new to the "newer" cars forum...

 

looking at a 91 Legacy 2wd 2.2 automatic this weekend. Less than 100k miles but per the Owners son it has a rod knock. Now Im hoping he just has no knowledge of Ru's and hears the usual tapping and thinks its a rod...BUT if he's right and it IS a rod, can I put a 2.5 in its place without changing anything (ECU or ??)

 

Car is "supposedly" in excellent condition otherwise....

 

think its worth $500?

 

thanks

 

Bill

Could easily be a timing belt tensioner or something equally simple. Not likely that it's a rod knock. Kid obviously didn't take it apart because it's still runnning.

 

Buy it - $500 is a good deal even if it needs an engine. Can pick up NA EJ22's for dirt these days.

 

GD

if it is rod knock i'd avoid it and pay a bit more for something that runs and save all that work and cost of an engine swap. time is money they say, so i guess depends what you have the most of. at least around here it's not that hard to find a decent running and newer subaru in the $500-$1,000 range.

 

a 2.5 will have issues here. it'll drop in and bolt up just fine, but the intake manifolds will not swap and i'm almost certain the 1991 will be OBD I and the 2.5 will be OBD II. to get it to work you'd have to attempt to swap the 1991 wiring harness onto the EJ25 intake manifold and make sure it's a 1996-1998 EJ25 to avoid bolt up hassles (bell housing change in 1999).

A few years back, I had a 91 Legacy with the 2.2. The motor went bad, so I bought a 2.2 from a 92 in a wrecking yard. I had a private mechanic do the motor switch. All went well, except my mechanic said that some of the wiring connectors were different on the 92. He switched the connectors out, but even switching motors just one model year apart causes issues to arise.

 

With less than 100K miles on the odo, it may be wiser, and less costly to just repair the motor that is in the car.

Perhaps the sound is actually just a noisy lifter, or piston slap... do you have a way to make a sound recording for us when you go check it out?

Perhaps the sound is actually just a noisy lifter, or piston slap... do you have a way to make a sound recording for us when you go check it out?

 

thats what I'm hoping...(sound wise)