January 7, 201016 yr I'm looking for a 2.2 or 1.8 motored car and just want to know which ones to look out for. I'd prefer a non-interference engine, just for the obvious reason. Andrew
January 7, 201016 yr ej22s 90 - 96 are non-interference. all ej18s are non-interference. none of the 2.5s are.
January 7, 201016 yr If you look up he posts made by me, i think you'll find a lot of info on this. It was of a great concern to me at one time, cause my legacy was a 97 made in 96, and i needed to know. '97
January 7, 201016 yr i to believe that the 2.2 non-interference is the most desireble engine. but the fact of the matter is, any 2.2 WITH PROPER MAINTENENCE is a great engine. it is only when the t-belt is not done on time or off brand low quality parts are used that bent valves come into play. which leads to this, when purchasing any used car without absolute proof of the t-belt change date/mileage you should do it sooner rather than later to avoid valve damage. and as others are quick to point out, the 2.5 is good too, when service correctly.
January 7, 201016 yr 1995 and olderonce subaru hit 1996, they screwed up alot. that's not right, so dont' go by that. Go by johnceggleston's post. SVX EG33 is "technically" interference but it's not in reality.
January 7, 201016 yr EJ timing belts rarely fail. Even the 60k belts will usually last past 100k. It's not that big of a concern in reality. Mostly people prefer the EJ22's because none of the similar generation EJ engines are as reliable. All the early EJ25's have more problems with gaskets and mechanical failures. GD
January 8, 201016 yr I can agree, my 99 2.2 has 226,000 miles right now. just did my timing belt that had 140,000 miles on it (I won't chance that again though). Showed the old belt/parts to 89ru today. if anything, my idle pulley bearings were about out of grease. Anyhow, asides from chasing this intermittent engine stumbling gremlin, it's been a great motor.
January 8, 201016 yr Would a EJ18 for a 1989 1990s Legacy be a non-interference engine? legos never had a ej18, impreza only. and i think 190 was the first year for legacy in the US. there is a 1.8L engine from the 80s, ea81 and ea82, but they have a different design. they are not in the ej series. but if is an EJ18, then it is non-interference. it also used the same heads, timing belt, timing idlers, head gaskets, intake, etc. as the early (90-96) ej22. so lots of parts floating around.
January 8, 201016 yr legos never had a ej18, impreza only. and i think 190 was the first year for legacy in the US. there is a 1.8L engine from the 80s, ea81 and ea82, but they have a different design. they are not in the ej series. but if is an EJ18, then it is non-interference. it also used the same heads, timing belt, timing idlers, head gaskets, intake, etc. as the early (90-96) ej22. so lots of parts floating around. Thats good. They did sell EJ18s in Legacys but not availble in the states as far as I know. Im looking at buying one. Im not sure but I think its the Carberated model too The Cam belt hasnt been done in the whole time they guy owned it.
January 11, 201016 yr Thats good.They did sell EJ18s in Legacys but not availble in the states as far as I know. i keep forgetting that both subaru and the internet are world wide.
October 16, 201510 yr My 96 Subie Legacy L wagon says it's an EJ22EZ. Is that non-interference for sure?
October 16, 201510 yr 1996 EJ22's are non-interference. I've seen one report of an interference 1996 EJ22 - but I don't put 100% faith in that unless it's the original owner (how many original owner 1996 Subaru's are there - not many), can verify the engine was never replaced (with a later year interference EJ22), and knows enough about mechanics to be certain of that. If you do a complete timing belt job - in a sense it doesn't matter. Belt, pulleys, and tensioner all replaced. If the valves ever were bent - the heads on those engines are unbelievably easy to replace compared to later years - one of the easiest Subaru headgasket jobs ever. Edited October 16, 201510 yr by grossgary
October 17, 201510 yr If your spark plugs go through the valve cover its interference if not its non-interference. I just so happened to look this up earlier since I just got given a 97 that had a 96 motor in it and I wanted to be sure. 96 was a single port head noninterference motor. Edit: on the ej22 motor only Edited October 17, 201510 yr by mikaleda
October 17, 201510 yr 97-98 ej22 are interference and the plugs do not go through the valve cover. They use the same single port heads as 96 but the piston design in 97 changed which makes it an interference engine. 97-98 heads will have solid lash adjusters on the rocker arms. 96 heads have hydraulic adjusters. Easy way to tell if its a 96 or 97 engine.
October 17, 201510 yr 97-98 ej22 are interference and the plugs do not go through the valve cover. They use the same single port heads as 96 but the piston design in 97 changed which makes it an interference engine. 97-98 heads will have solid lash adjusters on the rocker arms. 96 heads have hydraulic adjusters. Easy way to tell if its a 96 or 97 engine. Must not have been all 97 like that. The 97 my step dad has has plugs that go through the valve cover original engine
October 18, 201510 yr Guess I was wrong, the engine was so greasy it just looked like they were going through the valve covers. I re did some reasherch and spark plugs going through the valve covers was only on phase 2 ej22s. My bad
October 18, 201510 yr Gotcha. Didn't want to say before that it couldn't be that way, because anything is possible, but I was thinking it was either a swap or a 2.5. The phase 1 and phase 2 heads are very distinctly different. If it did in fact have the phase 2 head design in a 97, that would be an oddball engine for sure, and something I'd like to have seen/known about in case I ever run across one. The phase 2 heads do have the plug holes going through the valve cover, but the top of the valve cover is flat, rather than having the 4 big humps that the phase 1 cover has.
October 18, 201510 yr what I want to know is why Subaru decided to cast "16 valve" in the ej22e valve covers when installed, its not visible.. Or the Subaru markings on the timing covers for that matter... Just thinking
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