hzimmerman1111

Had to respond to mention of a specific brand of gasoline, Chevron. What few know is all gasoline grades are basically the same, save for the octane ratings (another topic). The ascertainable difference is the additive packages - detergents - that each of the company will add quite late in the distribution process. I am a previous Mobil Oil operations employee spending 12 years in that business. Oil companies frequently trade out their fuels, based on octane, and trade these throughout North America and internationally. This adds big efficiencies to the system. Feel free to use the lesser cost station of your choice, unless you are sold on a particular detergent additive.

Look on top center of the block for the EJ25 casting mark if any doubt. Look straight down behind the alternator. And ditto what idosubaru said.

Same thought on the valves. You'll need a compression gauge with extension hose that screws into the spark plug hole. Waiting for your readings. A physical way to check for bent intake valves is to remove a VC and when rotating the motor - - the intakes will have absurdly large slack since those valves are not seating.

This must be the "old home week" post. I lived in Haymarket VA for 27 years and remember the Howard Johnsons at Front Royal very well, and also The Leather Coat in The Plains. I would go south to get older Subaru's though -- once got a Forester that started life in NJ and later discovered the rust. Only northern VA gets regular winter salt. Mobil 1 is not junk and they invented the synthetic market with their Delvac and Mobil 1 synthetics back in the 70's for the aviation market. Their SOAP (spectrographic oil analysis program) is the best in the industry. Oil additives are not needed. If you have the skill to do engine, alternatives are the OEM short block, an ex Japan engine, or a domestic engine from a company like SW, or dismantle what you have and as long as the case is not damaged you should be able to rebuild that, but maybe not considering your failure narrative. You can get a complete new OEM crankshaft for about $400.00. IMHO it makes no sense to get another same year hi mileage car that you do not know the history of.

I could get "kicked off this board" but I solved a 2001 OB EJ25 leaker 200K for about 2 years with Steel Seal product. For that product, you just pour it in and in my case it sealed the HG leak in about 10 minutes. Later I did the right thing and did the engine HGs [ maybe I get to stay on the board? ]. At the time I had no good place to work on the car and it got me over the hump. Steel Seal worked after others did not. Obviously confirm if it is the HG, since EJ22 has a better record than the EJ25s.

I have some first-hand experience and just finish repairing my friend's '01 OB EJ251. Here is my post started this May. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/163483-outback-01-does-not-run-after-14k-with-ej25-changeout/ The belt broke going about 55 mph. No way do the intake valves survive it but everything else was fine including the pistons. I got it back on the road with just rebuilding the heads and reassembly with the usual assortment of parts . HZ Charlotte

You're getting great advice above but if you have doubts now if you want to get into it on your own, best to either have a shop do it or "spring" for the $ for complete units. Last time I did front/ rear OB '01 / it was very time-consuming - swore I would not do it again. All of the above suggestions I did - 3 spring compressors, vice grips, marking positions. It's just a hard job on your own and the way the springs are wound makes it a challenge. Your biggest decision point -- what is your time worth?

It must be missing some of its hardware. Kind of a general description, but sometimes the side screws are forgotten -- the ones you get to inside the front wheel wells. This site can probably assist better with more specific information.

Right GeneralDisorder on your diagnosis!, Found that lower edge of the air box collar to throttle body was curled under, making a straw-like passage for the air to pass through and hence the entrance of unmetered air causing the P0171. I reinstalled it more carefully. Have about 130 miles on it now and no codes. Thanks all for their posting input during this Outback repair.

Changed out TB with a Mitsuboshi brand and replaced all rollers (except water pump which I hope I do not regret later). Started up OK and runs strong. Now getting a P0171 code. BTW those curious, the valve clearances were crazy large and when I got the heads off and sure enough, #4 was the worst but all intake valves exhibited bending so bad and obvious gaping open about 2 mm where they couldn't possibly seal. If I can find and solve the PO171 fault [sYSTEM DETECTS LEAN FUEL MIXTURE - BANK 1 ] this one is behind me. Moral: PAY ATTENTION TO TIMING BELTS!!! BREAKING ONE CREATES A LOT OF REPAIR WORK on the interference engines. Further, if you have a TB like the one above with those picture markings (and wish I could find the manufacturer), do not use it!

Never thought this could happen at 14 K miles. Further detail on the compression test. My friend had Outback towed to Pep Boys at first. They did compression test and reported 50% compression and gave 4 readings. I verified their test and got zero at #1 piston. I went no further then pulled engine covers and found the broken belt. Very suspicious they were able to get compression readings on all 4 cylinders with a broken timing belt.

Yes, GD. That keeper is in place, case you get bumped from the rear normally. Well now I can make my post more interesting. This was catastrophic failure. Belt broke cleanly in one place, showing its fibers. Only had one other timing belt even fail on me - 86 Honda Accord but it just slipped a tooth. I checked all of the pulleys and do not see any sign of freeze-up. All of it was replaced with the TB replacement 14K miles ago, Cam gears do not feel frozen and move with normal resistance. I am also aware of the interference fit design so this cannot be good. I am however curious enough to consider putting one of my used timing belts back on and do a compression test. If magically if it comes out to 220 psi per cylinder - unlikely???? - . At minimum it would allow me to ensure the engine rotates around freely before pulling the heads. Ever seen anything like this? This car was running great until this happened. This is highly disturbing. If the engine rotates smoothly with TB belt in place, what could possibly cause this kind of failure? I have been reading the discussion about parts - about them not being equal - I admittedly was on a budget when I did this engine work last year. I do not think I will be so cavalier when buying key engine parts again.

My only pearl of wisdom is to break the axle nuts free with car on the ground - just enough so they will remove later. Remove the caps at center of wheels to expose the nut.(might be obvious to some folks but not everyone). When free with your breaker bar then jack car up and remove your wheel. You don't have to live up north to have those ball joints tough to get loose. Taking the pinch bolt out and disconnecting ball joint that way is the best if possible though. If you take struts loose it is a good idea to get an alignment afterwards.

I changed out original 276K motor with used 76K . Outback is 5 spd manual. Did all wear point replacement and of gaskets / 5 Star HG. Car had been running great. Normal MPG 28 or so. No symptoms displayed before breakdown. Sold to my friend and has now come back to me for the repair. I did not use a genuine Subaru timing belt so that is in the back of my head. Compression is about 50% ~ 110psi. No spark with induction timing light. Car sounds different than I remember when turning over also. Oil is clean. So any other suggestions before I start disassembly? Any experience with premature timing belt failures? This was my 5th Subaru timing belt and easiest since I had the motor out. So could the belt have slipped one tooth and reduced the compression? Why no spark with an induction timing light? Any advice appreciated.

Hi, Regarding your concern on head gaskets, in many instances they typically fail and cause the level of coolant to rise and the engine starts to overheat. Many times you can see bubbles in the overflow tank. You are at the right blog site for lots of experts on this HG subject. Does not sound like you are describing that condition. They can actually be changed without pulling the engine but it is challenging. It is almost easier to pull the engine in the long run if this occurs. No it is not normal to have the motor run poorly after doing an oil change or cleaning the air filter. Could by symptomatic of something else or you are just getting used to the sounds..If you do not do your own work, try to find a local club as a 16 year old Subaru with 175 K will begin needing things. These cars are very easy to work on and a real joy if you know what you are doing. Do change out those VC gaskets and clean up all of that oil, and you will then see more clearly what is going on. If the VC are in need of changing, no doubt the HG are original. You are way overdue for the VC replacement. 174 K / 116 K miles is young for that EJ25 engine though.

Nothing like the detail of Sooberoo's post, but I did use Mike Bauer's method on EJ25 rebuild in May '15, 6 Star headgaskets - that same torque pattern with used bolts. OK at 9K miles for what that's worth. . I take it you are looking for poll numbers in your feedback? The engine kit I got did come with aftermarket bolts, which I chose not to use. The reason is feedback from various places and that the aftermarket bolts were all the same vs. Subaru OEM that have the center ones colored differently than the rest. Many suggestions were for just re-using the head bolts so went that way.

Found the "pearl of wisdom" EJ25 manual gearbox seal replacement from years-ago. When doing EJ25 engine replacement, gearbox had about 1 mm play on input shaft. Anyone who has seen a manual gearbox or replaced that input shaft bearing, how normal is 1 mm play? I have no reference point. Curious if I have a gearbox bearing change-out in my future and how soon? Advice?

Completing thread on EJ25 - EJ25 automatic into 01 Outback Manual. Had to pull old crank pinion from the manual block. Yes, they are different lobe configurations and that is why car would not start! On the manual, took all weekend to pull the crank pinion. Best advice was tapping the holes with M8 tap and setting in M8 1.25 bolts - got that tip from one of the other Forum posts. Used puller and put PB Blaster on sprocket while under as much pressure as I dared. Used crank bolt for the puller to push against. By Sunday, the PB Blaster had worked down through the rust enough to break pinion free. Strangely, taking the crank pinion off the automatic EJ25 motor took a two-finger pull. The good news though is as soon as I got it all hooked up again with the correct manual pinion, she started right up. In summary, to change EJ25 from automatic to manual, (1) clutch assembly (obvious) (2) front crank pinion with correct manual lobe configuration (3) used my old intake manifold, as automatic was ever so slightly different and had a different number stamped underneath. Outback is back on the road with new lease on life.

Whether a seal leaks or not is not voodoo. With 186 K miles I would replace. If you have not worked a lot with rear main seals, the important things are to put it in square and straight - I found a cereal bowl that was just the right diameter for the EJ25 I just did. Lightly oil the inside lip. Note the ridges there on inside seal lip. They slant in the direction to coax the oil back into the crank case so give them a head start on life instead of putting the rubber next to dry metal. Lightly oiling the outside will cause it to seat a lot more easily. Take your time. Double check your work. Use a Subaru OEM or Fel-pro seal. Don't use excessive force. You will feel the stop when it bottoms out.

Been reading the forums for ideas and last post may have answer. Finished putting replacing one EJ25 for another, both 2001's. 74K for 276K mileage motor. Put 6 Star head gaskets on, RMS, all gaskets new. Was careful and took my time. Now, can't get the fuel bar to energize!. Based on previous post, might need to use my old crank and left cam to align with the engine computer - did not consider that. Runs great for 1 second when I spray ether into intake - I think a good sign. New engine was bolted to AT, my Outback is manual 5 spd. The Throttle body had a different number so I used my old one along with old injectors and old harness. Old car was running great except it used a lot of oil and had big time head gasket leakage. Going to try swapping out those sprockets! The cam sprocket looked the same, but the crank sprocket was visually different and did not think any more about it. Anyone with specific knowlege on that please post.

I am doing my second head gasket job. First one, engine in and would never do that again. Very tough and while possible, the clearances are very unpleasant. This time I bought a used low mileage engine from SW (2001 2.5) going in this Outback manual and that decision was made for me. I liked this youtube Note brand preferences. Big discussion topic.

I am doing 2.5 2001 now and reusing the head bolts. Note there are two different kinds in there. The ones in the center are different than on the outside - different color on them also. If you get aftermarket, they're all the same. Humm. Kind of suspicious. Very heavy bolt - they are already stretched since they were used once. Will not stretch again and I am re-using. Shopping for either FelPro Reinz or 6 Star for this job. It is the second engine I have done and it is a lot easier the second time. First time, I did them inside the car. Never again. This time engine is out and on engine stand.

Here is my guess as your description is kind of general. Manual gearbox of that age probably has the output seals that are leaking. Look closely around the drive shaft openings. Clean them, then drive for a while and see if there is new oil. Fix is actually easy. After you disconnect drive shafts, those outside covers actually unscrew to reveal the seal and the bearing. Mark the position they are at beforehand because they are under pre-load and you will want to match that setting. Unscrew them using two big screwdrivers. Replace the seals, and put it all back. This job is not very difficult - provided it is your problem.

Kind of old thread but I will post anyway. Can replace HG in place but difficult. Must undo engine mounts - from underneath but just two nuts. Raise 2 inches, Don't forget to loosen the top engine brace. then slide to each side to give additional 3/4 inch clearance. Necessary to clear head bolts. Consider 6 Star gasket replacement, although others recommend just coating the OE style gaskets. There is a lot to take off to get to the HG and a determined amateur can do it. Mark all of your stuff as you take it off! Amateurs will spend both days of the weekend on this. Beware of the Haynes manual torque settings - one is marked 132 but that is INCH POUNDS not foot pounds - big difference. You will shear the head bolt before you get to 132 foot pounds for sure. I delayed my work on 01 Suby Outback for 3 years by using chemical fix "Steel Seal". Yes it did work and others I tried did not! This Spring I finally got to the actual HG task when chemical fix failed. Got valve kit and did heads also -hand lapping in the values and all seals replaced. H2O pump and all new top end gaskets, sprockets, tensioner. Rings change-out needs the engine out of the car and I will do that next time. Have 287 K now on car and not sure when I will get to those rings - one day.

I replaced the compressor only on my 2001 Outback 2.5 (290K miles) 3 years ago and not the receiver dryer. Made sure I had oil in there. There were no other leaks I had read and heard that you should have he system evacuated and refilled by a shop. This I did (cost ~$120), although I was tempted just to recharge it myself. Noted the grossgary post where he did this auto parts store recharge. I have another A/C repair in progress right now on 2000 Jetta and tempted to go the auto parts store route again. Any other opinions on shop vs. do it your self recharge? After all it's only 135 Freon.