idosubaru

bump: anyone willing to let us know what year and model 200SX rear calipers to use? 4 cyl, 6 cyl, turbo, and year? i want to order these and for some reason people aren't willing to talk about this?

agree, no big deal. it would certainly take a long time for oil/coolant to degrade a belt, well beyond 6 months. i'd submerge a belt 6 months in the stuff and still feel confident driving it for another 6 months!

that's the trick, get good and be set up right and they can be done real quick. your 2.5 is an interference engine, you are definitely wise on the OEM there. i've only installed Subaru stuff on inteference soob stuff.

as far as fitting on the wheel goes, i know FWD XT6's come with 195's, AWD comes with 205's and i've had 215's. might affect handling a bit, like rolling or understeer having the wheels that much wider than the rims. i've been told that you shouldn't go over one size larger or smaller on that first number over stock. in other words if stock was 195, then 185 should be the lower limit and 205 the upper. but i've broke it before, like in the example above. that miata sites is nice for comparing actual tire widths and dimaters.

that's the one nipper, good score! i've seen at least one other filter comparison as well that came up with similar results to that study.

that doesn't really mean anything towards the quality of the parts. feedback is typically left immediately, not proving anything long term. but...i would still use an aftermarket timing belt on a non-interference engine. i've used Gates, Dayco and probably others on older non-interference subaru's with no issues to date. i keep an old timing belt and tools in the trunk and could slap on a new belt very quickly in any weather. everything is new, belt, water pump, pulley bearing grease, seals, oil pump...so failure is highly unlikely but i'm prepared just in case. every inteference motor i've done has gotten all Subaru stuff.

it's not so much that i don't like them as they are crap. yes there are plenty of people that use them without the motor blowing up, but that doesn't mean they are "good". search on the internet (or even this forum), there have been more than one report of them sucking real bad. most other oil filters are relatively comparable. i don't recall the details but they are inferior in design and materials and are much more likely to recirculate oil without filtering it due to a bad or lack of drain back mechanism. again..it's been awhile, but there's info to read about them, they are by far the worst oil filter in circulation. if i ever want advice on advertising and marketing a product i would go to them, but for quality oil filters go elsewhere.

RAM engines (ramperformance i think is the website?) builds EA81's for aircraft use and they have aftermarket pistons. higher compression NA forged or cast pistons. the forged i believe are a good bit lighter than stock. and a variety of turbo piston options as well. pic's and details of the forged pistons are over at http://www.xt6.net where mr. radon built an XT6 engine with a set.

be careful with the rear main seal. there are a number of cases where freshly installed rear main seals have leaked. Mr. Radon at xt6.net after rebuilding his ER27 (same rear main as the EA82) and also steve's EA82T i think it was, and others. these were both this year. I'm not sure why that happens, but be very careful as it would suck to have to drop trans/pull engine just for a $7 seal. timing belts are way too easy to even bother figuring in the equation. EA82 timing belts can be done in 30 minutes. usually takes longer, but just for refernce they aren't hard at all to do in the car. here's where the confusion comes in on the trans/engine removal. the transmission can definitely come out quicker than the engine. so from that perspective the job *could* be quicker by removing the trans. but handling a trans from under the engine is more awkward than an engine with an engine lift. if you're set up well with a lift and have good equipment to manuever the trans with on reinstallation or a couple people then that can be quicker. you'll have to look at what resources you have and figure out which is better for you.

i agree with nipper here. i'm not a machine shop expert but at the machine shop i deal with they always machine heads to a nearly perfectly smooth finish. well it looks and feels smooth to me anyway, i'm not sure what he means by "rough", i've never seen that done before. this machine shop i use is an aluminum head speciliast and i'm one of their very few customers, they mainly do reman'ed heads for NAPA. 'ive used a couple other machine shops in the past and they've all done the same. never heard of a "different" ways to do heads.

this is the way to go. but first - leave two bolts still in place and only partially threaded in. you don't want the head/cam to come off and fall off the engine. leaving two bolts will allow you to break the head or cam free and they will catch it. otherwise they'll just fall off and onto the ground or bang around the engine bay. when removing the cams you want to attempt to keep the rocker arms in the same position, so it's best to knock the cam case loose and pull each rocker arm off by hand rather than knock it loose and have them all spill out all over the floor. on the cams i'll leave two bolts in and only leave them only 1/4" - 1/2" from all the way screwed in. this will give me 1/2" to break them free but doesn't allow the cam carrier to come out so far that the rocker arms fall off and all over the ground. with 1/2" clearance they'll stay in place but you can reach up there and pull them out individually and number or keep track of them however you like so they can be resinstalled on the same valve.

definitely bargain shop, they often (usually) come down in price. particularly if you've really got options and can just go somewhere else. i've taken in internet parts prices before and had local stores match those even on brand new parts (XT6 gasket sets are expensive). if it's a mated engine trans set then make sure the trans gear ratio matches the rear diff. OR...make sure you get the rear diff with the trans. the 2.2's usually have a different trans gear ratio than the 2.5's...but probably not always. just check. all that matters is that the rear diff and trans have the same ratio. and yes the 95 will drop right in, dual port exhaust and no wiring issues, plug and play (as is the case with any 2.2). with all that you need if it were me i'd probably look for a wrecked car. but you probably don't have the time for that. they can often be picked up cheap and would have the entire engine/trans and rear diff (if needed) for the swap. probably too late since you've already put all this work into it though. i've gotten 4 soobs for free and 2 wrecked EJ's fairly cheap with engines/trans in excellent condition.

oil and antifreeze degrade the timing belt. i'm not sure what you're asking though. if youre asking about waiting until summer, then yes you'll most likely be fine and the oil probably isn't pouring, coagulating and splattering everywhere yet if it's minor seapage (very typical). even if the timing belt was getting oil all over i'd bet it'd make it to summer anyway. i would wait until summer and replace the belt and seals then. if you're asking should you install the new belt and leave the seals seaping as is, then i'd recommend against that.

i vote for nippers list above. on interference engines i always use Subaru only (those are 1997 and up 2.2's and any 2.5's). i have no experiece or specific reason other than the Subaru parts are proven. on yours i'd be willing to install other manufacturers items since it's a non-interference engine. were those on the forum here? any links or recall the user, i'd like to see those.

XT6 seats won't fit without some modification in an EA81. XT6 are identical to XT which is an EA82 and i've seen XT6 seats go in other EA82's so i think they are the same. i just gave a local guy a set of XT6 seats for his EA81 and they aren't a direct swap. but i don't think it would be that hard to fit them either. search on the boards here, there are very specific pictures of how to do this and what's required.

the fact that a jump got it started once before is either coincidence or your electrical system has issues - i'd start there. are the terminal ends that connect the battery clean and tight? if they're loose or dirty this could easily be your problem. if you attached the jumper cables to old and marginal terminals then they may not do it any good. i can't see your terminal ends/battery cables so i don't know but i'd check their first. that's the most common issue i see in non-starting soobs. second i'd check both timing belts. any check engine light? second i'd look for vaccuum leaks - oil cap has a seal at the top. the EA82's i've worked on (mostly FI) were very sensitive to vacuum leaks, cutting off if they had a leak. the XT6 is much more forgiving...starts and runs fine with leaks for some reason, but not the EA82's i've worked on. check the coolant temp sensor too - tons of information on here and a very common issue. occassionally it won't trigger a CEL even if it's causing issues.

EA82's are a cake walk to replace headgaskets on. the turbo is the most annoying part of the whole deal. all that freaking piping and rusty bolts in the way. if you have air tools, removing the engine is a complete waste of time. leave it in the car and go to town. i never remove them for just a head gasket job, even on the larger XT6 engine. but if you only had hand tools to work with they are much nicer to work on out of the car. if time is critical then leave it in the car you can have it done quicker if that's how you want to work. clean all the bolt threads and holes (this is where air tools are super nice). i personally have all the valve seat cracks repaired at the shop. they use stitch pins specifically made for this (info already posted elsewhere). have the heads milled. the cam carrier o-ring is a metal reinforced joker, it must be bought from Subaru or http://www.thepartsbin.com, i haven't seen them sold anywhere else. make sure you don't use just a regular o-ring for it and make sure you replace it. you'll need some thick grease for hanging the rocker arms in place while you install the cam carrier if you're doing it with the engine in the car. be careful with intake manifold bolts, they like to seize and shear off. that's no fun.

+1 for that too. plywood works for setting your jacks, jack stands, engine lift, etc. carpet works great to work on and to drop transmissions/engines on and pull them around easily or out from under cars. stop by a carpet store and see if they have any carpet scraps. they go through scrap carpet daily, as long as they don't leave it remotely they should have tons on hand and basically give it to you.

make sure to use a new Subaru PCV valve. the EA82, EA82T, ER27, EJ22, EJ25 all use the same PCV valve, so any Subaru dealer will have them.

it's hard for me to say without looking at it but i'd replace that oil pump. i won't elaborate on what i think it does or consequences of not having because i really don't konw but i wouldn't mess with the oil supply. as far as not running well....any check engine light? all the ignition stuff is new? hows is the turbo? any exhaust leaks before the turbo?

they're cheaper because they're paying non-automotive minded people to work on your car for peanuts. it's inherently riskier. Subaru is expensive as nuts because they're paying people who've been trained, certified, etc. A cheaper alternative is a local mechanic, but as with any mechanic...even dealerships, be very careful. there are plenty of shady people out there and i wouldn't want them touching my car. if you do go elsewhere, make sure they aren't using FRAM oil filters (or a relabeled fram) and you're fine. a friend of mine made it about a mile from the shop before the engine locked up, they drained the oil, installed a new filter and the drain plug and forgot to put oil in it. to their credit they immediately took the blame and replaced her engine. but still no fun.

you won't get screwed, just a minimum $300 bill. or a $98 bill with a long list of items that need their immediate attention or your engine will blow up, leave you stranded and be unsafe to drive.

what happened to the block? how long did it sit out of the car or not running? check the valve clearances while the heads are off maybe. probably doesn't need it, but since they are a pain to do, why not check them with the heads off and at the dealer? if the engine was overheated i'd get a new water pump. at only 25,000 you could easily skip it, but on that engine i always replace t-belts and water pumps together. cheap insurance on a good motor. i doubt it did, but if the engine sat for awhile i might consider some seals being replaced (like cam seals), but i'm guessing that's probably not the case.

it's common for used prices to vary like that. some shops don't mind selling fewer items at a higher price, others may like to work on a volume basis. i'm sure it's dependent on many things in how they operate. and surely insurance has something to do with it as well.

john, you might not need a new transmission. a friend of mine has an XT6 that growls. you start the car car the clutch in and all if fine. as soon as you let the clutch out (in neutral still) it growls something fierce. i mean - hardcore growling, like you think it's going to blow up. drives fine if you can tolerate tryihng to drive it making that noise anyway. i posted in the old generation forum about this and over at http://www.xt6.net about it and the consensus was "input shaft bearing" or "bad throw out bearing". i'll have to drop the trans to see. all that to say - you may not need a new trans. but at only $150 it might not be a bad idea to have an extra when you finally dig in to see if it's a clutch or trans issue. gary