RallyKeith

How many miles are on it? MY 95 with the same configuration has 208k on it and purrs like a kitten. Just today when I was driving some people to lunch I got asked, "Does this thing REALLY have 208k on it?" People that have never owned a Subaru are always amazed at how well my car runs and drives. You should have a good amount of life left in yours! Keith

Seems like in PA it depends on the cop. My friend bought an RS from out of state and was pulled over two day after he registered it. Even though he had paperwork showing the car went in for PA inspection the next day, the cop still gave him a warning that had to be filled out and mailed in with proof that the car was inspected within some number of days. The best part is PA law says you have some amount of time from registering a car until it has to be inspected, and it is something like 30 days. This cop was just an a$$. You should be fine, worse case you may get the same thing my friend got, which did not have a fine or pionts. Keith

I had this happen last year on my 95. I couldn't find any easy way to fix it. I just swapped the whole mechanism out. It's pretty easy to do. I did mine in under 30 minutes. Keith

I honestly haven't been looking at the filters lately. I always buy the Purelator Pro Dark Blue filters. They had them in the last time I looked, but lately I just grab it off the shelf and never look inside before filling/priming it with oil. No, what I meant was the high compression the motors are engineered with, coupled with low air/fuel ratios engineered to get higher fuel economy, and the high timing advances engineered in to increase the low end power output = detonation.

Notice how I said within. I haven't actually timed it (and I doubt anyone has ever truey timed it) but I've driven MANY a subaru and this one seems no different in regaurds to the oil light timing. I should have said within 2 seconds of begining to crank since my car also fires in under a second and within a second of it running the light is off. It all depends on how fast the car "starts" and when you start timing. Long story short it seems normal in regaurds to the dummy light and that was what I had originally meant. Sorry about that. Based on the above posted possiblity of partially blocked passage ways, heavier oil would only make it worse. One thing I've learned is that Heavier oil on a modern engine is not always a good thing. In some cases with the tight tolerances that are held on modern engines you can begin to starve the bearings at low RPM and with modern high compression you are often running awefully close to detonation. This combination can be bad, and that is exactly why I don't typically run heavier oil than recommended. In this case I want to install the pressure gauge to fnid out if in fact I am running a little low on pressure, and then I would consider switching to the 20W50 once winter is over. For now it's a gauge and some cleaning.

I had that issue over a year ago and 25k miles. I cleaned everything out well then and the problem went away. I should probably pull it apart and check everything again to be safe.

95 EJ22 that I think could be running a little low on oil pressure. I get noisey lifters for the first few minutes when I start the car after it's been sitting over night or the 9 hours I'm at work. The motor has 208K on it, so I was thinking that maybe the bearings are worn enough that the oil pressure is down and with the age of the lifters some are deflating and it's taking a while to re-inflate them after startup. So I was thinking that installing a cheap oil pressure gauge defenitely wouldn't hurt, but I'm not sure where to connect it to the engine. Should I just pull out the dummy light sensor and tap in there, or is there another place? Also, before anyone asks, the oil pressure dummy light goes out within 2 seconds of starting the car. Keith

That looks exactly like what is in my 95 Legacy Brighton. They are roller rockers with Hydraulic lifters. Keith

You never want to go wider for a snow tire. The narrower the better. More pressure on the contact patch to cut through the loose snow surface and grip the packed snow below. I always tell people to look at the tires they run on WRC cars in the snow and ice events for the proof. I run 185/65/15s for snow tires on my Imps and Legs. Keith

You also need to keep the dipstick straight when pulling it out, and read the side of the stick that faces towards the center of the car. It's been well noted that the dip stick goes in at such an angle that you get a wicking effect on the side towards the oil, and it can make it look over full.

http://www.car-part.com There is stuff up in new england, you may just have to drive a little.

I have a friend at work who drag races rather professionally a tube frame 69 Camaro. He swears by Cometic head gaskets and says that's what all the big import guys use. The regular ones (not these) are comparably priced to factory gaskets.

Get under there and inspect the cross member REALLY good. My 95 Legacy came from NH, and the gas tank rusted out at the seam this past year. Anyhow, when I went to replace the tank i found out that the cross member was also pretty rusted out. I actually poked a hole completely through it at one point. I'm still driving it with the rusty cross member, but I plan on replacing it by the end of this winter. Keith

I agree.... but Jaguar's Quality has SERIOUSLY Improved since being owned by the F word. (What does that tell you ) Keep your relatively inexpensive Subaru, and Buy an old TR or MG to keep the Brit in you happy!

A New cat would not improve your bank account. They are pretty expensive. If all you are doing is the Seperator plate you shouldn't have to do anything other than remove the nuts on the studs to the block and the hanger bolt on the rear of the trans. Also, if the seperator plate is plastic make sure you replace it with a metal one! Keith

You know, it would help if I could read, and now with the pic I understand what you were originally saying. I've never seen a phase 1 EJ25 with the newer style tensioner, and didn't realize they ever had it. I have 2 Phase 1 EJ25s. One is from a 96, and the other is from a 98, both have the old style tensioner

We are talking about the timing belt tensioner. I think you are thinking of the AC compressor belt Tensioner. The Timing belt tensioner components are bolted directly to the front of the block. There's no brackets involved. The AC Belt tensioner bolts to a bracket that bolts to the top of the block. There are two styles for that tensioner, one that uses two bolts and one that uses three.

I don't think so. Phase 1 EJ25 uses the same tensioner as the EJ18 and Phase1 EJ22. It's a roller bolted off center, and a seperate hydraulic unit to apply tension. Three total bolt holes for that style. The EJ25 Phase 2 tensioner is a singe unit that is held on with only one bolt, and I don't remember seeing any open bolt holes.

I'll double that statement. Anywhere between A-town, Reading, and Pottsville and we would have had you on your way by now. I can think of a few other including myself that probably would have come to the rescue and even helped swap out the tranny.

I get it in my 96 LGT with the EJ22 swap. I always thought it was something to do with the EJ22 running on the EJ25 ECU, but then I put an EJ22 ECU in it and it still does it. No codes or anything so I'm stumpped also.

LOTS of Junk yards in the Pittsburgh Area. http://www.car-part.com shuold get you a used tranny pretty cheap.

Good write up! This is the safest way to do it, but I might suggest that you don't have to completely drain the cooling system. The crossover pipe which the sensor is mounted in is the highest point in the system. I've actually done 2 of these sensors now without draining anything, and I only lost about 1 cup worth of antifreeze. Draining the radiator only partially would bring the level in the system below that point, allowing you to change the sensor without spilling anything. Keith

I had also just done the timing belt on a 93 earlier that same day and had no issues. I used the same method for both. Nice a slow.

I just helped a friend do the timing belt on his 2001 RS Saturday. When he went to pick up parts he asked if he should get a new tensioner. I told him not to, since in the decade of doing EJ series timing belts I've never had one go bad and the fact that they cost $150 aftermarket. Saturday we do his belt, I use the same procedure as always for compressing the tensioner and pinning it with a nail. Put it all together and start the motor, and the car makes a horrible noise. Pull the cover back off and start the car again to see the belt and the tensioner flopping around. He of course gave me a hard time since it was the only thing I specifically told him not to get. So I wanted to ask everyone here how often they have seen the tensioners go bad, and if I'm just lucky that previous to this I never had one go bad. Keith

Here are links to pics of the VDC Headunit, which looks exactly like the stock unit, except you can see the letters MPS on it. http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3393