idosubaru

oh yes most definitely. i assume, like here, the impreza's you're talking about have the EJ22. excellent choice. AWD - check for torque bind (most prevalent on automatics). this is avoidable with proper care of tires and trans fluid. check the clutch on manuals of course. in the states 1997 and up are interference engines so you will not only want a new timing belt but make sure the pulleys and water pump are all in good shape. at that mileage the water needs to have been replaced by now or i would just replace it myself with the timing belt. i would plan on new timing belt, water pump, oil pump seal, and cam seals. then 200,000 miles here you come!

we can help - here is what we need - what code is the CEL giving? advanced auto parts, Autozone, and other autoparts stores will check and clear the code for you FREE. or go to subaru and pay them $50-$80 to tell you. don't fix or replace anything, just let us know what the code is. given your mileage the most common CEL would be a cylinder misfire code - which is usually just spark plugs and wires. the wires have to be Subaru wires on this engine and the plugs need to be the original NGK plugs (same plugs available at Subaru for $40 or your local auto parts store for $8). yes you can clear the CEL long enough to have the emissions tested, done that myself before. some of the above stores...autozone and advanced i'd avoid the dealer if you can, way overpriced and service isn't there (usually, there are some odd apples that are good).

this could still be an engine issue. do you have have a check engine light? when is the last time the plugs/wire were changed? does it have subaru or aftermarket wires and does it have NGK or other non-OEM plugs? and is this in your 93 impreza in the signature - so it would be an EJ18 engine right?

well it's not that i want them to think i'm coming back, but that they don't think i'm definitely NOT coming back. i know that doesn't sound like it's any different but it is to me!

usually you can tell, there's just enough difference to tell which side it is, but not enough to not make you question. so i would bet your presumption is right, if indeed it's the axle of course. you could swap sides and see if the noise "moves" with it...but that sounds like a waste of time. don't know of a for sure way, have you had any axle work/broken boots in the past, that would point to an particular axle.

are they Subaru or not Subaru axles? if they are not Subaru axles then it doesn't matter, new aftermarket axles are CRAP. i've seen brand new ones blow to pieces after one week and there's no shortage of threads on here about vibrations/problems with aftermarket axles. but of course there are other possibilities. $2,900 for a headgasket job. most dealers charges $1,100 - $1,600 for that, i would avoid whatever shop that receipt is from.

yes, lots of info on here. EJ22 will essentially drop right in, the EJ18 manifold will bolt right to it. EJ18 - usually have EGR, EJ22 is hit or miss no need to swap computers no wiring work really EJ18 has dual port heads, EJ22 post 1995 will not have dual port heads. pay attention to OBDI verses OBDII stuff, not sure your country specifics. For that matter i'm not sure other things here may differ as well. For the EJ25 you'll want to use an entire EJ25 as the EJ22 and EJ18 manifolds don't bolt up to it. you would need to swap the EJ18 or EJ22 wiring harness onto the EJ25. most EJ18's don't have a knock sensor which the EJ22's and EJ25's tend to have. guess you just won't hook it up.

do yours as soon as you can if it's the 91 in your sig. not only is mileage a concern but age for you as well. based on the many dozens i've seen myself i would be very surprised if all of your pulleys were even in "good" shape.

price around for the services you want. changing brake fluid is a good idea, but yours isn't all that old, if your pedal isn't spongey and the fluid doens't look black/brown/nasty then leave it - there are plenty of 10 and 20 year old cars that have never been flushed, many subarus actually since they typically have few brake issues. transmission "flush" means they actually push the fluid out and replace it verses just a drain and refill. they use a machine, it has nothing to do with chemicals. the idea is that a drain of the trans doesn't get all the fluid out like draining the engine oil because ATF is trapped in the torque converter, cooler, hoses, valve bodies, etc. most of us drain and refill three times with short trips in between to circulate the fluid. the prices you're being quoted are part of a sales routine only, i would shop elsewhere or ask them to be more reasonable. shopping around first and getting market prices for these services might help you get the cost reduced but at this point i wouldn't trust them. i wouldn't tell them "no" yet either, because i don't like their antics. i would tell them you're leary about this headgasket job and you'll go for the new timing belt but you'll wait to drive the car a bit and make sure it's worth dumping more money into after the headgasket job. don't give them any idea that you're going elsewhere, but that's probably what i would end up doing.

WOW, he said it!

are they subaru axles or aftermarket? as you saw i think in that other thread there are certainly many options. i'd suspect axles first, but you'd really be throwing parts at it to verify.

it's not a great deal, but not over market value either if that makes any sense. if you're looking for one you can certainly get it cheaper. probably find one and have it shipped for less than that, but that's the thing if you wanted it there's probably a hard time finding another close. though i saw two in TN (turbo for $200 nonturbo for $175).

as someone pointed out, that's not the case with this motor. that is only true of the EJ25 2.5 liter engine. if i were buying a 2001 subaru and paying market value for it, this is the motor i would get.

i recommend whatever your comfortable with, given the following guidelines. when i'm doing someone elses vehicle i give them the prices and let them decide. on non interference engines i see no need to use Subaru belts, the aftermarket belts seem to hold up quite well i am not seeing any failure of them either personally on here, or the other boards. and this is on vehicles that have 20 year old pulleys and tensioners that should be replaced but are not. the newer the vehicle, particularly 1997 and up interference EJ engines i start recommending more and more OEM. not because i have any quantitative info to go on, i personally think there are perfectly good aftermarket timing belts out there, but as the value of the engine/vehicle increases i think the higher maintenance costs just like taxes and insurance, etc is justified. oppinions, comfortability, etc come into play. for friends and family my bottom line is that a new set of pulleys and an aftermarket belt is a better deal than just replacing the belt with a Subaru one. often people won't spring for OEM all the way around - belt, pump, pulleys - in which case i'd rather install a complete set of new stuff. new, smooth pulleys that actually have grease with an aftermarket belt are far more encouraging to me than a new Subaru belt with 15 year old pulleys with little grease left in them. i just bought an EJ kit today - $145 for everything, new water pump, timing belt and all new pulley set. you would pay close to that just for the water pump and timing belt from Subaru. in my experience it gains you nothing, i've yet to see a higher number of aftermarket failures verses Subaru failures. now if you want to get into really piecing kits together you could try and source the pulleys, or buy the kit just for the pulleys, or regrease the pulleys yourself (i have a write up in the USRM for it), and get a Subaru belt. again, there's no guarantee, you have to make the decision that fits your situation (mechanical abilities, time, resources, etc).

i've even seen some tire shops "require" customers to return after 50 miles to retorque alloy wheels. don't know if the customers really return or if they even care, but it's not a disclaimer for no reason. i've also wondered the opposite before...could the wheel be machined at all?

i got plenty to do, i'll try a bit of them all! thanks!

have you guys done this? i feel like i've hit stuff before with engine cleaner, degreaser, brake cleaner, carb cleaner and the nasty just doesn't come off. i'll give it a whirl again. i'm not looking for squeaky clean, just don't want a black engine either! not sure how such low mileage engine gets that dirty in the first place, but whatever. project scott? i don't say, it usually gets responses like "buy something else" or "you're dumb" or whatever people say when they think everyone else has to be, think and make decisions like they do. it's the opposite of what most people care about, so it's not that interesting. slower, FWD...bring it on!

CV's would be my first guess but there are plenty of possibilities. check the CV axles first. first look for grease leaking or a broken boot (particularly check the inner side - they seem to cause vibrations more than the outer). then try and see if the axles have been worked on or replaced before. ways you can tell: grease from the old axle slung up on the walls/exhaust/back of the motor, one axle looks different from the other, one boot looks newer than the other (if they just rebooted one). in the event that it is the axle boot you do want to replace this as soon as possible. i thought it didn't matter last year either.....of course i'll admit mine was really bad, but anyway it ended up breaking the speedometer gear inside the differential. the nice thing about that little speedo gear is that it essentially requires a transmission replacement to fix...because swapping a trans is easier than rebuilding the front differential. since last year i picked up a 97 Legacy that had the same thing happen to it. keep that 240k legacy for when the 99 looses it's headgaskets. you won't likely find it quite as easy to make 240,000 miles with this one. the last three i picked up all lost theirs - 80,000/146,000/121,000.

agree...except that maybe he's understating it.

i recommend subiegal too, but in this case you might want to go with an Ebay kit, complete with all the pulleys, if price is a concern. most of the time, those kits are more reliable for the average owner. the reason i say that is at dealer prices, very few people driving even the newer cars (almost no one driving 10+ year old) wants to put the kind of money necessary into replacing all the pulleys. the people who i deal with won't bite, they won't pay the Subaru prices for the pulleys (and i wouldn't either). hundreds of extra dollars from the dealer. the ebay kits are way cheaper and you get all of the pulleys. at this age you're almost guaranteed to need at least one pulley (usually the cogged one on this motor), but easily more than one. they are likely noisey by now due to lack of grease. those pulleys seize and when they do they take your timing belt with it, i've seen it and there are threads on this forum with some sweet pictures of them exploding. this isn't my recommendation for all EJ motors, but for yours it is.

getting an engine ready to drop in that's rather greasy with oil all over it. right now the intake manifold isn't installed. i'd like to get it as clean as possible without taking zillions of hours wiping and rewiping the entire thing. what do you guys do?

if it's dual range you'll have a huge extra lever next to you in the center console, you can not miss it. sounds like you have a single range trans, with "high" range. EDIT - HA i completely missed that it's an automatic! nice hit, yeah there are no dual range automatics in your vehicle.

don't take this as fact, i'm just regurgitating what i've read. there's a difference between 15" steel and 15" alloys- the alloys will clear a particular set of brakes that steel wheels will not - but i don't know if that applies to your brakes or not?

if you go with new axles you'll just need to make sure it's a non turbo EA82 axle, you do not want turbo axles. the trick is to order parts based on a vehicle that DID NOT have an EA81 as an option, so you're gauranteed to get EA82 parts. for instance the GL had a variety of configurations, some with EA81 and some with EA82 so it's confusing trying to get the right parts somet times. if you ordered Subaru XT axle boots, those would all be EA82 and the same axles/boots that you need, so try looking up axle boots for an 88 Subaru XT.

nice! you're right, timing belts = EA82!