idosubaru

Is it possible to swap an auto FWD trans into an AWD vehicle? My buddy lives in Georgia and would rather not have AWD. Was wondering if this could be as simple as swapping trans or swapping trans and TCU? (don't care about the rear components, that's all easy).

you made a very, very good decision here. aftermarket cause lots of problems on all EJ series engines.

2.5's go at any time. if replaced properly it'll be trouble free from here on out. i'd rather have one go out if it'll be replaced under warranty, that's awesome. now you'll have no worries down the road.

i don't know what you guys got over there, but in the US no EJ's were interference before 1996. no EJ18's that i've heard of were interference, so i'd expect yours to be non-interference. there are threads about swapping heads on turbo motors and NASIOC may be a good place to search too.

this one wasn't an 88, but it was older, i think maybe an 87...late 80's...early 90's. i'm going from memory. what i read indicated his honda wasn't interference, maybe it was a civic and not an accord?

copy that, i posted that reply before ever seeing your second post....maybe another glitch.

Early 90's FWD Legacy sedan. only the calipers are of any use for a rear disc brake conversion?

you sure your internet connection wasn't freaky? i've thought mine "disappeared" before as well, but usually turns out that there are similar threads. or maybe.....do-do, do-do, do-do, do-do......

shouldnt' be too hard to peak around the engine bay, under the car and see what kind of damage was sustained. if they cut off the front and welded on a new front clip, that would be obvious unless they were looney in their attention to detail (high unlikely). don't mind the carfax - their nice, but just a tool. i've bought cars and seen the ALERT ALERT things. they make it seem as if the car is demon-possessed. for paying top-dollar then maybe it's important but looking for a deal, it's just information you need to use in conjunction with everything else so don't worry about it. yes a 1996 is NOT an inteference engine. i believe your 1988 honda is not either. i looked up a friends honda accord this fall and his was not interference. so that vehicle should be good to go with a new belt. he ended up selling it to the mechanic for $50 because the mechanic gave him the load of crap..."might have some serious damage in there...". mechanic probably put a new belt on in 1 hour and sold the car for $1,000.

can you post a picture? can you tell exactly where it's leaking from? you installed a new gasket on the thermostat housing right when you reinstalled it. could it be the hose?

have you at least checked the fluid level of the ATF?

in the states the 97 is going to have a 2.5. i would definitely get the 99 unless the 97 was a great deal and i had an extra motor lying around (which i do). auto or manual trans? make sure all the tires match. auto trans, look for signs of torque bind, check the fluids.

make sure the knock sensor connector and wiring is good.

10w30 - owners manual should collaberate what we're all saying as well.

nah, the parts aren't that expensive and they're all "right there" behind the timing belt, so shouldn't cost that much more. most shops replace timing belts and occassionally the water pump with it, that's it. so if that sounds good to you, roll with it.

at $2,200 you aren't going to get "unrisky" vehicles like a new car. but...the impreza you speak of is about as close as you can get. very reliable vehicle for that price range. if there are no records, it will need timing belts, water pump, thermostat, basic tune up. that's the case with any vehicle of this age and mileage, not impreza specific. that 2.2 is solid, i made sure my wife's car had it. the car-fax will likely show all sorts of flags...ten pages of red, bold letters exclaiming the reconstruction, don't let that scare you. have a mechanic try to figure out what kind of accident it was in and how bad it was. are the air bags functioning properly? reconstructed title isn't bad, but nice to have it checked.

should be higher than that, like he just mentioned. was the car warm or cold when you tested it - it should be warm. remove all the spark plugs and prop open the throttle plate when testing - this will give you low readings if you don't. were those things done? i wouldn't suspect thsoe things to keep it down that much, but who knows. is your battery strong and firing the motor up without problems? a slow firing battery will reduce the readings as well because the psi measurements are based on a certain engine speed, if you're not reaching that speed due to a weak battery...readings will also suffer. if the motor was blown, i wouldn't expect the same readings all the way around like that...50 on them all, very odd to not have some difference across cylinders. i'd suspect the gauge to be clogged with oil or something.

there's no way to tell. we don't know what kind of driving you do, if you're letting it warm up before driving, how many miles, AWD or FWD, what kind of condition it's in, are you heavy foot or drive like grandma....there's too many variables to say "this car gets X gas mileage". 20 mpg is low, but expected if you're doing alot of city driving, using the gas and brake pedal alot, and letting the car warm up on cold days.

first - what year? if it's your 1996 EJ22, then it's non-interference so the answers diff. for an inteference EJ22 (1997 and newer) i'd say replace tensioners (or bearings/grease) and water pump. but if yours is the 1996 listed in your profile then it's a non-interference engine and you could put those off. you risk some reliability since it's not that abnormal for a water pump or tensioner to fail between 120,000 - 180,000 (your next change). i personally replace these items (water pump and tensioners) every other timing belt change on 60,000 mile belts. personal preference there though, since there's no way to garauntee when they will or will not fail. if the small change of a belt breaking or pump failing isn't a big deal, then just replace the belt and don't worry about the tensioners and water pump. if someone is driving that would never notice a car overheating...i'd like to replace the pump for that reason as well so the motor doesn't get toasted. cam seals, oil pump seals, thermostat while you're in there for sure.

i wouldn't do either. if you're spending that kind of money, get a low mileage tested used unit with a warranty. subaru transmissions are resilient and have very few issues, most of which are resolved with proper care - don't overheat them and change the fluid. people are so anal about engine oil and never change their trans fluids/oil, that trips me out. go used any day. two people have bought JDM engines on the xt6.net group this year (i am one of them). both had bad headgaskets. i know that's engines and not trans and plenty of people on here are driving good JDM motors right now. but these "low mileage gems" can easily burn you and the "warranty" consisted of them offering me a headgasket set which i never received either. i'll probably avoid the JDM route myself, but you can get a good unit from them, plenty of others have. go used is my vote.

and don't drive in it with busted CV boots - your axles may make ALOT of noise very quickly.

you can replace the piston without splitting the block. do a search on this forum for instructions on how it's done. pull wrist pin, then rotate crank until the rod pushes the piston out far enough to remove it....or just thread a bolt in the hole created by the valve!!!! and yank it out...that's sort of a joke, but that damage could help in removal once the pin is out.

im guessing you have a cracked block or bad heads. the initial overheat probably cracked the block or heads. the more it was driven hot(which i would suspect if it was out of town, away from nowhere), the more likely this becomes. if it's loosing coolant, coming out the tailpipe at start up, then it could be the block or heads. often the heads are not pressure tested, only milled, checked for flatness and possibly a valve job. it's an expense that is rarely needed, but if it's skipped and you miss a bad head you end up in a bad situation. is it loosing coolant? that would indicate to me it's what i just mentioned. if it's not loosing coolant i'd suspect the system isn't working properly.

first - did the same one warp both times? yes, sticking calipers often cause warped rotors - either the parking brake mechanism sticks (on older soobs where the e-brake is up front) or the caliper itself sticks, which is most likely on your newer generation. if it's isolated to one side and you'd rather not replace both, you are fine to replace just one. the pads/calipers seat to the rotor, they don't care nor does the brake system have any way of "knowing" that one rotor is a millimeter thicker than the other. the pads/calipers will seat accordingly. also - what rotors did you use, cheap-o aftermarket rotors may be lower quality and easier to warp as well, i've seen them warped out of the box. i would guess replacing the boot and greasing it should prevent future problems.

4x4 manual trans, wagon. picking this car up for a friend. what transmission will this thing have, will it be PT4WD or FT4WD? it'll be SPFI right? how are these things size-wise anyway? are they small or have decent room for the drivers and passengers seats? are they as cramped as an XT6?