ccrinc

Apparently, little known fact: You can only surface Subaru rotors once. They are thin in relation to other brands and once they get warped, you pretty much have to replace them. I, for one, will not use anything other than Genuine or OEM pads on a Subaru. They last much longer, too. The difference is cost is negligible.

An EJ22 should pretty much bolt in using the 2.2 intake manifold. They were made to be exchangeable. Emily

If you have oil and coolant mixed in the engine, it needs rebuilding. The bearings are now damaged, as are the internal o-rings and gaskets. New piston rings too. The good news is that this engine uses the same parts (in general) as an EA82 SPFI engine with a few additions and differences. The heads are even probably rebuildable. Emily

What do you mean by "locks up"? To me, that would mean it wouldn't rotate at all. Did the oil get low? Overheat? How do you get it to unlock when you try to start it again? Need more information.

OK, back to basics, guys. Wobble at high speed braking is usually your ABS. Wobble at SLOW speed braking is usually warped rotors. Rotors warp from heat, like lots of slow stop and go driving/braking. You can also frequently feel the wobble of warped rotors at slow speeds without your foot on the brake. Your rear brakes won't cause this wobble either (though unevenly worn tires can). Most of the braking is done by your front brakes and it's easy to see how much pad there is. In worst case, all one has to do is remove the wheel to see them clearly. Have you heard any screeching or grinding at all? Any pulling to one side or the other when braking? Also, highly recommend Richie Rich's shop in Portland: Superior Import Repair Inc. 4443 NE 82nd Avenue Portland, OR 97220 503-288-8634 Emily

Bryan, this is a fabulous story. That car was meant to be yours!! Do you mind if I share it on our FB page? (ccrengines) Not as a car we did, of course, but just because your story is so unusual and awesome! Emily

Even easier way to tell if it's a Phase I or II: Phase I had 3 pieces of timing belt covers, a right, a left and a center. Phase II had 2 pieces: 1 long one and 1 short one on the left side.

We've built quite a few of these engines and the problems always crop up with stuff getting into the cam phasers. Given the oiling problems of these engines, which "corporate" won't admit, it is cheap insurance against a very costly problem. It's not the cams themselves which are the issue: it is the cam phasers (I used the wrong term in "actuators".) which are part of the upper cam pulleys on these engines. Oil filters will not keep them clean enough. They are electronic in nature, part of the AVCS system and easily disturbed. As you know, bearings constantly shed minute particles of metal as they wear. It's part of the nature of the beast. These extemely fine screen mesh filters help keep junk out of the cam phasers. Emily

You DO NOT want to remove them! They keep crap out of the cam gear actuators. Definitely need to be taken out and cleaned at least every 6 months, replace if damaged.

No difference that I know of. Subaru may simply have superceded the part number which happens all the time. Emily

That guard prevents the belt from jumping time if the car rolls back even a little, which all manuals do if you don't set the e-brake before getting out. If it jumps too much, valves bend and bad things happen. I've seen it happen. Dealers are especially bad about rotating an engine backwards when installing it and putting on the flex plate or clutch parts. Of course, they always deny it. The tech simply forgets that "clockwise" is backward when working on the back of the engine. Plus he already has the 2 engines: everything I said was so he could match them up the best way.

Hi, Bill!! As long as the critical things match (left cam sprocket, crank sprocket, EGR, PCV fitting) you can put either the '02 or '04 into that Impreza. Now, the one thing that's iffy, is that the 2005 Impreza (and Forester) had a one year only water pump. Just those 2 models, that one year. HOWEVER, that water pump will fit onto any 02-04 block. Also, if the Impreza is a manual, you will need an oil pump with the timing belt guard. I think you should be golden here if you pay attention to these things. The sprockets can be swapped from the Impreza if necessary.

Turbo oil return lines.

That was a joke, son. Actually, a couple of the Amazon reviews mentioned that the stuff had clogged their systems. That's where I got it. If you think the stuff might work, you don't seem to have a lot to lose by trying it. At this point, your engine will only get worse by driving it. If you are convinced it's a good product, do it. If it helps, it's helps. If it doesn't, don't get mad that some of us who have worked on Subaru engines for decades tried to warn you. Like I said before, I know where you're coming from, and ya gotta go what ya gotta do to keep moving. What ever you choose, I wish you the best of luck with it. Truly.

I know for a fact that the entire wiring harness on a WRX (EJ20) is double redundant: i.e., even the warning for a bad tail light is double wired. The '93 Legacy has none of that nonsense. I suggest you visit a few Subaru-Vanagon conversion sites. They will have more usable information on what you absolutely have to have and what you can leave off for engine management than places like NASIOC where it's all "look whut I did, bro!" When we do a wiring harness for an EJ22 conversion into a Vanagon, we start with a 15' harness that weighs about 27 lbs. When we are done clipping and snipping, it's about 4' and 5 lbs. That's without a turbo. Now, consider, that in a Legacy, you really DO want some of stuff to still work. Find someone who sells a good wiring diagram (like Small Car in Washington) for the info. You will need a different crossmember, up pipe, down pipe, cross over pipe, exhaust, ECU, wiring, sensors, fuel pump, complete engine, intercooler, cooling system, fans, etc, etc, etc. This is why I asked why you would want to do this. It's a "plumbing job". You know, the kind of thing you get half way into and wish you had either paid someone else to do it, or hadn't started at all. Yeah, some people have done it, but make no mistake: it's a B*$^ch of a job. Emily

Just a comment: MWE axles are the best! I won't use any but Marshall's on my own car.

Well, there are almost always "options". A match to a fuel line or driving it off a cliff are 2 other which come to mind.

I went and read them to give you the benefit of the doubt. Apparently, they claim the product will seal a gasket, but once warpage happens, it's no help. Also, and more important, especially in a Subaru, it will eventually clog the radiator, heater core and any other coolant area it can, like the coolant crossover pipe. I stand by my comment: fixes in a bottle, especially for Subarus, are not worth it. (OK, the one thing I will acknowledge, which is VERY temporary, is if you have a pinhole leak, like in a hose, drop a couple of MacDonalds sized black pepper packets into your radiator. It will follow the coolant to the source of the leak, swell and get stuck there and seal it long enough to get somewhere to fix it. When it finally dissolves, it's so small it can't hurt anything. Laugh if you will, but I've seen it work more than a few times!)

#1 EVERY time you open that closed loop cooling system to add liquid, you are also adding air! If you can't get it burped completely EVERY time, you will always have air in the system. #2 Aluminum doesn't like heat. Every time it overheats, whatever is still, by the grace of all that's holy holding your head gaskets together, gets weaker. #3 Gotta respectfully disagree with lstevens76 "On these engines even getting them hot multiple times does not tend to severely warp/crack the heads." We've been building Subaru engines for over 20 years and I can tell you without a single doubt that EJ22 heads warp like crazy. I have personally measured heads so warped that we wouldn't even bother to resurface them. Although they don't crack often between the seats like the older EA82 heads, they certainly crack down below the seats and into the water jackets. #4 Every time your engine gets hot, the oil viscosity is also affected. I hope you're running cheapo 10W40 oil because it's going to need more frequent changing, and using a thinner synthetic or expensive oil is just a waste. #5 I know ThosL is just keeping it going as long as he can, and that's ok. Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Believe me, back in the day, I've been there, done that too. Hell, I drive a 13 year old Subaru myself. But, no insult intended, a lot of people on this particular forum are notoriously cheap and will advocate some of the damnedest "fixes" I've never heard of and wouldn't even consider, like cooling system repair in a bottle. Some of us (yes, me included) can't afford a new car or don't want one. All in all, this is my favorite Sube forum, I come here because everyone is (usually) courteous, helpful and respectful. There are some truly good, experienced people who are more than happy to share their knowledge, but there's also some BS. (it's the internet, imagine that) Sorting out what's BS and what's actual is difficult when one is new and asking for help. Good luck to you, hard lesson learned.

I've mentioned a shift kit on this forum many times before that's added to the valve body. It does the same thing. The BEST side effect of this is that it makes the transmission less easily damaged by the high torque from an SVX engine, Legacy turbo engine, etc. In fact, that's the big advantage: it takes that torque and applies it for more power and response. I'm not sure it will do much for a low torque engine, in fact. But, hey. It's worth a try, right?! Emily

You have come across the dreaded "ghost code" which eventually got into damn near every '97-'98 Outback with a manual transmission. This has been around for years, I've known dozens of people who have experienced it (myself included on my '97 Outback Limited), Subaru knew about it and never addressed it except to charge $50 a pop to "reset" the ECU. There is NO known cure. Luckily, it is not dangerous or deadly, just annoying. Scenario: you reset the ECU, the light goes off and stays off. You can drive around town (i.e., under 60mph) for months and it won't come back on. The very first time you go over 75mph for 3 mins. or more, it comes back on. (Here in CO, it will come on at 65mph: I think the altitude may affect it.) Car runs great, no problems but that stupid light. Amiright? You can Google this: pages and pages of results come up with the identical issue. It's like the car won't do it until you change one little thing, anything, and then suddenly, you can't get rid of it. I have a customer at Faulkner Subaru in Harrisburg. A few years back, we both had identical cars and were laughing about this issue. The one thing I don't like about it that when your CEL is on constantly, you have no way of knowing if it set a new, real and meaningful code. Some people I've known have just put black electrical tape over it. Emily

Also remove radiator and fans. +1 on using the turbo head gaskets. Emily

If you overheated it "significantly", the head gaskets are, with out a doubt, at the very least compromised. They are exceptionally sturdy, but are definitely on their way out. Each time you get it hot, the gaskets and the heads get more damaged. Eventually, coolant WILL get into the oil and damage the bearings as well. Driving it at all at this point is taking a huge risk of damaging the engine beyond repair. You can not limit the damage except by not driving it. Coolant is not just "an expensive liquid" and it has its limitations. Since the cars normal operating temperature is over at or near the normal boiling point of water, coolant helps keep the fluid in your engine from literally boiling. BUT, it also inhibits rust in places like your water pump and radiator. Once the pressurization of the system is breached, coolant will not help except by its rust inhibiting properties. CN: it got too hot, don't drive it, fix it.

Oh, puh-leeeeze! A fine wire valve guide brush will solve that "hang up" problem in about 15 seconds. Valve guides are brass, they're easy. And they had to take the valve out to put valve stem seals on anyway. If there's a hangup, it's very likely goop on the valve itself, which can be wire brushed off, again in seconds. (This crap is why we bought our own milling machine: waiting for heads to be surfaced for days is just not acceptable.) Emily

The one main thing to match on the block is the way your PCV valve mounts. There are 3 styles: a pressed in plain tube, a threaded tube and a sort of J-shaped mounting (California spec). Matching that will make your life easier. Other than that, I don't believe there are any major block differences. Emily