on the 95 EJ22 - you'll want a 95 EJ22 automatic (manuals are highly unlikely to have EGR). like you're suggesting and to clarify for others later...other years are easily compatible by just swapping the exhaust header as well...which already gets unbolted anyway with an engine swap. if two extra bolts and one extra part add anything significant to an engine swap then that's one bizarre mechanic! options are good.

don't suggest we are saying something we are not - the point is not that an EJ22 can not blow a head gasket, that's absolutely absurd to suggest and doesn't make any sense. like GD said it is highly probable that engine was compromised at some point in it's 17 year history. i guarantee that some part of the cooling system is probably still original or was replaced when it busted, not just before. there are throttle body hoses, heater core hoses, rusty clamps, water pumps, thermostats, seals, gaskets, radiators, radiator caps, coolant temperature sensors, fans, relays (for the fans)...etc. it is probable that one of these items caused an overheat at some point in the history of the vehicle and eventually lead to the demise of the head gaskets. EJ25's on the other hand blow head gaskets at 30k, 80k...any mileage and all the time, very common. that is not attributable to such maintenance items. that is the differnence. an EJ22 blowing at low mileage or low age with no contributing circumstance is very rare. yes - look at the head gasket, tabs at the corners stick out between the head and engine block. i've seen three styles of head gaskets, the multi layer variety should be an indicator that it's original. nipper quotes that from some german, non-confirmed site. it's a guess, that is all. and a not very accurate in my oppinion (but i've only looked at hundreds of EJ25's to buy, so what do i know?

yeah, just a tad! you are correct, avoid that one. i have a couple extras, for $100 in gas i'll come bring it to you, har, har.

CranklyAl: yep, drop in swap, bolts right up. it looks like both of yours are non turbo vehicles/parts and EA82, if so then yes, it's a straight swap. in case the trans is from a turbo: turbo's and non-turbo's have different spline counts and final drive ratios. so it's easiest to use a turbo transmission in a turbo vehicle or a non turbo trans in a non turbo vehicle. in the off-beat chance you have the opposite going on, you'll just need front axles from whatever your transmission is (turbo or non) and you'll need to swap rear diffs that match the final drive of the transmission. i believe turbo transmissions have a 3.7 final drive and non turbo's have a 3.9 final drive.

be sure to replace both cam o-rings (not just the seals). rear passengers side and front drivers side (behind the cam cap that holds the cam seal). if you have a grease gun and want to repack the grease in that toothed pulley you can look up my thread in the USRM and have it done tomorrow for the cost of grease. notes here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49443&highlight=timing+pulley+grease i've done that pulley on EJ motors before, it's an easy one. it's also the most common pulley to get noisey in my experience. it'll be $50-$100 from the dealer. the only exception to this in my oppinion is the timing belt pulleys. i go with the ebay kits on those. dealer runs a few hundred dollars to replace all the pulleys. i'd rather install new ones than leave 10+ year old high mileage pulleys in there, even if they sound "okay". ditto that.