idosubaru

you need two cars? you're getting rid of yours and getting this higher mileage one? i'm confused how the first impreza plays a part in this decision. these vehicles won't have a problem lasting well past 200,000 miles. what you're assuming when you do this though is that the previous owner(s) took care of the vehicle. all the oil changes were done in a timely manner, any oil leaks were addressed properly and the engine was never overheated. the more miles it has on it, the more chance it has of being neglected, run hot, etc. in general though this is a great car and a great motor, i look at subaru's all the time for sale and it's no big thing to see them running great with 250,000 miles for sale. inspect it well and plan on a few expenses and you're golden. after 200,000 miles it's not that odd to have an alternator, starter or wheel bearing to cause an issue. these are minor and the engine should be fine. what i'd pay most attention to is the clutch and engine condition.

head gaskets are usually $1,000-$1,500 depending how many parts they replace along the way (head work, timing belts, water pump, oil pump, etc). $1700 is high and should include alot of new stuff..water pump and such. the motor is probably fine, but like nipper said the more it's been overheated the more chance you had of damaging the engine. thing is, if there wasn't any damage done this motor will last another 150,000 miles. if it were me i'd install new headgaskets myself. but i wouldn't have to pay since i'd do it myself. the parts are cheap. 2.2 liter motors are super cheap and don't have the head gasket issues of the 2.5. if engine replacement was the way you wanted to go, do not replace it with another 2.5. you have no way of knowing if the headgaskets are good. you can get a new motor or new headgaskets but i'm assuming you don't want to spend much money. 2.5's are not cheap. 2.2's on the other hand are a dime a dozen because they last forever and there are many of them around. a 2.2 is nearly a direct swap for a 2.5, plenty of people on the board here have done it. they are more reliable and don't have the pesky headgasket issues of the 2.5. this swap can be done for around the $500 mark with a little legwork. definitley under $1,000 even for a newbie paying someone else to do it.

i can't help much. i do recall trying to remove one before and after a few minutes of looking at it, determined it was a PITA and i would swap seats if need be. that being said....just get a new seat with the key and have a separate key for the rear seat. or grab all of the lock cylinders for the trunk and doors, they aren't that hard to swap. this is of course after the Turbone method which i would use....rip apart the old backseat to find out. they are a dime a dozen and it's 20 years old anyway.

if you can find one and install it, it's not terribly difficult to swap from auto to manual. so if it's in great shape and a good deal it might be worth it even if the auto makes you puke at first.

the ECU's vary a lot across different models/options. it'll plug in, whether it will work or not is another thing. one crazy thing i found out...an XT Turbo can run on an XT6 ECU. it doesn't run well and i actually have a non-turbo motor in the car but i tried an XT6 ECU just for kicks. didn't want to hold a steady RPM, but was driveable.

headgasket repair costs $1,200 - $1,600. you could buy a 2.2 and swap it in and sell your 2.5. you'd end up saving $500-$1,000.

no harder than searching.

my guess...much of this is covered in previous posts, it's a holiday weekend and lots of college football. also you didn't mention what engine. it can be determine by deduction from the questions you're asking, but much easier if you mention what engine up front. the oil pump - make sure the screws on the back are tight. and yes you're correct, replace the o-ring and seal and use anaerobic sealant on it. lots of info on the boards if you search. the rear separator plate - replace with a metal one. you can use sealant, but i think a gasket is available for it. that will be obvious when you ask to buy the gasket or when you remove the old one. lots of info on the boards if you search. legacy777 just answered your water pump question, listen to him. in general i'd never use RTV on water pump gasket. "if" anything would be used, i'd use the sure-tack stuff for water pump gaskets. "best" place to order parts depends on your definition of "best". all around cheapest? Subaru OEM cheapest? http://www.thepartsbin.com has excellent consistency and accuracy and prices...but they aren't necessarily Subaru parts. http://www.rockauto is super cheap but i have serious issues with their accuracy so i usually avoid them unless i can verify each part number somewhere else. legacy mentioned a great Subaru OEM parts supplier.

bearings are annoying to source. ask the local auto parts stores or call a machine shop and ask where you can buy bearings. once you find a bearing supply place they can source the bearings you need using the number on the face of the stock pulley that you have. they'll cross reference and price all the different brands for you. or you can look up local bearing supply in the yellow pages or online at Yahoo Yellow Pages. do a search on here and you'll see previously posted information on this. be advised, without a press the old bearings are difficult to get out. i attempted to get them out by hand...didn't work without bashing the snot out of the pulley itself. i ruined a couple trying that. wasn't worth it, i finally learned how to repack the bearings.....much easier, takes less than 2 minutes and they are new when you're done. here's a write up i did on how to repack the bearings yourself. they are good as new once you're done: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49443&highlight=repacking some pulleys i think have lips or something making the bearing seals harder to get to than the XT6 pulleys. all of the XT6 ones are really easy. some pulleys are available brand new on http://www.thepartsbin.com, ebay and http://www.rockauto.com as well. typically they aren't that expensive to buy a brand new pulley. i know i've bought them before when working on cars for other people. XT6 pulleys are outrageous, i'd never buy them as they are easy to repack. EJ pulleys you'll have to check yourself. i'm almost positive the sprocketed pulley is an easy one to repack, the bearing faces are right there, nothing is in the way. the sprocketed one is typically noisey, i replace it every time i do an EJ engine.

+1 on getting rid of addressing one code at a time, leaving the CAS last. if you do replace the distributor, mark very meticulously how the old one is installed so you know EXACTLY how the new used one should look when you swap in the next one. being an optical type sensor (hall effect sensor) i would guess you could try disassembling and cleaning it. no gaurantee that will work, but you may see something causing issue when you do it. sensors/electronics often have issues that a simple cleaning can resolve. either way (replacing or cleaning), i'd have a used one ready to swap in. i've had two bad distributors, the weird part being that while the CAS was the problem it never gave a code in the ECU? both times it occurred on a previously perfectly running vehicle that ended up sitting for an extended period of time. my guess is the internal electronics corroded some or something like that, but i have yet to disassemble either of those "bad" disty's since i had extra's lying around.

gravityman. i'm really confused on this blown turbo deal. if the nut "back off" as they say and bearing got toasted. is there any chance this nut or metal pieces ended up in the engine combustion chamber? metal in the cylinders won't make nice things happen to the engine. and as for the oil being low.......that's funny as hell since people have posted threads on here about new subaru's "using" oil and they take them back to the dealer who says...."that's a normal amount of oil usage"......that's a funny discrepancy, not that it matters for you now. that's awesome news they fixed it.

i've gotten 4 XT6's for free and others on the cheap. there's no shortage of these older subaru's. make certain you are turning them around. turn them around as quickly as possible. if you're picking them up faster than you're selling them, you need to regroup and rethink what you're doing. be more picky about the ones you buy or get them cheaper or quit getting them if you don't have the time to turn them around. a cheap or even free car is not always a good deal. it's never a good deal until you do something with it. until then it's only a liability. it's easy to think 'what a great deall, i could fix that and sell it, i could this and that". just make sure you're doing more than getting the cars, stick to the original plan which includes...."fixing"...and "selling". otherwise like i said they are just a financial liability. just my two cents.....good luck with the projects!

i thought the same thing, i was thinking he was talking about the minimal amount of play that the differential has, but he says it's not right. he doesn't work on cars but his "buddy" does. i did tell him to carefully inspect the hub for damage, check torque and washer/nut. i'll call him tomorrow reinforce that. thanks GD.

GD, have you seen this partial rotation issue before? rotates some..then catches?

AWESOME!! so simple! thanks. (slaps head)!!

i'm out of town and dont' have any info except what he tells me over the phone. his buddy said he thinks it's the CV. they're getting into it this weekend.

is there any way to tell if the hubs are stripped? he says both sides are like that. one turns about 1/4 of the way around and the other about 1/2? that sounds crazy to me, i'm not sure what to tell him over the phone.

RAM engines (http://www.ramperformance.com) sells high compression pistons for EA81, EA82 and ER27 engines. someone at xt6.net has them in his ER27. he has pictures of them and details of his engine rebuild at http://www.xt6.net if you'd like to see it.

it would help if you could detail which side and where you saw the rubbing. it was the inner covers for sure, behind the belts? the most likely cause is just a broken timing belt. one that breaks or starts to shread can easily damage belt covers. no big deal and can't cause any major engine damage. it wouldn't be cause for alarm unless something highly unlikey or obvious was the issue: the timing belt is nearly set in place in terms of the crank sprockets. they are nearly immovable. i would wonder if perhaps the crank sprockets were removed (to replace crank seal) and installed incorrectly. like the wrong one was installed first. highly doubtful as there's plenty on there to let you know it's not the right order, but i've seen some weird things before. this may cause the belt to ride too close to the passengers side inner cover. i'm getting the different motors mixed up in my head but i think the EA82 has one cam that has a ridge on the back of the cam (i know the xt6 is like this), so that will prevent the timing belt from hitting the rear belt cover. i believe it's the drivers side. a front end collision can bend pulleys and cause belts to run out of alignment but that should be obvious.

i saw a list on the internet showing a 1988 Subaru GL FWD having the same halfshaft of a bunch of subaru EA82 and EA82T vehicles. are they that common across models? i'm seeing all EA81 and EA82 the same except GL-10's? what? i thought there were spline count issues on turbo models?

1988 GL FWD friend of mine owns this car. he called and said that when he pulled the wheel off he noticed that he can rotate the hub about 1/4 to 1/2 a turn before the axle starts to spin or engage. i've never heard of that happening and asked him if he knew for certain that he could turn the hub that far without the axle moving at all. he's going to check again. is that possible, i've never seen it before? a guy working on the car for him told him ne needs new CV axles on both sides because they both do it. car only has about 80,000 miles on it.

the only seal you can't get to without pulling the motor is the rear main seal. the thing with that seal is that they almost never leak. i don't know why, but they just don't. i know of TWO instances where a Subaru rear main seal leaked and both leaked shortly after being replaced (like almost immediately). by what i've seen, the chances are higher of having a rear main seal leak if you replace than if you don't! i've pulled some 200,000+ mile motors that i assume have the original rear main and i've yet to see one even seaping any oil. i know others (svxpert for one) that have done alot of engine work and have noticed the same thing, rear mains rarely need attention on EA and ER series engines. all that to say, i still don't think pulling the engine gains you much of anything, but it certainly allows you to replace that seal, the oil pan gasket and the separator gasket. on a manul trans you're looking at clutch work. if it is manual i'd just wait until the clutch needs replaced to do the rear main and oil pan if you'd like. if it's an auto then you can replace the torque converter seal as well. be very careful with an auto and read about seating the last 1/4", it's an often missed point that ends up ruinning the trans oil pump (very bad) if you don't know about it. subaru's typically have cracks between the valve seats, very common. most EA and ER series subarus driving around today probably have those cracks, they aren't all that big of a deal. (i'd be much more concerned with turbo's than non-turbo's) but i (almost) always have them repaired when the head is off. i take them to a shop and have a valve job done, cracks repaired and have them resurfaced. you could probably get away with slapping heads on there though, but it's risky of course. you can straight edge the heads and get a rough idea. there's information on this board on how to resurface the heads yourself using a flat machinist block and blah blah blah, you'll have to look it up if you'd like to do that yourself. i always take mine in to an aluminum head specialist they do excellent work. if you pulled a set of heads off a known good motor they would likely perform fine. the valve stem seals are old and there will likely be cracks but cracks don't usually leak unless they get really deep. i forget what you have but if you're after performance, racing, turbo's...then going cheap on the heads is a terrible idea. if you want to stay non-turbo you'd likely be okay. the more i knew for certain they were never overheated the better i'd feel about doing it which brings the next point.... i've gasket-slapped two engines, pulled the heads and replaced the gaskets without any head work at all except cleaning the heads, head bolts, engine block and head bolt threads. both of those vehicles are still running great after a number of years. both had very minor external leaks and never overheated, so i assumed the heads were probably okay. i don't normally do that, but for various reasons sometimes i do if i'm confident the heads are likely okay. so far it hasn't come back to bite me yet. one of the most important things about doing a headgasket on a motor this old is cleaning the mating surface between the head and engine. and cleaning the head bolts and head bolt holes. this is where air tools save a TON of time and make it much easier. you can zap a bolt and a bolt hole three times in a minute cleaning the threads up. by hand is a much more tedious process. ] i've said enough.......good luck!

i'd take it for a test drive with them and point out exactly what you're talking about. "settling" after a headgasket job doesn't take that long, a few miles at most so that's a BS comment on their part unless you haven't driven it much. i'm assuming you've put some miles on it. wires should be Subaru OEM only, don't use any aftermarket ones on this engine, (except magnecor, but most people don't use those). it's not very forgiving. same with plugs, use NGK plugs (that's what subaru uses). an ignition problem like that would typically give a check engine light though as a "Cylinder # ? Misfire". so you might be doing all that for nothing. i like the idea of driving yours and then driving one on their lot...and seeing firsthand what the difference is. this isn't your fault. how long was the headgasket bad? what happened? how long did you drive it while it was overheating? there's the possibility of internal engine issues depending how much it overheated or if there was any significant amount of coolant and oil mixing. it's not likley but if you drove it while overheating for any length of time it is certainly possible.

do not pull the motor just to change the head gaskets. if you have air tools headgaskets in these little 4 cylinders are a cake walk (as far as head gaskets go). even without air tools i'd still do it in the car. i bust out headgaskets in no time on both EA82's and 6 cylinder XT6's. the bottom line is that there is nothing hard about doing a headgasket in the car. pulling the engine only makes it take longer. the only trick to doing it in the car (no jokes please!!!) is removing the valve cover bolt, mostly on the drivers side. just have a wratcheting 10mm wrench on hand and it's easy. then you'll need grease (who doesn't have that?) to hang the rocker arms on when you reassemble. i would look into those perma-torque fel-pro gaskets that don't require retorquing the head bolts. also - plan on it taking awhile and having the car down. large jobs like this typically run into a quirk here or there that may take longer than you expected. cost being an issue you probably won't want to do this, but i like to have a set of heads ready to go so i can swap right away and not worry about taking the set off the car in and waiting on the shop.

on the XT's they are way off. don't know about others, but i'd be suspicious of other similar era vehicles like EA82.... someone posted a write up over at http://www.xt6.net on how to disassembled and clean up the insides of a TPS. not for someone who hates tedious tiny parts, but he had great results cleaning his out and his engine performance was much smoother. legacy and loyale definitely won't swap like GD said. i'd get a used one from the yard, they rarely fail in my experience. post on here in the parts wanted section, someone probably has one.