idosubaru

You could inspect the bushings first and see if they're a problem, though sometimes they're not easy to diagnose. To clarify - the Subaru OEM struts for that year are prone to wear at 60k-100k, earlier than most subaru struts so they're annoying to me for that reason but not bad struts compared to any other vehicle. And there's no guarantee the KYB offering for the same year is the identical strut to the OEM. It may be the case that the KYB 05-09 rear struts are more similar to the 00-04 KYB than they are to the OEM 05-09. But seeing as how few people buy Subaru struts, the KYB earlier ones are good options. Subaru springs are sometimes reasonably priced, i've bought a variety of legacy and turbo 05-09 springs and they're not expensive from Subaru. Never tried the KYB assemblies, just the struts and top hats.

Yeah it just needs fluid pressure. It’s supposed to use cybrid fluid specifically made for an electronic pump driven rack but people have used others fluids for years now. I’m unsure what fluids folks are running though I’ve always used the original stuff. But I doubt it matters much except maybe to the seals. Exmark commercial mowers use synthetic 20w50 engine oil for their hydraulic pumps. Lol.

I’ve gotten some nasty EA intake manifold ones out like this. But it takes forever. Turn the bolt back and forth over and over and over again. Not to remove jt - Just a few degrees. Just enough to work some of the corrosion loose without yielding of the metal. After a few minutes take a break (do one of the other bolts). Working it back and forth creates heat which increases the metals ability to deform and lead to shearing of the bolt. you want to give it plenty of time to cool down. Keep repeating that step until you increase range of motion. Once the head of the bolt comes up enough spray a high grade penetrant down the hole. I have YIELD. wash rinse repeat all of the above. If all the bolts are out but one is drilled or sheared off the head can still be stuck on all the packed corrosion in the bottom half of that hole that goes through the intake manifold. The sheared/drilled bolt and corrosion are packed tight in the head and will hold it in place. if it’s one bolt only you can try to rotate the entire head back and forth to loosen the one stuck area, while prying upward. If it’s more than one good luck, that’s not easy to drill or pry out if they’re full of corrosion.

05-09 headgaskets usually leak oil. You can drive jt indefinitely as long as you keep topping it off. It starts slowly and gets worse over a long period of time. That’s if it’s the original engine and gaskets. If the gaskets were already replaced then anything is a possibility. Subarus coolant conditioner is for coolant leaks not oil leaks. If you don’t mind adding oil and leaking I wouldn’t avoid it. It would be nice to know how much it’s leaking but as with any used car that’s probably hard to accurately nail down before purchase.

How are the struts? 05-09 Subaru legacy and Outback struts are really low grade for Subaru standards. I don’t know what their deal was then but they’re typically weak and degrade early. I’d install 00-04 OBW or baja turbo struts. You could get 16” rims to get more sidewall.

What tire were you using? If the ones you’re looking at are all significant upgrades then it’s likely you’ll be happy with all of them and the choice probably doesn’t matter much. If they’re downgrades (seems unlikely) then maybe it’ll be trickier haven’t looked closely at Coopers models but they are enormously popular around here - good performers for winter without high price tags. Michelin CC2 have thousands of reviews online and are top of class at tire rack with 4.8 star reviews. Normally reviews are suspect but there’s enough out there they might mean something. Lol. They’re pricey but Michelin doesn’t make an average tire. They’re top shelf products across the board. Others can easily provide the performance you want though. Disclosure they hire a lot from Georgia Tech, the college I went to.

Hey dave. Vacuum leak, air flow sensor, or solder joints in the ECU injector board are bad. Replace the air filter recently? Make sure the box and clamps are all seated properly and tight. Not sure how to test mass air flow sensor. I have a 2006 3.0 Tribeca which is a nearly identical engine. If it’s the same I could mail you to test so it’s there where you’re done traveling, although I’d need it back eventually as it’s on a drivable vehicle. Bake the board only no plastic and don’t let it touch any metal in the oven for 6 minutes at 375 with your chocolate chip cookies to reflow the solder. But to be clear on diagnosis: You were getting codes for all 6 cylinders? Like all at once? One time? Or they were intermittent and random? There were no other codes present?

Subaru says change it in Canada and severe conditions. I take that to mean change it for any high mileage Subaru. Particularly one with an unknown history.

Wow I’m sorry. That’s an atrocious set of circumstances. Hope you’ve got good people and ways to cope. That’s crazy people target a hospital, wow. The relay is down by your left leg up under/behind the dash. I think it’s to the side, like above where your left edge of your left foot is I’m unsure if they make any that fit Subarus but there are Bluetooth relays you can just use your phone to give permission to start I assume there’s an automated proximity option, but haven’t used one I would be looking into this if I were you. Keep the old relay in the vehicle somewhere in case the phone was lost or bricked Popping the hood isn’t ideal as anyone watching can probably tell what you’re doing and where you’re doing it.

Tires probably need balanced. But, so we aren’t guessing so much: How positive are you this symptom did not exist before you worked on it? We don’t want to assume it’s the studs if it’s not. do the tires need balanced? What brand and how old are the tires? Why did a wheel stud need replaced? If it’s an open nut, look at the captive depth of each stud in the center of the nut. Are they all the same depth? If it’s not an open nut - are they all seated fully?

Sounds like the clutch hose is internally collapsing and not allowing fluid to flow freely for nominal operations. Free it up - fine - stick - free it up - fine - stick…. Unsure how to confirm that or diagnose it for sure but often collapsed hydraulic hoses allow fluid to flow one way - the way with leveraged pressure, but not a way with less, or non-leveraged, pressure like a spring, gravity, light incidental contact, etc replace the hose and have a list of favorite cuss words handy to bleed it. Lol

A 93 22 intake manifold won’t plug into the EJ25. It could work if you bolt a 1995-1998 EJ22 intake manifold on it and figure out all the minor pvc and vacuum and other bits. 93 EJ22 block bolts to EJ25 trans and exhaust. Bolt 95-98 intake manifold onto 93 engine and it’ll plug into the EJ25. 1995 EJ22 from an automatic is the direct bolt in option. Manual 95 works too but just won’t have EGR which you can easily work around. 1996-1998 EJ22 are all bolt in and plug and play if you also get a single port EJ22 exhaust manifold. It bolts right in place. The EJ25 exhaust is dual port and won’t bolt to the 96+ EJ22. (95 EJ22 has dual port exhaust heads so it bolts right up to the ej25 exhaust

Sure: look for rust, drop in a 2.2 with new timing bits and you’re golden. $1,500 seems high for a non running 90s Subaru with a blown engine but I’m guessing you’re in the PNW? long explanation: You know this I’m sure: Those 90s 2.5s blow headgaskets all the time. It’s probably not a cracked head, there’s no way someone put the effort into distinguishing between headgaskets and blown head. Although it probably doesn’t matter these things usually overheat in such a way that people often limp them and overheat them multiple times. Good chance you’ll see evidence of a new cooling system part (or 5) as people chased it, they often diagnosed those engines incorrectly. they’re prone to multiple overheats before someone figures out it’s the headgaskets. Also at this age the chance of this being a second (or third!) head gasket is high as well (and maybe prompted the cracked head guess). Anyway - all of those reasons make this a really risky repair and an engine I’d rather not keep. They’re prone to losing the lower end bearings due to all the prior overheats That’s why Larry and I would just drop a 2.2 in it. Much better engine. if you love risky engines and want it, look for signs of distorted/warped melted timing belt covers or knock sensor indicating extreme external temperatures. I’ve seen them with new headgaskets blow an engine within a month had signs of overheating like that. They were engines I told someone not to keep and the person didn’t listen. If you do repair it resurface the heads. Don’t bother checking for flatness, it’s a waste of time. They always have high and low spots 100% of the time and you want proper surface roughness on an engine that loses headgaskets this easily. Use Subaru gaskets and clean and lubricate the head bolt threads to make sure they torque properly. If they’re not rusty reuse them.

Looks like the CV boot is cracked and slinging grease. Clear signs of it slinging out. How old is the axle? Theres a very small chance it could be old grease we are seeing. Check the axle boot for cracking. Or give us closer pictures of the ribs/convolutions so we can look for a crack. If it is, Reboot or replace the axle.

I was answering your question “(no other options, correct?)”. Yes - That is correct, CVT is the only option for that model.

There were two possible legacy engines in 1994. Non turbo and turbo EJ22. run the VIN and it’ll tell you. One of the numbers in the VIN tells you if it was originally turbo or not. are you positive the original paper is actually the original for that exact car? And how do you know it says EJ22G? It would be no surprise to blow a turbo motor and install a much cheaper and easier to find non turbo EJ22 particularly on those older models with simplistic electronics All 1990-1998 EJ22s are interchangeable with effort, in spite of a few differences. Electronics change in 1995 despite it retaining the dual port exhaust of 90-94 models. turbos were available 1990-1994. There were no turbo engine available in US market 95-98 legacy.

Fabulous fix. Thanks for posting. did you cover it in antiseize? You used a lock wager under the head? The metal is probably low grade and will corrode easily. if the timing covers are still intact that’ll help. Not a big deal, much better to deal with that one or two more times in the distant future if needed than the mess of getting that stud out. I think I had one years ago with a bolt entirely missing.

You could install the Trans and run it in FWD to negate the final drive issue. Also unsure about the torque converter but they should swap just fine. I’d be unconvinced the trans is fine and it’s only the torque converter though for how much labor that is.

Yeah a legacy won’t be the same final drive ratio is an Impreza. So the easiest is to find the right one. A diff swap isn’t hard but will add another $100 and effort making sure you get the right one some years are easy but not 02, not for me at least. I haven’t worked on that generation Impreza much and it saw a few changes If that’s not a turbo engine the small 2.0 might not like the taller legacy 4.44 gearing anyway. It’ll struggle more with one or more of mountain grades, pulling a load, and larger wheels. If you always drive alone, carry no weight or people or tow, don’t drive in mountains and don’t have large wheels/tires it wouldn’t be very noticeable.

Chux is right - they’re the same phase so it’ll install fine but will require one extra step: the legacy and Imp final drive won’t match. The simplest solution is to swap the rear diff to match the trans 4.44 final drive ratio. legacy should be 4.44 so you’ll need a 4.44 rear diff that accepts your Impreza axles. 02 Impreza rear axles May not slide into a 2001 legacy rear diff. I could be wrong I don’t follow Impreza closely I’m unsure if the rear axles swap but Impreza and legacy rear axles aren’t always interchangeable in the same year. Legacys went to newer axle style before Imprezas. Not sure when that happened and Imprezas had a few changes through the early 00’s. so you’ll have to research which axles the 02 Impreza uses and get a matching 4.44 rear diff That being said there’s no way losing fluid in a radiator swap was enough to trash the transmission. losing that amount would not bring the fluid level from between the low/high marks on the dipstick, to not registering on the dipstick, which it would need to in order to damage anything. Also if the trans were that unforgiving to losing a pint of fluid or less they’d be blowing up left and right with steep mountains and spirited driving sloshing the fluid around.

Well it sort of is and isn’t, and there’s anomalies. In 96 the EJ25 is interference but all other EJs are not. I’ve seen one “documented”, meaning enough seemingly good investigative work and known history, case of a 96 suffering bent valves. I’d guess they’re very rare and maybe some have been swapped by now in some way to change their interference status. And I’ve heard a couple claims of interference with evidence on par with that of Bigfoot sightings.

Nonissue once he realizes he doesn’t need an oil pump. There’s no way a JDM EJ has a proprietary Japanese only pump. I’ve installed JDM engines. Don’t think I’ve ever swapped oil pumps on a Japanese motor but plenty of other parts between US and Japan. If he’s positive it’s the pump it can be resealed. Tighten the backing plate screws, one very commonly replaced oring, and bolt it back up with new RTV While it’s out the clearances from the FSM can be measured. I mean no one ever does that but if they’re that concerned about it there’s an option

Yes sir, thanks, that makes the most sense to clear that up.

True I am assuming a lot in this very vague request. Although a failed VLSD can be used to convert an MT Subaru to FWD or RWD. Lol

yes. Final drive ratios differ but they’re interchangeable. Match the rear diff, drive in FWD or otherwise address the final drive ratio and swap away. also 99 is an odd cross over year of Phase I and II. 956-98 stuff is easy and simple. 99 can still interchange but there can be quite a variety.