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ignore the gunk. took years to build up, no symptoms, who knows what it is. nonissue. covers - fill the crack with epoxy or sealant. if one is rubbing then remedy it or replace it. you could file, drill, or cut the area that's rubbing out. if you're about to ditch it and get another one anyway - then you could try to locally heat it up and see if it becomes locally malleable...but not too much as you don't want to warp the rest of it. again - last ditch effort if you're about to throw it away anyway. replace the cam cap orings - they are for sure to be brittle and crack when you remove them. they always do by now if they've never been replaced which is common.

If you don't have coolant dissappearing, I wouldn't touch the headgaskets. They can develop leaks from coolant to the outside. But you will have slow coolant loss for a long time before you have to deal with it, as long as you check the level and air in the upper hose to prevent running it when low. The idler bearings are usually good for about 50k miles, just like the belts. With the new seals - include the o rings behind the small pieces that the cam shaft seals press into. The shaft seal on the oil pump. After much debating and reading what others were doing re timing belt covers, I stopped using them. Years ago. I have had fewer problems since. One time, I even could hear the beginning of an idler bearing failure before it got bad enough to snap the belt.

I have had several of these. They are great cars.

Bennie - if you go look up the part numbers, the 334166-167 ARE the shock/spring type, which is why they will not work on a Forester. I had a hard time finding any info on those two part numbers on the KYB USA site, but since he is in Spain, different market.. they would probably fit that pretty blue wagon very nicely.

Front end is bacially the same. Rear end setup is completely different. Our 2.5L RX with 17 inch rims drives like it’s on rails. A larger cat back exhaust makes the engine feel like it has more get up and go. I like it, my sister likes it - which is good, because she smashes the km on it hard! We got it at 330,000km, it’s now got well over 420,000 in less than three years. Solid platform, looks good, sounds good (genome muffler - bit loud but it keeps the Roos away! An UEL Y pipe unleashes the subi beat), comfortable to drive long distances etc. winner in our book. The RX model over head comes with climate control too. A nice feature to have - set and forget Cheers Bennie edit: these can have issues with a dead centre diff. To check for it you need to warm the drivetrain up with a short drive, then perform some tight turns - U turns are best. If the centre diff is toast, it’ll produce a rotational clunking sound and a possible light shudder through the car too.

The rear struts won’t fit the Gen3, the rear end setup was changed on the Gen3 to a spring on shock setup. If you can, go the RX 2.5 litre version of this model, goes ace! The Gen3 runs a phase 2 engine, the EJ22 is a phase1 engine. You could swap the phase 2 heads onto the EJ22 and run the 22 that way. I reckon the Gen 1 and Gen 3 platforms are the best that Subaru produced in the Liberty/Legacy’s. That said, I haven’t ventured much beyond the Gen3... One thing to look out for is leaking HGs - typically seen on the LHS of the engine, the leak is oil externally from the no pressure oil return galleries. Replace with MLS genuine head gaskets Cheers Bennie

Phase 2 ECU will not easily control a Phase 1 engine. I've heard of people diy adapter plates to put the Phase 2 intake manifold on a Phase 1 engine, then you have all the matching sensors. But it's not a great option.

Yup , they got me. I just opened this and have asked the seller for a full refund and their RMA #. Its Chinese garbage in total copy “Subaru” script. Had they shown the label and it’s “Genuine Rarts” I think I would have caught that. Yes , Genuine Rarts

Is the engine SPFI or MPFI, single port fuel injection or multi port fuel injection? They use different fuel pumps that run at different pressures. Are there numbers on the old pump?

The thing on the OEM pump is a pulsation damper. Not critical. There are 2 more up at the throttle body anyway.

I agree. Engine is done for. check car-part.com for a decent used engine. Then do the Head Gaskets, all engine seals and water pump,timing belt and all idlers when it is out of the car. Use the aisin timing kit. Sell the used engine for the heads to recoup some $ later, but keep it until swap is done.

Nope. It's shot. Don't drive it you'll just wreck the heads. Best deal out there is a reman short block from Subaru. $2350. 3yr/36k warranty. Used engines are expensive due to demand, and are typically not that much cheaper plus usually have a 90 day warranty and come with 100k+ miles on them and leaking head gaskets (which you are prohibited from changing or you void what little warranty they offer). Best thing to do is a reman short block and have the heads professionally cleaned and surfaced. There will be a lot of metal in the AVLS rocker assemblies typically and you must not recontaminate the new engine. They need to be checked for cam journal damage and dropped valve guides as well. GD

Oh, you reminded me - before I put the timing belts on, I use a drill with a socket to spin the oil pump to prime it after a reseal.