GeneralDisorder

Yeah - look like a rebuilt engine at some point - those little tabs are what my head shop uses on all the heads I have redone to indicate an overheat failure. They don't appear to be melted out so that's a good sign. I would be willing to bet that it's just a stuck valve - probably not bent because these are non interferance engines. Pull the head and go from there - could have been a poor rebuild and perhaps it's burning oil - thus lots of carbon and a stuck valve. Getting the engine mounts back into the cross-member sometimes requires a bit of prodding - try lowering the engine down till it's just putting a little pressure on the stud them take a big screwdriver and a hammer and smack the stud in the direction of the slot. Once you do that you should be able to pull the rocker bolts and slip the head off. If you need a head I'm sure I can come up with something. But it might be easier to take it down and have just that single valve repaired - any heads I have will be used and likely will need at least a resurface. Repairing that valve shouldn't cost more than $25 or $30 I wouldn't think - new valves are only like $10. GD

I've looked at some like that. I too would have passed. Not worth the effort. GD

It helps to note which EA82 lower hose you are using - the '80s one or the '91+? One. They changed the lower radiator nipple in the early '90s and so there's a different hose called for. I can't remember which one I used now - maybe you know Tom? GD

Yeah - the fact that it doesn't start and it overheated - I agree that you might have a timing belt issue. Pull the covers and inspect. Could have easily skipped a few teeth. I've seen that from a seized water pump. GD

Almost a non-existent failure in the scheme of things. If properly maintained the belts will never break. It's so rare that I've never even seen a breakage personally. It seems like the way to go when you come from the EA82 land, but ultimately the EJ belts are really large and strong. I've seen belts that did NOT break after water pumps and cogged idlers seized - I've seen the cogged idler actually use it's bolt as an axle and the engine still keep running for 150 miles. I used to think the same as you - till I started working on a lot of EJ's - now it doesn't bother me in the least. The chances of an ignition component or other electronic part stranding me somewhere are higher than that timing belt breaking. GD

Typically it's 700 to 800 RPM for most any Subaru engine. Though we didn't get that model specifically here in the US. GD

You have to move the hill holder and the distributor is very close to the master cylinder bleeders - but it will work. You might have to notch the driver's side frame rail to clear the valve cover on that side. Depends on your transmission setup, etc. I put one in my Brat - hate the engine but I had it and it's got low mileage so I put it in there a few years ago. +1 on the EJ22. Way better swap and it actually fits with the HH and MC, etc without modifications. GD

. I remember rust like that - when I was working on Hummer's in Hawaii. . We were replacing brake lines of course . You needed a tetnis shot just to look at the Army trucks on the island. It was shocking. GD

Hhhmmm - I thought it was because of the head change..... there must be some other changes made in '97 then. It's hard to follow the evolution when they change stuff every year . GD

Some years yes, other's no. They existed on my '84 wagon and other's have found them to exist on their's as well but some do not. Investigation is the only sure way to know if the capture nuts exist on any particular car. It could be that the wagon got them and the hatch didn't in some years, etc - just no way to know for sure. GD

I completely understand - perhaps the solution is to enlarge the IAC passages to provide for a larger adjustment range and more air for the modded engine - the IAC was meant to supply air for an EA82 which is only slightly more than a stock EA81. It is possible your engine needs more air than it can currently provide. On an otherwise stock EA81 I've been able to get the SPFI to perform very similar to stock..... but as you say it could be outside it's air/fuel limits on a modded engine. The only solution for that would be to move to MegaSquirt, use a larger throttle body from something else entirely and change things as needed to compensate. GD

Is the check engine light on? GD

You need a 3/16" pin punch. Sears, etc will have one. You can drive it out from either side - pay no attention to that advice . It's not a tapered hole or a tapered pin. It's a standard 6mm roll pin. GD

'96+ Subaru's are all interferance (even the 2.2). The '95 EJ22 was the last non-interferance engine made. When they went to the solid lifter, roller rocker, single port heads (in '96) the EJ22 became interferance. The EJ25D's are all interferance in that the valves can hit each other and the pistons if the belt breaks. They have pop-up pistons that extend beyond the top of the deck. About 75% of the time this results in valve damage but it can usually be repaired. Figure probably around $200 to $250 in machine work to repair the heads. And another $300 to $500 or so in parts to do the timing belt/head gasket job. I'm doing a valve job (burnt valve) on a '97 EJ22 right now and the machine work/parts was over $800 my cost but that includes $220 for reman injectors and seals since the burnt valve was likely due to a clogged injector going lean. GD

I assume that part doesn't matter right? There's nothing about the ABS, electronics, rear diff, etc that's going to care what type of center coupling it has right? How much are we talking? And if that's the case I can just use the front driveline/shifter bits from the '97 and those should bolt up right? Thanks for the heads up - I like things to go easily but I've found differences that no one talks about when I've done stuff like this before and it's caused me issues. GD

As I understood it, there were two years of the Forester XT's with 5MT's that had a 4.444 final drive. So those parts can be ordered here and installed into a number of other 5MT turbo transmissions. The cost is pretty high of course so probably people are getting the stuff used for less from Japan (out of used JDM tranmissions I suppose). Basically, the gearing inside the transmissions stays pretty close to the same within a small range. The final drive is often changed to make the car feel more/less sporty or to offset a larger/smaller tire/wheel combo. But it's not that cut and dried - the differences between say 3.9 and 4.111 is REALLY small. The first generation Legacy (90 to 94) had a 4.111 final drive. In '95 they went to a 3.9 final drive. The gear ratio's in the transmission probably changed a bit as well, but I recently put a 4.111 tranny/rear end from a '91 into a '96 with a dead 3.9 tranny. The difference is not even noticeable. Really - unless you get the transmission gearing AND the diff from something like an Outback, etc where the final drive was actually modified to offset the larger tires then you aren't going to affect much change by changing only the final drive ratio. You have to look at the total package and how the gearing inside the transmission is setup AS WELL as the final drive. The end result is what matters and there's a bunch of ways you can get there. Very tall gears inside the transmission will still make a car slow even with a high final drive ratio, and very short gears will make it fast and with no top-end. The final drive ratio is chosen mostly for what it will do to first gear - which is nearly always very similar on all transmissions. If you want something that *jumps* off the line (or to correct for larger tires) then you choose a higher number for your rear diff. If you want a more economical and reasonable acceleration then you choose a lower number. GD

You are not EVER supposed to touch the throttle plate stop screw - it is not an adjustment. It's only purpose is to keep the throttle plate from jamming in the closed position. The only idle adjustment is the IAC. Have you run a D-Check? The crankcase is part of the metered air system of the SPFI - make sure you have no leaks - valve covers, oil dipstick, etc. GD

That might be the case. But if you let the Yield soak in for a while and periodically reapply it, it can and will do wonderous things to rust. Also - if you can apply shock to the rusted parts - all the better. Even a hammer/punch will help break the bond. Put a backer behind it and smack it a few good blows with a punch. Then more Yield, etc. I have a very high percentage of success with rusted and frozen parts using heat, shock, and penetrants of various types. Just yesterday I removed an EJ crank timing belt sprocket that was badly fretted and rusted in place. The Yield eventually moved it and I was able to get it off after about 30 minutes of working it. Broke the sprocket but those are easy to come by and I saved the crank nose, oil pump, and block so all is well. Patience is the key really - and knowing when to use force, how much, and when to "move up" the scale to more intense tools. It is actually very rare that I have to break out the blue wrench. GD

Sounds like you were trying to remove the ball-joint jam-nut on the bottom of the control arm. That is typically a bad idea since they get rusty and messed up down there and also you usually end up destroying the boot on the ball joint and thus needing a replacement if you get the ball joint out of the control arm (it's a tapered fit and they are REALLY tight sometimes). The best option is typically to take the inner control arm bolt loose (the one that holds the control arm to the engine cross-member). Once that is out the control arm is free to move outward if you disconnect the sway bar link. Just those two should be enough to get the axle off the tranny and pull it out of the knuckle. GD

That's correct - just swap over the flywheel and you are good to go. Yeah we pretty well knew all that but thanks for putting it in here so people can find it in the search. GD

Flare nut wrenches for sure. Yield and heat will help. Heat it up and then dowse it with the Yield. Do that a couple times then use the flare nut's on it. It might be worth investing in some decent Flare-Nut wrenches for the brake line/hose sizes you deal with most - in your neck of the woods that would seem a solid investment. GD

If it's been sitting for a while the lifters can bleed down and Subaru says it can take as long as an hour of driving for them to properly inflate. The ATF won't hurt anything in any case. It will tend to knock loose and soften oil varnish and deposits in the engine though which can be helpful. 198k is about 2/3 of the normal life of the EJ22's with normal maintenance. With exceptional maintenance and synthetic oil much higher than that is possible. 300k to 350k is typically where people start seeing major internal failures of one form or another - rod bearings mostly but when those go they will tear a hole in the top of the engine block and it's pretty obvious. I don't think we should jump to conclusions like that for your's just yet though. GD

I found a '97 for $375 local to me with 110k on it. Any OB tranny from '97 to '99 would be a 4.11 correct? I suppose it doesn't matter since for just a bit more I could probably get a diff to match it. Thanks for the reassurance guys. I think I'll pickup this '97 I found and see how that plays out. Got this car for a song with a totally shot 5 speed. Won't go in any gear and only sometimes will it move in reverse GD