GeneralDisorder

Depends on what you mean by less power. The 2 liter makes power higher in the rpm range. Honestly the EJ25 turbo is a much weaker engine than the 207. And some 207's come stock with forged pistons. There are plenty of 2 liter engines that make a TON more power (somewhat reliably) than any of the EJ's. The 4G63 is easily capable of much more. 500 is a low number for the 4G. The 207 revs faster, climbs higher, and will handle more boost stock due to thicker cylinder walls. GD

There's three connectors under the dash - you unplug the pair that's plugged in, and connect the one that was free to it's mate from the pair. This resets the light for another 60k - then you swap them back again. You repeat every 60k. It's a reminder to clean the EGR. It's in the service manual. GD

As far as casting differences - the 25D block (96 to 98, 4 bolt bell-housing) has some differences in the water jackets around the cylinder liners making them more prone to head gasket abrasion. You can easily tell these blocks because they say EJ25 and they only have a 4 bolt bell-housing. From 99 up to 2002, you find the block (251/253) will have 8 bolts and a 3/4" block breather nipple in the right rear corner (sitting in the car orientation). From 2003 on the block is essentially the same but the PCV valve is located in the block instead of the manifold so the nipple is threaded. Beyond that I don't believe there are significant changes to the block itself on up till 2012 after which the EJ25 was discontinued except for the STI. Then you have the 255/257 turbo block which differs in that it has cylinder wall support bridges at the 12 and 6 positions to reinforce the cylinders. Although this is (IMO) of dubious utility because the real problem is that too much cylinder pressure will crack the liner around the area of least support which is where the cylinder wall support has a relief for the head bolts (at about 10 and 2) (ask me how I know....). I doubt there is significant advantage to the "semi closed deck" and when we really want to put in more than ~26 psi of boost we install Darton sleeves and the closed deck bridges are superfluous at that point because the thicker liner handles the rigidity and pressure requirements of 27+ psi. Even the "closed deck" modifications that some people buy in on are really just a half-baked solution. The real solution is to bore out the liners and install heavy walled sleeves. Then you don't even need to close the deck - which has ramifications in that the ability to flow coolant is reduced. It is cheaper but again like the factory semi-closed arrangement it leaves the thin factory liners, and generally requires boring to the next oversize due to shifting of the bore to deck alignment in the process of installing the deck plating which leaves the liners even thinner..... don't get me started on this nonsense! GD

Honestly the 5 speed is junk, the hail damage really sucks to repair, and an "STI engine swap" is meaningless. 90k on it just means it's almost ready or already has failed ring lands. It will need a proper forged piston engine build, a 6 speed swap, and a whole bunch of body repair. IMO that's worth about half what they are asking or less. GD

Not worth it. You can find an nice STI from a private party for around 10k. Maybe less. Turbo upgraded WRX's are everywhere. I build them weekly almost. The trans is weak and with hail damage.... pass. Find an STI because what you really want is the 6 speed. They didn't swap any wiring. There's no reason to. It's virtually the same. GD

They did. It tripped on my 85 Brat and that was how I first learned of it. It's in the cluster. GD

The TR already had essentially same 2.5 as the STI. Just with a considerably smaller turbo. So what exactly has been done to this car that makes it an "STI swap"? Generally for 2.5 WRX's that means a 6 speed swap in order to properly qualify as an STI swap. Otherwise it's just a WRX with a turbo upgrade. GD

Here's the really fun part. The supplier that sells them to me at that price is the supplier than owns the six-star brand. They have all that six-star stuff manufactured and re-branded for their private label wholesale line. Head gaskets, oil filters, etc. GD

Fail-Pro has never been my choice. Besides I get 642's and 770's for like $29 so why bother? The OEM Subaru turbo gasket has never failed us. GD

You sure it's not the 60k EGR reminder light? That one is automatically tripped every 60k. As above ECS is meaningless on a Weber swapped Brat. GD

Socket head allen is great because when it strips out you already have a perfectly centered pilot hole for your left hand drill bit. Incidentally though, Torx is better and triple square is even better still. They have higher torque ratings and more positive engagement than either allen or phillips. I think at least with Torx you can pretty much replace any of the Phillips fasteners. Although you don't even need the impact screwdriver - just hit each one with a hammer and punch and they will generally come right out. The impact screwdriver is nice though. All in one tool. GD

It's likely a bad sending unit. Since I've almost never seen an EJ lose pressure while running and full of oil.... I guess the only possibility there would be a completely plugged or broken off oil pickup tube. But yes regardless of the reason.... the educational take away here is you MUST shut off the engine as soon as is safely possible to avoid potential damage. GD

You have to rebuild or replace the entire transmission and rear diff to re-gear it. Sure it can be done but the gains will be minimal. At most you could go from 4.11 to 3.90. Not worth the effort for 0.2 ratio change. RPM has virtually nothing to do with fuel economy. Keeping it in lean cruise with high manifold vacuum is the key to fuel economy. 3k rpm is no problem at all. These are high revving engines and they do well at high rpm. If you drop the rpm they have a shorter life with high loads and insufficient oil volume. GD

They are completely different. The turbo has more in common with a Forester XT or an 06/07 WRX than it has with a non-turbo Baja. Go lookup the specs. There's no need to reiterate all that. It is not a bolt on. GD

When you did the clutch did you remove and grease the fork pivot? This is often neglected. I see many clutches that have recently been replaced only to pull them back out for an avoidable fork failure because the tech didn't bother to grease it. GD

I don't know if they are still available - what usually happens is the pivot ball grease dries up, it wears into the fork, and blows a hole in it, or a crack propagates down to one of the fork legs and it flexes - not allowing you to push in on the throw out bearing. You would have to call Subaru and see if you can still get one. Otherwise it will require a used one, or a custom made piece. I'm sure someone that's good with a CNC could manufacture a billet one. Cost would be pretty high though I'm sure. That's all assuming my guess is even correct. You don't indicate a problem with the cable or pedal, and there's no nasty noises that would accompany a failed throw out that wore through the PP fingers so..... that kinda leaves the fork as the most likely problem. And it's relatively common even on new cars. I had a fork pivot ball blow out just a few months ago on a 2006. My graveyard in my lobby display case has at least 3 or 4 failed forks and those are just the ones customers didn't take home. GD

Yep - I've seen this same failure on every first gen I've ever worked on. It's basically a 100% failure rate unless you live in Arizona. GD

Can't really help with that - we didn't get those in the US. All our cars are OBD-II from 95 on. GD

It's pretty much a plug and play - you will have to swap the cam and crank sensor pins, and merge a ground for one of the temp sensors that's shared on the 20G ECU. I think the ESL board and cable/software is around $550 from the UK, and then you can use any 20G ECU - even from an automatic car. You can usually get the job done yourself for around $700 with an ECU. Then you can either tune it yourself or hire someone with a dyno, etc. http://www.enduringsolutions.com/ GD

Sounds like a cracked fork. GD

I went speed density on my Trans Am precisely because you can't find decent MAF's for it anymore. And the MAP sensor is like a $10 part available everywhere. Same with the IAT. Also you remove one more restriction from the intake, and simplify the plumbing. It's a no brainer to go with the 20G and ESL if you are looking at spending hundreds on a MAF. Just delete the silly thing and get full tuneability for any future upgrades. GD

The oil/coolant heat exchanger is pretty useless on that vehicle. Even the 08+ WRX don't have them anymore (STI's still do). If a quality synthetic oil is used it's a waste of space. It can easily be deleted by purchasing the water pump for the MT, and the oil filter nipple and block plug from Subaru. We routinely delete them. GD

Get a new one from Subaru while you still can. Or switch to a 20G computer, ESL daughter board and tune it speed density. GD

Doesn't include the water pump. But yeah that's an independent Subaru shop like me but in Seattle. I'm sure they are using the same suppliers I am for OEM parts. Their cost on those parts is about $156 so that's a very reasonable retail sale price. The NPW water pump is an F28 and you'll probably pay another $75 for that. So figure about $300 for an over the counter OEM kit. That's about what I charge on my invoices when performing the complete service with labor. GD

Probably not because of the weird front facing nipple oil cooler port on the water pump. Delete the oil cooler and use the manual kit or buy the individual components from NSK, NTN, Koyo, Mitsuboshi, and I'm pretty sure NPW makes that weird water pump although you need to buy an OEM gasket because they come with paper. GD