idosubaru

the Fel-pro permatorques are the way to go on the HG's. if you haven't opened the package yet, i'd return it or keep it for the other stuff if that's cost effective. i can't see them but the orings are probably fuel injectors seals and o-rings. the aftermarket kits come with valve stem seals (two sizes - exhaust and intake). the Subaru set may not come with those since they aren't absolutely necessary. don't forget the cam carrier oring, it's probably not in the head set and is a dealer only item (or http://www.thepartsbin.com carries them as well).

95 was the last year...maybe 96 at the latest. what does "HD" mean?

there may be a pinout you can ground to flash the existing code from memory. sometimes all of that code reading maneuvering...scratch head, put in gear, turn off, turn radio all the way up, remove headlight, start car, put in gear, then read the code....sometimes that's a diagnostic troubleshooting code and not the stored code. often you can just ground a pin-out for the existing trouble code which is far easier and works every time. i've never gotten the auto trans diagnostics to work either...can't recall if there's a pinout that you can ground though, that's how engines, ABS and other items work.

sounds like bloobaru did it's job and everyone is safe. well unfortunately, that's not true. that's how you feel when some dork plows into you and makes you do something you had no control over...but if you hit the vehicle in front of you, the law says you were too close. now the real issue is whether they do anything or not. an honest person (my oppinion) will not. but technically they could sue you and they would win. or their insurance could collect for damages to the vehicle...and they too would win. actually they wouldn't even "win" because it would never go to court, your insurance company would much rather settle out of court than go to court on a gauranteed loss. but that all depends if they even have colission which if it's an old van they probably don't. and depends if they're honest or not as to whether they will persue it any further. if they didn't go to the hospital that's a good sign. lawyers won't represent you if you're not hurt, it's not worth their time and it isn't financially beneficial for "repair costs".

ah come off it, you're no fun! anyway, good luck with the heads. if you're still doing it, i'd use the Fel Pro Permatorque (PT) headgaskets on this motor and crank the head bolts a few extra pounds. that is common practice in the subaru community and is the best way to do a headgasket job on an EA82. if you use Subaru gaskets or others you're supposed to retorque the head bolts and that is super annoying. the permatorques don't require retorque and they're inexpensive and well tested among the subaru community (hence all the recommendations you'll find). replace the cam carrier to head reinforced o-rings while it's apart. they are the little metal reinforced orings at the bottom corners, one per side. do not use a regular o-ring. the only other common source other than Subaru is http://www.thepartsbin.com for those.

you can play with the muffler, that will influence what it sounds like the most. my favorite sound is a nice, straight through, free flowing dynomax muffler. they are excellent and sound great, but not loud. a few of us at xt6.net are using them on XT6's with good results. one person didn't like the sound level increase and wants to go back to stock. they aren't as cheap as cherry bombs though. maybe someone in your area has one already set up similar so you can check it out?

i'll reaffirm what Gloyale said...now way EJ heads would work. not even close. it won't work mechanically and it won't work electrically either....i mean, anything is possible with enough money, but it would probably be easier to cast your own heads than make an EJ work. you'd have to fabricate either a gear on the EJ cam to drive the disty or go DIS on an EA82 since your XT is a gear driven distributor and the EJ stuff is all elecronically controlled, no distributor. not too mention the exhaust wouldn't work, the intake wouldn't work...basically swapping an entire EJ motor into your XT would be far, far easier. not easy...but easier than making EJ heads work.

that thing looks hot. that needs a 5 lug conversion and some WRX wheels like crazy, that would make it look so much nicer.

YOU ARE WISE!!! people do this and crack their internal auto trans oil pump, basically ruining the transmission unless you're up for a trans tear down. pull the engine back out, seat the TC in the transmission, install engine, then install TC bolts through the bellhousing access hole under the throttle body (rubber plug inserts here...if yours still has one!). don't strip them. to seat the TC: rotate the converter around by hand clockwise, then pull it out ever so slightly out and rotate it counterclockwise a hair, then push back in. keep doing this and eventually it will engage properly. i usually take a measurement before i start this process of the TC sitting there idle. then when it seats i can visually see it go in that last 1/4" and i'm happy.

really? i assumed most late model XT's had generation 3 heads, for other reason than that's just what i thought. never really looked into it. the MPFI XT spider manifold motors are GENII from factory?

i would also look for loss of coolant over an extended period of time. and use a Subaru thermostat. you'll be amazed at the difference, it's huge. the aftermarkets look like a toy compared to the extra large, beefy Subaru thermostats. huge difference. i wouldn't worry about "performance" or tweaking the heads. you could port the heads and gasket match the inlet ports, intake to head gaskets and the intake manifold. the gaskets don't line up that well and protrude into the head a lot. you could trim those down to make them flow a little better. i have pictures posted over at xt6.net. check us out over there for XT specific information. email or PM me and tell me what login you're using if you want to join and i'll speed your registration up. i'd ignore the designations...right and left, that's all.

tim, what the crap is that all about???? now i'm worried, that doesn't sound good?! i'll be in Georgia that weekend so i can't make it, august is bad anyway.

i would get two new clutch retaining clips as well. the old ones are usually rusty and brittle by now and the cost is tiny. you'll probably want a center console from a manual so it looks right. if the brake light switch isn't on the pedal assembly, grab that too. transmission mounts are different from auto to manual on XT's, but that should come with the trans.

you're sure they installed a new one? did they use a Subaru thermostat? aftermarket thermostats are tiny, dinky, whimpy little things compared to the Subaru. if they didn't use a Subaru thermostat, get one, they are amazingly better. those are minor and easy checks worth making, but it does sound like the cooling system just isn't up to task, it's working under full capacity. i'd suspect a clogged radiator as well.

we can't guess what happened, but basically what he said. corrossion inside the boot...if it allows corossion once it will likely happen again. arcing...reseating may have helped...just random thoughts, not that yours did either of those, but it can happen. correct, NGK's on the EJ series engines, particularly yours. these, particularly the motor you have too, are sensitive when it comes to plugs and wires. you could get away with another 5 years, so who knows, time...and the handy CEL will tell. no matter if it's 5 months or 5 years from now, be sure to use Subaru only spark plugs wires on this EJ25, no matter what anyone tells you.

welcome to the world of XT's lisa. whatever you see leaking, remove it and replace it. are you going to be doing the work yourself? if it's in front of the engine, that doesn't necessarily sound like a turbo line, but doesn't really matter. at this point, replacing any hose and clamps you can is a good idea. if you want to restore the vehicle then now might be a good time to replace all the 20 year old hoses and clamps all around the motor. can you post of picture of where it's leaking? your engine is an EA82T which is offered in many subaru's during the time period and there is a wealth of information here. keeping in mind that if yours is a late enough model XT Turbo it will have a spider intake which is rather rare and not found on any other subaru (unless it was swapped in of course). in any event, for XT specific info, check us out at xt6.net, it's an XT dedicated forum with lots of XT experience. i've owned about 20 of them. i might add that it's one stellar group of people. i get those midwest states mixed up but pretty sure we have a member or few out your way somewhere. if you decide to join xt6.net, send me a PM or email with your user name and i'll make sure to approve you and get you rolling right away. i'm a moderator and can push you through, right now we're flitering all new users to prevent abuse.

pulling the cats may help, i don't know, didn't help 2 XT6's i played with but that's not a huge sample size and i never dyno'ed them. they seemed to run better with a muffler than a straight exhaust pipe as well...but maybe that's me, again i've never dyno'ed anything. my best results were with slightly larger pipe from the cat back and a straight through style dynomax muffler. all i have are gas mileage numbers to go on and they were best with that combo as well. and of course this is all with an XT6, 6 cylinder so it's not even the same vehicle or motor. i would imagine dynomax might be a good one to ask if you're buying the cams from them anyway. did they offer any info?

risk management. take the risk: %5 change of failure. 95% chance of success. change the belt - %99.5 chance of success. noone will agree on how to manage risk, so inform yourself and make your decisions. i'll say it again... unlike your previous GL engine this new engine is an interference design. if the timing belt does break, pistons and valves collide and you'll be needing a new engine or a very costly rebuild. it does happen, saw a forester this week actually.

they have more than one style of EA82 cam available, which one? hopefully not the "track only" version, it's brutal. adjusting your ignition and playing with fuel grades might help. from memory the dyno shows and ER27 can get 7hp just by advancing the timing and running higher octane. might be worth something for autocross slightly larger pipe and replacing the stock muffler from an XT6 helps some, but replacing the converter with straight pipe or a high flow converter did not help at all (i've done both on an XT6). can't imagine a smaller engine being much different. i'm not saying it's a bad idea but if everything is working properly replacing the cat might not be worth much to you.

that is one option. it could have been a loose/bad connection, my guess is that you'll see the code come up again in 6 months or so. if it comes up again i'd plan on getting new wires.

nah, the 15.9 gallon capacity is common, even XT6's built in the 80's have 15.9 gallon tanks. there are some variances, but yours is 15.9.

good point, i saw that mentioned before, but the battery is fine i think. starts, runs and drives fine without any problems. but i'm glad you brought it up...would the light go away once the issue was resolved? the ABS has been on quite awhile...when i had the battery out, disconnected, charging, etc. i haven't cleared the codes yet. will do that today and see if they come back.

??? really? that doesn't add anything to this discussion. i know mike, we are over at xt6.net, so i knew he worked at a dealer probably the first day he got the job. everyone who has worked at one Subaru dealership for a year will know all there is to know about Subaru's? and will know more than others absorbed in more than one dealer over an extended period of time? i don't think so. if that were the case, this kind of information wouldn't be so mystical. he works at a dealer, and dealers have all years coming in with issues. seeing one vehicle with a problem doesn't surprise me, that's where people take new vehicles, still under warranty, when they have problems. nearly every vehicle ever made will have some come back to the dealer for warranty work or return within a short period of time after that. deducing whether it's anecdotal or a trend and an issue takes a lot of data. Subaru doesn't publish or make that kind of information public, nor to employees. if they did, we'd already have this question answered by now.

any recent work done in the past year? yep, find out what the code is. autozone and advanced auto parts check the code for free. here's a hint - don't tell us what the guy behind the counter "thinks" it is, tell us the exact codes from the print out/scanner. more often than not we will know more than the dude behind the counter does about subaru's. most likely it'll be something simple to fix that is "common" enough to have been seen before: cylinder misfire - new spark plug wires, easy. knock sensor - the housings crack - get another one, it's one 12mm bolt to replace it. O2 sensor - you're getting to the age where it's not a bad idea to replace the front one anyway. just requires a 22mm wrench, that's it...oh and two hands! cam and crank sensors aren't that rare either - replacement is very easy. EGR - i hate them, but it won't take much to fix that either. so...report to us what the scanner tells you and we'll help you fix, probably fairly cheap (a whole lot cheaper than taking it to a mechanic).

there's significant real world evidence that points to mid-2002 being a "cutoff" for the 2.5 headgasket issues. that they still occur after that doesn't necessarily mean anything, it could be anecdotal. i haven't seen or heard of any headgasket issue trends after mid-2002. trends being the operative word in that last sentence. speaking to those submerged in the industry, with contacts to dealerships, service departments and data suggests that mid-2002 is a valid "cut off" for the headgasket issue frequently talked about. coming from a valid source is fairly convicting, but comparing that to real world evidence and it starts to support what was already being said in this forum and others quite awhile ago. i wonder if anyone knows when Subaru started installing the "new" headgasket design in production vehicles?