AdventureSubaru

BIG changes will be coming shortly. I need to go buy a few more pieces of steel and then it's going to happen pretty quickly. The car has been performing well. But ground clearance is minimal on this generation (Even the outbacks) and I have a few upcoming excursions waiting for this one to be trail ready. The Impreza was sold over the summer. Kept the safari rack which may reside on this car. As a new dad, every project is moving a little slower, but I'm not complaining. Here's my helper and I as we diagnosed and repaired a 97 Outback that had skipped a tooth soon after an EJ22 swap. We put in a 99 style tensioner and bracket and new timing belt and it was back in business. Towing power was one factor that made me chose to go with this outback over the lifted Impreza. Did just fine taking this little project home over about 200 miles - some of which was pretty steep terrain. That impreza was bought with a rod knock. I have a good Ej22 long block sitting in the garage. It is the one automotive project standing between me and some great upgrades and lift for the new adventure car.

$1000. is what the engine out of that car costs. I paid $1250 for the used one to put in my wife's 06 LL Bean when we bought it and that was the best price I could find, after some negotiation and a 6 hour drive to go get the darn thing. Extra weight of that motor seems to wear on the suspension. I would expect bushings to be wearing out. My wifes car has them creaking on both sides and they are torn. Annoying, but not a safety concern. It's on my "eventually" list as I suspect you would do as well. Sounds like a great deal for a nice upgrade. You'll love the power of the EZ30.

Neato! Needs a camo paint job and some mud tires now. Golf cart/ATV/Subaru

Yep. Outback struts are direct bolt in. Good to go. You should clear those tires. I had 28s on my impreza with forester suspension. Cleared 27.5 on my wife's stock outback. those 205s are a tad abot 27 inch diameter which should clear just fine. If not, a set of wheel spacers will give extra room.

Doubt you did any damage to the igniter. I'm wondering if the throttle body sealed up all the way. Did you replace the gasket or use any silicone when you reinstalled it? I've swapped them a couple times and reused the gaskets without issue. Probably tightened a lot more than 17lbs. Did you remove or loosen the TPS for any reason? They are pretty easy to adjust. It sounds like a misfire but if it were there should be a code. Since there isn't, double and triple check everything you did. Plug wire connections, vac hoses, any sensors or wiring that may have been disconnected. It will show itself eventually. The only way i know to check the igniter is by comparing it to another one. I have about 5 or 6 good used ones laying around my garage and am just over the hill from you if it does need to be checked. But as I said, doubtful that it's the igniter.

yeah, sounds like an early rod knock. Time for a new shortblock or used motor. Shortblocks from 1990-2004 are compatible and can be put in using the heads, intake manifold etc from your car. Used motors from 2000-2004 legacy and outback, 02-04 Impreza and 1999-04 Forester will go in with little to no modification needed. Car-part.com and craigslist are good sources for used motor/shortblocks. Guys on here can ship a shortblock to you. I boxed one up a few months ago and fedexed it for $90. Usually worth it. My wife ran her 2000 outback to 362k and it's still driving with a new owner. I'm at 225k on mine. Done right, a headgasket job will last on these motors where the 90s 2.5s would have repeated issues. If you do source a used motor or shortblock you've already got plenty of nearly new parts to go on it to get you started fresh.

Welcome. Glad she's okay and glad it got you into a Subaru. Silver lining to every cloud!

How long since the last tune up. Spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter - all can contribute. Seafoam is great to find lost horsepower and improve MPG.

If the head itself is indeed cracked, do a search on www.car-part.com input the info on your vehicle and search for "cylinder head" I think you've got the SOHC model in which case a used one is about $150 and I saw some remanufactured for $450. Shipping would be additional but way better than paying dealership prices.

$530 for hoses? Guy is nuts! When you get to it, I can probably set you up with all new (good used) upper and lower rad hoses and rear coolant hoses for free. probably more as I'm doing an engine swap and will have a complete EJ22 and parts to pull from this week. I have extras kicking around the shop that I wont use. I'm in the bay area as well so if you need any help, advice, parts etc. feel free to pm me. Don't pull the motor without a solid diagnosis that the headgaskets are indeed failing. Call around and find a shop that will run a compression test for a reasonable rate. These motors were not known for common failure of the head gaskets. It's possible, even a likely cause. But I would not rule out blockage, sticky thermostat, bad hoses, failing/leaking water pump, failed coolant manifold o-ring. Could be a dozen easy fixes that don't require as much time, $$$ and effort as headgaskets. If you ever get down toward Santa Cruz, I'd be glad to look over it and see if I can't tell you what the real issue is.

99+ forester would work as a donor as well as 02+ Impreza. Make sure that if you switch from auto to manual that you also swap matching rear differential as the final drive of the trans needs to match the diff. Not much can be used from a 97 on that car. I've owned both. In 99 subaru changed a lot around. Lots of 1990-98 can be swapped pretty easily. Some 99 and most 2000+ is interchangeable but across that 99 year line most is non compatible.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/107926-w-series-toyota-trans-adaptors/ There's the thread from the adapter bellhousing build. I don't think he's active on the forum though. Monstaru used one of them in his truck though and may still have his contact info.

Simple. Cheap. Hands on. Love it! I may put this to use with the tires I just got for the outback. I have 3 old rotors already.

The other option - which you need to be careful with, but should work. Is to take some hefty wire and hardwire the starter to get it going. Had to do this on a friends impreza once when the safety switch went bad. She drove the car by starting it with a lightswitch for months. Make sure (Check 3 times that the car is in neutral/park or have a buddy push in the clutch pedal and keep it there. You pull the small positive wire on the back of the starter and attach a heavy speaker wire to it. When the other end is placed in contact with the positive battery terminal, the starter will crank and start you up. Make sure to pull the wire right away after the engine starts or the flywheel and starter will get into a fight. That should at least get you mobile again if other things don't work. Last I checked Best Buy and other electronic stores that can install anti theft systems would remove one for about $50. Nuts and bolts I understand but the electronics confuse me. Good luck!

Two things that have worked for me in the past. Put the key in the ignition and rotate it to the on and off position at least 3 times. Worked on my wifes 2000 outback and sisters Legacy GT On a friends 98 outback and a former 97 I had - disconnect the negative battery cable, turn the key to the accessory position, reconnect the cable, start the car. Hope this helps

pretty sure the EJ22 covers will fit the 2000+ EJ25. I can confirm this this afternoon. If so, I've got some covers I can sell cheap.

Puller not needed. I just grab it and wiggle it back and forth. a few light raps with a hammer or breaker bar maybe. Once you get a tiny bit of play, just keep wiggling. it will come off.

If it's just surface rust - a wire wheel, some sandpaper or an angle grinder can be used to grind the rust out to bare metal. I use (Or used to before we moved to the west coast) rustoleum rust converter as a primer and several layers of any rustoleum or similar brand paint to seal it up. Then touch up paint to match if you're concerned about looks. As long as it's not structural these can take a lot of rust and look butt ugly before it's of larger concern.

Nothing wrong with that. If it's been well maintained it should have plenty of miles left. Someone took care of it to get it that far. Many of the cars that go to the crusher do so because they start getting treated like beaters. They pass 100k and people don't do timing belts, trans fluid etc. anymore since it's now an "old" car and then this self fulfilling prophecy comes true when of course, something big goes wrong. These cars have great engineering behind them. If it's been well maintained it will go on and on. And at $800 it's tough to go wrong for a car that moves under it's own power. At that price you can set a little money aside as a "just in case" since all used vehicles will need little things here and there.

I think it was just called the Impreza RS until 2003ish when they changed it to WRX. The RS usually was the 2.5 DOHC from what I've seen but wouldn't be surprised if there were a turbo option. An EJ22T from a legacy would probably be a straightforward swap into an OBS. Do a few searches in this forum section and the retrofitting one and there's probably info on it. If not, I'm sure the guys on NASIOC have info for it, but have your BS filter ready if you start asking questions over there. "Often wrong but never in doubt" has been my experience.

The EJ22 was the best motor subaru ever made. Stinkin dependable. The turbos add lots of time and $$$ for all the stuff that blows up. OBS was only ever 2.2 and maybe later the 2.5 but non turbo.

Generally the 90-96 has a slight edge by being a non interference motor. Keep up with timing belt changes and it's a moot point. Any 90-98 Ej22 is fairly bullet proof.

The only thing these cars would be known for in that mileage range is the failure of the head gaskets. Usually before 150,000 miles. If the engine is not overheated and the job is done right, it will only need to be done once. 83,000 miles probably has plenty of time left. A coolant change will help prolong the life of the head gaskets. Subaru sells a coolant conditioner available at any of their dealerships that aids in this. All the same, be sure your son has a routine habit of watching the temperature gauge of the car. Catch it before the engine overheats and headgaskets are a a small bump in the road for a motor that will last 300k and beyond. (Been there done that) let the motor overheat and you will be either shopping for a new motor or possibly doing headgasket jobs every 10-20,000 miles due to warped heads. Exhaust and brakes rusting out are not specific to subaru or the age/mileage. They are specific to road salt. Lived in Southeast Pennsylvania as well as wisconsin and salt will quickly eat at such things. If your subaru is showing rust and seen plenty of salt, it's worth taking a peek to see what's going on under the car. if it's not showing rust and not been charging through snowstorms too often, then it's a long way down the road that rust will require its own repairs.

To curb the loss of coolant and buy some time you can just loop the two hoses before they go to the interior. Take off one entirely, disconnect the other by the firewall and attach it to the end of the other. You can get by just fine usually with junkyard parts. If you ever come down near Santa Cruz, I might have some you can have for free. Napa and others will sell it by the foot. Just need to figure which is leaking and then what the diameter is.

Saw it in a different thread - Manual trans. The Outback will have a 4.11 final drive most likely to the Imprezas 3.90 so just put the rear diff from the Impreza in with the driveshaft and clutch from the outback and you're good to go. (Impreza clutch works too. All the same. It's the automatics that have different flex plates.) This is a good opportunity to replace the clutch and check the back of the motor for a leaking oil seperator plate. There's a dealer upgrade that solves the issue.