chaz345

Automatic or manual transmission? If automatic, does it change or go away when it shifts?

Automatic transmission. As for how long it will take anything I do to pay for itself, my commute is 160 miles (round trip) every day. So we're looking at spending about $425/month in gas. Even a 1 or 2 mpg difference could pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time. In terms of gearing, since I may need to replace the tranny soon, I'll keep that in mind.

There's lot here about how to get more power out of our beloved Subies, but I have a question about the other direction. What, if anything can I do to maximize fuel economy, even if it comes at the expense of reduced performance? It may be helpful to know that my driving is 95% freeway. I suppose I could get larger wheels and tires which would bump up MPG slighly at the expense of acceleration. Somewhat reduced performance is OK, reduced reliability/longevity, not so much. I suppose it's probably also helpful to know that I drive a totally stock 93 Legacy Wagon. Thanks

Based on the intermittant nature of the issue I'd be leaning toward sparkplug wires. Try replacing them or if they are not at all old, try unplugging them from both ends and re-connecting them.

Sort of. It was basically ODB2 but it wasn't fully compliant with the standards.

I was mistaken on the 97-99 EJ22's being non-interference.

The front swaybar end links can make a very scary sounding clunk as they age, but they are cheap and easy to replace. Not sure this counts as suspension but the drive axels, especailly the front ones tend to need to be replaced periodically. Not a huge deal to replace although they are held in to the diff by a roll pin that requires a long punch to get out. They are relatively cheap though if you go aftermarket.> Thank you guys so much.. So it looks like i should be shopping for a 97-99 with a 2.2 motor (i prefer obd2 easier to diagnose). I dont care much about ground clearance, so a regular legacy wagon or sedan would suite me just fine.. Ohh i forgot to ask how difficult the suspension is to service on the legacy and is there anything that i should look for that typically wears out on the legacy other than the basic shocks/struts? One thing you get after 96 is solid valve lifters which require adjusting periodically. Not a big deal but one more thing that needs to be done.

If you are a mechanic then you should have no problems keeping an older subie running and reliable. They are different to be sure, but usually in a good way, especially as relates to working on them. My recommendation would be for something mid to late 90's with the 2.2 liter motor. In terms of oil leaks, Subies are no more susceptable to major losss type leaks than any other vehicle although they do have a tendnecy to "mark their territory" a bit. Two main causes of this: Because of the engine layout, oil pools in the valve covers and the gaskets tend to leak as they age. Replacement is VERY easy, took me less than an hour the first time I did them and can probably be done in half hour or less after experiencing it once. The other cause in later 90's I forget the year it started is the oil separator plate. That leak will be from between the engine and bell housing and will look a lot like a leaking rear main seal. Fix requires pulling either the engine or the tranny so it's rarely worth it to do just for that. Do it when you need the clutch replaced on a manual or when doing something else that requires pulling engine or tranny. Neither of those two leaks would require constant adding of lots of oil although as with any engine running low on oil is a huge engine life shortener. The torque bind transmission issue can be solved with the tranny in the car, you just need to take off the rear driveshaft and the rear section of the housing. The solenoid in question and the clutch pack can both be accessed from there. Can be done with the car on jackstands although a lift makes it a LOT easier. EDIT Additional thought: One other source of oil leaks is the cam seals. These are often neglected when someone changes the timing belt and they will start to leak as they age.

Some outbacks came with EJ22's. But I agree completely with the advice, the 25 is not a bad motor but there is definitely more to consider as it ages. It's also more expensive to replace if/when the time comes and the results of a timing failure are usually a lot more catastrophic.

The 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engines from that time period have head gasket issues, the 2.2 doesn't really. One other possuble cause of torque bind, although one that is less commone would be a bad or intermittant connection between the transmission computer and the duty c solenoid. I had that problem and while not as common as what you mention, electrical quirks should definitely not be ruled out on older cars.

The 92 EJ22 is most definitely not an interference motor. In terms of wether or not to do the swap, EGR issues aside yes, do it assuming the motor you have is solid. If your location doesn't have emissions testing then just ignoring the EGR shouldn't be too much of a problem although the constant on check engine light would cause you to mist anything else it was trying to tell you. If you've not got emissions testing you could always just swap over the ECU too. In terms of cost, if you've got the motor already, should be about $700 in labor, at least in my area. As long as the motor is out, you might as well spend a few $$ on parts and have every possible seal replaced as well as timing belt too. The only thing you may notice in terms of performance is that with the taller gears and larger wheels, acceleration with the 2.2 may be a little but sluggish. On the upside though, it would slightly improve MPG.

Actually the EJ22 is non interference until 99. The change made in 97 was that they went to solid lifters so those motors require periodic valve adjustments.

Before you put the driveshaft back in, make sure that the gear ratio on the transmission matches the one on the rear diff. Bad things happen if you've got any sort of AWD binding and the ratios don't match. Bad things as in a rear diff that litterally smokes. And yes I know this from experience.

You would probably be better off just getting the ECU and wiring harness from a vehicle that originally had a manual transmission.

In my recent 2 month search for the right Legacy wagon, I ran into 2 or 3 of them on the Seattle Craigslist so they aren't impossible to find.

I put fel pro on the 91 legacy that I had and had no problems for at least 150k miles. The kit I bought came with the gromets too.

An EJ22 that's not been abused/overheated will usually go 3 to 400k and die of something else long before the head gaskets fail. Head gaskets were simply not a problem on the 2.2, unless the engine overheated for other reasons and something warped. At this point you should probably have the heads machined and possibly the block too. Given the amount of work involved, you'd probably be better off getting a used motor from a wreck or a JDM motor and dropping it in.

Fuel filter badly plugged maybe? That or some sort of strange fuel pump issue. I'd try those two things in order.

New here and semi-new to Subies. Just bought my second, a 93 Leg Wagon after having run my first, a 91 Leg Sedan up to 326k miles. She probably still has some life left in her but after nearly 4 years and the fact that I occasionally need the carrying capacity of the wagon, it was time for a change. The technical aspects of "frankenmotors" and other performance tweaks fascinate me, but with my need for dead solid reliability at the lowest cost possible, I'm sticking with a stock EJ22 for now. Maybe someday I can have a "play" car to mess around with though.