July 27, 200619 yr AS best as I can see, at least for the Legacy (sedan), the bulletproof 2.2L engine last year was 2000. Besides engine transplants, of course... But that was a Phase 2 engine, I think introduced in 1999.....is it still a non interference engine? I still haven't bough my car (the wife and kid both have soobs) and was/am looking at the 98 Leg GT/Ltd....but because of a lot of discussions on HG probs, not sure..... While mentioning HG issues, does anyone know what actual percentage of failure the 2.5 phase 1 experiences? I mean, if 3% or something like that, the percentages are still with me in general....but if 15% instead....
July 27, 200619 yr AS best as I can see, at least for the Legacy (sedan), the bulletproof 2.2L engine last year was 2000. Besides engine transplants, of course... But that was a Phase 2 engine, I think introduced in 1999.....is it still a non interference engine? I still haven't bough my car (the wife and kid both have soobs) and was/am looking at the 98 Leg GT/Ltd....but because of a lot of discussions on HG probs, not sure..... While mentioning HG issues, does anyone know what actual percentage of failure the 2.5 phase 1 experiences? I mean, if 3% or something like that, the percentages are still with me in general....but if 15% instead.... 15 % is the max educated guess of the entire production run of dohc engines had a problem. As the cars get older, alot of them have been replaced. any car aproaching or over 100,000 miles can have a HG blow at any time, especially aluminum engines. The only way to avoid this is to buy a 1960's cast iron block and head engine. ALso 99% of the time once they are fixed they are fixed. Personally considering the car is bullit proof otherwise for that year, i think its a non issue. i can point to toyotas hondas and others with HG issues (dont even get me started on GM). The real issue is the way subaru has handled the problem, not that they fail. They obviously learned customer relations from GM and not toyota. Buy the car use with both eyes open. Its not a good negotiating point, aside from asking if it had the work done. i would be more concerned about timing belts as the odds are far greater if they arent maintained ugly things can happen. nipper
July 27, 200619 yr IIRC, the last year for the 2.2L was 2000. The Phase II 2.2L was introduced in 95, and they were made interference in 97. In 98 the 2.5L engine was the DOHC Phase I version. Subaru addressed this by redesigning the headgasket to be more robust, correcting the problem. The Phase II 2.5 that came out in 99, and was implemented across the board in 2001 had an external headgasket leak that Subaru addressed with a "stop leak" like product. This was a very bad decision, and one many of us are hoping fervently will be reconsidered, and soon. I personally would have no problem with the 98 GT, or anything sporting a 2.2L
July 27, 200619 yr The construction of the 2.2L gets a little fuzzy in the late '90s. The general consensus is that it became an interference engine in 1997, but was still a phase I engine. It still had the same lower profile cylinder heads and the deep cam covers as before, but it had single exhaust ports, unlike the dual ports used previously. The phase II engine came out in 1999, with the same style heads as the phase II 2.5L, but with single exhaust ports. This engine was last used in USDM cars in 2000.
July 27, 200619 yr so which 2.2L do i have..non-interference or interference? 1996 impreza L 2.2L AWD 5-speed, Single port headers, OBDII srry to hyjack....just wanted to see some opinions i was always hoping it was still non-interference since its a 96
July 29, 200619 yr any EJ22 made after 1997-1998ish will have an interference engine. whether or not its valve to piston, or valve to valve interference i dont know for sure. ~Josh~
July 29, 200619 yr 2.2's post 1997 also went to a solid lifter status instead of the HLA's like the older ones have.
July 29, 200619 yr One of these days I'm gonna compile an EJ engine stats report and have a mod sticky it. EJ22 was non-interference through 1996. In 1997, there was a switch to solid lifters, and the crown of the pistons was reshaped to bring compression up to 9.7:1 from 9.5:1, and that also made the engine interference. In 1999, the EJ22 Phase II was introduced, with the main difference being the thrust bearing relocated to the #5 position, instead of the Phase I #3 position. The last year for the EJ22 in the Legacy was 1999, and the last year for the EJ22 in the Impreza, and in all Subarus, was 2001.
July 30, 200619 yr One of these days I'm gonna compile an EJ engine stats report and have a mod sticky it. EJ22 was non-interference through 1996. In 1997, there was a switch to solid lifters, and the crown of the pistons was reshaped to bring compression up to 9.7:1 from 9.5:1, and that also made the engine interference. In 1999, the EJ22 Phase II was introduced, with the main difference being the thrust bearing relocated to the #5 position, instead of the Phase I #3 position. The last year for the EJ22 in the Legacy was 1999, and the last year for the EJ22 in the Impreza, and in all Subarus, was 2001. Stats sticky would be awesome ... but complicated by the differences between North America, Europe, Asia, & Oz/NZ. Also, the 2.2 made a further final jump to 10:1 C/R, but I don't know what year that happened. **** ******!
July 30, 200619 yr Also, the 2.2 made a further final jump to 10:1 C/R, but I don't know what year that happened. Very good call Blitz. I just verified on Subarunet that the 2000 and 2001 EJ22s do indeed have 10:1 CR. Mental note taken
July 31, 200619 yr I just verified on Subarunet that the 2000 and 2001 EJ22s do indeed have 10:1 CR.That would be right about the same time the 2.5 similarly went from 9.7:1 to 10:1. Might've actually been a tad earlier (like late '99) for the 2.5 ...not sure tho. **** ******!
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