GeneralDisorder

You don't put an EJ22 in those model years - you go to the EJ251/3 because it's much more common and usually cheaper. Swap over the 2.2 manifold, crank and cam sprockets, and drop it in. Check http://www.car-part.com for engines in your area. GD

That's mostly rubbish. Marketing and a$$-covering done by lawyers. Much like ASE certification....You can run a wide variety of oils in a Subaru engine and as long as it's changed before it breaks down from heat and is filtered properly the engine will last the usual 300k miles. Take the "for gaslonine engines" bit for example - diesel formulated oils have shown much better oil analysis results in gasoline engines than gasoline blends due to their anti-wear additives - which are not allowed in the gasoline oils due to emissions requirements. If you want more than that you will have to move to synthetic. And oil changes should reflect the ability of synthetic to resist thermal breakdown for a longer period. Mobil 1 is good - Rottella T6 is better. GD

How many miles since swap? You have a code reader? GD

Dino oil is basically all the same. Get the right weight and change it often. If you actually *care* about your engine then synthetic is the way to go. Right now the best synthetics are actually the diesel blends as they have the best additive packages for prevention of wear. The reason for this is primarily based on the need for gasoline blended oils to meet manufacture requirements for emissions. Diesel blends need more of the anti-wear additives due to the design constraints of high compression, heat, and pressure as seen in the diesel world. The most popular blend is Shell Rotella T6 synthetic. Some of the best oil analysis results are being obtained with this blend. It's also pretty cheap for a full synthetic. Often less than $20 a gallon at Walmart. GD

Hard to tell. You'll have to call the dealer and find out which style you have. Very possible that it may be the 36-2-2-2 which it is doubtful the gentleman with the offer for $15 shipped has on hand as those are exclusive to *some* '99+ models.... In any case they are only about $25 new from the dealer. GD

I went by the chart a while back on an '02 Legacy. Put in an '03 Legacy 5MT and the claim in the charts was that it should be a 4.11 vs the '02s 3.9 so of course I sourced a diff to match and swapped them both. Happy with my forethought to check the charts and feeling good about a job well done I took it on a test drive and within about a mile it began violently popping and feeling like the tranny was about to jump out of the car - needless to say I counted gear teeth and found I had to swap back in the original diff because the chart was wrong. I double and triple checked the transmission numbers and the chart. It's just not correct which means its useless to me. I now go off what I know from experience, and I count teeth. GD

Simple - don't hookup the yellow wire. The 90-94 alt requires an ignition switched 12v lead that the 95+ alt does not. Therefore you simply don't use the yellow, switched 12v lead when you do the swap. Wrap it in the harness so it can't short to anything. GD

Need to know what year and model it is - could be a 36-2-2-2 or the older 6/7 crank gear. GD

The charts are notoriously wrong. It's bit me before. Count gear teeth - that's the best way to know. You can do it from the drain plug's. As for what happens when they don't match: MT: The whole car will shake like it's falling apart when the center diff heats up and starts to lock - this will take about a mile or two to happen. The tires are skipping going in a straight line - just like if you were turning tight circles in a locked 4WD. At freeway speeds this is REALLY disconcerting - it feels like gnomes are banging on the bottom of the car with sledghammers. AT: The rear diff will get really, really freakin hot and especially if there's oily residue all over it they will start smoking. To ShawnW - why not just replace the input shaft bearings on the 4.11? GD

Sure. I could take care of that for you. Just let me know! GD

Some aftermarket sensors are larger than 1/2". Yet another reason I use the eBay L shaped sensor spacers - they accommodate all sensors and are more effective both in fitment and in not requiring a second non-fouler as occasionally a single one isn't enough. $8 for two non-foulers that I have to drill out and mess with and fit poorly or $16 free shipping for the right part.... You do the math. GD

It's just piston slap - its an EJ22 - run it till it blows. It's strikes me that you are much too sensitive to engine noises. This is not a swiss watch nor a Ferrari V12 and should not sound like either. It's an inexpensive 4 cylinder engine that will most likely outlast your wildest dreams if you just calm down, change the oil, and drive the car. If it blows get another engine - they are cheap. In the meantime if something is on the way out there is nothing you can do to prevent it and in all likelihood it will take tens of thousands of miles to kill it anyway - perhaps hundreds of thousands. Just chill and see what happens. GD

Then you didn't install them correctly. I've used at least half a dozen sets of the Monroe strut tops listed there without issue. GD

The 38 DGAS is much too large for the EA82. And no - you can't get enough air through stock heads to warrant gutting a stock cat. The cat is not a significant restriction. Waste of time. GD

Won't work easily since the EA81 uses two-bolt strut tops and the EA82/EJ uses three bolt. You will have to drill two new holes and the location of the holes is not reinforced to support a load. Fabrication is required to do this correctly. You can get EA81 strut tops on http://www.rockauto.com GD

A "low boost NA" is technically refered to as a "high compression turbo". Yes I've seen quite a few of these - it's a popular build for race fuel or E85. Especially in the sand rail community. GD

I use a bit of window screen to keep the JB from seeping down the hole and just forming a new hole again. JB weld is thick but will easily (but slowely) seep into small areas and it can be a pain to get it to stop flowing into the hole and plug it. GD

5 psi is max on an N/A unless it's tuned for E85. As noted - oil plumbing and exhaust fitment are just some of the issues you will run into - engine management, intake plumbing, and many other details which are not well documented in the communities are all hurdles to making it run correctly. It's not a simple task. GD

I've changed direction on this - I'm going with the Megasquirt DIYPNP unit which plugs into the factory harness connectors. $425 for a plug-in stand alone. Pretty hard to beat.... GD

There is no performance benefit to removing or gutting the cat on an otherwise stock motor. This kind of fairy tale wishful thinking is not going to accomplish anything but pollute the environment needlessly. GD

Timing kit for what? I can get 90 to 96 2.2's for about $130 online through Mizumoauto with the Aisin water pump and Mitsuboshi belt. I haven't had a single failure with one of these kits - I have a customer that drives 180 miles a day and over the last year and a half has put over 100k on one of those kits without issue. I just replaced his entire timing kit again due to concern over the mileage (only supposed to go 60k) and everything still looked fine including the belt. A kit for an STi is going to be in the $350 neighborhood. One reason is that I'm a lot less discerning about a '90 Legacy than I am over the parts for an STi. No potential for interference, less expensive water pump, no need to replace the tensioner, one less idler, etc... GD

It's not a concern in practice. The cogged idler is the big failure point not the smooth ones - I haven't even seen a smoother idler failure despite removing hundreds of single row bearing smooth idlers. GD

I probably should say I told you so. Nothing personal - just who I am. GD

A "merge" is different than a "strip". You need two harnesses for a merge - is that what you are wanting done? I strip them for $200 on OBD-II's and $250 on OBD-I's. A merge will be based on what two harnesses I'm merging.... the cost is generally around double the price of a simple strip. GD

Battery is dead or you have a bad cable or end. Power is not getting to the starter. DO NOT trade in a factory starter for some Mexican reman POS. Get contacts from the dealer if you must ($10). I can tell you that you don't have a starter problem anyway and there is no ignition relay in these cars. You have a power supply or battery issue. GD