GeneralDisorder

It won't work without the AVLS unless you are willing to try to tune the AVLS out of the computer. Might be possible. I've never tried it. You can get remanufactured short blocks from Subaru for about 2150. They come with oil pump, pan, water pump, etc. Your heads are probably fine - disassemble them and clean them out. There are MANY oil passages and ports that must be cleaned on the AVLS heads. GD

You may find that the head gaskets are leaking onto the cooler/filter. This is typical of those models. The coolers leak too. GD

Fuel injector o-rings do this in cold weather. We have had multiple complaints on this due to exceptionally low temps in early January. GD

Thanks, Tex. I'm just really busy these days - not much time to post. I can be reached at my email though: rick@superiorsoobie.com Lostinthe202 and I will be independently developing some EJ257 deck plating for high boost applications. To get much past 25 psi you need to reinforce the top portion of the cylinder liner/wall or you will peel it open like Elmer Fud's shotgun where the reliefs for the case half bolts are located. GD

The only 2.2 that would fit his car is from a 99 to 01. And they aren't worth having. They have piston ring problems and typically burn copius amounts of oil - worse than the 2.5. The fix for that engine is to replace it with the 2.5. The 2.5 has external headgasket weeping problems - fixed with the 770 turbo gaskets. Install new rings, knurled piston skirts, a 10mm oil pump and run synthetic oil. That will resolve all the problems with that engine. GOM - Your 2.2 has a headgasket failure. That's why you can't run any cooling system pressure. Yes the 2.2 will blow head gaskets as well. GD

Don't bother with head gaskets - throw on a gates timing belt kit, cam/crank seals, cam support o-rings and valve cover gaskets and just run it if you are otherwise leaving it stock. GD

Turbochargers themselves are relatively "delicate" and need proper air filtration or you will blast the aluminium compressor wheel with debris and erode it - not to mention destroy the "delicate" mechanical seals. Though I would not characterize the fuel injected air filtration systems as "delicate" - in fact they are very little different than the carbed models. Most automotive carbs run horribly off-angle and getting them to deal properly with higher-than-atmospheric pressure is challenging at best and depending on the carb model may be impossible at worst. Subaru never attempted it AFAIK. EA81T's were MPFI. Your fear of timing belts and chains is completely unfounded in the Subaru world. In 17 years of working on and driving thousands of Subaru's I have NEVER seen a timing belt break. Tensioners, idlers, and water pumps fail if not replaced every 100k or so - these can *lead* to belt skipping and/or failure. Belts never break on their own in my experience. Chains are even better and often last the lifetime of the car. Belts and chains are efficient, quiet, and VERY reliable. In fact the last time I saw a belt break was on about a '96 Camry 4 cylinder. It did no permanent damage. GD

With conversion to R134a there needs to be less volume, by weight, of R134a than the system was designed to use with R12. There are many charts online that will give the weight conversion. Also the fittings for charging must be changed and the receiver/drier should be swapped out (cheap) as well as the o-rings on it's fittings and the compressor fitting o-rings. About 4 ounces of system oil (with UV dye for finding leaks) anytime the drier is changed should be added. Then the system can be safely charged to R134a (to the proper weight). GD

Not possible. Valve covers are entirely unrelated to clutch problems. You just have a bad flywheel surface or lack of grease on the fork pivot or throw out quill. If you need a good shop to do the clutch, etc for a good price let me know - I'm in Milwaukie: Superior Soobie and Import 503-880-4084 Rick

It won't do it in all cases but it's the biggest piece it would seem. I've had to do pumps, rebuilt lifters, and cam tower o-rings to make it stop - only to have it return not that many miles later. Bottom line is the engine design is prone to ticking and you may or may not ever get rid of it permanently. It's a crapshoot at best and as a shop I have to tell people that it's something they may end up living with no matter how much time and money they spend on it. Generally though I agree - new oil pump has the highest probability of fixing it if you are going to point at any single repair. GD

Use www.rockauto.com - their catalog has lots of pictures so you can match up part numbers and then call your parts stores. GD

You have to check the design of the seal pocket you are installing any given seal into in order to determine how the seal should be set. With the older Subaru stuff (pre-2000) you generally set them flush with the casting and not to the full depth of the pocket to avoid covering the oil return hole provided for draining away excess oil. As for treating the edges of the seal - clean oil on the lip and nothing on the OD. These are rubber coated seals and do not require a sealant. If the seal fits too loosely I will often use a smear of loctite 248 - which is just the glue stick version of 242. It holds like a demon on the OD of seals. Often when attempting to remove them they tear half the rubber off the OD of the seal due to loctite bond. It's impressive. GD

Check the ground on the passenger side of the top of the intake - near the coil pack. GD

Yeah 12mm for the coil pack bolts. Oil leaks would show up on the ground - the coil packs are not tightly sealed to the valve cover so any leaks would be evident long before you have to pull a coil to find them. GD

It's about the same as any other DOHC like the EJ25D, etc. Except it has coil packs and the plugs have longer threaded sections. You will want a wobbly spark plug socket and a variety of 1.5" extensions, wobbly extensions, etc. Remove air box, battery, and washer reservoir. Otherwise pretty straightforward wrenching. GD

Crank pulley bolt removal is super easy. You use a deep socket, old 1/2" ratchet, and a 4 lb hammer. Inertia does the work. Hysteresis is your friend. I've probably removed 1000 pulley bolts with no fuss. Loctite or not - doesn't matter. GD

Just fashion a new one from some similar thickness plastic. Not rocket science - just has to be non-conductive. GD

Crank pulley bolt is easily removed with a 1/2" ratchet and a 4lb drilling hammer. Hysteresis is your friend. GD

There is no "least amount of rewiring" to be had. You have to swap the entire engine management regardless of which way you go. It simply isn't worth it. Turbo cars are all over the place and you can easily have one shipped. Saying it will cost less than an '05 STi is silly - when you consider what you are getting for the money spent on the '05 vs. a turbo swapped '96 Legacy done by someone that's never done an engine swap and has no idea what that will entail.... you are getting MUCH more for your dollar buying the STi. A 2.0 will not make STi power and then you have all the rest of the car that totally blows by comparison. Suspension, brakes, steering, interior, etc, etc. To build out a '96 Legacy into a comparable for the '05 STi would be a lot more than just buying the STi. And the engines you are looking at pretty much suck. 2.0's are notorious for rod bearing issues and quite frankly buying a used, turbocharged sports car engine is a huge gamble and therefore a bad investment. GD

That's a $35 part and you don't even have to remove the transmission to replace it. You need a better mechanic not a new transmission. GD

Three Bond is a brand name - like Loctite and Permatex. They make a whole line of sealant products and you can't refer to "Three Bond" without talking about the sealant number. Same goes for Loctite, Permatex, etc. Japanese companies tend to use Three Bond products because they are a Japanese product. When I worked with Kobelco it was the same way - we used Three Bond products. They just didn't rename it "Fuji Bond" or "Honda Bond" like the car makers do. Personally I use Loctite 518. I rarely use any RTV products except for things like GM V6/V8 intake manifolds, exhaust gaskets, etc where the imperfections in the surface are very coarse or the gap is very large. The oil pump is a machined flange and has very tight tolerances - a thin smear of 518 is all you need. That is exactly the application it was made for. RTV is messy and goes bad in the tube just laying around. Anaerobic's have an infinite shelf life and are less messy. GD

What's "bad" about it? Most can be fixed and will last longer than a used replacement.... GD

I use Centric calipers and Pads. I have not had a lot of luck with Autozone components but I have a friend that works at the Zone now and he says they have improved quite a bit. GD

You can't use a gear puller - if it won't come off then you have to tap the holes provided in the sprocket to 8mm x 1.25 and use a dampener puller. GD

It really doesn't matter who makes them - the filters are made to Subaru's specifications. The problem with Fram filters has always been the material quality they are made from. From a manufacturing standpoint it makes no difference what factory the filter comes from - it matters what materials and quality controls are used on that specific product line. The Fram over-the-counter filters are not made of the same stuff nor likely with the same quality controls as the Subaru filters. A filter production line is a filter production line - what you put into the machines for filter medium, bypass valve components, anti-drainback components, seals, etc are what count and if Subaru is specifying what they want in their filter then it shouldn't matter who's machine it's being produced on. The only concern I have is if I have any of these filters on the shelf. GD