soobyfan

Thanks for the input. How are the 2.5L's from 2000 thru 2002? Similar to the 96-99's?

I am in the market for another subaru, in terms of reliability (in particular head gasket issues) are the 2.5L phase II engines better than phase one? With the known weakness of the headgaskets has anyone ever experimented with re-torque on the head bolts as a pre emptive measure before there are any symptoms of headgasket problems?

'96 OBW 2.2L 189,700 miles. I've owned it since it had 139,000 miles. Runs great, just did a t-belt, front brakes, great car.

Here's the tooth count if you havn't seen it: There should be 44 teeth between the mark on the crank sprocket and the mark on the pass. side cam pulley. There should be 40.5 teeth between the mark on the crank sprocket and the mark on the drivers side cam pulley. I recently did a timing belt on a '96 EJ2.2, I bought the belt from a Subaru dealer and it was a Unitta brand, it has yellow marks on it and it lined up perfectly. However, as others have pointed out the tooth count between the sprockets is what matters.

It is very important to insure that the connections are clean and free of corrosion, otherwise it won't matter how tight they are. Here is a link to info on anti corrosion pastes that work very well. (probably more info that you need, but good reading). I have purchased Noalox at home depot, it is readily available. http://sw-em.com/anti_corrosive_paste.htm

Taken off a '97 2.2L Shaft: 24mm Keyway 4mm These should be considered approximate, there is some wear on the shaft and keyway on my spare engine.

I have a '96 OBW 2.2L 5sp, I get around 20mpg in town and 27-28mpg on the highway.

I have a 96 2.2L & used the ebay kit as well. I am happy with it but I opted to not use the t-belt that came with the kit and bought an OEM belt, about $46.00 after discount. I elected to go with the aftermarket water pump, however a lot of people say use OEM only, probably wise on an interference engine like yours. I also replaced all hoses, t-stat, cap, due to the reputation of these engines to overheat. Be careful when filling the coolant to make sure there are no air pockets, search this site for procedure. I elected to re-use the tensioner, just follow the procedure carefully for testing and compressing. It's not hard just be careful. I went with OEM on the seals and gaskets, there are some dealers that will discount their prices. I did a bunch of research on the net and then called a local dealer and they were willing to match the "internet" price. I have found they will go about 25% off.

I just completed a t-belt change on a '96 OBW 2.2L, I has similar results: I also used the pulley set from TheImportExperts, but I did not trust the tbelt, I bought an OEM belt. Before I took the old belt off I very carefully noted the position of the marks on the cam pulleys and the driveshaft sprocket and the reference marks on the belt. The driveshaft sprocket was 1/2 tooth off. (this was a Contitech belt). When I installed the new OEM belt (Unitta) it lines up much better. I have read quite a few reports of people having trouble getting everything to line up perfectly. I had no trouble at all getting the bolt off the belt pulley, I have a 5sp, so I put it in gear and put on the hand brake, sprayed it with penetrant, and it came right off. (1/2 in breaker bar and pipe extender helps a lot). I torqued it to 120 ft/lbs when reassembling, no reason to take chances with something that can cause so much trouble. I also replaced the radiator hoses, water pump bypass hose, t-stat, radiator cap, water pump, cam oil seals, main oil seals, rocker cover gaskets.

I have a '96 OBW, 2.2L 5sp. When I am driving at highway speeds I occasionally hear a sound like something loose or ringing. It is not real loud, and does not seem consistent. It seems to be coming from the drive train. I am wondering about wheel bearings, transmission, rear diff, rear driveshaft? Any input would be appreciated.

I have a spare 97 2.2L engine, it has the old style tensioner.

Thanks for the input everyone, I guess in the case of water pumps there is a valid reason to buy OEM parts.

I am not convinced that an OEM pump is different than an aftermarket pump. Subaru buys the pumps from several different suppliers, I suspect they are built to the same specs as the aftermarket pumps. I would be interested in hearing if anyone has any additional information. ATSUGI, Parat and NWP make cast impeller style pumps and GMB makes a stamped impeller style pump. I have done some research on idler pulleys and the situation is very similar. You buy "OEM" idlers from the dealer, but in fact they are made by GMB, NSH, etc. Same exact part.

'96 OBW 2.2L 5sp 180,000 miles, original head gaskets, second owner. No major engine work.

When I changed the bulbs in my heater control unit I used generic 7219 bulbs that I purchased from a local electronics supply store. Usually sold in qty of 10. You will need to carefully remove the colored "condom" from the old bulb and install on the new one. I messed up the first one I did, the technique that worked for me is to kind of roll it off the original and back on the replacement bulb. The generic bulbs come with leads that are much longer than needed, just cut to match the length of the originals. The nominal voltage supplied is 9.5V, the 7219 is rated for 12V, in theory the 7219 bulb should last longer than the original, but will be slightly dimmer. My replacements have been working fine for about 2 years now, they seem to be plenty bright to illuminate the controls at night.

Thanks for the input. I took off one of the valve covers, I have the solid lifters, the adjustable rockers are a dead giveaway. So, I most likely have an interference engine, but not for sure. If I grab the cam pulley and turn it by hand should it turn easily if I have a non interference engine? Could I do damage if it is an interference engine turning by hand?

I have a '97 ej22, I have searched the threads and determined that most '97 ej22's are interference engines. However, it seems that the change came sometime early in the model year, leaving the possibility it may be non interference. Is there any way to tell from the outside of the engine if it is or is not interference?

I have a question re: part numbers of the old vs new. Is p/n 13073AA190 smooth idler pulley a direct replacement for p/n 13073AA142 smooth idler pulley? The 142 is the single bearing style.

I saw this thread from way back, any luck on replacing just the bearings in the idler pulleys? My cogged idler (NSK) has 2 ea NSK 6005DWA sealed bearings One smooth idler (NSK) has 1 ea NSK 6006DU2 sealed bearing The other smooth idler is a Koyo, the number is DDG1060ARDIH, and it appears it will not press apart. It is the newer wide bearing style smooth idler. I have a question for those knowledgeable on bearings. I have found cross references for the NSK bearings, but no direct match for those ending in DU2. Is a -DDU a suitable replacement, also there is a -2RS that may be readily available. Do the OEM's put in special grease or are these garden variety bearings?

'96 OBW 2.2L, 5 sp, 169,000 still going strong Alternator ABS Relays Front half shaft Need struts & ball joints

96 was the first year for the real outback, and the only year the 2.2 was available in the outback, it only came with the 5 sp manual transmission. Outbacks with lots of miles may need struts, cv boots, clutches, the fuel guage is very inaccurate, the heater control almost always has burned out lamps, etc, etc. This is pretty normal stuff for a car with lots of miles. The 2.2 is much better in terms of reliability than the 2.5, do a search on head gaskets on this web site, you will see for yourself.

Thanks for all the input. It did turn out to be the alternator. The light sequence was just as described, first I got the charge light and the brake light, then the abs light, then the check engine light. FYI, the Haynes manual has a pretty good write up on checking out the charging system.

I have a '96 OBW, 2.2L, 5SP MT. My symptoms are: The charge light came on, the brake light came on. I got the car home, charged the battery with an external charger, then started it back up to do some checks with a volt meter. I read 12.0V with the engine running and 12.4V with it turned off. This sure looks like an alternator that is dead, are there any other things that could cause this? I also checked the lugs at the battery, cleaned and tightened, so I am getting reasonably good contact right at the battery. Thanks in advance.

Nipper, When you refer to a bushing for the rear strut are you talking about the bushing in the strut mount? Thanks.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.