idosubaru

this doesn't sound all that weird. although i would certainly check into it as no oil will lock the motor up in short order. have the oil pump seals ever been changed? i'd guess one of the ports in the mickey mouse gasket have been sucked into the oil passage. i'd start with an oil pump reseal and be very meticulous about doing it right with Subaru parts. have the anaerobic or RTV sealant of choice handy for the engine mating surfaces behind the oil pump just like the FSM suggests. check the oil pressure sending unit, sometimes they get smashed/dented. also check the oil pan to be sure it's not dented and restricting flow to the sump. i'm not really familiar with the pressure sending unit, but cleaning may help? remove, clean and reinstall. installing an after market oil pressure gauge is always a great idea if oil supply is in question. or try a new oil pressure sender. but then you're at the mercy of the stock gauge and wiring. does it ever have low pressure at start up? that would be weird. if it's near zero after the car warms up, that's not weird at all in my experience. of course there's still oil flowing. doesn't help you determine much though since if you were at a flow of oil causing damage i don't know that you could really tell a difference. does it fluctuate wildly at any time? i'd suspect the oil pump gasket or the sending unit. if it reads high at start up, then goes down to 45, then close to zero at idle. that sounds about normal. zero while driving definitely not normal. pressure rising when you hit the gas, that's normal.

171k km or miles? km probably. for issues you shouldn't have too many, the EJ series motors are great and i'd guess yours is a 2.2 or possible a 2.0 or 1.8? either way, great motors. at that mileage i'd throw new timing belts, water pump, thermostat and oil pump seals at it since who knows how old they are, unless you know they've been replaced recently. i'd also change the oil, transmission and differential fluids. drain and refill coolant.

are you looking for a directy swap that's relatively simple? or is some custom work okay? there's enough information and knowledge on this site to help you deal with the issues you'd encounter. swapping newer EJ series stuff into older EA series has been done. the newer generation vehicles do not swap directly into older generation. you'll have to swap the entire engine harness, computer, entire engine over to the EA82. the Automatic trans will require the entire wiring harness dedicated to the transmission. you'll need the clutch pedals (and the dash if you want the correct display of Park, Neutral, etc), rear differential (due to a different final drive ratio than the EA82 diff) and driveshaft. your best bet would be to grab the entire 95 wiring harness and strip out what you don't need, make sure you keep anything engine and transmission related and you're golden. it'll plug and play then, you'll just have to get it in. the good news is that the motor is essentially a drop in - the bolts fit right in the crossmember though some have mentioned they needed to drill the holes in the crossmember out a little. but that's no big deal, that's great that the engine fits and fits right in with the existing crossmember. questionable items: the driveshaft might be a different length and would need to be shortened (custom work) not sure if the axles will interchange. pretty sure those axles won't work. i think impreza hubs will swap in place of the EA82 hubs, if you can get the legacy hubs to work or if impreza hubs can use legacy axles you can get one of those hubs in place with little effort and they'll accept the axles. the rear hubs i'm not sure how you'd get those hubs to accept the axles except to have a CV rebuilder use both axles to creat one that you need.

there's a great post on this topic with a link to something like Rallispek or some other site with a DETAILED list....like every subaru ever made (not quite) listed. look for that link, unfortunately i don't recall exactly where it is but i found it not too long ago using the search and looking for final gear ratio.

another option is to take the hub and bearings to a shop/machine shop and have them do it. cheaper than a garage, only i'm touching my car, and they have all the equipment. i feel more comfortable with machine shops than automotive shops, those guys are super technical and know what they are doing. i'd rather a machine shop charge me hourly so he's making the same amount on my wheel bearings than an automotive shop who's just trying to bang out my wheels bearings quick so he can get to his more profitable and easier timing belt job. my 2 cents if you don't feel like doing this job yourself.

this isn't the "clean" way to do it, but i just pull the most convenient fuel hose i can. pull the one right at the fuel filter. place it in a bottle/bucket if you like. i usually like to let it just pour out the hose because i'm weird, don't care and like to see continuous flow with no spurting/bubbling. anyway, disconnect a hose and turn the key. when you first turn the key ON (engine not starting yet though), the fuel pump should (or may) cycle for 1.5 seconds, that's normal. after that turn the key and crank the engine (or have someone crank it for you while you watch the hose, but i can see mine from inside the cabin), you should see fuel come out of the hose. there are cleaner and more official methods, but this is the easy way to do it.

i was confused when you mentioned this before. by saying it's leaking into the cylinder it sounds like internal engine issues. but by saying it's on the spark plug it sounds like it's externally on the plug and leaking on the top of the plug, not internally in the engine combustion chamber.

a wire that was cooking? did you find what wire that was and remove it? i'd trace that wire and see if it compromised anything else. i've seen shorted wires burn through master cylinder caps, speedo cable coverings, wires, etc. what kind of wiring changes did you make? did you have to swap any wiring or was it a plug and play type of deal? a 99 2.5 should plug right into a 2.2 harness right?

good call, radiator and water pump are expensive parts (particularly if you're paying someone else to do it). be sure you don't go throwing those parts at it first. at your mileage i'd want a new thermostat anyway, so i'd replace it since they cost under $5. i work in Greenbelt, MD i think you may be close to me. if so i would be willing to look at it for you. PM or email if yo'ure interested in me checking it out. overheating will cause sever engine damage quickly, try not to drive it hot.

nice call! so if he didn't want to deal with swapping heads he could swap the entire EA82 non-turbo engine assembly (entire thing) into the turbo car. throwing that option out there in case he doesn't want to do any engine work. either way, you can get what you want without any wiring issues.

good job getting it fixed. the sensors rarely, if ever actually fail. your old sensor is fine, if you have it i'd keep it for the permanent fix i'll mention shortly. be sure to check for corrosion on the terminals and in the harness that plugs into the sensor. replacing the sensor temporarily fixes the problem because there is no corrossion on the new sensor. but there's still corrossion on the harness and it will return quickly. replacing the sensor is the short term solution. cleaning your old sensor and wiring harness is the longer term solution and soldering the wires to the sensor is the permanent solution. i did a complete write up on soldering the wires to the sensor with pictures and all on http://www.xt6.net. i've had this problem resurface at least twice, if not three times in a year before finally doing it right. here's a link to the permanent solution with details and pictures: http://xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1767&highlight=coolant+temperature

might want to check the simple stuff first. make sure all your bolts and nuts are tight. axle nut. does it have any hub caps or wheel caps? i've seen sheared off lug nuts behind a center cap make clunking noises as they fall around inside the cap. seen this happen a few times, a very strange thing. i was always confused how one lug nut would shear off and the rest are fine????

hey welcome maryland guy. sounds like headgasket. be good to know the year and mileage. the more miles on it, the more i'd suspect the thermostat. sounds like it's loosing coolant at a very slow rate...you said after 4 months it did it again right? does it only overheat once it looses coolant? you could have a small coolant leak somewhere (radiator cap, hose connections, water pump, radiator, head gasket) and once you loose some coolant it creates an airpocket in the system. these newer subarus are sensitive to getting all the air out to function properly. i'd look very closely for any signs of leakage and replace the thermostat.

you can't really test an O2 sensor that easily i don't believe. if it's working but not accurate it will still have good continuity and resistance but not accurate. if you're having some driveability/hesitation/starting issues then that is probably related to your mileage somehow. i'd start looking at spark plug wires and the spark pack. the idle air control is a good place to look too but i'm not familiar with how these work on the newer subarus.

i also doubt it's the fuel pump. i would look at the ignition pack (the black box the spark plug wires plug into). don't know if there's a good way to test those, but i'd swap in a used one to test it. this is somethign that would be intermittent like you're experiencing. did you use Subaru OEM ignition wires? if you didn't use Subaru wires i'd replace them. unfortunately these engines are not very forgiving with other wires. although - i doubt this is your current issue because if it was you should get a "cylinder misfire" code and a CEL light.

older generation EA82 cars are not directly interchangeable with EJ series cars (the newer EJ22, EJ25 and also the 1.8 and 2.0 liter imprezas etc). if you do the 5 lug conversion with XT6 parts or impreza parts you can get wrx/impreza front struts and wrx wheels. agreed on keeping that engine cool. watch the cooling system, replace hoses and radiators BEFORE they break.

the shop i go to is an aluminum head specialist and they aren't the cheapest place in town but they are good. they charge $275 for a complete job on XT6 heads, and that's for a 6 cylinder. that's a complete valve job, milling the heads and fixing the cracks. a 4 cylinder XT would be cheaper than that. they use stitch pins to fix the cracks, they are made for this application. i've posted about them before including company that makes them, part number and phone number if you want to look it up. the cracks are almost always there in my experience. think of it this way...if the cracks are on nearly every set of heads you pull then you can probably figure that most EA82's on the road today have cracked valve seats and run fine. it's not like they crack when you pull the motor apart! if they get deep enough they will hit a coolant jacket. that's probably not likely but i go ahead and have the cracks repaired.

you'll need the Exhaust header/y-pipe and intake hose from the air box for the non-turbo engine. i just did this swap a few weeks ago. just swap the long block and leave the intake manifold that is in the car which would include all the sensors and such. you might have to swap the knock sensor from your turbo block to the NA block if it doesn't have it.

that tire swap is completely fine.

i'm with S on the final drive. could be a number of things. the rear driveshaft, the rear differential or the transmission. first two are easy fixes, last is a bit trickier (exaggeration). ask him what the car is doing and what's wrong with it and you can probably figure it out that way.

dealer wires are the way to go. magnecor wires are excellent too. they've done multiple designs to deal with the quirkiness of the spark plug chamber. off the shelf wires suck in the EJ series motors because they aren't designed with tight enough tolerances or materials up to task. i've used them before and they will short out immediately, i can't believe they continue to even supply them. they'll short out around the spark plug holes, apparently the deep holes make seating and fitment an issue. any compromise in the boot leaves a short cut to the side wall of the chamber. the spark will short out the side of the boot to the chamber, seen them, burns right through them. this is partially speculation, but i have seen it and they usually blow through the plug boot for sure. magnecor went through a growing phase with these wires and that's why they only carry one size/style wire for the EJ22. i have a set on my EJ22. i've bought numerous sets of wires from magnecor for jeeps, fords, older generation subaru's so i gave them a chance. i have had excellent results with these other vehicles. they are awesome wires and will last the life of the car. i've run one set for 200,000 miles. they have been fine on my impreza.

forget the K&N just keep drinking whatever it is you're drinking...this is a 8 or 9 second 0-60 car! for real though, i have a K&N and they do help a little and sound good as well.

xt6.net for sure. kevin has done extensive dyno testing on intakes, review what he's done and the gains he's had. he got best gains on a cone filter, but like mentioned it's all custom. the K&N does help some as well as removing the intake snorkel going through the fender. pull your wheel and wheel liner and you'll see the big plastic snorkel that needs to come out. it's a silencer of sorts, get it out of there.

timing belt isn't too bad. i wouldn't say an oil-change only type should go into it, but there is certainly enough info on these boards to get you through it without issue. i did my first EJ in just a couple hours with no issues. timing belt, water pump, pulleys, oil pump seals and no problems. cam seals are tricky as there is one cam bolt that doesn't want to come off...but there are ways around that. i'd plan on doing the timing belt, if they don't budge on price they might offer a new timing belt with your purchase. i always install new belts on any car i sell, it's the right thing to do if it's an unknown.

you can use whatever oil you want. that's the point. there's no miracle oil or oil that will completely destroy your motor. if you ask what kind of oil to use it's a very subjective and vague question that doesn't really demand an exact answer. get Mobil 1 10-30. why...because it's oil. there are plenty of other options out there as well. you should feel confident with many different oils.