GeneralDisorder

I am too far to know anyone in that area - but other's here will know! You might want to post a new thread asking for shop/mechanic reccomendations in the St. Louis area. Lots of people on this board and most of us know where to take these problems if we don't do the work ourselves or for the community. GD

If the computer is throwing the code then the only thing that is capable of causing that is an electrical circuit issue with the solenoid. The TCU can't tell if the solenoid is physically not working (gummed up, etc - but that never happens) but it will know if the solenoid is open, shorted, or otherwise has an improper resistance value. Looks like John has listed the Ohm values above so you can check agains that spec with a meter - don't forget to check and insure that neither of the pins has continuity with the body of the solenoid (shorted). If you get a good Ohm reading then chances are you have a wireing problem (something pinched durring assembly perhaps?) or the TCU is bad - I've seen this a couple times - last one threw a duty-B code but the solenoid was fine. Replaced the TCU and everything went back to normal. GD

Heh - true. Perhaps I should pipe down since I daily drive an EA81 :-p..... But actually I also own a '91 SS with more power than any of the N/A 2.5's that Subaru has produced and I don't find the GT with the a stock EJ22E to be slow at all. In fact my lady commented on it's performance and she has driven the SS many times. I think producing the EJ22 overseas isn't in the plan because of legislation and taxation on anything larger than a 2.0 over in Japan. That's the reason for the hot EJ20's they have been running over there for a couple decades. I know there have been smaller versions of the EJ than the 1.8 also. IIRC they even made an EJ15 at some point. I would like to see Subaru bring back the Justy (conceptually of course) - front wheel drive with an EJ15, and possibly an AWD option. Like those little AWD Suzuki's. There's still some of us that enjoy cars with go-cart handling and performance. Look at the popularity of the Cooper's and even those ugly "Smart" thing's. There's a market there if Subaru wanted it. They don't even offer a coupe anymore and Toyota is going to do what Subaru should have done years ago - the FT-86 should have been a Subaru product. The engine is there - light, compact, low center of gravity, symetrical.... they had the body too - the Imp. coupe. All they had to do was put in a RWD transaxle and an R180 in the back. I don't think it would take that long. The tooling for an engine size change is nothing like tooling for a new car design. The EJ25 is only .3L bigger - a couple casting changes and some machineing station programming. No big deal really. That's a 6 month change-over if that. They likely already have all that stuff in storage from the '99 to '01 phase-II EJ222 that we got..... GD

I don't think it's possible to set it with a test lamp. You are looking for the piston to be at the top of it's travel with the straw - that's where the plug should fire and thus that's when the rotor needs to be pointing at the plug tower. GD

The '99 Outback engine is a phase-I DOHC engine. It will not work - not even the short block. '99 Forester/2.5RS engines are ok - that was the first model/year to get the phase-II SOHC EJ25. '00 to '05 will work. Tell them you don't care about the sensors, etc as you will be using your original manifold and maybe your original heads. The long block's are basically all the same. And of the phase-II EJ251's will work (the '99 phase-II is technically an EJ253 but will work just the same). There *could* be difference in the cam and crank pullies for the t-belt. But again you can just use the one's off your old engine. GD

They might work, but it's a safety concern. They don't seat properly on the rim. The contact area of a ball adaptor is very small compared to a proper Pug lug. They aren't *that* hard to find. I would just look for a used set. GD

You can't completely remove it - the seal for the thermostat housing is ON the t-stat itself. You need the outer ring or you have no seal at all. And you can't change it to a gasket as the flange on the water pump is too narrow. You have to leave at least the outer ring of the t-stat intact for sealing purposes. GD

They are not similar to anything. They are unique to a pug and only a pug. There was a guy making reproduction lug nuts - a search of the forum should yeild that post. Last I heard there were sets availible - be prepared for sticker shock though. They do turn up in junk yards, etc - I just sold a set to a local guy for $50 (pretty rusty or I would have charged more). They are not easy to find but there aren't many people looking for them either. GD

I will try to take a look at a new EJ water pump and see what the seals look like. I know there is a mechanical seal on the liquid side but it's probably a carbon ring seal..... GD

I can confirm that a gutted thermostat will probably keep it from overheating. I drove an EJ22 with a bad head gasket about 100 miles (in one long trip) with a gutted thermostat and the temp was slightly below normal operating temp. I replaced those head gaskets and it definitely blew at the bottom of the #3 cylinder from the fire ring to the coolant jacket. You could easily see it. With a normal thermostat in place it would overheat within 10 miles. GD

In any case they will not work - pug alloy lug nuts are not simply ball-seat lug nuts. They are special and that's why there's no simple replacement. GD

You find TDC by rotating the engine till you feel air being pushed past your finger over the plug hole - then use a drinking straw, etc to determine when the piston reaches the top of it's travel. GD

You probaby don't need head gaskets and if you do you should find an experienced Subaru shop to do the work. The dealer is not usually the best option. Where are you locate? We can help you find someone.... GD

A '99 will only work if it came from a Forester or Impreza 2.5RS. Outback/GT (Legacy models) EJ25's are not compatible. But pretty much any of the EJ25's from '00 to '05 should fit and possibly even newer stuff. GD

Yeah - it's a combination of gearing and tires I'm sure. They may have also changed the TCU programming on the automatic to shift more aggressively. Mine has 205-60R15's on it and I put in a very nice EJ22 in excelent condition - I was really impressed with the performance. Base model Legacy's came with the EJ22 as did Outback's in '96 - it's really no different. GD

That's for an EA82 unfortunately - won't work on your hatch at all. GD

Yes - the seals are all still availible. In any case they should be pretty standard seals that you can source from any bearing house, etc. Just about all the parts are still availible - while you are in there inspect the speedo drive gear and the seal on the speedo cable drive shaft. Those are also a bugger to get to unless you split the case. They are fun to dissasemble - lots going on so take pictures as you go. Especially of the shifter assemblies, etc. GD

Nice find on the 4-Runner front strut's Jezek! Innovative and different - that's what I like to see and so little of that is found here in the US anymore. You guys in South America always come up with interesting tricks. Some of it is scary but you get points for using what you have on hand. GD

The transmission input shaft seal is not replaceable unless you split the case on the tranny - if that really is the leak are you prepared for that level of dissasembly? It's best to drop them out the bottom. GD

I have no problem with the EJ25D under the right circumstance - rebuilt and with EJ22E heads they are a lot of fun. . I just don't trust a used stock DOHC farther than I could throw one. I highly doubt you would miss the HP much. I just did a 2.2 swap into a '96 GT and frankly the gearing is half of it. The GT moves right along for having 20 less HP than it came with. I am very impressed with how *little* of a difference there really was. GD

1. Good used 4EAT with warantee: $500 or less. 2. Independant Subaru mechanic to install it: $300 or less. 3. Ultimate Subaru Board to tell you this BEFORE you freak out and go to the dealer: Priceless GD

Ok - that one really is rare. Completely normal for your model/year. You never see that IF the hoses were properly removed and reinstalled when they did the head gaskets. I would suspect the mechanic is not skilled in the ways of removing hoses undamaged. Especially if these are the small coolant lines on the throttle body/manifold... heater core and radiator hoses and the water pump bypass should be standard replacement items on a head gasket job. Anything less is borderline incompetant. Unlikely - this smacks of poor mechanical knowledge or outright highway robbery. My guess is that your throttle cable is freyed. And even if it needs another TB - that can easily be sourced used without any fear of problems because "they never fail" and so you would be in business for $35 and the time to R&R the thing (it's 4 bolts and a paper gasket ). Never - and I've seen a LOT of Subaru TB's. :-\ Check for the freyed cable. I think someone may be trying to get one over on you. This sounds like a scam $50 or less. Easily obtainable. Even if you have to buy a whole manifold it should be around $100 or less. GD

Why not just find a low-mileage EJ22 for it? Simple swap. At 230k and an overheat or 10..... it could be close to end-of-life anyway. The EJ25D doesn't take overheating and the bottom end will likely fail sooner than you think - soon enough that it doesn't justify the labor of the HG job. The torque bind around turns is common of the 4EAT automatic - just flush the fluid a couple times (change, drive, change, drive). Should cure most of it and if not there's a few additives that can do it also. Not a deal killer - the 4EAT is a rugged and reliable transmission - will almost certainly outlast that boat anchor of an engine you have. GD

I'm not saying to abandon your EA82 desires - I'm just saying that a few phone calls in response to some craigslist adds and to some auto-shipping companies will yeild you a nice example for less than materials and labor to fix a PA lawn ornament. If your time is worthless to you then I guess you can do what you want with it. But personally it would nag at me that under all the new paint, bondo, fiberglass, etc is a rusted out cancerous mess. It could never be a pristene example again no matter what was done. Most repairs like that last only a few years before being claimed by the rust once again. I'm sorry that I'm a realist but the VAST majority of people that post question of this type have given no thought to the long hours of toil that would be required of a car like that. I point out the drawbacks while other's point out the rainbows and unicorns of the end result. It's just a different perspective. I find that people are too often IMPATIENT with their money and RASH with their decisions. Resulting in purchases that ultimately are a waste of time and resources. I see it ALL the time. That's what I'm trying to prevent with my warnings. My experience is that about 5% will listen. GD

If it's sentimental value that you want to talk about then you should probably not ask what you should do around an internet forum that deals mostly with helping people *save* money on their car repairs, and or repair vehicles that woudn't otherwise be fixed because of cost vs. value. We will tell you to drive it off a cliff if that's the most economical way to get you to/from work in a reliable manner. And this post was about two cars sitting in some neighbor's yard - obviously there isn't much sentimental attachment here. Thus he would be better served shipping a rust-free example in from the west coast. All it takes is a bit of legwork and some phone calls. I gaurantee that more time and money will be spent ressurecting a car from two derilect broken-down lawn ornaments than just buying one that runs and drives and having it trucked a few thousand miles. GD