GeneralDisorder

Was there any metal in the pan? GD

Hhhmmm - that's pretty strange. But yeah - if it's not there then I wouldn't worry about it. I haven't seen that myself. Wouldn't grenade - the ECU would just complain and pull some of your ignition timing to prevent detonation. It would run fine otherwise. It's all about the ECU you use I suppose. I know that all the 90 to 94 EJ22's have the knock control system. I guess later stuff is not always equipped - that's pretty lame actually :-\. GD

NEVER use Bosch plugs on a Subaru. NGK only (yes they make platinums). There are many, many reported cases of strange issues with using the Bosch stuff. Subaru uses NGK platinums in the STi and I wouldn't go any other route. I do like Bosch reman alternators though GD

Old thread - but I'll give it a pass since it's close to the 90 day window. It's common on all engines that have plug wells in the center of the valve cover's. Honda's and Mitsubishi's do this all the time. I've replaced them on lots of cars. It's a pretty standard deal. GD

'97 is still phase I. '99 is a totally different animal - it's basically a SOHC EJ25 with the EJ22 bore and stroke..... plugs in valve cover's, 8 bolt BH, etc. And it's definitely worth the price being asked if it's a good runner. Probably more. '99 5 speed's go for $800+..... engines are more than transmissions as a general rule. Yes - an older engine could be used in it's place but most people don't know that and as such the 8 bolt 22's are rare and rareity is considered in price. All USDM EJ's have knock sensor's as far as I know. Including EJ22E's from the 90 to 94 days. I've had to replace them on more than one occasion GD

A bad regulator can be determined pretty easily - obviously you should change the oil (gas?) before running it - then check that the fuel pressure is within spec. Also use a vacuum hand pump to pull on the regulator diaphram and check for leaks there. If both those check out then the regulator is good. Sounds like bad injector o-rings maybe. That's a lot of fuel to be comming out of an injector - I doubt it would run if they were that bad off. But it's not unheard of for them to fail on the MPFI cars so you might want to just rebuild them when you replace the o-rings. A fuel-cut off solenoid.... that should only be found on carb models and it's (as you suspect) an anti-dieseling solenoid that cuts off the fuel supply to the idle circuit. Injected models do not need anything like that since the ECU just shuts off the injectors and fuel pump relay when you kill the ignition. I know just what you mean about people randomely changing parts.... I hate doing that. Injectors are funny beasts though. Example - I just did a valve job on a '97 Legacy. Burnt a 1/4" hole in one of the #4 cylinder exhaust valves. My machine shop (that does a lot of Subaru heads) has never seen this before on a non-turbo. The only thing we could come up with is a clogged or partially shorted injector.... fuel filter was fine..... I tore apart the offending injector and could find nothing. It Ohm'd out ok. It never showed any codes - even when running on 3 cylinders. I replaced them on general principle as well as the fuel filter. I checked out the other usual suspects for a lean condition - coolant temp sensor, cleaned the MAF (wasn't dirty but still....), etc. Rebuilt the heads and it runs like a new engine. I'm pretty sure something was up with that injector - damned if I could find it though. GD

'99 Foresters have the EJ25 phase II. The 8-bolt part doesn't matter - you just leave out the 4 unused bolts. GD

It's all going to depend on your model and type of belt system. There was at least a dozen systems used just in the models covered in this section of the forum and even knowing your model and year will not help - we need pictures. GD

An '80 Brat techinically belongs in the Historic Section - you might get better response there. I've never worked on a first gen headlight switch so I'm no help. GD

I've rebuilt plenty of rotory lobe blowers - adequate lubricants are availible for the syncronizing gears. In essence, it's a tri-lobe lobe blower - or "low pressure, positive displacement, air pump" if you prefer. They are used in industry for many applications and the automotive one's are nothing special other than being smallish. I've done rebuilds on units where I could stand inside the housing. GD

I love how - if it only lasts 225k, and you put another 25k on it while broken (but still getting you around), it's "junk" in the Subaru world . This would be amazing for most domestic cars and pretty spectacular for many imports as well. . Not to mention there's probably 100% more parts in a Subaru transaxle being they are AWD...... But yes - VC's on 5MT's can and do fail. In fact 5MT's are less reliable in general than the 4EAT's. GD

I was told second hand that head shops have to label the 1.8 heads to distinguish them since they are virtually identical to 2.2 heads. Also - lots of people have used both for the Frankenmotor build (EJ18 and EJ22 both being common Impreza engines), and there seems to be no difference in how they run. Everything I've read points to them being basically the same casting (as well as 22T heads). I wouldn't worry about it at all. GD

Cams - helps with the sound too and probably the quickest, easiest, cheapest way to get more power. For $160 and some seals you can increase your torque by a considerable amount. GD

I've seen a few and owned a '94 GT. Rare but not crazy rare. An interesting vehicle though and if possible it should go to someone that will appreciate it. Only '90 and '91 got the Panasonic stereo with the AUX jack. All '92 to '94 stereo's are Clarion's and do not have them (but otherwise look almost identical). GD

Yeah - should be fine with whatever you put on there. WD40 is only slighly better than urinating on it...... squirt it down with some ATF from an oil can if you can. ATF thinned with 50% acetone.... even better. GD

The smaller ID line is an "orifice" - otherwise they effectively ARE independant. More will flow through the larger diameter side and you will get positive flow. GD

To push more than 5 psi safely you will have to lower the compression. 8:1 would be a good start. You might end up having to o-ring the block to hold head gaskets. To do it right - this will not be a cheap build. But yes it can be done - RAM engines built a 200 HP supercharged EA81 for airplane use. GD

www.car-part.com is a neat resource. That's how I found this latest transmission for the OBW ('99 but the '97 tranny bolted right up) I'm selling. Works nice and came with a warantee and 110k on it for $375. Shifts like butter and drives like new. GD

All the OEM water pump gaskets are warped like that - it's from the punching/deforming process they use to create them. They are fine - just torque it down and it will be ok. No need for sealant - they are rubberized anyway. GD

I was told by my head shop that it wasn't worth it on the EJ22E heads. The cost is $100 per head for a port and polish and they would do it but he said the return on investment wasn't there for those heads - probably 5 HP or less. They were also like a week and a half out and we didn't have that much time so we opted to go with just rebuilt stock heads/valves. They do a lot of Subaru head work so I trust their judgement. But hey - if you have the time and money it's not likely to hurt performance and you might be surprised. But I think I would probably go with Phase-II heads if I were going to do it - for the roller rockers, solid lifters, etc. GD

Yep - just like a Hummer GD

I dissagree - the inner joints are much less of a concern than the outers and if the outer boots are good and the CV joints are OEM (green painted cups, NTN brand) then just do the boots and grease. Chances are good they will last a lot longer. Also swap the joints - left for right. This will change the load on the joint when the car is moving forward and give them a little longer life. If this were the outer joint boots, or they were making clicking noises, etc..... I would say replace them. But inner joint boot failure on an EJ axle is rarely a serious problem and the EJ axles are so easy to remove compared to the EA stuff that I don't mind doing it a second time if it turns out they do have a problem. But I've rebooted a lot of OEM inner's and never had a problem yet. GD

Yeah - some experience with mechanical systems is good to know things like that - bearing/cup fittment, shimming, etc. But it's really simple and you only need very basic hand tools to accomplish it. They also don't fail very often so a good used one would be an appropriate comprimise in terms of price. If this were a common failure I could see buying the new one - but frankly I've paid much less than $550 for entire cars and in fact I just bought a good used 110k tranny for a '97 OBW for $375 (and then sold the old tranny which had many good parts for $100) with a 90 day warantee from a dismantler yard..... so that seems cost prohibitive unless you pull the diff from a junk yard car for $25. If I can replace the entire tranny for ~$275 (or less - I've paid less before)...... well you see my point I'm sure. GD

ALL GASKETS INSTALLED DRY!!!!!!! YES - WATER PUMP TOO. Dealer gaskets do not require any sealant and you will just make a mess and comprimise the seal if you do that. Do not use the threadlocker either. You don't need it. That is for very specific applications. ESPECIALLY do not use threadlocker on the head bolts!!!!! I will personally come over there and kick you square in the nuts. GD

That bolt is reverse (left hand) thread IIRC (the one for the belt tensioner right?) - thus you can't just buy one from any hardware store. Best to get one from a board member, junk yard, or the dealer. Even a specialty fastener dealer would probably have a hard time with that one. I'll tell you right now that ACE hardware is going to be a fail. If I had to solve this without the actual Subaru part - my solution would be left-hand metric all-thread and two jam-nuts for the head . You won't like the price of left hand metric all-thread though - or how long it will take to order some GD