MorganM

I called up Import Experts and asked about the hydrolic tensioner for the tensioner pulley. My concern was that I did not see it listed as part of the kit. He said that it was not part of the kit and needed to be ordered seperately. Looks like I still need to source one part locally; I don't have time for them to ship it out from them =P Must say though; dealing with Matt in shipping at Import Experts was way easier than the schmuck at the stealership I debated with for 20 minutes last weekend.

If it was a matter of $80 or even $100 I'd be with you man; just get the OEM parts and be done with it. I've done that even recently with a radiator because those aftermarket ones are usually wrong size in/out pipes and copper so I got the right sized OEM aluminum one from the stealership. However I just priced out everything for a full timing belt job and it's not a matter of $80; it's $379 dollars. I'll break it down... Import Experts (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-1996-Subaru-Legacy-Impreza-Master-Timing-Belt-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5ad8a9e1d5QQitemZ390182068693QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories) $203.00 (including shipping) Subaru-Parts-Dealer (http://www.partswebsite.com/subarucatalog) $414.22 (including shipping) Stealership (WITH A DISCOUNT ACCOUNT!) $582.00 Even the Subaru-Parts-Dealer parts, which are supposedly all OEM parts, is a difference of $211 dollars vs the Import Experts kit. Difference between discounted stealership prices vs Import Experts kit is $379. You could change the Import Expert parts twice as often than if you'd use OEM parts and still come out ahead $176. I've got a non-interference engine with 199,000 miles on it... I'm betting these are the last timing belts I put on this engine =)

You say it only does this when it's wet? As in; it's been raining out and now the car does this? If it's been dry outside does it otherwise run normal? How long do you have to let it dry out before it does run?

I always hear ppl say this but can you be more specific? It's a fuel injected engine so you can't just 'pop off the air cleaner and shoot ether down the carb'... Where exactly are you opening up the air intake system to allow you to spray in starting fluid yet not hose the MAF's hot wire or cause a huge vacume leak?

Just a dirty tank =/ I drained it lastnight into a container and it looked fine. Poured in fresh new mixed coolant. Shown a light behind the tank and bam; it looked orange/brown again! Moving the light around some more I could get it to change all kinds of colors based on what ugly spots the light was shining through =P There's just some weird discolorations to the tank which makes the lowest portion of the coolant *look* brown but it's actually not. Glad to find out it was nothing to be concerned about.

I noticed the last few inches of coolant in my overflow tank has turned an orange / brown. Just did radiator and hoses this winter. All new green coolant at that time. Didn't actually flush the system but the coolant I drained was in good shape (nice solid green, no orange/brown, no oil, etc). I cleaned out the overflow tank at that time as well. It was pretty dirty in there. While I didn't scrub it I certainly cleaned it up to a point much better than it was. Think my water pump is on it's way out. Noticing a bit of coolant dripping down along the thermostat housing (and on to the exhuast, yuck!) Aquiring parts now for timing belt and water pump replacement. Just wondering what the heck is causing this.

That's what I've always called it too; the jiggle valve. Funny that there's a part on your care called a jiggle valve =P

CEL would come back on next time you go closed loop (full operating temp) and tell you the O2 sensor is bad. That said; I've had bad O2 sensors that didn't throw codes... just bad fuel milage. Keep an eye on the CEL and track your MPG accurately. There's really no need for any air tools on this job. The threads are so coarse that once it's broke free you can do the rest by hand. It is tricky to line up the threads when reinstalling which usually makes it easy to crossthread with air tools. I like my air tools but wouldn't use them on an O2 sensor replacement for reasons metnioned above plus I dunno what that impacting would do to the sensor itself.

This tool is a must have for any DIY weekend warrior mechanic. I've used them dozens of times to pinpoint the source of a noise. Someone told you it's valve train chatter; a fair diagnosis. Put the needle of your mechanic's stethoscope on your valve cover and you you should hear the lifters chattering away and it should be about the same all along both valve covers. Lets say you put the needle on the valve covers and you barely hear any noise or the noise you do hear doesn't match... hmmm doesn't sound like lifters then. Start probing around with the needle on other culprits. Try the fuel injectors; they are surprisingly loud (especially under the stethoscope). You can pull the needle on and off whatever you are probing to try and see if what you are hearing through the stethoscope matches what you are hearing with out it. The rhythm, pitch, and rate should all be the same; it should just be louder under the stethoscope. For the cheap price of this tool you really should get one. Very rarely have I had a noise I couldn't pinpoint with the needle stethoscope. I've found them to be very accurate. Last time I had a bad hydraulic lifter I was able to find exactly which lifter it was just using the stethoscope!

Swapped in a MAF from an Outback EJ25 (either a '97 or 98) that had the same part number as my '97 OBS. Fired it up, let it warm up, drive around the block and no problems. Shut it down for a while, looked over the engine some more, and fired it back up. Drove a couple miles in town (stop lights, parking lots, etc) and she seems fine! I'll consider this problem resolved unless it comes back sometime soon =) I really hate these problems that should throw a code but they don't. Had this happen with injectors, O2 sensors, and now a MAF... at least we have the USMB to help!

I swapped on the Outback one and it works fine.

I grabbed one from each, an Imp, Leg, and Outback. The Imp and Leg were both EJ22s and the Outback was an EJ25. The Leg and Outback have identical part numbers (despite the Leg being an EJ22 and the Outback being an EJ25). The Imp has almost an identical part number (it is missing one character, an F, in the part number) They all have the same bolt pattern to the air filter box, same pin numbers, same connector. Time to to go play musical MAFs =P

I'm gonna head to the junkyard tomorrow and get a MAF. I have a '97 OBS with a the long block of an EJ22 out of a '95 Legacy. I can use the MAF from any first gen Legacy right? What else is interchangeable? Looking at the inventory a U Pull I can choose from: '93 or '95 Imp '93 or '95 Leg '97 or '98 Outback

They are almost stacked rather than left to right. It was the lowest one with the most wires. The one above that, in the middle, has a less wires. Then the one above that is just a couple wires. I traced some things to that harnes; cam angle sensor is in that group. Along with both injectors on that side. Not sure what else is in that group... I'd have to trace or get wire colors and refer to a diagram to figure them all out. What a PITA.

1997 OBS EJJ22 4EAT 192,000 miles You can tell when it's just one cylinder causing a miss fire and when more than one miss fire. One cyl isn't gonna cause the engine to stall; it's barely noticeable to most ppl (just as you indicate with your poor mans injector test; you should notice a difference in idle but it won't stall because it's only one cyl) The whole engine is cutting out; it's not like one missfire... Just like you said... if that's the case then it wouldn't run... well it stops running =) It's something more important; like a MAF, cam angle sensor, entire coil pack... something to cause the entire engine to cut out and come back.

Unplugged those wire harnesses and they looked like they had some white crusties up in the terminals. Sprayed them out with electrical contact cleaner, let them dry, and plugged them back in. Problem still persists but now when I wiggle those wires nothing happens... maybe it's not these at all and it was just coincidence before =/ Still no codes... I'm at a loss.

Did some testing this morning. Seemed fine until it warmed up. This is all in park, usually at idle, I'd sometimes rev it up and stuff just to play around. Didn't drive around 'cuz I didn't wanna get stuck somewhere =P Anyway I've narrowed it down to a grouping wires in a wire harness. On the right side (passenger side, down near the bell housing under the intake plenum there's 3 wire harnesss groupings). If I move one of those groups just right it cuts out and sometimes stalls. The AT TEMP light did NOT flash today. I have an ODBII scanner and there's no codes. The scanner would pull TCU codes if there were any; right? There's no ECU codes. I guess now I gotta narrow down what's in that group of wires that's causing the problem

Fired it up the other morning, let it warm up 2 or 3 minutes, and took off down the road (35-45 MPH city driving). I get to the first stop light and a BAD missfire (all 4 cyl cut at once) but it recovers. Couple miles later it starts really cutting out, coming back, and I feather the throttle to keep it going. Pull into a parking lot and it dies. Restart the car, AT TEMP light flashes 4-5 times, I pull into a parking spot and shut it down. Take a quick look at everything, fire it back up, seems OK at idle and rev'ing up in park so I take off down the road again. Starts cutting out real bad once again and I start working the throttle to try and keep it running but she eventually stalls. Really hard to get her started this time but when it does the AT TEMP light flashes a few times and away I go (on a busy street; gotta stay moving!) She behaved her self the last few miles home. No check engine light. Scanned with cheap ODBII scanner and no codes. Sometimes at idle, in park, she gets that bad missfire (seems like total loss of spark or fuel; I mean all 4 cyls cut) but doesn't stall. Knock sensor was replaced last year. Used CRC MAF cleaner and cleaned the MAF but problem persists. O2 sensor changed almost 2 years ago. She runs real rich; on a cold start you can't miss the smell of fuel from the tail pipe. Mileage is a sad 24 to 26 MPG (mix of highway and city) Any ideas other than standard reply of 'spark plugs and plug wires'? Got that one covered; lets try some real troubleshooting =)

Just started getting the same problem! Fired it up this morning, let it warm up 2 or 3 minutes, and took off down the road (35-45 MPH city driving). I get to the first stop light and a BAD missfire (all 4 cyl cut at once) but it recovers. Couple miles later it starts really cutting out, coming back, and I feather the throttle to keep it going. Pull into a parking lot and it dies. Restart the car, AT TEMP light flashes 4-5 times, I pull into a parking spot and shut it down. Take a quick look at everything, fire it back up, seems OK at idle and rev'ing up in park so I take off down the road again. Starts cutting out real bad once again and I start working the throttle to try and keep it running but she eventually stalls. Really hard to get her started this time but when it does the AT TEMP light flashes a few times and away I go (on a busy street; gotta stay moving!) She behaved her self the last few miles home. No check engine light. Scanned with cheap ODBII scanner and no codes. Sometimes at idle, in park, she gets that bad missfire (seems like total loss of spark or fuel; I mean all 4 cyls cut) but doesn't stall. Knock sensor was replaced last year. Used CRC MAF cleaner and cleaned the MAF but problem persists. O2 sensor changed almost 2 years ago. She runs real rich; on a cold start you can't miss the smell of fuel from the tail pipe. Mileage is a sad 24 to 26 MPG (mix of highway and city) Any ideas other than standard reply of 'spark plugs and plug wires'? Got that one covered; lets try some real troubleshooting =)

We didn't have to travel far on Christmas day but we did have to go from Burnsville to Eagan then to Rosemont. Just the weather we had over that WED and THUR made the driving conditions very bad. Christmas morning I knew my wife was coming home soon and they had just plowed the street making a waist deep drift of heavy snow. I knew her car wouldn't make it through that and even if she got a run at it the driveway wasn't plowed yet either and she'd just get stuck there. So I warmed up the OBS and 'plowed' the driveway =) No problem in the unplowed drive and just punched right through the drift. She had a rough time getting home and suggested we take my Subaru. We loaded up what we could in the hatch back and took off for Eagan. The roads through Eagan were significantly worse than Burnsville. Glad we had opted for the AWD vehicle at that point already. Those 4% grade hills on Diffley were rough and Northview Park Rd was even worse. I had to slow down to 25-30 just to maintain good control of the vehicle. Travel during the day was fine. It warmed up a bit, the plows had been out all morning, and things were just wet. However the rain and sleet would come back to haunt us once the temps droped back down. When we left Rosemont it was about 11 PM; all the rain and slush from the day had iced over completely. I had to force my doors open as they were frozen shut! Cedar and 42 were all glare ice. Saw more than one idiot fly through an intersection after they realized too late they were driving way too fast on sheer ice. We all got home safely and had no trouble driving on some really terrible roads. Best part was pulling into the garage; safe and sound. I know if we had taken my wife's car we would have gotten stuck at least once, possibly ended up in a ditch, or wrose.

I would only replace the clutch disc. You just did flywheel and pressure plate 8,000 miles ago so they should be fine. Sounds like you are going through clutch discs too quickly. 78k miles out of the last one and this one is already down to .052 of .072 after 8,000 miles ? Something doesn't seem right here...

http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32974 Chux wrote a nice how-to for replacing your boots. Sounds like yours is a good canidate; you cought it early. Besides DOJs tend to stay up out of the muck and don't have the range of motion a CV does. While I'm a proponent of just replacing the axle I think you could go either way here.

Sounds like you're building an Outback out of an old Legacy. Why not just buy an Outback?

Not larger as in height or width. I was wanting one with more than a single core. When the thermostat does open it cools off more quickly and can fend off heat soak. It's not really necessary but now is the time to upgrade when I'm already replacing it =)

Hmm... so I'll be taking off the main crank pulley for this one eh? Fun... Last EJ22 I did had a bad key; guess I'll find out on this one! Man if the oilpump is making that much noise it's gotta be getting chewed up bad.... ya think?