GeneralDisorder

Usually not - usually they just won't disengage properly or the pedal snaps to the floor and won't come back up. GD

Have you verified that the valve timing is correct and that the cam pulleys have not moved on the nose of the cams? Checking the timing marks is not sufficient because those will not be out of alignment unless the belt slips. The problem that I related in my earlier post was that the cam sprocket had moved on the cam itself - the belt was perfectly aligned and a check of the timing marks shows nothing. You actually have to tear it down. The ONLY problem the ECU could detect was the misfire. Also have you checked for a bad battery or engine ground? Grounding issues can cause all kinds of problems. I just got a Legacy where the engine was torn completely apart by an amature looking for "sensor" problems when the real issue was an almost completely severed ground cable that couldn't be seen because it was all inside the insulation. Sometimes you really have to dig for this stuff - but it's always something that you assumed was a constant when you started looking - like the valve timing. Your mechanic probably looked at the timing marks, found them to be correct, and dismissed that as being a potential problem. Now that you can't find the problem anywhere else it's time to revisit those things you took for granted at the begining of your search. GD

The anaerobic is good to fill gaps of up to .050"..... which is a LOT. I use it almost everywhere RTV is called for without any issues. I don't use water pump gaskets on hardly anything anymore. 50 ml might do it..... I buy the caulking gun tubes myself. GD

The 90 to 94 OBD-I harness is not a good choice IMO. The '96+ (95 is weird and to be avoided also) is easier to strip as there is no SMJ and only two extra plugs (The OBD-II port itself, and the rear O2 sensor plug). In addition, the OBD-I computer doesn't seem to like cam changes while the OBD-II stuff seems to be much more tollerant. The idle fluctuations with cams on the OBD-I ECU is pretty pronounced. Personally I have decided I won't do any more OBD-I harnesses for my own swaps. The OBD-II wins on all accounts - easier to strip, handles mods better, and it's code-reader compliant. I have not seen an issue with running lean - even on the OBD-I. The frankenmotor is more effecient due to it's high compression and the EJ25D uses the same injectors as the EJ22..... the overhead seems to be adequate. GD

The casting of the idler under the green screw is hex shaped so you can slip a socket and breaker bar over it to use as a tensioning lever. Then you can tighten the blue bolt (I can't recall if there should be a normal nut or a special one back there that prevents it from turning) and it will stay in place till you tighten the green one. GD

Generally speaking the rear components aren't beefy enough for anything other than a stock-power EA series engine. You could upgrade them to handle more but the next weakest link is the 1:1 rear output gear set inside the tranny. Drives from the pinion shaft to the shaft that runs the driveline.... you'll strip the teeth right off those gears. GD

Sweet - glad it was simply a bad fuse in the tail lights, a loose charging fuse, and run-down battery. Easy stuff . Definitely take it for some longer drives . GD

Yep - it's fully seated. You're good to go. Line up one of the ears with the location of the access hole on the engine side so it's easy to stab in the first flex plate bolt. The difinitive test is that as you rotate the TC you should be able to just barely keep it from touching the starter gear. Usually if you just spin them without supporting them in the center they will "grind" against the starter gear till they are pulled forward away from it by the flex-plate. GD

I'm in Portland and if you want me to take a look send me a PM, or an email - cropperr (at) gmail (dot) com. It is possible that you had a piston strike a valve and bend it ever so slightly - this will cause it to not seat completely - and the tapping would then be the rocker arm out of adjustment. You should immediately verfiy the valve adjustment with some feeler gauges. If ANY of the valves have an excessively large lash adjustment then they have been kissed by the piston and are no longer closing straight. That said - IF it's timed properly - you will not get any further piston/valve interferance and it is perfectly safe to run it unless a valve should stick in it's guide or something. With a perfect EJ22 you should see 180 to 190 psi of compression. 150 is low and could indicate a slightly bent valve on an otherwise perfect engine. There's a good chance that you can run it in the short term simply by adjusting whatever rockers are loose..... it's not ideal but if you lack the funds to properly repair it at this time it will get you down the road. Let me know if you need me to look at it and make the call for you . GD

The idle cut is neccesary as without power you will have no idle circuit - just give it +12v. It grounds through the carb body. I don't think you will need to power the bowl vent solenoid. But it's similar... +12v will open it so the bowl is vented - in case you think there's a buildup of pressure or something in the bowl. I've never bothered with powering them. Without the computer they are worthless. They require a square wave signal from the feedback computer.... the frequency of which is based on it's reading of the O2 sensor - they regulate airflow to the high and low speed circuits of the carb..... I would make a note of which ports they connect to on the carb and then likely cap them off at first..... if the mixture is too rich you can then progressively orifice the ports till you find a happy medium. Yeah - or just replace with one from an EJ engine that's newer and known to be good..... they are smaller and much easier to work around, etc. You can also weld up the holes in the EGR valve body (cut off the diaphram portion) and use it as it's own block-off plate. GD

You have to consider that the stock 55 Amp alternator only puts out about 20 to 25 amps at idle. If you are pulling 8 of that for your stereo amp.... not much is left for the rest of the car. Alternators (generators and motors in general) are stupid - REALLY stupid. They will attempt to give you whatever you ask of them. If you ask for 70 amps from a 55 amp alternator - it will do it for a short time (till something overheats and gives up) because there is no fail-safe system in place to prevent it from doing so. Electric motors act similarly - if you ask for 10 HP from a 5 HP motor..... it will try very hard to give you this. In fact it will probably catch fire and burn itself down trying! Not funny - I've seen 4 foot flames shoot out the rump roast end of some rather large electric motors being over-amped. In addition to that, the Amperage "rating" of an alternator is at cruise RPM. Usually 3600 RPM for the alternator which is around 1500 RPM for the car's engine. If it's idling at 700 you have to derate it accordingly. The battery acts as a buffer and will supply some of these amps - but the battery is a double-edged sword because due to it's nature as an electrical "sink" it will drink as many amps from the alternator as the poor thing can make if it's drained. That's why you never hookup a new alternator to a car with a dead battery and then just jump it and go. The battery will take everything it can from the alt and drive it at max capacity - which they are not rated to produce for any reasonable length of time. A 55 amp alt will not survive long if you ask it for 55 amps all the time. They simply arent rated for 100% duty cycle. GD

Dash lights illuminating are almost always a result of rectifier failure inside the alt. That doesn't neccesarily mean the regulator is bad - though it sounds weak from your voltages. It should not dip much below 13.5 even at idle. Check for AC current off the back of the alt - that will defeat the diode protected christmas tree lights and cause them to come on. I think you have a bad rectifier and are getting some quantitiy of AC current superimposed on your charging current. It's worth the peice of mind to get the Subaru reman unit for $75. They will take the Autozone POS for a core GD

EGR should default to closed - being they are only used for cruiseing RPM's and higher. The solenoids on the carb..... are you refering to the idle cut solenoid, and the float bowl vent solenoid.... or are you talking about the feedback duty solenoids that run the high speed and low speed mixture control circuits.... those are usually on the manifold not the carb itself. GD

Run it. It will be fine. Given what you describe under the valve cover.... you have a very nice example of a low mileage EJ22. I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest. The difference you are feeling in compression has likely everything to do with how much the lifters have bled down and the orientation the engine was stored in and where the oil was/was not. Squirt some MMO in the cylinders and fire it up. Rings are not an issue with Subaru engines. It just doesn't happen. You are overthinking this - just run it. GD

And yes - it would be stupendously stupid to open up the engine. If it turns out to be a pile of crap - take it back and get another. I've done it before. That's what warranties are for. If you were going to do that..... I have a company here locally that will 100% rebuild your EJ25D for $1300 and they have one in stock ready to go - you bring your core and you leave with a new engine. They build them like an assembly line almost - lots of demand around my area. GD

I wouldn't worry in the slightest at how long it's sat. I've done a lot of engine swaps and that wouldn't even register on my "Oh $hit" scale. Check for any abnormal thrust play in the crank - if it passes that test and comes with a warrantee and a compression test result - go to town. Repair as needed - engines come with busted and problematic bits on them all the time - rusty oil pan is par for the course. Replace and move on. New timing belt, water pump, idlers, cam/crank seals, plugs, wires..... etc - that stuff is par for the course and usually REQUIRED to maintain the warrantee from the "dismantler". I do them every time. The only parts that can't be transfered to the next engine should it be a dud is the cam and crank seals. Those are cheap. Not even worth mentioning. Drop it in and go. Sounds like a great candidate with low, low mileage. You will be grinning from ear-to-ear when it fires up. GD

If it's not a Subaru reman alternator - ditch it and get one from the dealer. They are only about $75 because your model year had a recall on them. I've seen countless examples of aftermarket (NAPA is especially bad from my expeience) alternators for Subaru's lasting only 6 months or a year before subsequent failure. The reman one from the dealer will be the last one you buy. GD

Short answer - yes. This is called "wind-up" in terms of how gears and gear trains will have a certain amount of lash in them and when changing directions all that lash has to be taken up before the gears or gear train can begin transfering power. Around 1/2" to 1" of rotational movement is what you will see from the normal lash setting of the ring and pinion gears inside the rear diff. The gear teeth are set so that if one gear is held stationary then the other gear can move a few thousandths of an inch (I think around .007" to .010" IIRC) - this allows for heat expansion, lubrication, etc. That tiny amount of play at the gear tooth translates to quite a bit of rotational movement out at the diameter of the shaft.... additional play comes from the gear lash of the spider gears inside the differential and sometimes even from the splined interface of the axle stub where it interfaces with the spider gears.... it all adds up and can seem like a lot. But it's designed that way on purpose. GD

When I first ressurrected it after it sat for the last 5 years - the fuel pump was not wanting to kick on every day. It's an SPFI pump (obviously ) that's mounted in the stock pump location and has a local ground using one of the bolts that mounts the pump shelf or bracket to the body. Might be an issue with that grounding point for the pump. The pump itself is a standard SPFI pump and as such it is a rotary-vane pump. They are not quiet. They are easily audible durring initial key-on as they run for about 2.5 seconds to prime the fuel system. They should also run repeatedly when the green test connectors are connected - those are located behind the driver's side strut tower. If you can't hear the pump running then that's your problem. Find out what it needs - either 12v from the fuel pump relay, or a missing ground connection.... one of the two will get the pump running and that should be all it needs to run again. As for the tail-lights..... that I suspect could be a problem with the lighting switch. The reverse lights were never hooked up after the 5 speed swap so that's a known issue that was pre-existing. The tail-lights and brake lights I *think* were working but I know that Jacob at one point had stolen the headlight switch or something thinking it was bad on his Brat..... turned out not to be the case but perhaps something was not connected firmly enough durring that process..... Edrach should be able to track that one down. Rick

I just had this same problem with an EJ25D (which is what your GT has unless it's been swapped to a 2.2). Turned out the intake cam pulley bolt was not tightened enough when the owner did the head gaskets (himself) and this resulted in the cam pulley bouncing on the cam nose and gougeing a nice L-shaped trench out of the keyway. The intake valve timing on the passenger side was advanced by about 3 belt teeth. Due to the nature of the failure the compression test showed high (but otherwise ok - was around 200 psi where it should have been about 185). The giveaway after many hours of diagnostics was that the two passenger side cylinders had compression that was too high and was *the same* higher number for both cylinders - thus leading me to the valve timing and leading me to pull off the belt and inspect. It's simple process of elimination and sometimes it takes time and some hand-wringing and head slapping to get there - your mechanic gave up too easily. GD

Open it up and take a look around. What I almost always end up replacing is the rear input shaft bearing, and if I'm doing syncro's then that typically means all the primary shaft bearings (bearings that support the shaft and center it in the transmission case). There's 4 of them on an AWD single range transmission but there's 6 IIRC on the dual-range transmissions because the input shaft is split into two sections. So I would replace those 6 primary shaft bearings and then all the syncro's, and all the seals. Be aware that the seals for the front diff stubs are different for left vs. right as they are built for the shafts to turn in opposite directions. Don't bother ordering gaskets - just get yourself a big tube of Loctite 518 or Permatex Anearobic gasket maker. It's a flange sealant product that suits the aluminium mating flanges of the Subaru transaxles very well. You will need access to a press and bearing splitter to dissasemble and reassemble the transmission shafts. It is ABSOLUTELY neccesary for doing the job correctly. GD

It never really happens that way - you can replace all the bearings and it will still be the one's that take the brunt of the force that fail first. And a bearing failure is highly unlikely to "destroy" the transmission. Just means you have to replace another bearing. I've rebuilt a lot of machines - one thing that experience has shown is that certain weak points will fail over and over again while the rest of the system stays relatively untouched by time and wear. Subaru transmissions are such an animal - gear oil is very good at suspending particulates (bearing cage material, etc) and keeping it from harming other parts of the system. It's your wallet, but a careful inspection of the bearings in the transmission as well as a mind toward the forces involved in pressing them off shafts, etc will tell you what needs to be replaced and what will likely last till the next ice-age. That's my advice - I have successfully built Subaru transmissions along with countless other types of machines and there's a line between being cautious and just plain silly when it comes to replacing things like gear-box bearings. Most of them do not need to be replaced and wouldn't even if you ran it another million miles. On the other hand - from a cost perspective, and especially since you seem determined to replace all the bearings which will result in all the shafts being torn completely down..... it would be mind-numbingly stupid not to replace all the syncro's. Those are only around $150 to $200 - orders of magnitude cheaper than the bearings and yet they ARE wear items and you will not get the same fantastic results from "roughing them up" as you will from new one's. You aren't going to "rough them up" in the way they need to be roughed up and you can't replace material that is gone. They are wear items and cannot be repaired. GD

The issue is that the lower bolt for the starter on the '99 won't thread into the block so you either have to leave it off (many folks do without issue) or you can heli-coil the hole in the tranmission and install a stud there (EJ exhaust stud will work - pull one from your dead 2.5 and heli-coil the hole in the hole in the transmission to 10mm x 1.25) to put a nut on like all the '98 and older transmisions are built. It's really not a big deal either way. GD

I know nothing of this sport shift mode deal.... but I can tell you the reason you didn't see the ECU is because it's under the carpet on the passenger side foot-well. GD

There is no difference between the HP output of '90 through '98 EJ22's. They are all ~135 HP. The change happened in '99 when they went to the phase-II EJ22 which increased the power to 147 HP.... but that engine was only produced for 3 years and is NOT compatible with a 25D swap. So don't concern yourself about the power - the '96 Outback had the same size tires and suspension as you have on your '99 and went down the road just fine with it's stock 2.2. You have nothing to worry about. GD