Greg55_99

The original problem was a burned valve in one of the heads. I ran it for a while on three cylinders until I got a set of "rebuilt" heads from an Ebay vendor. I pulled the motor and put the new heads on. I've replaced the PCV valve a few other things. This particular engine now has 124K miles on it. (The car is on it's second engine) The other engine I replaced had the EXACT same problem. Whats really frustrating is that the engine now runs GREAT! Smooth as silk and gets up to 33mpg. But it's due an inspection in December and I don't think it will pass a tailpipe test like this. Greg

OK, I'm PO'd! I put rebuilt heads (supposedly) on my 2.2 94 Legacy and it uses oil and smokes really badly the first few minutes after startup. I've replaced the PCV valve and that doesn't seem to have cured the problem. So.. it looks like the valve stem seals are the next culprit. Has anyone changed them with the engine in the car? What's the proceedure? I do not want to pull the engine again like I did when I changed out the heads. This is quite frustrating. The car runs like a dream now but uses 2 1/2 quarts of oil in 600 miles! It's all going out of the tailpipe! The smoke is less visible after warm up but sometimes I can see a puff under hard acceleration. I've got the valve stem seals that came with the head gasket kit. I didn't install them because I was told the Ebay heads had new ones installed already. Silly me. Any ideas? Greg

Well, gents. An update. As has been pointed out, my PCV valve was old and I replaced it with an OEM item from the dealer. In about 100 miles of driving, the smoke dissapated and went away. I used to see a cloud come out during hard acceleration, but that has now gone away. The oil level seems to be holding steady now as well. Looks like you gents called it. I have a love/hate relationship with my Legacy. My wife wants me to get rid of it... but it's paid for and I seem to be able to keep the thing going! After the head replacement, it runs as smooth as peanut butter and I'm getting about 400 miles to a tank of gas. Left front wheel bearing needs replaced... but that's another story. Thanks for the help guys! Greg

No, I did not change the PCV valve. Straight 5W-30 oil. Car has plenty of power and gas mileage has gone up as well. If it weren't for the oil problem, it would be perfect. When I pulled the heads, the crosshatch on the cylinders was clearly visible. Greg

OK, I may have a problem. I just pulled the engine in my 94 Legacy to drop on a rebuilt set of heads I got off of a vendor on Ebay. Heads looked good and supposedly had new seals in them. Now, my engine runs smooth. The original engine suffered a burnt valve at 120K miles. Problem, my engine emits a slight blue white smoke cloud at startup that goes away as it gets warm. I'm putting in what works out to be a quart of oil every 500 miles or less. I've checked for leaks under the engine and haven't found any. When I pulled the engine for the head job, I replaced all of the seals except the rear seal and baffle plate (I'd replaced those previously). I've also got soot in the tailpipe. That was the result of the previous problem with the burnt valve. So... what am I looking at here. The engine runs great and idles smooth. Plenty of power but the exhaust smells kinda funny. Any ideas. Of course, my main question is, will this thing pass a smog test (due in two months). Greg

Gentlemen! I want to thank everyone here for helping me out. Problem solved! I had used the arrow on the crank pulley to set the cams at TDC. DOH!!! It was the hash mark on the back of the pulley I should have used. Once I'd lined that one up with the cam sprocket marks and put her back together.... Vaaaaaaaaa ROOOOOOOMMMM!!!! So thanks a bunch guys. She runs smooth as silk now. Greg

Uh oh... the arrow on the crank pulley (Not cam pulley). That's the piston position indicator and NOT the crank alignment indicator? Greg

Firing order is correct. It sounds like it's trying to start but won't. Spits, burps. I've turned the engine by hand and it seems to have compression. Let me be a bit more specific. I bought the heads rebuilt, pulled the engine and replaced them. I re-used the original cams making sure they went in the right way on the right sides. When I first tried to start the engine, it burped and nearly backfired several time. That's when I checked the timing belt and found it 180 out. That is, the cams were straight up and the crank pulley arrow was straight down. I didn't think I screwed it up, but, I suppose I did. Last night, I put everything back straight up. I hope I haven't bent any valves. Any ideas? Greg

So I picked up a refurbished set of heads for my 91 2.2 Legacy. The engine has 130K miles on it. I spent the weekend installing the heads with new gaskets but reused the old timing belt. It still looks good with 40K miles on it. However, now the car won't start. It just spits at me! I figured it was a timing issue so I tore off the timing cover to check the belt. Lo and behold the timing was out 180 degrees. Now I know I was tired when I put this together but I don't think I was THAT tired. Frustrated, put the belt back in the correct position with all of the marks as they shoud be and buttoned it up. Still won't start! Still sounds like an ignition problem. I'm going to tear into it again in the morning. If the belt is out 180 again, what's the problem? I've used two different tensioners. Greg

My daily driver, 94 Subaru Legacy 2.2L, suffered a loss of power in late 94. I knew it was hitting on three cylinders but I thought the problem was a blown head gasket. Anyway, I drove it for another 10K miles because in the interim, I'd found an 84K mile motor (mine had 145K miles on it) and decided to just swap the darn thing out. The newer motor ran like a champ (did the swap in June 05) but I had the old motor laying around and finally got around to getting rid of it but I pulled the head to verify the original problem. It was ugly. This is the passengers (left) side head closest to the firewall. I now have 185K on the replacement engine and guess what.... it's missing like a banshee! I pulled the spark plug on the cylinder on the drivers side closest to the firewall and it's covered with gunk. I was getting some blue smoke at startup as well. Looks like I'll be pulling this engine as well. I'll be having the heads done this time. Does it ever end? Greg

Problem: 94 Legacy 2WD 5-speed has a stumble between 1000 and 2000 RPM under load. Idle is smooth. Car has 96K on the clock. After 2000 RPM, everything is fine. Happens in any gear. Any ideas? Greg

My daily driver, 94 Subaru Legacy 2.2L, suffered a loss of power late last year. I knew it was hitting on three cylinders but I thought the problem was a blown head gasket. Anyway, I drove it for another 10K miles because in the interim, I'd found an 84K mile motor (mine had 145K miles on it) and decided to just swap the darn thing out. The newer motor runs like a champ (did the swap in June) but I had the old motor laying around. Finally got around to getting rid of it two days ago, but I pulled the head to verify the original problem. Oooooooo! NOT a blown head gasket. Any ideas how this happened? Greg

Problem resolved. I disconnected the cable from the hill holder to the grommet on the master cylinder. No more stuck brakes. Obviously, my clutch replacement job didn't include adjusting the hill holder cable. I don't need it, so I'll leave it alone. Thanks everyone that responded! Greg

OK, a little more info on my continuing problem. I've replaced the passengers side caliper and both front disks. Bled the system well. Still have the same problem but I did some more digging into the circumstances. When the car is moving forward and I hit the brakes fairly hard (no matter what speed), the brakes lock and stay locked for about 30 seconds. They seem to unstick after that time. I appears to be all four wheels. If the car is moving forward and I hit the brakes softly, no problems. I shut the car off and jacked up each wheel individually. I hit the brake and checked to see if any wheel was stuck. No problems. Only happens when the car is running, moving (forward or backwards) and the brakes are hit fairly hard. Yes, my 94 DOES have a hill holder. It kicks in every time I'm at an incline. So, how do I deactivate this thing to check if that is causing the problem? Any other ideas? Things I've done to this car in the last month: Replaced engine with 76K mile junkyard motor (runs great!) Replaced rear disks and pads Replaced Front disks and right side caliper. Replaced clutch and pressure plate. OK, any help? Greg

I was pulling out of an auto parts store in town yesterday and my car just stopped moving in the middle of the road. Embarassing to say the least. The engine ran fine and I tried to slip the clutch to get it going but had no luck for several minutes. Finally after dumping the clutch, I got it moving again. I'd released the emergency brake several times and that didn't help. The car had been pulling to the right for several weeks now. This is leading me to believe either a stuck piston in the caliper or a pinched brake line. When I got home, some smoke was coming from the right sight side front wheel. My question is, barring all of that, could the hill holder have malfunctioned? How do I de-activate that for test purposes? Car is a 94 Legacy 2WD. Greg