WoodsWagon

Open loop and closed loop have nothing to do with the cat. What open loop and closed loop is is a purely computational condition of the PCM. When the PCM is in "closed loop" operation, it is looking at the 02 sensor readings and adjusting the fuel injector duration (short term fuel trim). This is the mode it's in when you're under cruise or moderate load. When you quickly open the throttle, the PCM switches to "open loop" operation, in which it decides the fueling of the engine based on tables and the MAF sensor. It runs the engine at a richer mix to make the power you're requesting, and throws concerns of emissions out the window for a short period. When you suddenly let off the throttle, the PCM goes in to engine braking mode, and fuel cut. With the injectors closed, The engine is 100% lean and the O2 sensor reading is pointless, so you're back in open loop. The PCM will not switch from open to closed loop based on the condition of the O2 sensor. It switches based on load and operating conditions of the motor. Open or Closed only indicates if the pcm is using the O2 sensor as a feedback calculation or not. Now, the P0420 catalyst inneficiency code has to do with the PCM watching the front and rear O2 sensors and calculating the amount of fuel the catalyst is burning. If the 02 sensors are getting lazy, then the data the PCM is using is faulty, and it can set the code. However, if the sensors get too lazy, then a sensor range performace code will set, not a P0420. So it's a small window in which the sensors are just lazy enough to make the cat look bad, but not lazy enough to set an O2 sensor code. Your sensors are pretty new and the cat has 230K on it? I'd say the cat is probably done. The cat can loose it's effectiveness without clogging, they just wear out over time.

What do you mean by engauging? It has an open front differential, so what ever axle has the least resistance will spin if both wheels are in the air. For one to spin, there has to be a connection to the other. What can happen is someone puts manual turbo axles on, which are a larger diameter spline on the side of the differential. The roll pin then snaps and the cv cup spins on the differential stub shaft splines. Or, a cv can break internally, so the cv cup turns, but the axle or wheel doesn't. Pretty much, if it spins one axle, it's not an internal transmission problem.

Totally. Put the fuse in my mom's outback (EJ25), stalled the torque converter and popped off the brake and it would annihilate the right front tire. Ride the handbrake for even longer runs before it hooks up. I have a policy of "using up" any tire before it goes to the scrap heap.

Make sure the switch is just connecting the two wires that the fuse connects when you plug it in, and not feeding 12v into either of the fuse wires. It's merely a ground signal to the computer when you put the fuse in, not a load. The only advantage to a FWD switch is the ablilty to switch it in and do FWD burnouts, then back to AWD for normal driving.

I drove my ej22 for a few months with burned exhaust valves, just unplugged the injector and kept on going. It's not going to hurt anything else, other than the catalytic converter if you're still dumping fuel. If the power delivery of the engine changes when you pull the injector, you don't have 0 compression. You may have low compression, but not 0, and not a burned valve. I'd check for ignition problems. How much oil is it burning? Dealer techs can be hack's from UTI and not know a damn thing and still take your $89 diagnostic fee.

The tranny isn't shot. (yet) First and reverse use very different means of engageing, so if it's stiff going into first, you're burning the synchro because the input shaft is still being spun, and if it grinds going into reverse the reverse idler is getting chewed because you're meshing it into spinning gears. It will do both if the input shaft is still being spun when the clutch is disengaged. Two things isolate the input shaft (which you want to be stationary) from the spinning flywheel. The clutch disk, and the pilot bearing. If you fubar'd the pilot bearing on installation, it could be dragging and forcing the input shaft to keep spinning. Notice any squeeling noises with the pedal pushed in and the transmission in gear with the engine running? If you dropped the clutch disk, it could be expaned on one edge and be dragging on the flywheel. if the disk is warped, it could be dragging on the flywheel. If the splines on the input shaft and the clutch disk are rusty, burred, or not greased, they can hold the disk against the flywheel. Or, the pressure plate is not being pushed far enough to disengage. You already checked the cable, but what can happen is the clutch fork begins to wear through on it's pivot and then splits over the pivot. The pedal gets squishy untill the pivot punches through the fork and then the clutch can't disengage at all and the pedal goes to the floor.

The parking lights are white though, and not legal for turn signals, which have to be amber. So... what you do is use an amber 1157 dual filliment bulb. If you take the bulb sockets out of the rear brake/running lights of another subaru (I used a legacy I had around), and cut a length of wire with the socket, you can use a sharp knife to open up the hole that the parking light socket goes into in your front sidemarker housing so that the dual fillament bulb and socket fits in. If you're clever about how you cut the hole and leave tabs, you can have it do the 1/4 turn to lock that the socket origionally does in the housing. Use the parking light ground wire as the common ground, wire the parking light to the low watt filliment, and the positive turn signal wire up to the high watt filliment. They work fine, plenty bright, and look like they were meant to be that way. It's a 15minute job if you know what you're doing.

The only problem I've had with them is pulling the axles out. To get them out, you need to get the lateral link bolt out. Which is usually rusted into both lateral link bushings, and the hub. Total PITA. Just to get the axle out. The bearings are easy at that point.

I see your headgaskets and raise you a 99-04 odyssey transmission... or any year CVT with the start clutch chattering.

I used one out of a 80's cadillac to replace my purge solenoid back when I had spfi. Just take a look around under the hood of most any 80's fuel injected car and you're bound to find one. Cut and splice the wires and you're good to go.

What honda did you buy? A ridgeline? The problem with the baja sounds to be a clutch pedal position switch issue or a neutral switch problem. When you're coasting momentarily before you push in the clutch, the pcm goes into fuel cut mode to save gas and give you maximum engine brakeing. The purpose of the clutch switch is to tell the pcm the engine is no longer being spun by the wheels, so the pcm has to turn the fuel back on. If the pcm doesn't have this signal coming in, it will sometimes catch the engine just before it stalls and turn the fuel back on, or it will stall before the pcm figures out what's happening. It happens in my EJ22 swapped loyale because I never bothered to wire the clutch switch in.

The 86 t-wagon I picked up will only run well once the turbo spools up. It idles ok, a little rough, but not bad. It misfires and stumbles when you're driving it untill the boost comes, then it runs nice and smooth and pulls pretty hard all the way through the redline alarm. When I changed the oil, there was a lot of gasoline dilution. Like mabe an extra half-quart worth of gas mixed in. It had sat for 4-5 years before I got it, so i'm wondering if mabe an injector is leaking? Though I would think that would still cause problems under boost? It's such a stark contrast between on and off boost engine behavior. Makes me think the pcm isn't seeing something it should be, and mabe thinks the engine is on boost all the time?

I always run a cat, car just smells better and what's the reason to rip it out, they're not usually a restriction. So having a cat in affects the tone of the exhaust. The best combonation I've found is a cherry bomb as a resonater in front of the back axle, and a flowmaster 40 series in the normal muffer spot with a short tailpipe out the back. The cherry bomb was too loud by it's self, and the flowmaster was louder than the cherry bomb believe it or not. The two of them combined sounds nice. It's got a good burble to it at idle, and sounds great at WOT.

Do you wedge a screwdriver or chisel in the split to open up the knuckle so the ball joint slides out? If you do, you may have wedged it too hard and cracked the knuckle. You didn't notice untill the whole piece snapped off re-tightening it. I've done that before. Our ball joints don't just come out on the east coast, there's usually a torch and sledgehammers involved.

Automatics will survive this much better than the manuals. It was bought for a 5-speed swap. The center differential is a limited slip diff, viscous coupling type. I would bet it was well cooked by the end of 2 miles. Consider the amount of rotations of the rear driveshaft vs. the non-rotating front pinion shaft and think of the heat generated. The tow driver is a ********************* for hauling the car like this. This is assuming the rear driveline is hooked up to the back of the tranny? Not that hard to replace the center differential, but it is $$$ for the differential its self.

"Pichers"

ALL EJxx motors have 5 main bearings. Phase 1 2.5l (the dual overhead cam ones) have the thrust bearing on a different main than the phase 2 (SOHC) 2.5l. All this means is that you have to keep the correct crank with the correct block. EJ22 heads on an EJ25 block make for good low end torque but no high end power. Good for a track with a lot of tight turns, not good for an open track. See this thread if you want to research that: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1107352 Intake manifold must match heads. The deck height on all the blocks is the same, but the port configuration is different. The wireing can be swapped from manifold to manifold easily, as to keep stock engine harness.

To sell head bolts, silly! It worked this time didn't it?

I had the bright idea of disposing of period-correct gas into my loyale. The gas came out of the tank of my 58 gmc truck that was last used in 1992, the same year my loyale rolled off the lot. So yeah, 5 galons of 16 year old gas is plenty to really screw with the motor, even when the rest of the tank is filled with fresh. I kinda hope the gas didn't have lead additive in it, but who the hell knows. It wasn't my brightest moment. When you cold start the car, it sounds like it has no compression, just spins over fast. When you hold it floored, it begins to pop and backfire, really bad, through the intake. Eventually a cylinder will catch, and it will chug until a second one comes on line, and you can get it to 2k rpms. Any load will make it detonate like a mother. Once it warms up, the ECU goes into closed loop and all 4 cyls are good to go and it runs fine. Down on power, but smooth. Sucks getting it started though...

If you do, tell me how. I've got 2 that are busted that I got through amazon. I traded the ones I bought from autozone for reman ones after I blew them out.

you don't drop the pan, so you don't need a gasket. the filter is a mesh screen up till 1999, when it went to an external spin on filter. you don't need to replace it. take out drainbolt, the 17mm one on the pan, not the 21 or so MM plug on the front differential. Drain, refill, drive repeat. Smacking the wrench with a hammer to turn it often gives a shock loading that will brake drain bolts loose. Keep it simple! Change the fluid a few times and don't wongleflute with anything else. Drive in some figure 8's, power in the X, coast in the turns, that helps slip the transfer clutch and get fresh fluid in.

You could view my thread from earlier: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81477 Those toothless wonders would be the output gears people have mentioned. These cars are addictingly good at donuts in RWD. A lot of cars will "walk" as you spin, but the subies stay centered over the front end. As you discover the power of the front E-brake to keep the car from speeding up, you will be able to do long distance fishtailing, huge smokeshows and whatnot. Takes some right arm strenght to hold the brakes on as the tires heat up, be warned. I've killed 2 d/r transmissions doing what you are, but I had an EJ22 feeding the torque in, and 215/75r15's or 235/75r15's fighting to hook up on the output end. Had a third tranny die the sameway doing deep snow trailbreaking. #1 killer of these transmissions is wheelhop. Do not try and power out of wheelhop, that's when the teeth come off the gears. I found that the rear axles will click and grind for a long time under abuse but the differentials will fail and the driveshaft u-joints will fail. Broke a stub shaft on the rear diff once too. So, use the handbrake to keep speed in check and the rpm's up, don't do clutch dumps, and avoid wheel hop like the plauge.

Ask for it back from your local metal recyclers, cause that's where the ladder, tranny, and catalytic converter is headed.

What year was the 2.2l that you put in? Are you sure it broke a lot of ************, or did someone tell you it did without replacing the belt? All pre-1996 EJ22's can break a t-belt and be fine.

Yep. The way you did it was the right way, the way the junkyard removed the axle was the wrong way, so you had to do it the wrong way too to make up for that. Good on ya for tackling a tranny swap in the driveway. I'd throw down some speedy-dry on the oil spill you've got there.