idosubaru

tire balance. shouldn't change much, it would always be there and the same. if it's AWD the driveshaft ujoints can cause high speed vibration as well when they first start going bad. this will get noticeably worse over time and across larger ranges of speed.

fairly certain the Ej22 just has the rubber seal on the thermostat housing.

i have them on my XT6's and will be converting one XT6 from coil over back to air struts that someone before me swapped. they are troublesome at times, but not too bad if you're prepared. first - with good maintenance the air struts will last longer than you have the car. get a decent set (used) which isn't hard to do since people are always dumping them. then look up my post on reconditioning the air struts. the bags essentially fail to rust build up at the base of the strut/air bag conjunction. the metal lip rusts and the air bag rubs against it. extend the air strut, wire brush and sand all the rust off and paint it. that will protect the strut. i've never had a blown air strut in my multiple XT6's. my now rusted to death daily driver has 215,000 miles and i got it with 105,000. still the same air struts and they are in great condition....they'd go another 100,000 i would suspect, at least the air bag would which is the main failure point. do this maintenance on the struts, replace all the o-rings in the system and they are much more reliable. few people do this kind of maintenance on their air system. the air compressor, tank and drier assembly is the trickiest part. there are a number of leakage and failure points here. the tank solenoid and pressure sender, the air compressor has a weak valve, the piston can fail and the line fitting there crack as well. these are essentially unfixable. some of these can be cleaned, like the pressure sender typically gets clogged internally. remove it and clean it. there are no aftermarket replacements or rebuild kits for these. best bet is to have an extra set of everything around for replacement. troubleshooting is very time consuming and tedious...and results are iffy. easier just to replace what normally fails - air compressor, tank or the suspension computer. the system is maintable, but requires a learning curve and spare parts. in 5 years my 215,000 mile daily driver only failed one time and that was last year after taking the car off the road for a couple months for other work. other than that i don't recall it ever failing, maybe once that i forget. letting the system sit is not a good thing. before that i went 100,000 miles without anything but preventative maintenance - pulled the struts once for reconditioning mentioned above and replaced all the o-rings. the ride height can be adjustable somewhat. letting all the air out and driving is certainly not good or even safe. the car bounces like crazy on any kind of bump. bridge joints are especially painful and dangerous.

i think there's only one kind of EA82, that i know of so it's either a poor description or a typo or it doesn't matter. i just did this a couple weeks ago and found the spec's on this board if you want to search for them, don't know off the top of my head.

good idea to try and fix this. i recall one instance of someone having inexplainable transmission problems with an XT6 years ago. ended up being the oil pan was dented enough to restrict flow to the oil pump sump. if you take the pan off, you'll notice the sump hangs down really low, not much clearance and would be easy to restrict oil flow or even bend the sump if the pan went up high enough. on solutions, i have no idea. weld thick steel to the bottom? that way it dents the whole thing and not just part! how about a lift?

i'd get the 2.2 (actually i did last year). we have a 1997 Subaru Outback Sport that we picked up for my wife. great car and no head gasket issues to worry about. they at least offer them to 1998 in the Outback Sports, i don't think the Outback Wagons came with them, i think they are 2.5 but i'm not possitive. the ones i've seen are all 2.5 but that isn't many. It would be hard to definitively tell if it's been replaced, though signs of major engine work would point to that. owner would be the best source of knowledge. The new head gaskets solve the problem, once it's replaced you're golden. If it fails you also have the option of swapping in a 2.2 which would be easier than the head gasket job on a 2.5. they are nearly a direct swap, computers wiring and all that stuff is plug and play. There isn't neccessarily an enormous failure rate, but it is more risky than most subaru's in my oppinion (except maybe the old turbo's since they're 20 years old). And of course of all the 96-2000 2.5's out there the ones most likey to hit the market are ones showing signs. People are more likey to trade in or sell a bad car than a good one. It is very difficult to detect when it first starts and they almost always pass all the common head gasket tests - even the exhaust in the coolant test and compression and coolant in the oil. All that can be fine but still have issues. The 2.5 is a great motor, i would recommend not paying top dollar for one in the 96-2000 era. sounds like you're already on your way to making a good decision.

check the fluid level. did you replace the filter as well? try another filter, maybe something is restricting oil flow inside the filter. i've seen dropped filters "collapse" internally. some kid probably knocked it off the shelf and dad put it back.

probably pulled a hose out of the intake somewhere like mentioned. make sure all hoses are in place, no gaping holes, intake tube isn't cracked or torn and MAF sensor is plugged in (it's right by the air box, though it would be hard to accidentally disconnect it!). 98 impreza...if it's an OBS then it's a 2.2, if it's a wagon i believe it's a 2.5. since lots of parts swap on the motors, the air filter is probably the same between them.

they are minimally functional and mostly aesthetic. a motor looks better (too some, i like seeing more stuff), but it offers a more pleasing look to most people that don't know anything about cars. no covers on my XT6 and no problems either.

brand name shouldn't matter on these. advanced auto carries the smallest one in a kit for 30 bucks. contains hose, clamps and tie downs as well. i don't use the tie downs that go through the radiator, it's annoying. remove the fans, pressing stuff through the radiator and damaging fins. then you have to cut them to remove the radiator. i ziptie the end to the center hood latch support. bypass the radiator ATF lines completely, no need to use those.

the smallest one like he said.

i'd replace it with a known good unit or remove it and check to see if the center hole is rounded out at all. usually if it's been like that, the hole through the center of the pulley is rounded. i use a socket wrench with a 3 foot pipe on the end and crank the ever loving nut sack out of it. cast iron bolt and crank, it won't strip. whatever you do, make it tight. don't use that philosophy on aluminum parts (like the engine block) as the aluminum is much softer and will strip.

if you don't know the last change, have the timing belt addressed as well as the timing belt pulleys and water pump. good to go for another 100,000 with those in place. cam seals and oil pump o-rings are advisable while yo'ure in there doing the belts. only a couple more dollars for the seals. previous owner might be able to tell you how recently the timing belt was changed? with that mileage it would be best to make sure the belt and pulleys are good since this is an interference motor. i got an outback last year with only 60,000 miles and change the belt immediately, though that had the possibility of the "older" belts with lesser mileage ratings. 96-99 2.5 liter motors have head gasket issues. keep your eye out for overheating. catch it early and new headgaskets will fix the problem for good, though set you back about $1000 unless you do the work yourself. see if it has heat, seems pulling the thermostat will hide the overheating but shows itself by not giving hot heat in the cabin.

tune up stuff would be important. O2 sensor people like to suggest though i've never had a good increase after changing...always hopeful but it never happens! random checks: front brakes dragging some. wheel bearing? tire pressure. use cruise control, i just drove back from canada from up your way and got about 2-3 mpg better on the way back using cruise control was the only difference. none on the way up - about 24. cruise on the way back and 27?? same driving. compression test?

call them back and ask where they got their parts from. the crank angle sensor built into the distributor should be easily replaced if you can source the part. otherwise they were the only source i knew of. how about two used units, that should last you as long as one rebuilt one!

what i said is true, a matter of semantics really. i was making a specific comment regarding this thread. in terms of a general theory that cold air is more dense, that's true but very generic and only part of the equation in practice. in terms of this thread that variable is not driving the results. there are a few variables in play here and based on hard evidence that i posted links to, it is not the dominate factor. yes...gains are lost to heat, but improvements to the intake may offset those. these are random numbers but make my point: +10 for intake design - 5 for hot air still gives a gain of +5. that being said, the OEM design runs a hot water hose right through the throttle body, heating up the throttle body with hot engine coolant. in theory, intentionally heating the throttle body and intake charge is a bad idea, but in practice it is insignificant. although i reroute my coolant lines anyway.

here's a post by kevin showing 1-4 hp gains...maybe even 10 on the one plot, i can't see it too well on my screen. interesting read though. now i don't know if this is a K&N filter, but it is removing the stock box and sucking in "hot air" and a similar cone style filter: http://www.xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1817&highlight=jc+sports+dyno there are gains to be had. i'm pretty sure i had a small gain in highway gas mileage when installing my K&N years ago, but that was...well years ago. the argument "if it's better the factory would have done it" doesn't apply. lots of things have some level of improvement that OEM choose not to implement for various reasons.

you would think the "hot air theory" is correct, but it is not. Kevin has done extensive dyno testing on different intake set ups (among lots of other things) in the older gen forum. take a look at his plots, he's a no BS, doesn't beleive anything until it's dyno'ed type of guy (that's why he gets numbers). he proved lots of people wrong by showing some gains with a cone filter "in the engine bay". interesting read if you'd like to find his old posts on it. lots of dyno time too. i agree, i wouldn't expect much with a drop in filter either. i do like the fact that i can run one for 200,000 miles.

since i've got the uncanny ability to read and remember, i'll help with this one. he hasn't got the bushings yet except the steering rack which aren't expensive. i just bought impreza urethane bushings for $30 and he said tires are free. i'm not sure the need to completely criticize what he's doing, he's having fun with it and likes the car. this is almost commical in a way though. i wouldn't do what he's doing with it either, but look forward to see what him or any others do. he's quite creative and comes up with good ideas and information that noone else has. i like him doing what he's always doing...being an inovator and sharing.

rebuilt motor - CCR. new (or have yours rebuilt) alternator, starter, battery and batter terminals/cables. new radiator have all 4 wheel bearings replaced replace all fluids - diffs, coolant, brake fluid. have all the brake calipers rebuilt or replaced. (rebuilt kits are about 10 dollars) and replace the brake master cylinder. replace the steering rack bushings, front suspension bushings, ball joints and tie rod ends and clutch cable. that'll give you excellent reliability and safety and won't cost much. the rebuilt motor will be the high price item. you can have it rebuilt locally. the more work you do the less it'll cost. either way, all of this will be well within if not way below your range listed above. once the motor is done, the other stuff you can do a step at a time. that's what i do, have a list of items i address just like mentioned above. i've done just about everything mentioned above except a complete rebuild.

i would be very surprised if you noticed a decrease in mileage due to the K&N. actually i woudln't believe it was because of the K&N unless i saw and tested it myself. accurate gas mileage comparison is tricky. conditions, weather, driving habits, weight of the car, condition of brakes, transmission, car all have to be similar to be accurate. that's hard to do unless you're really paying attention. the best gas mileage comparison i've been able to do is on highway trips. i used to drive alot of 500-1000 mile trips. i'd drive, replace something and make the same trip. good comparisons that way, but for normal daily driving i find it hard to get good comparisons. cars are each different. i'll get the same mileage whether or not i use the cruise control or not in my XT6 automatic or XT6 manual. in my impreza OBS i get much better mileage.....like 4mpg better if i use my cruise control on a highway trip versus not using cruise control (just tested it last weekend on a 800 mile trip).

$500 would be a good target. don't forget new throw out bearing and pilot bearing. they are normally included in a clutch kit, but not always. if the clutch is fine and no signs, drive easy and it'll last quite a long time. if you get good at shifting without using the clutch and do alot of highway driving (easiest place to shift without using the clutch) you might be surprised how long it lasts. never done it in the newer soobs, but my XT6 is really easy to drive like that. my truck is much trickier.

post in the parts wanted section here as well.

what is it you'd like to know about the XT6 power steering? the dozens of XT6's i've owned had it and i swapped the entire set up into my EA82 series XT Turbo. very easy swap mechanically speaking. now getting the electronics to work is another thing, but you could always power it constantly and remove all that XT6 computer controlled speed sensitive, input sensitive assiting gizmo stuff. i was told it's a quicker ratio rack, fewer turns lock to lock. and i get to dump the belt driven pump which was my main goal.

get pictures of that hammer swinging and this will be the coolest thread in a long time!