Was the EA82 the last of the non-interference engines? And what makes it non-interference? Maybe it's a dumb question...... but that's been bugging me since I heard they were non-interference. How can I tell if a dist. is new? Mine's pretty dirty.... but i haven't even taken the cap off to check it on the inside, but once I do I'd like to know what I'm looking for. Is it okay to mix synthetic and non-synthetic oils? I added a little synthetic gear oil to my diff cuz it was a little low... I don't really see how it would be a problem but I wanna be sure. I'll ask some more questions later, I'm gonna go to bed now... lol.

Thanks to anybody who can answer my dumb questions.. lol

Was the EA82 the last of the non-interference engines? And what makes it non-interference? Maybe it's a dumb question...... but that's been bugging me since I heard they were non-interference.

No, the Legacy EJ22, EJ18 (in some early Imprezas) and the ER27 (XT6 engine) are all non-interference engines (the SVX engine may also be non-interference, but I do not know for sure) - basically everything up to the EJ25 - it is non-interference because the valves and pistons do not, at any point in the combustion cycle, overlap - meaning if the piston was broght to its highest position, and either valve opened fully, they would not touch - so if you snap a timing belt, you do not damage anything

 

How can I tell if a dist. is new? Mine's pretty dirty.... but i haven't even taken the cap off to check it on the inside, but once I do I'd like to know what I'm looking for.

that is pretty hard to do - may I ask why are you trying to find out? - the cap and rotor are the only items that require regular replacement - a distribuitor does not normally wear out - reguardless of age, it should look clean on the inside

 

Is it okay to mix synthetic and non-synthetic oils? I added a little synthetic gear oil to my diff cuz it was a little low... I don't really see how it would be a problem but I wanna be sure.

I know it is OK to mix synthetic and non synthetic engine oils (you could not do that with early synthetics in the '70s, but newer oils are OK - in fact there is a Castrol SyntheticBlend Oil available that is natural/synthetic blend).

I do not know if gear oil is any different

The late EJ22 engines (sometime in '97) became interference engines.

Thanks guys. I won't worry about the dist then.... i'll just change the other stuff.

The late EJ22 engines (sometime in '97) became interference engines.

thanks for mentioning that - I thought they went interference at some point, but did not know for sure