idosubaru

this is your starting point: you need to tell us those codes. i also wonder if there's a way to verify you have an 87.5+ engine instead of an 87 or earlier EA82. that could be problematic. or ordered FSM's for 87 and 88 models to see the wiring differences, if i remember i'll try to look at them soon, i don't have them with me but i do recall small differences. ssshhhhhh!!!! be quiet!

i recall some minor wiring differences across years, i guess you have no idea what the replacement motor came out of? i'll have to check my notes...i was getting really confused between distributor, ECU and wiring changes from 86-87-87+.....so it's hard to remmeber details. but mine fired up without much issues, i had to hardwire the fuel pump. so i think you may have a non-swap issue. i'd definitely want to address that bad gas to start with. have you check compresssion and for spark? no check engine lights?

axles are actually very easy to replace. the very tricky part at times is just getting the axle nut off. bend the tab out of the way..you'll see it, to make sure the nut can turn. then the axle nut is very, very tight. a 3/4" socket set or air tools are preferred. if you don't have those, then a 1/2" may or may not work (i've broken 3 1/2" sockets and a 1/2" breaker bar on axle nuts). if you have any heat source, an el-cheapo propane torch even, heat the nut up and it'll come right off. that's your best bet if you don't have the 3/4" or air tools. after that just follow directions. i recommend MWE axles but with time and money concerns that's probalby not a good fit for you. if it's new enough, snag some used ones, i prefer those over aftermarkets myself.

that's one thing i've seen on 00's as well!

there are quite a few people with newer subaru's with no issues at all. i've done timing belt jobs on plenty that have not had any problems. actually none that i've worked on for friends newer than 00 have had any issues that i can think of. it's mostly anecdotal with the exception of the HG, but few people can think in terms of anything but their own experiences. he's been hit with a number of rather large items. this is normal....people have a bad experience with a car or dealer and say they'll never buy again. it's not like i haven't heard that about every other major manufacturer from someone. but of course that still doesn't change his experience, so if he's ready to move on from Subaru then there are other good vehicles out there....but none produce a vehicle that has never, ever had an issue.

yep i did the exact same thing. 87.5 XT Turbo to non-turbo...that's called castrating a unicorn so i'm told. i do not have it running yet, but i think it was only because i fried the ECU by installing battery cables backwards. i grounded the fuel pump and it ran fine. i have to go but i'll look into this more and i have lists of part numbers for ECU's in this computer i can post later. and i'll be getting mine up and running soon. check for spark, check for the fuel pump and check for codes at the ECU. turn the key on (don't try to start it, just key on) and you should hear the fuel pump prime. or put it in diagnostic mode (i think plug the green connectors in from memory) and the fuel pump should prime every second. check this stuff and let us know. is the gas old and bad? if it's over 6 months to a year then it's suspect. gotta split...more later,

definitely. they are just low on grease, that's all. repack them and they'll turn and feel identical to a new one if it's done right. no more noise or rough feeling. keep in mind that seal is very thin metal and deforms easily, you want to move it as little as possible and not deform or wrinkle it. that's why practice is a good thing. it's possible to even remove the entire seal and reinstall it but i do not recommend that, i haven't found that necessary.

your transmission should be fine for this scenario alone. i've personally seen it....actually never with an old axle, but with brand new ones blowing up which is why i recommend MWE now and avoid any aftermarkets. were their preexisting issues that make you think there's a problem?

yes, but be forewarned with EJ series engines. first i'd practice on a few. second i would be very cautious about doing this on an interference engine or one with 105,000 mile change interval. i would plan on a couple inspections between timing belt changes if you do it just to be sure of your work. for non interference motors, go to town, i've had good success with this. the old EA82 pulleys are the least friendly to this technique but they are also the cheapest to buy. the ER27 and i think all EJ pulleys are easily accessible. i'd have another set on hand to practice/interchange with. don't expect to get it just right the first time and proceed slowly and accurately. there's a write up in the USRM with pictures: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50430 the results are outstanding if you take your time. the pulleys feel exactly like a new one if you do it right. the issue with doing it carefully is whether or not you deform the seal, proceed cautiously and less is more. also, don't over-grease it, that will push the seals out and even more so once the grease heats up. the inserts are readily available at auto parts stores, it's just a generic needle fitting. look for the smallest one they have, might want to research online and see if there are smaller sizes available. once you get it down, it's nearly free and doesn't take long at all. and no worries about which ones are going to need replacing once you get in there.

that's not a good way to look at it. think of it this way to make a bit more sense. subaru states a 1/4" difference in circumference. let's take a look at a 50" circumference front tire verses a 50.25" rear tire. that encapsulates the 1/4" difference subaru refers to. one mile is 63,360 inches. lets look at how many revolutions each tire makes: 50" circumference tire makes 1267 revolutions in one mile the 50.25" circumference tire makes 1261 revolutions in one mile. the rear is making 6 less revolutions per mile, that sounds significant to me and it's awesome that they can engineer and design differentials and other devices to allow that (including what happens when turning). anyway, that difference is made up internally inside the transmission and subaru seems to suggest that the heat, clutch or diff wear associated with that is not ideal. that they would include safety factors in that and not hang their proverbial feet over a ledge when coming up with these numbers should not surprise you. i would also guess they take the worse case scenario and apply it to all vehicles to keep things easy. they're not going to recommend different values based on auto, manual, engine, mountains, gas grade, tire size differenes, studded snow tires, forester, legacy, impreza, vehicle weight...etc.

i'm confused. spray body foam? like it replaced the metal body panels? that sounds bizarre, i'd like to see pictures of that. i can't picture it looking right and if it does it seems like it would be loads of work to get it to that point. isn't it easier to just buy one that doesn't need that much work? here is a better use of my own time that might work for others: go find a cheap soob that needs work, bad trans, blown headgasket...etc, fix it, sell it, make a few thousand and go buy a whole herd of EA82 vehicles without as many issues.

while i thought they were 4.44, i think that's only part of what he's looking for, that's the final drive ratio. many auto's are 4.11 and i thought the GT's were 4.44? i think he's looking for complete gear ratio charts.

what plugs and wires did you use? if you didn't use NGK plugs and Subaru (or Magnecor) ignition wires, then that could very easily be your problem. EJ motors are freaks, do not use aftermarket wires on them. i've seen brand new wires right off the shelf cause misfire codes on EJ motors. installing Subaru or Magnecor wires is the solution. make sure all the wires are seated properly. and find an ignition coil to swap out. it's easy, only takes a couple minutes and you can easily find used ignition coils for sale for not much money. get one and swap it out.

i'm wondering if there is a confusion about which orings you need to replace here? do you REALLY NEED to replace these cam carrier orings? keep in mind there are different but similarly named parts talked about on the boards, there are cam carrier o-rings (also called cam case orings - this is the metal reinforced jobs that everyone is talking about in this thread) and then there's the cam orings. it is my guess that you really only need to replace the cam cap orings which are very, very simple and don't require all the valve cover, cam carrier, rocker arm removal stuff.....more details: the cam carrier o-rings you mentioned in the title thread are a heavy amount of work. BUT - they aren't necessary to replace for no reason. do you have a reason for replacing them? are they known to be bad? are you having issues with the car? by this time, they are often old and it isn't a bad idea to replace them, but with all the labor involved it's not typical to do all of that to just replace them either unless they are causing a problem. most people replace them when doing something else...valve work, cam work, headgasket replacement. i have never pulled the cams just to replace these o-rings, it's always when the cams have to come off for something else. it is easily done in a day by yourself though, so it's not nearly as in depth as a headgasket job. get a 10mm ratcheting wrench for the valve covers...save yourself a bunch of time and sanity. there's really no big deal removing and replacing the cams. just make sure the distributor STAYS PUT. don't pull it out of the cam housing or if you do mark it EXACTLY right, take a picture if you have to how it's oriented with respect to the cam position. and when you pull the cam carrier, leave it as is, it will "end up" in it's resting position at the easiest place to also reinstall. it will also go there as you push it in place when reinstalling, not hard but a bit trickier. just do your best to not turn it or move it out of it's relaxed position which it will be in when you remove it. now...what i think you're looking for, but this is just a guess, is the cam o-ring that resides behind the cam seal. here's what is often mentioned on the boards that should be replaced with each timing belt. you see there's a cam seal that's right behind the cam sprocket. with the timing belt off this seal is easily replaced. remove 3 10mm bolts holding the cam sprocket on and you have access to the cam seal. but..you shouldnt' just replace that, you should also replace the cam cap o-ring that is right behind it. just to the outside of the cam seal you'll see 2 10mm bolts (3 for XT6's) holding the cam cap to the cam carrier. remove those 2 10mm bolts and replace the o-ring underneath. very easy, very simple, only takes a few minutes. this is mentioned over and over again because it is easy to make the mistake of just replacing the cam seals ONLY....but you want to replace both. thepartsbin.com sells a cam seal KIT that comes with both - the cam seal and the cam cap oring. buy two of those kits for a timing belt job. it is my guess that maybe you're just confused and think you need to replace the cam carrier oring......which is far more work and maybe unnecessary, when really you just need to replace the cam cap oring...very, very little work and often replaced with the timing belts.

check out the search button. search for "gear ratio" and narrow the search down to new generation forum and a title search first. links to subaru MT gear ratios are around.

the 00-02 EJ25's have an extended warranty from subaru. have you checked into that at all? and what's the current mileage on the vehicle? for replacement - it's pretty well covered on the site here. i'll give a brief run down. reseal the oil pump and replace the cam seals. inspect all the timing belt pulleys, any with play or noise should be replaced. in my experience the cogged pulley almost always needs replaced. the pulleys are expensive so in reality i'd suggest just buying an entire timing belt kit - not for the timing belt, but all the new pulleys in it. one pulley will run $100 - $150, where you can buy an entire kit for about $175-$200 and have all new pulleys. make sure you buy new Subaru gaskets, buy them from a dealer and to ensure it's the newest/updated headgasket. if it has about 75,000 miles or more on it i'd probably have the valves adjusted as well. keep in mind that 75,000 is just a rough figure.

can you go get it yourself? borrow a truck and trailer or rent a dolly? that's a good option if you can fix it yourself.

sounds like they're predatory and trying to make a ton of money off of you. there are trans all over Pittsburgh for a couple hundred, so they're making over $1,000 for a couple hours labor. i'd ask them what the break down is - labor + trans to see where they are trying to hose you. even if they come down or install a cheaper used trans for you, there's still the item of trust. but that's probably your best option. what i've seen shops due is give you like $100 for the car and also say if you don't have it fixed they'll charge a $50 a day storage fee for holding the car. happened to a buddy of mine less than a year ago around this area too. he had a non interference honda with a broken timing belt...they totally hosed him by quoting rediculously high and then convincing him to just sell it to them for chump change. they fixed it for $40 and turned around and sold it for far more i'm sure. if they end up trying to "buy" it from you, at least check on here first, might be someone willing to give you a fair amount for it.

if the bearings are noisey at all, my solution is the aftermarket kits as well. if i'm doing work on a friends car they typically don't want to spend that kind of money for all new stuff, so OE replacement is out. but, if i quote them a far cheaper price, they get brand new stuff and are willing to pay for it. i'd rather have new aftermarket than old, noisey OEM.

i don't know how combustible MAF sensor cleaner is. i'd go ahead and get a can of carb cleaner at your earliest convenience. the MAF sensor stuff is probably similar to brake cleaner in some sense and probably has flammable liquid precautions on it though. i'd recommend spraying around all your intake hoses, vaccuum hoses and hopefully you'll notice a jump in the revs or fluctuations from spraying. the gases from the spray get into the intake and change the air to fuel ratio artificially so that's sort of how it works. if it ends up being a MAF sensor, i'd feel perfectly comfortable installing a used one in my wife's vehicle. they fail so rarely that it doesn't make any sense to buy new. nice hit on the code scanner you bought, you're finding it helpful and easy to use? that's great, thanks for sharing!

a cheaper alternative to the hub bearings is just to buy a used hub for $25-$50. they are very easy to find, less down time, and cheap. and they are easier to do yourself than replacing bearings. but i've had dozens of XT6's, taken them over 200,000 miles and i've never had to replace any bearings ever, so i'm probably overly confident in used ones. the further south you are the harder the heat is probably on the bearings...maybe, maybe not? michael sees notorious bearing issues in florida, i just figure it's heat related.

the easiest thing to do is to try and find out from the previous owner what happened. was it low on oil? have you checked the oil level now? pull the cam all the way out and have a look, the motor might be perfectly fine, but you won't be able to tell much without pulling the cam, unless it's really bad. my first guess is that it was run low on oil and is probably scrap, but that's just a guess, it sounds like it's worth a look for you. i'd drain the oil and look for metal bits in it. i'd also pull the oil pump and have a look at it as well, they will typically have signs of wear if it was run low on oil. that lobe is probably not the major problem, the cam bearing surfaces are probably scored and that's where it is actually stuck/frozen. if that's the case, sounds like it was oil starved and probably due to lack of oil. there's a chance that side just didn't get oil and the block/rest of the motor are fine. i think that's less likely than it just running low on oil, but it is a possibility.

i've never personally seen it happen, never seen that appeared compromised in any way. completely different, but the XT6 ones are oil fillled and hydraulic in nature as well. i've never seen them fail either, and i've worked on dozens of XT6's with lots of years and miles on them.

check thepartsbin again, it'll probably come up. subaru dealers all have them too, got a local dealer? call the closest one and have them mail it to you. they typically run nearly identical in price. $2.19 is a common dealer price for them. the reseal kits don't always come with the cam carrier o-rings. i've bought some that have them and some that don't, i've had more of the latter for XT6's.

yep, always do. plugs out, throttle wide open....