AdventureSubaru

any torque bind issues? Is it a Subaru axle or something else? (Inner CV would be green if not covered in grease/dirt.) If indeed it's the axle clicking traditionally you should replace the whole joint. If the boot isn't torn and it only clicks on hard turns you probably can get a lot more miles out of this one before it's needed.

Yeah. they can go a long while like that. You'd make a few thousand miles most likely before anything would fail. But once they start making clicking noise, you should replace the whole axle. Since you caught this one early, it's just a matter of pulling the axle and replacing that rubber boot and putting new grease in there. Always better to have the boot replaced than to replace the whole axle. New Subaru axles are over $400 and are the only ones that last as a rule. The cheaper Napa axles and such tend to fail rapidly. New boot and grease will be about $20. and you'll pay the shop an hour or so in labor and be back on the road.

Almost - The 2.5 will have a dual port exhaust instead of single port like your 2.2. If you can get the header pipe along with the motor, it all swaps right in. Is there something wrong with the 2.2? The first generation EJ22 motor is easily twice as durable/long lived as the 90s EJ25s. The 2.5 will make a little more power, but they have repeated head gasket failures over time which often translates into cooked rod bearings/rod knock/thrown rod. Just FYI. If your 2.2 is dead or dying and you got a good deal, it's an easy swap to get back on the road. The 2.5 in an Impreza will give lots of power. Go easy on the throttle.

1995 is the ideal year. Still a non interference motor and dual port. Any 96-98 will be a single port exhaust. Easy enough to just get the y pipe with the motor you install though. Also, best bet is to get one from a car with and automatic transmission as it will also be EGR equipped and everything will match exactly. Non EGR motors will run fine but you'll have a check engine light. An EGR intake manifold and equipment can be installed on a non egr motor with a hose routing work around to remove the check engine light. But those of us who have been around them for a while will all coach you to find a good 95-98 2.2 that seems well maintained and drop it in. You will lose a couple horsepower, but by comparison gain far more reliability and ease of maintenance. The 2.5 motor by comparison was a basket case. Repeated head gasket failures and the subsequent overheating cooks the rod bearings and trashes the motor. The 2.2 swap will cost you far less than either option of 2.5s and I'd expect a 2.2 with 150,000 miles to outlive a rebuilt 2.5 of this year. Just a far better motor.

Soak it in PB blaster for a few days before the job. Spray it in mornings and evenings and it usually helps a lot on rusted/tight bolts. A breaker bar or cheater pipe will help you get leverage. We bought from parts geek and everything went smooth. They had a killer deal on a suspension kit for our Ford Expedition to swap from air ride to strut/spring suspension. Paid less than $200. for a whole new monroe suspension for the truck.

Any of the green stuff (universal) works fine. Best results are to drain and fill. (I run a garden hose to mine in between in case there's any stuff that needs flushed out. Subaru coolant conditioner can be added seperately. It's about $3. a bottle from the dealership. It's not essential, but is supposed to extend the life of head gaskets.

yep. Guys report better reliability off of the turbo gaskets. Do a search for the part number. The other question is the reliability of the 2.5 heads to begin with. If a rod/rod bearing went out it's often overheating or oil starvation that causes it. It can stress other things. I'm partial to the straight 2.2 swaps. They were way more forgiving and very reliable.

works fine to put the phase 1 2.2 heads on the newer 2.2. Should be same process as the typical frankenmotor on here.

It's spelled out in the warranty info from what I've seen. Most people just glance over it without reading it when they're signing all the paperwork for their new (or new to them) car, shove it in the glove box and never look at it again unless there is a problem. Engines and cars require maintenance and have specified types and intervals to be followed. It's necessary to protect companies from those who may abuse the system or are really neglectful of their vehicles. Gotta prove it was the fault of the manufacturer and not poor/improper/absent maintenance. The middle area is the folks who took good care of it, but never read the paper they signed. While it's a bummer that a little diligence on their part could have avoided a large problem/cost, a cars owner is the only person responsible for their cars maintenance. The real issue in that article was that they were gullible enough to buy a Kia. But as the article stated - "most likely that could have been avoided with proper maintenance records and closer attention to factory specifications." I hate Kias but that owner did not appear to follow the service recommendations which voids the warranty. Good reminder for those of us who have existing warranties. Read it all. Follow it all. Document it all.

I'll probably throw some plugs and wires at it, but this is just a power lag, not a sputter like the hesitations I've felt on every car I've ever had that needed plug wires. Feels more electronic than that. Fuel filter was a consideration. I do have a good used one that I may toss on. Without a CEL or anything it's pretty scattering trying to find the issue. May go to the pick n pull and grab some sensors. Hate taking the shotgun approach but not much to go on yet.

Yeah. I wish there were a good way to see the ratio of failures/cars. These outbacks are popular and I probably see 5 of them for every phase 1 EJ22 on the road, yet the head gasket issues seem few and far between for as many of them are out there. When searching for my wife's outback we saw a dozen of them at 300k+ and many more well over 200k. Every Subaru motor has a percentage of head gasket issues. This 2010-2012 seems to be at the top in percentage (By my observation and a few others) certainly wont be perfect. My point is, there's good reason to expect longer life out of this generation than the 10 years prior (IMHO) and not yet enough time to suggest that the 2013 would be any better (And so far carrying the brand of a class action suit alongside.) I do love the oil filter location though. Far easier than reaching into the dragons nest of the 2010-2012

Bought it with a busted CV etc and 240,000 miles for a song. New axle in and it drives nice. Engine idles smooth and trans shifts well. Now it seems I have one more bug to chase. Intermittent power lag/bogging down. Shows up anytime but more consistently under load/steep hills. Power lags and will sometimes catch and accelerate normally again. Or, if you take your foot off the gas and reapply pressure, it's normal again. The car had a few CEL codes originally - 3 different cylinder misfires and the generic misfire. I cleared those codes and they have not returned. During one test drive, the AT Oil Temp light began flashing and remained on until I parked the car. So reading up it seemed that MAP/MAF, TPS and bad ground were most likely. Checked connections and replaced the TPS with a used one since I had some spares. No change. Pulled the MAP sensor and cleaned it up. No change. Added a ground cable from negative battery terminal to the AC bracket. Thought I was good to go but after about 10 minutes of driving it was back again. May try a heavier gauge wire. What next? Replace MAP? plugs, wires, coil? Anything else. The AT light has not returned and there is no CEL.

2010-2012 outbacks in my opinion are the way to go until we see what hashes out over longer time with the new motors. These still incorporate the EJ25 motor but the head gasket issue seems resolved to the point that their reliability is on par with the EJ22 from the 1990s - a motor that will last 300,000 miles and more without head gasket issues or trouble beyond valve cover gaskets etc. My wife drives a 2011 Premium which we got for an excellent price with only 60,000 miles on it. These do still run a timing belt which needs to be replaced at the ordinary intervals, but otherwise would be a superior motor in my book as the newer motors are already a part of a class action suit and as a group have not been out there and driving long enough to see repeated 300,000 mile odometers and happy owners. I'll also echo what's been said on here. Doing extra leg work and research will save you $$$ on the cost of repair and how much needs replacing. Finding a good used rack for $200. or an aftermarket unit from rockauto and paying a good mechanic to install it is way better than dealer pricing. The general rule with dealers is - you pay top dollar for OEM parts (Which is good quality but not as necessary when we're talking car with 200k and 10 or 20 years old. And you pay top dollar for labor regardless of experience - many dealers will hire techs right out of school, so you're paying highest labor price for a kid who's still learning on your car. Nothing wrong with that, but not ideal as a consumer. Many folks (myself included in years past) are victims of our own ignorance. If we know little or nothing about our cars, we're at the mercy of whatever people tell us about them - both in needs and cost. This allows price hikes everywhere and plenty of rip off mechanics and even illegal activity. Read up on the issues, do some research, call around, get multiple opinions and make the most informed decisions possible.

No problem driving in 2wd. You can drive it that way for 10 years and not hurt a thing. Trans specialist will likely tell you one of 2 things - 1. Needs a new trans (Which is very likely a lie or just lack of knowledge of these Subarus or 2. replace the Duty C solenoid (Which you can look up on here with the search feature. A good used one can be installed in a few hours and often fixes the problem. The relevant questions for you are - what's the year and model of your Subaru? and are all your tires matching size, brand and tread depth/circumference. Non matching tires produce torque bind which compounds into other problems over time. Guessing the bind came from a previous owner if the trans is second hand. Search around on here and read up on both torque bind and Duty C replacements and you'll have a good idea of what you're probably in for. Or some opt to just drive a front wheel drive subaru by either leaving the fuse in or for those that are past that, disconnecting the rear section of the drive shaft on legacies or pulling the driveshaft and capping the trans on Impreza/Forester.

Also - FYI - there is zero advantage to a 2.2 swap in the 99-04 cars unless price/ availability is the motivating factor. In 1990-1998 the EJ22 was far more dependable than the 96-99 EJ25 DOHC. from 99-04 the EJ22 is nearly identical and no more or less reliable than the EJ25 SOHC. The EJ22 is slightly weaker and requires you to swap over to single port exhaust. If you have a good deal on an engine lined up, or a parts/donor car readily available then it's a fine swap. But don't pursue an EJ22 as better than the EJ25 because on this generation, it's a little less desirable.

If you're into it and realistic about it, then go for it. We just don't want to see another dreamer that doesn't have the money or knowhow to do any of whats being suggested. We get plenty of that type. 17 year old kid watches the latest fast a furious movie and looks up the biggest motor that came in a legacy platform and wants to install it and "boost" it and "oh by the way, my car is FWD so lets make it AWD. All with just enough knowledge to do oil changes and brake pads and on a pizza delivery drivers budget. That's not you. But your first post made it look that way. If you've got the ambition, you've got the money and you've got the know how, then go for it. Sleeper cars are pretty neat in their own right. (The legal type. Those breaking laws get what's coming to them eventually or end up in wrecks that kill themselves and innocent folks going about their business.) But you've got the rundown. it's a huge job, but every sleeper and crazy custom I've seen completed has been. Seen 600hp rear engine Ford Pinto, twin turboed road runner, Miata Scorpions and the like. Unless you're really stuck on your particular car though, you'll get one huge hurdle over with by selling the FWD car and buying one of similar cost/rust that's AWD. Or even wait until you've got your motor lined up and buy one with a bad motor since you're swapping anyway. I see 90s cars with bad motors in that $300-$1000 range all the time. You may actually make a bit of $$$ of that initial swap and have only the EZ swap and turboing process to worry about. Especially if your car has rust present, you'll double your labor time by chasing after broken captive nuts, broken heads and stripped threads.

To my knowledge, all the 95-99 are the same. Did it once and yeah, unhooked it all and fed it through the door. Wiring stayed with the car and the door got swapped. Or cut and splice. I've had great success with "liquid electric tape" and then heat shrink tubing or regular tape over top.

Those look straight to me.

Looks very fixable. Junkyard parts etc. Usually if you have space it's worth it to buy it from the insurance company anyway. You can sell it for far more than what you buy it for as a project or in parts.

Didn't catch that it's an 02. Yeah, phase 2 motor in a phase 1 platform. Pain in the rear. It's been done, but you'll be cutting and splicing and scratching your head. Best bet is to sell that motor to someone installing it on a phase 2 car (2000-2004 almost anything) and find yourself a good 95-98 EJ22

Either way, that's a DOHC motor so swap away!

FB motors are part of a class action lawsuit against Subaru for the oil consumption issue. I haven't heard details as to which exact years were involved. Your 2014 is a year removed I think. But the consensus so far for the new outbacks is that the 2010-2012s are best as the headgasket issues have not persisted (as a rule, certainly a few have had issues but it's seems that it is far from the norm) and to wait and see if the FBs eventually can match the reliability as they climb higher on the odometer. Apart from the oil consumption issue, there's only so much we know about the long term durability of the FB since they really haven't been around long enough to climb to 300k, 400k and 500k like the ej22s do all over the place. The 2010-2012 EJ25 has already routinely hit 300k and the owners are happy. Following that rule, we bought a 2011 for my wife. Can't comment on FB motors until they've had more time to prove themselves. MLS gaskets have been used since 96 or 97 with the troublesome EJ25 DOHC and have been used since. Each generation seemed to improve the design with the reliability finally on par with the early EJ22 beginning in 2010. But improvements were seen in 99/2000 and 2005 moving forward. All were good motors, but we all missed going over a quarter million miles before having to do headgaskets.

swapping a motor for one of these cars is pretty simple. Even a first timer can do it in a day. I've done a few now in my driveway using a cherry picker made of 2x4s and a $20. come-along. If you're wanting to save some $$$ and learn some more about your car, now is a great time. Even if not, these 90s outbacks when they have rod knocks/blown headgaskets are favorites to buy cheap and swap a good motor in (Usually a 2.2 for more durability but if you have a good 2.5 already, then swap away. It's a cheap way to get a nice outback.

If the 99 is DOHC then yes, your engine will swap. You're info is a little confusing - you said "both are 2.5L H4 DOHC" but that the seller isn't sure which motor it is. There was a SOHC 2.5 offered in 1999 that is not compatible. Confirm that it's DOHC - post up a pic of the front of the motor on the 99 if you aren't sure. But most outbacks from 1999 are DOHC and thus your motor would swap in as a direct bolt in.

from 1999-2009 I would call it marginal but only by Subaru standards. Good motors that go 100-150k and leak headgaskets externally. if not overheated or starved of oil, you do the head gaskets and drive it to 300k and beyond. They're only known as less reliable because they came in after the immortality of the EJ22s which phased out in 98/99. 05+ are pretty stout. We had an 06 LL Bean Outback sedan. Fun car! Loads of options, sporty styling, the EZ30 had crazy power compared to my 2000 outback and it's eventual replacement - a 2011 Outback.