idosubaru

i've never heard of less than 60,000 miles on any subaru...though what nipper said trumps the US folks that don't know much about over sea markets.

i vote for zipties as well. i'm doubtful of the plastic bag story, but it doesn't matter, there's no need to agree. there is no right or wrong answer. oppinions have been layed out, let people make up their own mind, there's no need to convince everyone to do the same thing. i've seen a D/S cover come loose and slice a hole in the ATF line (want to replace a transmission with a timing belt?), and wear the timing belt (though worn severly, the belt did not break). two first hand instances where the covers induced damage to the vehicles. would i call someone stupid for leaving the covers on...no, do it however you want it. covers can hurt the vehicle...AH! running without covers can hurt it....AH!! what to do? drive one month with, one month without? drive with one side on, one side without..which side??...what to do, what to do.... if one bad experience dictates your decision making process, then you wouldn't be able to drive any vehicle ever made.

right on. welcome to Xt6.net and usmb, too of the finest on-line communities out there.

someone deleted your account, they incorrectly thought it was a bogus account. i restored your user name and approved your account so you're ready to go. thanks for letting me know the date, that made it easy to thumb through the database.

ah..if it's making grinding noises, yeah that doesn't sound good. but i still wouldn't condemn the engine, you'll need to look into it more. if you tell me your username and try to register right now at xt6.net i'll approve your account right now. do it quick.

if the car was loosing significant amounts of oil between oil changes, then definitely replace what you can. seapage is common and i'd replace it, the issue is more about getting on and degrading the timing belt or dripping al under the car and smoking after hitting the exhaust. if it's completely dry i would feel confident it's going to treat you right for the next 60,000 miles until the next timing belt change with little chance for any problems. but it also only takes a few minutes, so take your pick. the rear is an o-ring only, not the seal. the cam has an o-ring behind the cam cap housing as well as the seal. these o-rings are more prone to leakage than the seals in the EJ's i've worked on , so replace the o-rings if they're wet at all. the rear should not have any sealant on it, o-ring only. it's the same part number (same part) as the front cam o-rings. definitely no sealant on seals. a coat of grease on any surface that will contact the engine...outer engine and inner edge. install and you're golden.

2 quarts low is no big deal. i don't recommend it, it's not great, but you still had 3 quarts, that's plenty to circulate and keep your engine in fine shape. those pressure gauges in the dash are junk, they often show 0 oil pressure. the gauge and the sending unit are 20 years old and not accurate. the owners manual will tell you that reading near zero is typical...and it is. it still has plenty of volume at idle even if the pressure reads zero. soo....you're car is fine, there is likely no need to tow it. fill it up with oil and drive it home unless oil is pouring out at amazing speeds...i doubt it, if there were still 3 quarts left. don't tow it with a dolly unless you disconnect the driveshaft. and you likely have lots of rust in Alaska, so removing those 4 12mm bolts will be really annoying probably. get a very good crescent wrench and spray them down with PB Blaster or they will likely strip. remember the rear diff will still turn, so don't disconnect a part that will slop around underneath.

contact CCR for engine prices. there are likely different options and they probably don't want to be miss quoted. long block, short block, intake manifold or not...etc. i'd suggest contacting them over posting their prices or at least do it via PM. someone just did a BBB check on them, zero complaints in 3 months..or 6 months or something. another company had like 60 or something insane.

subarubrat put a WRX drivetrain and built engine in an XT6. that's not an EA, but very close since since EA and ER trans and engines are interchangeable in terms of bolting up. so the work would be nearly identical in nature. i believe he was pushing 400 or more reliable HP in that. don't know if he ever posted info on that swap or not.

good year in terms of what? the 2.5's are real nice, got nice power. i would not pay full price for one personally. i'd buy an inexpensive one with a blown motor (easy to find) and put a new motor in it if i wanted one with a 2.5. the 2.2's are solid for reliability. non-interference 2.2's are nice for reliability and no chance of engine damage with timing belt, pulley or water pump related timing belt failure (1996 or earlier) non interference 2.2's with hydraulic lifters are nice, they have all of the above and no valve adjustments are needed.

yes, all new subaru's come with new engines and warranties, that should take care of your problems for awhile! you said you replaced the plugs and wires. with what? OEM or non OEM parts? the EJ series engines are very sensitive to ignition components, non OEM (NGK plugs and Subaru wires) are very likely to cause mis-fire readings. i've seen brand new ones out of the box do it. the engine had to come out for flywheel work, which means the wires were likely touched at least. i'd swap wires and ignition coil pack right away and see what happens.

it's not about being bright or not, you've obviously never done it. Subaru's are staked in u-joints as nipper mentioned. they have to be cut out. get a sawzall or dremel, some gloves and eye protection and go to town. be careful not to cut the yoke, there isn't much room to work with cutting the old one out. the old joint needs to be cut out, then the yoke needs to be prepared to accept the rockford u-joints you're talking about. they have end caps and clips that need to fit propertly in yokes that weren't originally intended to accept them. then the yokes have to be aligned properly, otherwise the driveshaft will be very lumpy and your new ujoints won't last very long. i have them on my driveshaft. it is not a straightforward press out and press in like a truck or jeep, they weren't intended to be replaced that way. it can be done, but is better left to a shop unless you have a good assortment of tools, experience and determination. they aren't cheap, $30 each. you can buy a used driveshaft for that much and not have to worry about all that work and whether or not you get it right. also be very careful with the ujoints, the needle bearings under the caps are very fine and easily fall out or come out of alignment while you're doing this job.

i would test or replace the blower fan. very easy and common for them to fail or get insulation and crap mangled in the cages. pull it and at least have a look. you do have a strange failure mode, but swapping a blower fan is easy, i'd start there or test it. they can be had for next to nothing, someone will probably send you one if you post in the "parts wanted forum". if it was an XT6 and i was in the state where all my parts were i'd send you one for shipping costs.

sounds strange to me as well. there have been no previous indications of headgasket troubles? no leakage, loss of water, bubbling in the overflow, overheating, running hot?

what's the feedback on these guys? we need a thread for these guys in the feedback forum. anyone with experience on these axles, post in the feedback forum about them.

cool pic's, never seen the difference in the guts before.

the crank pulley is the easy part - insert a heavy duty extension or screw driver (remember - heavy duty and dont' let it fall down) into the flex plate through the bellhousing access hole (remove the rubber plug for it under the throttle body/intake hose). this is for an automatic. if it's a manual, put it in gear and have someone press the brake pedal. the hard part is the cam sprocket bolts, they are rather difficult to get off. i have a large and very heavy cast iron tractor part that works well to just jam it through the holes in the cam sprocket while i back the bolt off. get creative with what you have, or remove the valve cover and put a wrench on the cam as it has a square part to it. or buy the expensive tool.

if you find any info on those GCK's, post a link in this thread. !&*(*@(&(*!!&!!!**B!*! *!*!&*& ing *!!!&*

cookie brings up a headache saver for you....if you're doing the valve adjustment, read up about it alot...again, back to that website i mentioned, he details that process fairly well and goes into all the details about how hard it is to come up with the right shims at the dealer. read up and look into it ahead of time and check your local dealer what they have in stock.

the cam seal is pressed into the cam "cap", it's a housing that bolts to the engine, holds the cam seal, the cam shaft passes through it and the cam sprocket bolts to the cam. it's about 2 inches 'high' so to speak. between this cam cap and the engine is an o-ring. they are brittle and hard as a rock by now typically. i see more seapage behind these than the cam seals on EJ motors. remove the cap sprocket on the drivers side, the rear timing cover and you'll have access to 3 10mm bolts that hold the cam cap to the engine. remove those to access the oring. on the rear passengers side there's a rear cam cap as well, remove 2 10mm bolts to remove that cap and replace the o-ring. that one is really easy. other than the air intake tube, there's nothing to remove to replace that one, super easy. same part number as the front one. i've never actually replaced that rear passengers side one on an EJ25 though that i can think of, only on EJ22's...but i think they're still there on the EJ25 as well.

is your engine fuel injected now? if it's carbbed, then you can't just drop in a fuel injected engine, there is no computer or wiring harness to run it.

what do you mean by "the heater stops"? it doesn't stay hot, or it shuts off altogether? "heater stops" sounds like the fan quits running...but that doesn't make sense, so i'm thinking you mean you just don't have heat? how is the coolant level? is that okay? how old is the thermostat - is it a Subaru thermostat? i'd replace the thermostat and keep an eye on the coolant level. no leakage anywhere?

$1,500 includes sending the heads to a machine shop and having them tested and milled. that step should never be skipped, your heads will be fine and won't require much work. the $200 in parts figure you mentioned is probably a little light. i don't know the history of your car but while you're in there it is likely you'll want to address the water pump, probably at least the geared sprocket timing pulley if not another one and maybe the tensioner as well. they add up fast at $50-$80 each. then add in a new timing belt, rear separator plate (get a metal one and replace yours if it's plastic), thermostat, cam seals and possibly some shims if you do a valve adjustment... you'll want to visit the head gasket replacement website i mentioned. he documented 48 hours of work, but he took a long time...i only say that so you know which website i'm referring to. he lists all the parts and prices and how to do the job and the valve adjustment nonsense too. you will want to read through that, it's very comprehensive and to the point. you will not need much more than that website alone.

his 96 is not under the fluid additive or extended warranty options. that's for the later generation external leaking EJ25's. the torque converter of the 4EAT in your car is tricky to seat. seems like it is and it's really close, but the last 1/4" is hard to tell and bolting it up like that will break things. knowing is most of that battle, like you said, don't force it. i was looking at buying a "pristine" Legacy GT sedan..like right now... with a headgasket "prone" EJ25 motor in it that has 273,000 miles on it and it runs like a dream. second owners and they don't believe the headgasket was ever replaced. they aren't the 2.2 EJ22 engine, but they are quite capable if the headgaskets hold. replacing the headgasket is typically a $1,000 - $1,500 job. follow up failures are rare, plenty on here are running with replaced headgaskets.

yes, you have the torque converter seal right. it looks like you might be right on the ring seal, but i'm not sure. i can't seem to positively identify it on those sheets. the ones i've ordered have always been called "ring seals" based on the dealer parts look up software. you shouldn't have a problem...i have not and noone else that's tried to get one has either...getting the "ring seal" from the dealer. it can be tricky to find on those parts explosions and it didn't immediately pop out on those diagrams though. it may be the part you mentioned. it is a graphite (best way i can describe the material) type seal that's a complete circle that's been cut. it is not a clip. i've seen some mangled (twisted and wrecked) and very brittle ones, i like to replace them if i'm taking the trans out. be sure to look at the old one and remember where it goes, i do recall being confused one time on where it was supposed to set on the shaft.