Fairtax4me

Dunno what happened there. Felpro makes the HG for Subaru. If you look at them they even have the FHI logo stamped in them. Using a Subaru thermostat is pretty important on the EJ engines, they're not too forgiving with aftermarket t stats. I have close to 15k miles on a patched together in a hurry ej22 with unsurfaced heads and felpro gaskets. Never has even made it to the halfway on the temp guage. If it overheated bad enough though it could have warped the heads, but I've never heard of one mixing coolant and oil. Is there actually water in the crankcase or was there just some vapor coming from the filler tube? When the oil is hot there will be some vapor in the crankcase but it's just oil vapor that the PCV system draws out. Try changing the t stat and refilling the cooling system and properly bleeding it of air and see what happens.

Ej 22 was started in late 89 for 90 production year Legacy, but with the right sensors and wire harness any 90 - 98 ej22 can be used. Year of the engine is not too important though. ECU for a 2.5 will run a 2.2 just fine and doesn't need to be changed, there is hardly any difference between the two. Cel on for multiple misfires and poor running can be any number of things. Timing is one that plenty of people get wrong, and it's relatively easy to check. Three 10mm bolts hold each cover on over the cam sprockets, remove the covers and you can line up the timing marks to see if the cams are out of sync. You can check crank timing at TDC if you can find the notch on the pulley, but it's often very difficult to locate. You'll likely have to remove the crankshaft pulley and remove the center cover to check if the cams are timed properly with the crankshaft. Also be sure to check for any vacuum leaks. There are lots of hoses associated with the EGR that can harden and break, and there are a few that to to the passenger strut tower. Also check the PCV hoses from the block to the intake on the passenger side of the throttle body, and breather hoses from each of the valve covers to the air box on the intake. Check for loose clamps on intake tube at the throttle body and air box as well.

Horror stories about ACL? Possibly someone's inexperience being blamed on a product. I'm no expert but I know GD builds engines with them on a regular basis. If he uses them they are good bearings. Anyway like ivan said, 1.8 ports and valves are too small, get 2.2 heads, and roller rockers with SLAs. They'll have to be adjusted periodically but are less headache than dealing with HLAs if you run reground cams from delta.

Note to self, 95 Impreza has cable drive speedometer. Either way, if the speedometer works, the problem is between there and the ECU.

How about put a 2.2 on it with a bigger fan and make use of the extra power? A 2.2 should weigh a bit less anyway since there is less material around the cylinders right? (larger bore) Otherwise lightened crank pulley. Aluminum alternator brackets instead of iron. there could be some weight savings from single bearing idlers. Reground cams will shave a small amount off and offer better power to boot. Dunno if the SOHC motors ever came with composite cam sprockets but I would think they would weigh less than the steel ones.

Just watched the video again on my IPhone (with sound). Way too frequent to be rod knock unless all 4 of them are knocking. Certainly sounds like lifters to me. Any luck getting it to quiet down yet or do you have to wait for shims to arrive?

Only $80 for all that?! That's a good deal. Compared to DynaMat at least. Last time I checked it was a couple hundred bucks for that much DynaMat. I'd love to do the whole car with something like that though. A few years ago I read about some stuff you can buy in the roofing section of the local home improvement store that works very well for sound deadening and is like 1/10th the cost of dynamat. I forget what it was called exactly but I tracked some down and it smelled too much like tar. Probably wouldn't smell too well on the 95+ degree days in mid summer here. Actually bought some not that long ago to patch over missing shingles on my buddies roof with. :-p

If you do have the shims installed in the rocker arms to shim out the lifters, just let it run and it will go away. If you do not have the shims, don;t run it anymore until you put those in because the lifters can't take up the lash without them. Even with the shims the lifters still may not take up all of the lash and may still tick, but it will be much quieter than it is right now. These lifters are LOUD when they're bled out, and can take 30 - 45 minutes of running to get them pumped up.

No cable. Something in the cluster is probably screwy. Speed sensor sends a signal from trans to the cluster. Second sensor in the cluster takes the original signal and converts it to a different pulse pattern then sends that signal to the ECU. If the speedometer works, the problem is between the cluster and ECU.

I couldn't get the sound to work? Might be my dieing computer screwing up. Anyway. What year heads? If hydraulic lifters, Yes you need shims under the lifters when running reground cams. Is this a fresh install? As in, built put in and hasn't been driven yet? Or did this just start after driving for several minutes/hours/days/months?

I would at least replace the separator plate and the wrist pin access cover o-ring (the diamond plate on the left side of the block). And maybe reseal the oil pan. The rest can be done with the engine in the car, but it's much easier to do with the engine out on a stand.

At the rocker panels, the back sits about 1/2" lower than the front when I have all my tools and crap in the trunk. Not a huge deal, I don't always carry 120lbs of tools around. Usually just a socket set and some wrenches and screwdrivers. And I think If I take the 70lb sub box and amp out of the trunk it will probably sit a little more level too. I'm still undecided, but the longer I listen to these nice new Alpine component speakers without the sub going the less I miss the extra bass. 60 watts going to each door and 25 each to a set of full ranges in the rear deck, makes for a pretty kicking system without a sub. Amazing how wide the range is on those Alpines. Anyway. Some lift blocks. I need to break out the black spray paint on some of these. You can see the outrigger blocks under the rockers in the back. also need to get the bolts painted/undercoated so they won't rust to hell. Add another thing to the list of near future repairs. Not lookin too hot. Neither is this rear cat flange Blurry pic doesn't do it justice. I think it would break if I looked at it wrong. Some of these pictures are more huger than others, I re-sized them in PB, but it always takes a while for the links to update for some reason.

Well I can tell by the collection of stuff under the truck how long it has been since it moved anywhere, but progress, even slow progress, is progress none-the-less. Helluva build man! Also think I need one of those tents. How much did that set you back?

Thanks man! I got lucky and bought the visors from a member here who was selling them. Brand new still in the Subaru box, just missing two of the four tabs that mount on the underside. I figured they would work with just one tab on each side, since they stick on with double sided tape anyway. I looked for months for a set for my wagon with never any luck. I do have the part numbers for wagon and sedan (legacy) visors now though. Yeah I have to put some yellow fog on the driving lights so they match the headlights!

People often get codes for misfires when using seafoam. A code for the idle control doesn't surprise me. Ignore it until it comes back.

Today's upgrades: driving lights, and window visors! I actually like the visors, mostly because they don't block the view out the window. I had them on my LS and the area they blocked was HUGE. Couldn't see a thing through them either. These for the most part are higher up than the window seals, so I only get a small glimpse of the visor on the drivers side. On the passenger side I can't see it at all. Dunno how well they'll work for keeping the rain out, but they do cut wind noise and turbulence when the windows are just slightly open. I swear I still have other pics of the lift I just haven't uploaded them yet!

Please post what you find. Mine does the same thing occasionally, about one in 50 starts, but it always works the second turn. I figured it has to be some relay under the dash, but with the infrequency of it I always forget about it until it happens again.

I'm not aware of any feature to select 2wd or Awd on any Subaru after 1993-4 when they stopped production of the Loyale. I'm going to guess what you've read about is a function of the automatic transmission to be placed into Fwd by installing a fuse for it. This ability is purely for mechanical reasons when using a spare tire, and the car should not be allowed to be operated this way for any extended period of time or damage to the solenoid that controls line pressure to the AWD transfer clutches will occur. As far as regular maintenance is concerned, the first thing I would change is the timing belt and all of the idlers, tensioner, and water pump. At 90k it hasn't reached the mileage interval but that belt is almost 13 years old. The older it gets the more likely it is to break, and if the timing belt on that engine breaks you'll be putting new valves in it to the tune of $800 - $2500 depending on if you fix it or take it to a shop. A full timing belt kit is only about $250 on eBay, and will only take a day or so to install for a first timer. There are also plenty of resources here on the board explaining the way to time the engine properly. Other than that, the only other major maintenance items are things like spark plugs and wires, filters, PCV valve, fluid changes, the sort of basic stuff that you would do on any other car.

Only tip I can offer is to post this in the New Gen forum. You'll get more attention there. If you do some reading, youll notice there arent really any technical posts here about repairs because the shop talk forum is mostly for well... Shop talk. What kind of tools we use, who has the nicest air compressor, what equipment we want to have in our dream shop/garage, how to use certain tools, but nothing in the way of how to fix this problem or that.

Due to the size of certain cylinder heads and metals used (steel/iron heads vs aluminum). Some heads warp much more easily, (gm vortec 350 heads for example) than others. Subaru heads are often within spec for warpage limit, but the MLS gasket used (in the 2.5 specifically) you need a very flat and extremely clean surface in order to seal properly. Otherwise the gasket doesn't form to the head correctly and you end up with leaks. The older 2.2s don't care that much. You can scrape the crud off the heads with a butter knife, and put a new gasket on wet and they will still seal. The 2.2 uses a different style composite graphite gasket though. Subaru used the same style gaskets on the early DOHC 2.5 and the failure rate was nearly 100% by the time the engine reached 150k miles. Now granted, 150k is a good stretch for a head gasket on an American engine, but a Subaru 2.2 can go to 350k on original gaskets, so long as the cooling system is properly maintained. (Honestly improper cooling system maintenance is about the only reason for a 2.2 HG to fail IMO. ) I've done, in recent months, head gaskets on 3 SBC engines all with under 150k miles. One was only 98k, but it was also 28 years old, and by far the cleanest of the three. The heads that were put on the engine were from a junkyard car, and according to the machinist were warped .006". They came from a 97 Chevy truck with only about 120k miles. No indication the gaskets were bad but they weren't long for this world with the heads being so far out of spec.

Cam sprockets could be on the wrong sides. The one on the drivers side is marked with an L, and has a few notches on the back that the cam sensor reads to determine fuel injection timing. Without the notches the ECU sees no signal from the cam sensor, you get no fire. The passenger "R" cam sprocket has no notches.

I may have to look into this on my car. It doesn't like to start right away sometimes (takes 4-5 seconds of cranking before it fires then it sputters and chugs for a few seconds before finally setting up to proper idle speed). I always kinda figured it seemed like fuel pressure wasn't building fast enough, but haven't ever had a gauge on it when it happened. Seems to run fine otherwise, and pressure is good once running (have checked that a few times, and even just a few days ago was at 28psi idle and up to 40 when under load. I can't imagine the pump has been going bad for the past two years. :-p Something else is causing it.

Board software automatically edits out any 4 letter words. ************ ************ *************** mother************er Oh, apparently it doesn't care about damn... Anyway! Gary where might this O ring be located? In the tank?

Retro Stew

Yes it should. If you can get to an auto parts store rent a pressure test kit and see what it tells you. For exactly this reason I always keep a set of tools in the car. Last time I didn't have my tools, I got a flat tire and then I couldn't find the lug wrench, because it somehow ended up in my tool bag.