themoneypit

ok, so im wondering if there are any lift kits available for the outback wagons?? ive got a 97 OBW 5spd and would love to lift it and put some bigger tires on it. im thinking this will be the last season for my plow hatch (87 hatch hi/lo w/6ft plow) because its getting pretty rusty. so im hoping that i can make my outback wagon into the next subaru plow car...

YUP thats mine i still have it too, it works awesome!! next month it will be trailered up to our place in new hampshire that we rent for the winter for snowmobiling... it plows snow better than most full size trucks. the first year up there, the neighbors couldnt believe it. i was plowing the whole road (private rd) and our driveway with it.... i love that car.

i agree with you martin. subaru produced a HUGE flawed engine in both the phase I and phase II 2.5s. i think its ridiculous!! id like to bittch slap whoever designed these motors their fix... heres some stop leak to put in it!! ive owned more subarus than i can even remember or count, and love the brand, but absolutely HATE this 2.5 motor!! i didnt do research before i bought my OBW and got hosed buying it with bad HGs because i didnt know what to look for. i was told i was stupid to run the 2.5 into the ground, that i should fix it.. HA are you kidding me.?. to only have to take it apart in 50k miles again and do the job again.?. nah.. ill be patient, find a good 2.2l, and in the meantime run this 2.5 into the ground!! oil change, it saw its last one before i bought it... i honestly cant wait to blow it up, i just hope i find a good 2.2 for it before i do

im not afraid of changing the intake. i was just hoping for a plug and play motor. but ive been running the car with bad headgaskets by using a stant lev-r-cap radiator cap, with the lever open, and its been running good so far with 2k miles on it this way. so im in no rush to get a motor, because im not changing this one until its complete toast, or i need to replace the clutch. problem is, ill be using my friends garage when i do swap the motor, so i want it to just be as easy a swap as possible, i dont want to run into the unknown/overlooked problems. so a JDM is out of the question at this point. im not drilling and tapping EGR holes..... ultimately id love to find a nice low mileage 95 2.2l auto to plug right in.... but those sure seem few and far between..... id settle for a 96-98 thou too and change the exhaust manifold, thats not a big deal, but most i see have close to or over 200k on them.

oh ok, i assumed they were a plug and play ej25. then ill just keep my eyes out for a good 2.2, or us 2.5 then.

i was planning on doing the plugs, wires, and valve cover gaskets too.. why should i use all my intake and stuff thou? my car has 133k on it, these motors have way less miles. wouldnt it be better to just install the complete motor? anyways my real question was, with this complete motor, even thou the coil isnt in the same place, if i left it as a whole, would the plugs for the main harness be the same?? im not looking to make a huge project out of it, would like to just slap a t-belt on it, and a tune up, and drop it in the car. OR should i try and find the exact match motor with a coil on top of the intake?

well from what i see gary, seems most of these HGs go bad around 115+k miles, but im sure theres exceptions. i would plan on putting new t-belts and seals on the front, but otherwise dropping it in and running it. then if/when the HGs go on the JDM motor, ill worry about that then. but i dont have any idea just how bad, or how many times my motor was "cooked" before i got it. id hate to do the whole HG job to have it start knocking in a few months. i would love to find a low mileage 2.2 for it, but theyre tough to find.....

ok, so im leaning towards getting a JDM EJ25 for my 97 OBW. i see one on ebay, and the only noticeable difference i see is the ignition coil is on the back of the intake, mine is on top center. will this motor be a direct fit for my outback? heres a link to the auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390123428290 or what modifications would i have to do to make it work?

i just replaced both of mine last week. the upstream one is in the front of the cat. i had to get at it from up top. i removed the intake housing (2 10mm bolts and 2 hose clamps) and was able to get at it from the back of the engine bay. the downstream one is in the center pipe near the resonator. this one was easy to get to from underneath the car, but was more rusted and tougher to break loose. after replacing both, the car ran so much better. i do however recommend spending the extra 20 bux to buy the exact fit ones. universal ones at advance auto were 69 bux, exact fit were 90. they had the proper plugs on them and were ready to install. the universal ones were the same part number for both, because you have to splice the old plugs onto the new sensors. i figured since these see alot of abuse under the car ie snow, road debris, etc... id rather have a direct plug in, than several splices in wiring under the car.

since his car is a 96, i would think he would need a phase I motor, no?? ive got a phase I 2.5 and was told the direct swap for me was a 95-98 2.2l out of an impreza or legacy with EGR. preferably a 95 as they had the proper exhaust ports. you sure he would want a phase II 2.5 for that swap???

if the headgaskets arent leaking, then you shouldnt have to worry about "crud" on the rad cap. if you change the fluid at normal intervals, it should stay nice and clean. the way this car is running, i really dont think im hurting anything with the motor, i wouldnt be surprised if i can put several thousand miles on it b4 it goes. and itll prob go because of a broken t-belt or something else. the reason i dont want to just do the HGs on this car is because i bought it with a bad headgasket (didnt know it at the time as it overheated intermittently and not on testdrive) but i have no idea just how bad, and how long it was overheated for before me.

EXACTLY GARY!! i could dump all kinds of money into this 2.5 and put it all back together only to have a rod bearing go and start knocking or simply come right thru the block!! but for less money and time and labor i can put a bulletproof 2.2l in it. weighing the odds, ill go with a 2.2. i need this car to make round trips from CT to NH (600 miles round trip) for the upcoming snowmobile season, because id rather drive a car getting 28-30mpg than drive my avalanche with an 8.1l big block that on a good day gets 15mpg highway. i also have my xt6 which averages 28 on the highway, but i dont want to run it thru the salty winters up here. that was the whole reason for picking up this OBW.. not to mention, i have 3 dogs that make the trip with us, and whats better than putting down the back seats and letting them get comfy in the back of the car for the trek. im sure there are plenty of 2.5s that go forever, but there are many more 2.2s that go 300k + with just routine maint. not to mention, having a non-interference motor is just another added bonus. im not trying to start a fight, or put down the motor, IMO, which im entitled to, its too big a risk to take.

see i disagree, if they are such a good engine, they wouldnt be prone to headgasket failure... im sure i could do the job myself, but would rather replace the 2.5 with a 2.2l and have a motor in it that i know i wont have to worry about until @300k with normal maintenence. reason being, i cant tie up my buddys garage for a week while i remove the engine, send out the heads, wait for parts to be ordered, etc... id rather make a one day job of it, for the same price, if not cheaper for the unkillable 2.2l. im going to look at a motor today for it. as far as this being a good rebuildable engine, look around theres tons of these with blown HGs that people are practically giving away. so doesnt bother me one bit to run this into the ground... i mean come on its an old subaru... in my younger days, we would buy subarus for a few hundred bucks and take them in the woods and offroad and beat them till they broke in half!!! thats because the motors didnt blow up in them, like this 2.5l would in a heartbeat

havent lost a drop.. its not boiling. the car runs at normal temp @170 IIRC. i will keep a gallon in the back just in case, but i dont think its going to get low at all 300 miles so far, not a drop low

dude putting a ventable cap on a bad motor to begin with isnt going to make it worse... im just curious to see if this will work on another car besides mine, because if it saves you a 150 tow bill when your HG goes, ill take that anyday and drive it home, over towing it... i plan on running this one into the ground!! i will locate a good 2.2l for it, and keep it in stock until this one grenades... but to be honest, i think its gonna be good to go for quite awhile, driving the car, you'd never know it had a bad HG

so noone wants to give this a try and see if theirs will run without overheating or pushing the coolant into the overflow tank??? it cost 7 bux at advance auto for the rad cap stant 11327.. someone post up here if it works for theirs too, ive got almost 300 miles on it since doing this, and runs freakin great!! no overheat, no coolant res. overflow, nothing!!

yeah i tried that stuff.. but i dont think it did a damn thing... id like to see if someone else with the same prob will try it on theirs... but as far as instant overheat quit, it will dump the pressure if your overheating, but im not sure if itll keep it from overheating for any reason other than this HG issue, it just releases the gas that bubbles in thru the head.

i know that, but i will run it like this till it either blows up, needs a clutch, snaps a timing belt, or whatever. i dont think the steel seal did anything at all for this, BUT that rad cap doesnt allow the system to pressurize, it actually releases the air from the head. im telling you, it runs 100% and i couldnt be happier. i will continue to look for a good 2.2l and will scoop one up when i find one, but i wont install it until this one blows up!!! if it ever does blow up

UPDATE ON THIS!!! ok, so i had tried that steel seal, and it didnt work.... well not sure?? but in the instructions it said to buy a STANT LEV-R-VENT radiator cap for bubbles in the coolant. i also had to buy a new OEM t-stat for it because i had gutted the other one. install new t-stat, bleed system good, and installed this cap but left the lever in the up position. the car now runs at perfect temp, and guage doesnt budge. still get exhaust bubbles in the overflow tank, but leaving the lever up is letting that by into the tank without pushing the coolant thru. ive put over 100 miles on it today with no problems what so ever :grin: i did this last night, and drove it around awhile and seemed good.. this morning, coolant level in the tank was at low mark. i went to DMV and got it all registered and drove the piss out of it all day everywhere. once at temp, the level in the tank came to the top full mark, and didnt budge from there all day. i really want someone else to try this with theirs and post up the results here to see if this is a $20 fix for an $800-$1800:eek:that i was quoted headgasket job. now if you have other problems causing the overheating IE heatercore, clogged rad, bad t-stat etc... i dont think this will work, but if your good, just bad gasket, i think this is the trick. i notice no difference in the way it runs or anything. i actually went and bought 2 O2 sensors, and a knock sensor to rid the CEL, and will be attempting emissions tomorrow morning. im going to laugh if a car with bad headgaskets will pass emmisions, but CEL is cleared, and the car runs freakin AWESOME... so get off your but and go try this on yours if you have a PHASE I 2.5L with a bad headgasket.. you need STANT LEV-R-CAP PART NUMBER 11327. this is the 13lb cap, they also had a 16lb that i wouldnt recommend. you MUST AIM THE LEVER AT THE BATTERY with the cap tight, the lever will either face towards the grille, or the battery depending on which way you install it. IT NEEDS TO AIM AT THE BATTERY SO THE HOOD WILL CLOSE WITHOUT POPPING THE LEVER CLOSED!!!!

well if i get a couple more months out of it then im happy with that.. gives me time to find a nice low mile ej22 for it.. but i really think that keeping this radiator cap lever up is going to do the trick....

i havent worked on them at all, but is there a seperate wire on cars with heated mirrors, or is it just one all inclusive plug? i would think that the plug has all wiring, as long as their the same plug. if the mirror isnt a heated mirror, that wire just sits idle in the plug.. i cant see subaru not pre-wiring for everything, its cheaper than designing 10 different wiring harnesses for their cars.

they will only warranty the long block, thats what they are selling you. the other bolt on goodies are considered "extras" that are not covered under their warranty, but come with the engine.

i opened the vent plug on the right side of the radiator, took off the top hose and filled that first (also put the "steel seal" in there too) reinstalled the hose, filled the radiator, and let it run for a few b4 capping it and letting it run for the hour it called for. HOWEVER the stuff didnt work, as we all expected it wouldnt. but i am now driving the car with the lever on the radiator cap up, and so far so good. it releases the gasses that come in from the bad HG, without pushing the coolant into the overflow tank. atleast so far... i even got on the highway with it for 2 exits cruising about 75, checked when i got home, and tank still isnt filling up. so that may be an inexpensive option for one of these with a bad HG and you want to continue driving it. buy the STANT radiator cap with the red lever on it (6.59 at advance auto) i bought the 13lb cap, they had 13 or 16lb caps. put it on, leave the lever up, but make sure the up part of the lever is aiming towards the firewall and it will clear the hood when you shut the hood. if you have it facing towards the front bumper, i think the hood will close the lever when it shuts. i will def update this if it changes, or overheats again, but as of now, im going to run it as is and see what happens.

PM sent.. their motors are complete and ready to install they say.. has all timing belts and stuff still on them. they however, only warranty the motor and internals, no bolt on stuff.

id prob take you up on that if you were a little closer.... its either 5hrs or 8hrs ride one way to you (mapquest says 2 washington PA's)