MorganM

Anyone found a two or even three row radiator that is built for a '97 Impreza OBS? If so does it have all the bolt holes for the fans? Does it actually fit with the fans on? I'd like to get a multicore radistor but it's gotta fit and work as well. Thanks!

I know what you mean and I wish I could tell but it's omnidirectional! That's why I busted out the stethiscope to narrow down where it's coming from which has proved futile. If I had to guess (and that's really what I'm doing =) I would say toward the back of the engine bay but centered. That's standing over the engine, from the front, while running with the tapping noise.

Tap-a-tap-tap... where it at ?_? Spent about 8 hours on it this weekend. Took off fans, belts, and wrestled with the rust-welded timing belt cover bolts. Finally got the left and right timing belt covers off (not the center one; wasn't in the mood to take the main crank pully off by then) Belts felt tight and I could not move the tensioners with my fingers. Started it up; belts still looked tight (no flopping) and I could watch the tensioner pullies; no bouncing. While it was up on jack stands and running with the tapping noise I went over everything with the stethiscope again... NOTHING. Everything is quiet and what little noise I do hear is way more quiet and different than the tapping noise. Thought maybe the flex plate on the torque converter was loose. So I rolled it over by hand and poked at the flex plate; seemed tight. None of the bolts holding it on were very loose. Put it all back together and drove it to work today. It comes and goes; sometimes it stops making the noise and then it starts again a few minutes later. The rate at which it taps (Taps Per Minute? =P) increases with RPMs and gets more quiet with more RPMs ... I'm at a loss :-\

Ugh; I put a good sized dent in a front fender last week. What year/make/models can I take front fenders from to put on my '97 Impreza OBS? Also the rear quarter panels are integrated into the unibody and can not be removed correct? Got some rust creepking up out of the wheel well. Thx

I thought the Outback wagons looked a little wider =( Thanks!

I really like the early Outback front bumper with the big round fog lights. Something like around a '97 Outback... would that bolt on to my '97 OBS ? I'm just not dig'n the OBS front bumper with the little square lights and rectangular amber lights.

Ah, I totally forgot you essentially have dual transfercases given the integrated Subaru one + divroced Samurai one. So the Subaru stock 1.5 + Samurai stock 2.5 (both low ranges); not bad.

Ah, gotcha... that's how I diagnosed the idler gear an old EA82! Thanks!

I should stipulate that this engine is a long block out of a '95 Legacy. That means NON-Interference if I recall correctly; check? Man I really hope it's just the tensioner pullies. How do you verify this? I can't really take the timing belt off and see if it stops making the noise Just one of those 'replace it and hope it fixes the problem' deals? Ya know; so typical... I buy some cool stuff like rear discs to put on but nooooo.... something breaks and I gotta spend my time and money on that first =P

176,000 miles and I get about 25-26 MPG. She runs rich; I can smell it. Espeically on cold starts. No idea when the timing belt was changed; lets assume never =) I just bought it late last summer. If it were a rod bearing or even a main bearing; wouldn't I hear that with the stethiscope on the block? I put the stethiscope all over the block; top and bottom side and all I hear is perfectly smooth operation with out a hint of tick/tap/knock. I'll try the plug wire trick.

'97 Imp OBS. I'd hear piston slap with the stehtiscope for sure. Tensioner pully is a possibility.

Turning out VERY nice McBrat! Hats off ot you and everyone who helped make it happen; thats one hell of a trail rig. I didn't read every post.... did you upgrade gears in the samurai t-case?

I had a tick that turned to a tap that is now constant and loud. Rarely it will go away but always comes back. It's been like this for several days now. At first I thought it was typical Subaru lifter chatter so I Sea Foamed it and just did an oil change. I really don't think it's a lifter and here's why. Took out my trusty needle stethiscope to pinpoint the noise and could not find any source! You can use this to find out exactly which lifter is making the noise; it's a fairly precise tool. The entire valve train is quiet (even for a Subaru!). The block is quiet, tranny is quiet, and everywhere else I put the needle it was quiet. Loudest things I found were the fuel injectors but the sound didn't match. When I first start it up it's really loud then it quiets a bit after 1 second but still annoying. At 2500 + RPMs it's much quieter but still present. Every now and then it will go away. Best guesses thus far: Exhuast leak (would have to be very close to the head exhuast port to be this loud!) Torque converter Main or rod bearings (but I should hear that with the stethiscope)

Average 25-26 MPG. 90% freeway miles keeping the RPMs under 3,000. I hum along at 70 MPH when traffic permits but plenty of fluctuation from 15 to 75 MPH. Typical day is 65+ miles of highway travel. I very rarely give it more than half throttle but even when I do it just makes more noise with hardly any noticable power increase. Even if I manually shift it and get on the throttle its not like my old '91. She needs some TLC; no doubt there. I'll see what I can do about a compression test; I don't have my own guage yet. However I don't see or smell the typical signs of bad compression (read: blow by).

Was driving around a few months ago. Went to shift into reverse or something and when I released the shfit lock button it ejected from the paddle and flew accross the cabin. I thought "Oh no! I gotta have that to shift right?" Doesn't make a bit of difference from what I can tell. Shifts just fine. I thought the point of that thing was so that you couldn't accidently throw it into park or 1st gear from Drive ?

'97 Impreza OBS, EJ22 na, 4EAT, AWD, 175,000 miles, you get the idea... I would describe it's power as... acceptable. Yeah, I can get upto crusing speed. I can pass people on the freeway if there's plenty of room (I mean plenty of room). From a stop it goes forward well enough. Just seems a far cry from my old '91 Legacy wagon (EJ22 na 4EAT FWD only and 200,000 miles). If I manually shifted the '91 it would really get up and go. No; it wasn't "fast" but it had a hell of a lot more pep off the line and on the free way than my '97 OBS. Does the AWD really soak up that much torque? Even if I manually shift the '97 OBS it's still a gutless pig.

Yeah I can tell you I'm not messing with the ball joint. What a nightmare those are here in the rust belt. I have a pickle fork and the BFH to do it; but if I'm gonna go that far I might as well replace the ball joints which I'm not messing with right now =P I'm dig'n the idea of the top strut bolts. I don't want to necessarily mess with camber bolts; my luck I'll hose it up and be screwed.

Blew a CV boot sometime this winter and the front right CV is clicking regularly now. Just getting some stuff lined up so I can replace it soon. Read over Edrach's article in the USRM; spot on as usuall. I was thinking though; could you skip the whole camber bolt method and just undo the control arm from the front main crossmember (thats how I did it on my EA82s)? Thus giving me enough play to pull the DOJ off the tranny stub and then pound the axle stub out of the hub? Also any good leads on well priced axles? Would prefer a reman'ed or new if the price is right. This is my daily driver so junkyard parts are a last resort. I don't mind using them on my toys and there are some good finds in there for reliable parts but I'd like to start by pricing some new and reman'ed ones =)

With a properly functioning radiator, water pump, thermostat, and radiator cap you won't need more than the electric fan. Clutch is probably worn out on that old clutch fan anyway! Also the thermoswitch in the radiator (which operates the electric fan) is prone to failure given the age of the vehicle. Most people just wire up a manual toggle switch or you can replace the thermoswitch. If you really want to run the clutch fan you'll have to either remove the fan shroud or cut the bottom half of it out so that the fan won't interfere with it.

Let them try the head gasket; especially if a mechanically inclined friend is willing to help Take a nice long weekend; maybe take off a Monday or a Friday. Get started right away and have plenty of time for any problems that may come up. Now is the time to do the... water pump, oil pump, timing belt, timing belt tensioner pulleys, accessory belts (the one for AC and PS). I'd rather spend $500+ and your own labor fixing this engine right than buying some junkyard core that duder assures you is fine only to have the head gasket blow on that one 3 months from now.

For me I had to unplug the cam position sensor, the two fuel injectors on the drivers side, and some little red purge solenoid or something. Then I could pull the wire harness that was in the way so that I had enough room to work on the knock sensor. That was really the only thing in my way. This was an EJ22.

I see the same reasoning in this thread as the reason I went to a Samurai. Built a very capable GL wagon and raged it off road but wanted to go to the next level. I could have spent a few grand and taken a Subaru to the next level OR buy a Samurai (Toyota or Jeep!) that's already at the next level and build up from there. I opted for a new platform and to build up from there. Some people choose to stay with a Subaru, force it to the next level, and come up with some amazingly sweet rigs. Even looking back now I'm glad I started with my Subaru. Had a blast off road and many adventures in it. Learned a lot rebuilding the engine, converting it from 2WD to 4WD, and maintaining it. It's not a bad way to start; in fact I think they are great platforms to get into the sport with. Cheap to buy one, easy to work on, reliable given their age/millage, and capable enough to take you anywhere you dare to drive. Oh, a note on brand snobbishness. I think it's pertinent to point out the difference between super cool Toyota minitruck / 4 runner guys and their snobby Toyota Land Cruiser counterparts LOL! In all seriousness I've met 90% awesome people and 10% jerks out on the trails. Could I separate them by what they drive? Sure. Would it be an accurate depiction of how owners of a particular brand behave? I don't think so. Just my observations.

How goes the upgrade project?

I agree with Joost. The bung is really cheap. Any exhaust shop worth their while could do this in under an hour. Fill in the old hole and weld in a new bung. Or replace the whole cat. converter. Yeah, I know, they are expensive and you can't get one second hand legally. However it's an option.

This was a helpful " how to " for changing a knock sensor. With out that graphic I wouldn't have known exactly how to position the sensor.