RallyKeith

Let me address all the issues in one reply. As for the PCV valve, unless the brand new one from the dealership that I installed went bad from the time I screwed it in to the time I first started the car I can't imagine that it is the problem, but hey I check it again As for the dipstick reading wrong, my owner's manual says it takes 4.7 us quarts of oil, and both times I've changed the oil while it's has this problem it has taken just under 5 quarts to get it to read full on the dipstick. I will double chech that though tomorrow. By blow by we are talking blow-by the rings correct? I did a compression test and had numbers all right around 190 psi give or take 10. Also, if it was that serious of blow by I would expect the dip stick to be pushed out of the holder from all the pressure and it is not. So the theory is that something is causing a major build up of pressure in the crankcase that is pushing oil somehow through a breather and into the intake manifold? Oil in the intake tube... As I'm thinking about this, I don't remember seeing anything I didn't have much time to analyze things in depth after I pulled the intake, so first thing sunday afternoon I'll dig into some of these things. Keith

So, this was mt original post: I have since done a compression test both dry and wet and found no problems. AND I've since replaced the PCV valve, with no change in the burning rate. THIS IS IMPORTANT. So, I decided it must be a mix-up in the valve guide seals by the machine shop that rebuilt the heads for the person I bought the engine from, and started today to swap on my known good heads. Here is the good stuff: I pulled the intake manifold off to find oil running down the inside of the intake runners, and oil pooled up on the intake valves!!! Now I'm baffled. I replaced the PCV valve with a brand new one from the dealer, all the hoses were clear, and everything is hooked up correctly. What could be the problem? I did notice that as I was taking the intake tube off with the breather hoses for the valve covers, that what seemed like water ran out of the one. Could there be something wrong in that breather mechanism of the valve cover that is letting the oil through? HELP Oh, and thanks for all the input. Keith

BULL$h!T I just replaced one on my 96 Legacy two weeks ago (Same exact headlight assemblies as a 95) and I got the replacement at either AutoZone or Advance Auto. The sell the sockets on the floor in the same section as the all the general wiring stuff. It doesn't matter how the wires come out of the connector, just match up the terminals and splice it in. The connector I got had about 6 inches of wire (insulated) coming off of the connector. Keith

Yeah , personally I think the easiest way to convince you is to go drive one. I test drove an 05 GT Ltd wagon and almost traded my STi in on it. They are such nice cars to drive. Only downfall I found was that with the '05 you had to get the limited package for the sunroof, and that meant it came with leather. The GT Turbo is pretty darn fast, but you suffer in the fuel mileage and I'm sure it atleast requires middle grade gas if not premium. My daily drivers are a 2.2 and a 2.5 non turbo and they both have enough power for daily driving. As for reliabilty... way better than Audi has been in recent years. The 2.5i engine has been refined in the 10 years its out and is pretty good. The GT Turbo motor is the same motor as in the STi, but de-tuned. So far I haven't heard of any stock STi motor problems. Keith

Just as a revisit, I spoke to the head mechanic at my local dealership to ask advice. I wanted to see if they ever had a new tech swap the seals and how much oil it burned, or what else he thought I should look at. He said to start with a dry compression test and then a wet compression test (squirt a little oil in the cylinder) and if the numbers change drastically then it's a ring problem. He also told me that the difference in the intake valve seals and the exhaust valve seals is the material, not size, and that the intake seals can't take the heat the exhaust valves see. Anyhow, I did the compression test and everything seemed fined. Numbers only changed on average about 20psi from dry to wet. So it looks like this weekend I'm swapping the heads. Keith

Shure enough, the hoses didn't collapse again and the car drove on another 15min trip just fine. Radiator cap was it. Thanks for all the input!

The difference in speed from wheels slipping expands the fluid and pushed a series of alternatly splines plates together to lock the diff. Once the diff is locked the fluid cools and it will shrink and unlock. Something like that.

Well, I know everybody wants to be as cheap as possible, but instead of using another cap off another radiator, or cleaning the existing one, I spent the $6 and bought a new one. Installed it, topped off the radiator and took it for a drive. Temp gauge never went above the mid point, and so far everything seems ok. Just got back from the drive 15 minutes ago, so in another 45 I'll go check and seewhat the hoses look like. Keith

Yeah, it all seems to make sense. So then this probably all occured after it was shut off, and as long is I caught it after it first did it I should be fine. What would happen if the cap failed, the hoses got sucked shut, and I didn't know. What would happen if I would start it up and drive it? Any ideas?

Stromung... Thats the exhaust I was talking about. Stromberg made Carbs. Duh

I'll give the cap a try, right now I'm worried about what damage could have been done since I have no idea when this happened. Keith

I had heard some early reports of people with Turbo XS exhausts melting the paint on their rear bumpers so maybe you should stay away from them. I have a friend with a twin tip Stromberg exhaust on a regular WRX. It sounds SO AWESOME and deep. He's been thinking about seeling the car and if he does I might buy the exhaust for my STi. I'd check them out. Keith

If it happens only after driving for awhile it sounds like there is enough of a mis-match in drive from front to rear that is slowly heating up the viscous fluid in the center diff and causing the problem. Check for the following things. All four tires should be: The same size ie. 195/65R14 Should be the same manufacturer and model tire Should have the same tread depth within something like 1/16 of an inch. Should be inflated to the recommended pressure (listed on the little plate on the drivers door sill.) If all of these are in check, then it sure seems like it would be something wrong with the diff itself and not just a symptom. Keith

96 Legacy GT. EJ25 DOHC (This is the same car as I posted about it burning oil at about 1 quart every 150 or so miles. ) My girlfriend has been driving the car and I've been keeping track of the oil level every night, and at the same time checking the coolant level since I had also just done the head gaskets and swap in the motor. Tonight I went out to check it and the fluuid in the resevoir was way up and the BOTH radiator hoses were sucked shut! Pulled the radiator cap off and heard it suck in air and then I could reform the hoses. Like I said, the GF has been driving it and she said she never saw the temp gauge move, but even if it did move I don't think she would have noticed(you know, watching that road thing a lot of us don't look at those gauges much). So, What in the world could cause this? Right now I'm thinking it's a major blown head gasket that put a lot pressure in the cooling system, forcing the coolant out, and when the system cooled itsucked the hoses shut? HELP Keith

FWIW there are 2 kinds of missed shifts. #1 you physicall miss getting the car into any gear. Here the engine RPM limiter would in fact stop damage. #2 You go to shift into 4th but miss and hit second while having been at the 6000rpm in third. Here there is no way to stop the motor from reaching verry high RPMs. I think they were claiming #2. Problem was that he was driving the car on the PA turnpike with the cruise control set. Keith

I don't want to throw this thread off track, but how the h e double hockey sticks can ANYONE diagnose a crack in an engine without tearing it apart? I had a friend that had a WRX motor break a rod and the dealership said it was due to oil starvation from a missed shift that caused the rod to bind, yet the engine was never torn apart to inspect the bearings. How the he!! does this fly? It is very very easy to forget to connect those fans. I just did it the other day. I noticed it later in the day. Also, I think your 99 Legacy Outback has the last year of the DOHC 2.5 engine. That engine is known for having a 10-15% failure rate on the head gaskets. It may just be 100% coincidental that this happened when it did and the two things are not related. Keith

Did you steal my car!!! Your car sounds identical to mine. 95 Legacy Brighton Wagon. #1 It is usually the sending unit. Mine was pretty bad when I got mine. I started tracking the gas mileage and when I trusted a number I started running the tank down as far as I could. I actually think my gauge is now working better since running it through the full range time after time. #2 The bushing in the coupling that goes into the trans wear out. Mine is bad, but I'm used to it so I haven't bothered to fix it. #3 As long as there is a little play before the clutch disengages then it's ok. Mine is the same way. #4 They all do it. Do the search and there are a few people who have made web pages showing how to do it. I just did mine a few weeks ago. Took about 30 minutes total. Keith

Sorry, but it sounds like this guy just paniced. Of course any car with power windows has the some issue. If you don't have power (water shorts out the electrics) you can't get the windows open. We are all required to carry a special glass breaking hammer in our rally cars for this reason. As for the door lock, I guess I could see an incident where the electrics shorted in a way that the door locks were being powered and preventing him from unlocking, but I find it highly unlikely. It really just sounds like he paniced. Keith

Um, like my original post said: I've looked and I can't find a single leak. All the cam seals and the rear main were replaced, if it's coming out of the valve covers then none of it is hitting the engine cross member as it is dry. I agree that it seems like a lot of oil, but I can't find any leaks. Let me just sum up what I understand about oil consumption as it relates to rings and valve guide seals. - If it burns oils, you see blue smoke, while you are on the gas and the RPMs are up it is most likely rings. As the oil is being splashed up on the pistons it is getting by the rings. - If it burns oil during deceleration or shows smoke imediately after prolonged idle it is the valve guide seals. In this situation the engine is seeing high vacuum and it is pulling the oil right through the seals. The reason it might not smoke during actual deceleration is because most cars during decel (and while in gear) will not fire cylinders in order to increase fuel economy. As soon as you step back on the gas all the heavy oil that still in the cylider is burned. Does any of this sound wrong? The more I think about/think over this the more I really think I'm just gonna be done with it and swapped out these heads for some known good ones. Keith

Everything Is hooked up the same way as it was originally. All the hoses go to the same things in the same places. Nothing was clogged and I don't see any differences in anything. As for the dipstick (the car's, not me) it is never out or anything. It is always sitting fully down. I think I'm going to tear it apart and see what I can find.

This motor has never been overheated that the original owner or I know of. I would think an overheat event hot enough to cause something like that would do a lot more than just that, plus I would expect to notice a decrease in performance if the rings were that bad. I've done a compression test and everything looked ok there. I don't have the tools to do a leak down test, but I suspect it would be ok. Also, this motor was purchased from the original owner who had the heads rebuilt after a valve burned out and he had someone who was not a subaru mechanic do the work. I know that the valve guide seals are different part numbers from the intake side to the exhaust so I'm placing money on them having been swapped by the person who rebuilt the heads. Also, this symptom I described is widely attributed to bad valve guide seals. I've talk to several non-subaru specific Mechanics I know and they all agreed. I'm looking for something I may have overlooked that tends to be subaru common or specific. Thanks guys.

It was replaced just for the sake of and was not bad. This engine was recently installed in my car using the car's existing intake manifold and PCV valve and the old engine did not burn oil.

I've got a EJ25 DOHC motor that is burning on the order of 1 quart every 100-150 miles. When driving it you do not really notice any smoke out the back, until you coast down a hill. If you are up to speed (40-50 mph) and you coast down a long or hill for something like 1/8 mile, and get back on the gas a big cloud of smoke erupts from the tailpipe. Now everything I know tells me that this is valve guide seals, but I wanted some other input before I go tearing apart the motor. Thanks, Keith

Yeah, I still had high beams. Luckily there is an independant autoparts store 1 mile away from where I work and the guy hadn't left yet. I was able to get regular replacements and drive home. As for the fog lights and what not, Pattern and width are my biggest concern, not how far out they go. I drive almost completely on back roads with lots of pesky deer. I like being able to see more on the sides than typical headlights project.