Bushwick

Wastegate pressure of 5psi can be tolerated on a 9.5:1 assuming you run premium (speaking in general here). Engine will be a tad more responsive than dropping compression, and 10-15psi you really need a proper ECU managing everything plus a bigger fuel pump. Don't forget, you'll need to tap oil feed and return lines, coolant lines, switch to turbo exhaust manifolds and down pipe, run intake piping to turbo and intercooler, etc. and the gains will be barely worth it as 200hp really isn't that much better than a reliable 160hp (frakenbuild) you can install and forget. If the turbo is tired in the present car, it'll be tired after the swap, and becomes a liability if it's got play and the blades are touching or it's bearings are worn. You'd be better off selling all the bits and all engines and swapping in an EZ30-EZ33 and have the actual hp + tq to make it move w/o the hassle. Hell, buy a rusted SVX for $1k and swap it's heart over, sell everything left for parts, and you might come out ahead with extra cash plus the bigger engine. Or, why not just run some ej22 heads on the ej25 lego engine and call it a day? Power would be respectable for a daily driver. Sell off all your bits and pieces or try trading them for some good ej22 heads. I'm normally the last person to give anti-turbo advice, but unless you have a full-running turbo donor, I think sticking to NA or a flat 6 will be a better choice.

You can get an inexpensive aftermarket CD player with AUX input and even USB in the $80 range for something like Pioneer, or go off-brand and save $20. If you can tolerate used, you can get a 1-2 year old for $25 that would have been mid-range when new. Would sound better than stock.

There's your answer. Both "fender benders" are why you have a mis-matched trim. If the actual body panels are the same color and match up well enough it's not a concern (it bothers me when I can tell a bumper is a shade off due to being cheap and having a GM color instead of "correct" color to cut cost/corners or body shop does a poor match) and all you are dealing with is the trim sections, that's fairly cheap to deal with. If it were me and the trim really bugged me, I'd purchase all the missing "smooth" sections and just replace (they should match up with non-painted/textured trim). Shouldn't be more than a couple hundred at most assuming the yard with the trim isn't gouging prices. Other option would be to get the correct "smooth" trim sections, remove yours, and drop them off at a REPUTABLE paint shop and have them color-code match the lower body color (you said your car is 2 tone, so go with the lower color) and also correct both bumpers so they'll match. As time goes on, it'll hold up better and stay appealing longer. The "bare plastic" trim that many car manufacturers went to (Ford did it with their Escape for example) which is a molded in color and cheaper to spit out, tends to fade badly over the years.

Pinched that middle line and idled for a couple minutes, and nothing dripped in the rear. Thanks again for piping up Fairtax!

I'd say whatever the majority of the trim is, is what's supposed to be there, but considering 50% of the car is one thing while 50% is something else, suggests it was in an accident (probably minor like sliding on ice and into something where a side of the car was scratched and one of the bumper covers was damaged) and everything was replaced on the cheap. Other issues I've seen when I worked for a used car lot years ago is basically all lots buy their cars at auction. Some buy specific cars (like say you trade a Ford Escape into a Subaru dealership, it has low mileage but Subaru doesn't want a Ford on the lot, it'll go to auction despite nothing being wrong with it; other end of the stick is a higher mileage or a car with some battle wounds, repos are VERY common) while others look for cheap fixer uppers they can throw $1k at and sell it on their lot for 5-8x what they paid for it as it still books high and technically has lower mileage. If you are concerned, consider running a full report on the VIN, and see if it's been in a serious accident. If the VIN is clean through ALL reporting agencies, it's possible the previous owner wiped out, repaired on the cheap (DIY) and traded it in and avoided reporting the damage to the insurance company, etc.

When you say "one side of the car" are you saying left side is different than right side? Or are you saying top is different than bottom? Also, what year/model are we talking about here?

You can literally swap the heated elements into virtually any seat. It's basically a really long, small gauge wire that's sandwiched inside this thin material that borders on being transparent. The wire loops back and forth inside the material, which is in the seat back and seat bottom. The material sits directly under the seat cover and on top of the padding. Within the material, there are several loop points where the factory tied them to the actual seat sections (zip ties work great) so they won't bunch up or move under the seat covers. There is one trouble spot though with the seat bottom portion of the heater. They weave the wire in a long "S" section under the left and right side (left/right thigh area) with a single crossover wire up near where your knees are. They didn't add enough material where the lone wire connects left/right, and it can pull the wire and eventually short it out. So if you take a 12v battery (I used a 12v cordless drill battery for ease) and wire it directly to the switch's power leads and the seat doesn't get warm on low or high heat, it is fixable. I opted for a single 16 gauge wire, stripped about 1/4" off each ends, and made it about an inch too long on each side and carefully pulled the coating off the broken section (you can easily see a burnt section under light as it'll discolor the white material) and soldered that in to complete the circuit. After both ends were soldered back, I made sure the new section wouldn't be pulled apart (reason why it needs to be longer) and took the gorilla tape and applied to both sides of the fabric so that would now sandwich the fixed section. Then added even more tape on the center area for added strength (like a 6" x 8" area reinforced with the heavy tape couple times over where the spliced in section is dead center of that tape patch on both sides). I mistakenly thought the heater section was OK when seat was purchased, and cover was yanked by the time it was discovered bad, so couldn't return. Went ahead with the repair instead and it'd been heating up every time. All you need is the wiring leaving the seat, then traveling to the seat heater switch. Two wires exiting the switch are 12v+ and -. The high/low function is directly controlled in the switch. The heater element itself has a thermostat near the back of the fabric with built-in temp sensing on/off. I forget the on/off range, but it's something like 80 degrees on, 110 off or something like that (need to read the literature). This means you need to be sitting on it for it to warm, and once it gets hot enough, it'll shut off. If you run your panel heat HOT, it may not kick on. I noticed if I keep the back windows slightly cracked and get a crossflow, it'll stay on.

I'll try pinching it then. Before touching anything, it just had a drip. I think the upper section (that's hidden) to where the return rubber hose was replaced, was rotted enough that the small pressure applied while getting new hose section on dislodged the hard line and hence the annoyance at an extra large flow leak. At least it sounds like most of this can be accessed through the cabin area, which is a real relief. Real head scratcher why they ran the lines like that. I saw a recent article Subaru is moving to a completely modular 1-size fits all platform that will serve as the under pinning for all future models. Hopefully they learned what works and what doesn't, as it'll either be a blessing or curse to have everything running off the same platform in years to come.

To be completely honest, all I wanted was the heat element from the donor. Once the covers were off, my seat had an almost brick-hard foam with this thin, barely there 1/2" foam square that was all the actual cushion there was. The factory lumbar supports (also being brick-hard) had split and pulled off from the seat metal wire (seems the foam is molded over wire, and mine was pulling off the wire) so I shot some glue into the rip, then busted out the gorilla tape (gorilla tape is a thicker, stronger, and better tack type of duct tape) and pulled the lumbar sections back into place over the entire area of both lumbar. Then, the new foam was laid onto that, including the wedges I cut to mimic a lumbar on both sides, and I also did the same with the upper back bolster supports. You can't even tell there's this heavy duty tape under the factory cover and it's been almost 2 years now and still holding up. For the heater element fabric, I just used small zip ties and left them semi-loose so the material could move a bit (actually, I might have used both seat sections from the 98' as I think I had to reuse the anchor points in the center seat area to secure the heater fabric, I can't remember). The 95' seat cover amazingly fit the 98' "upgraded" seat fairly well. I pulled the cover on, and the upper area has a knob on the side that adjusts a bar in the seat back, that either lets you sink back a bit, or sit more upright. Once cover was on I was able to poke a hole through the fabric so the stem for the knob was visible. The actual knob is wide enough at the base to cover the hole and stem, so it looks factory. Once I realized the seat height would work with what was there, I used it as well. The only real issue I encountered was all the padding on the seat bottom that was added, made it tight to get the seat bottom cloth on. A couple anchor points were different/nonexistent between the 95' seat covering and the 98' metal base under the seat. I just used zip ties (liberally) and anchored the cloth with those instead of the seemingly tempered steel hog rings that would have been too short. If you want to attempt this (or any part thereof) remove seat from car, unbolt the seat back from the base so you have 2 separate sections, remove the hog ring loops that hold the fabric in place, then pull covers off like pillow case comes off your pillows. It's as easy as that. From here, do whatever you want. If the hard foam is ripped at the lumbar (think both 95' and 98' seats were in my case) use a glue and add some type of grippy tape to help pull it back together and keep it together (I taped entire section and ran it as long as wide as possible). Add some 3/4" foam on the area you'll make contact with, add lumbar and bolster as needed, and trim so edges are smoothed and add more tape as needed so it doesn't shift. Think I used some spray adhesive as well to add in tack. In lieu of reusing hog rings, a ton of zip ties work great and allow custom tension. You can't even tell the seat has been mixed up and the factory coverings look correct. The big bonus is instead of sitting on a pile of bricks (hard foam) the seat now holds me like a glove. Some of the padding flattened out a bit (to be expected) but the remaining is still comfortable. Think it cost $45 for donor and $35 for the foam sections. Well worth it. Biggest issue with this car is the interior isn't a solid grey. It has some maroon mixed in as the car is taupe colored. Also, if your leather is worn and you can find a donor or afford new covers, it's extremely easy.

For future's sake, the reason "non-readiness" typically occurs is due to the pins in the OBDII dash connector can back out of the casing just enough to break the connection. I've had the happen in a 96' Ford and 99' Saab. In both cases, my guess is the auto parts stores that had previously checked codes for me, forcefully pushed their connector in at an angle which dislodged the car's pins which backed out completely during a subsequent test. Unscrew your OBD II connector from the dash, and let it hang. Very carefully inspect the pin crimps on the wires feeding the connector. Since all pins are identical in length, their crimped sections should be in a straight line. Look for a crimped section that's a tiny bit longer, as that indicates it's been pushed out of the seated position. Just push it back in, and if need be hold it tight while trying to insert the test connector. It seems once these pins have been unseated, they'll continue to back out. If bad enough, connect tester end, then manually push each wire crimp forward so the pin is contacting the tester leads. Also, it might be one wire, or several wires backing out. 1/16 of an inch is more than enough to break the connection, but not enough for the entire wire to pop out of your connector. Any time a car goes from 100% no problem testing to a non-readiness, this is almost always the issue. I stopped letting others connect testers due to this. I'm surprised they failed the test because of this. Ohio will instead do a tail pipe test if there is an issue with the OBD device.

Thank you! The access panel you mentioned, that's the one under the rear seat? Or is there one in the actual hatch area as well? Does the return line attach near the fuel filter up front under hood? Or does it T off the fuel rail somewhere? Dunno if I can risk limping it as-is the 2 miles to closest parts store, so thinking of temp plugging return (should rule out if return is leaking at another point or if actual fuel line is) otherwise gotta risk driving it.

Look at this way, if you don't do it now and the belt snaps while cruising at 45 mph on the highway, causing you to pull over and call a tow truck, where you'll wait 3 hours for the guy to show, plus being late for wherever you were going, plus the cost of $50-100 to either tow it home where you'll spend a week on here asking if you bent the valves or not OR have it towed to the mechanic who will tell you you bent the valves and instead you'll be here asking if you can swap heads from another car, etc. etc. etc. OR you could spend $120 (roughly) for new belt and pulleys, tensioner and a Saturday afternoon and avoid all the BS. Your choice.

Have it diagnosed by Subaru. Whatever is wrong, they'll find it. Since car is out of warranty, I'd be paranoid with saying key words like "turbo" as that's an expensive repair to pay someone else to do, and they might go overboard and not care it'll cost more to replace an entire area vs. repairing a small defect. So you'd be vague and just explain what it did while you were driving, how you ignored a warning something was wrong, etc. not what another shop said as they obviously didn't fix it and were guessing (don't go back to them).

My driver seat was just a basic cloth manual seat w/o height adjustments, and the seat was actually really low to the floor which was surprising. I found a 98' Outback seat (IIRC it was 98') that had heat and height and mounted that to the 95's manual track, so it slides front/back + has the long lever on the side that raises seat height. I reused 95' bottom cushion with 98' seat back as it had a manual seat back knob adjustment, and all the cloth needed was a careful hole for the knob. I went to a Jo-Ann Fabrics (cloth material store) and purchased some of their (expensive) foam cushion sheets which come in different thicknesses. I put 3/4" sheets on the area where you sit, along with the seat back middle, then cut thicker 3" sections with razor to mimic bolster and lumbar supports. I glued them and also ran some gorilla tape to hold the pieces together (you can't see any of this once cover is on). Then ziptied the heater element (which needed a small repair to the wiring) in place, giving it room to move a bit with cushion in place and to tolerate getting in/out of car constantly. I removed my basic cloth seat cover and removed the worn leather cover off donor, then reapplied the basic cloth over the Frankenseat making any new holes to accommodate the cloth as needed. The cushion padding will compress over time a bit and might make fabric harder to stretch if you go crazy with cushion thickness, but overall it'll restore the firmness of the seat and make it 10x more comfortable. So I was able to add heat, add height adjustments, add center back adjustment by fitting 98' seat top to 95' bottom, add fresh cushion to restore/improve lumbar/bolster support as well as center comfort to seat and back, leave everything manual, and keep the harder to find factory cloth in place to match the interior.

Well, not sure how to proceed. From what I can tell, the factory tension clip rotted off the return line's rubber section up in that pocket near the control arm, and there's enough psi in the line to have fuel leak past, and it appeared to be leaking at a rusted section. I carefully scored the old hose off with a razor (wishing I'd just added a new clamp and left the hose alone) and worked the new hose both ends, as careful as possible. When engine was started, it puked gas in the area. Tightened the fuel line-style clamps further, and noticed it was still leaking, but the fuel seems to be leaking from a top-down orientation. It would seem there might be another rubber section up in that cubby area (the fuel lines enter the body at one end, under the back seat cushion; the opposite end seems to hook back around above the cubby and can't really tell where it's going) that might have a rusted clamp as well. Reason I'm thinking it's a hose with rusted clamp is the leak is soaking one the metal lines and I can see the fuel coating it vs. just random spraying. Anyhow, I can't really see HOW in the hell you are supposed to get at the lines that are routed back through the top of the cubby? Are these feeding the tank? Or are they feeding lines that enter the engine? Again, to be clear, the fuel lines entering the cabin area under the back seat aren't where the leak is. If you follow those lines OUT of the seat area, they start feeding back towards the rear (outdside) of the car for roughly 8" then up, then apparently forward again unless they are feeding the hard lines of the fuel pump assembly? I'm not entirely sure how to proceed. And want to avoid dropping the tank if at all possible.

Did you actually take the heads to an engine builder and have them checked for warpage? Did you tighten the head bolts correctly (does Subaru use stretch bolts?). As Fairtax mentioned, did you pull the plugs to see if they are actually wet?

Leaving a radiator cap loose, the system will NOT build up pressure. This is actually a trick you do to get a car limped home, like say you have a pin hole in a heater hose line, or if the radiator is clogged externally (external row fins caked with heavy mud). Engine will still run, and it'll get warm, but it won't pressurize the coolant. I wouldn't buy it as-is until you see the cap replaced and the system pressurized, then run it to temp. I would install a proper cap (not you, him, or take one from one of your other cars that'll fit) and let the overflow work and drive again. If it shows signs of a HG issue now, hammer him on the price (for wasting your time). If the body/interior are good enough for an ej22 swap, you can always go that route and sell the old engine off. Wish you were closer as I'd look at it for you and could help. Gotta agree with others though at this point that the seller is being a little too sneaky. I drove almost an hour south to buy my 95' which I believe the seller had been trying to sell for roughly 10 months. They lived in a rural area not easy to get to. Engine had lifter tap, and rear crossmember was completely shot, and it needed a brake line, but everything worked (heater, AC, power locks/windows/mirrors). I think they were asking $1100 or $1k. I went over the car completely, and pointed out the lifter noise, it had some exterior scratches (his mom was the owner and was in her mid 70's and getting forgetful, etc. which appeared true) and I finally said I was interested at getting it road worthy again, but would he be willing to work on the price with me as it was going to need towed + the work to get road worthy again. We finally settled on $850 (IIRC) and it's been a champ the past 3 years now and it had the ej22 and a good trans. TBH, the guy was fairly firm in the ad, but once it became clear I'd get the car running (road worthy) and take care of it, and people weren't exactly in a line to buy the car (the crossmember scared a guy off prior but he was honest about everything in the ad) he was willing to negotiate. Unless the body is pristine, you are better off waiting and finding something better with a seller that isn't keeping little things from you. I know when I sell a car, I'm 100% open if it needs anything, as well as explaining what's been done to it.

While you are at it, go to Giant Eagle (or similar) and purchase several cans of "oven degreaser". The generic versions of Easy Off run about $2.50 a can. They contain lye, which is bar none the best oil/sludge remover and 10x better than $6 can of "engine degreaser" the auto parts stores sell. Shake can then spray on block, oil pan, valve covers, k-member, etc. Let it set for 4-5 minutes. It'll foam up lightly, and will pull grease/sludge/oil up into the foam, along with loosening the nastiest of sludge. After 5 minutes, spray off with garden hose. If any heavy sludge is left, spray again and rinse when ready. Your metal will look like it did when new. Can even use it on the insides of your removed valve covers, just be sure to rinse thoroughly and dry before reassembly. Do NOT use it on polished aluminum as it'll dull the finish. Rough aluminum won't matter. If you have layers and layers of sludge on the k-member, get a plastic scraper to get heaviest gunk off, then spray with the oven cleaner. 3 cans should be enough. If a little gets on rubber rack or CV boots, rinse off then wipe the boots down with a rag.

^Steering shouldn't have any play. With engine off, wheels on ground, key in ignition until column won't lock, grab steering wheel and apply light rotational pressure (light meaning you aren't trying to move the tires, just check slop) and the column + steering wheel should be tight left to right and right to left. Heavy play (an inch of play is excessive and dangerous) indicates steering column knuckles are probably worn or the input gear at the rack is. With front tires OFF the ground, grab one at 9 and 3 o'clock, and try moving left/right and inspect for play both at the wheel bearing and tie rods. Grab at 12 and 6 o'clock, and try moving in/out, again observing all the components for play. Tire should feel "tight" regardless of direction you are trying to move it assuming the steering column is locked. Heavily worn tie rods you can try grabbing their shaft and lifting up and see if they are loose in the socket. Usually, if bad enough, when going over uneven roads, you'll find the steering is "loose" and tires are following the uneven dips despite holding the steering wheel firm. If it's bad enough to cause the steering to drift and you are constantly having to correct the wheel position, it's not safe to drive. If a tie rod pops out of the socket, the wheel will turn loose and can cause an accident, or severely damage the assembly.

Where the heads reworked to remove the warping? If you run tap water in the cooling system i.e. add tap to coolant, deposits can build in the radiator just like they can on a shower head. Over years, they can limit the radiator's ability to cool the engine. Since you are getting hot after pushing the engine harder, it could be the radiator. Do you live in a dusty area? Lots of dirt roads? The exterior fins can clog up if enough dirt/dust or pulverized gravel constantly packs in there or cakes up with the condensation. Under loads, it'll cause the temps to rise. Idle engine and it'll cool to normal. Can easily rinse the rows with straight garden hose water w/o the nozzle attached. Just as it exits the hose, is all the pressure you want, and avoid dragging the brass across the fins. You'll know if the fins are gunked up if the water exiting the opposite side of the radiator is dark and dirty. Once clear, move the hose slightly and keep at it. (hold hose to fins so water passes through the fins and exits other side) Sometimes the AC condenser can get filthy too. It's "free" to rinse and takes maybe 15 minutes. I always rinse mine any times I'm messing with a radiator. To inspect the rows, the level needs to be a little low and with cap off, you can try and see if the tube row ends have calcium built up. Often, the very upper rows aren't as bad, it's usually the middle sections and below. If the edges have any mineral deposits, suspect the insides can be clogging or very least reducing efficiency.

Maybe our expectations are changing on what's considered the norm nowadays? I could live with a slightly slow cam timing, but can't imagine it being perceptible in a fully warmed engine. My Saab has a 2.0L with rebuilt/custom turbo and the oil level never seemed to dropped, though it does have oil squirter jets and oil cooler, and that has 175k+ miles on stock bottom end. My Legacy doesn't seem to be burning any off either and I think it's hit 181k miles. I let the last oil change go about 4k (full synthetic Valvoline 10w 30) and while the oil was dark and ready to be changed, and despite new valve cover gaskets the damn thing still drips a tiny drop here and there; next time will add some RTV to gaskets) and the level was barely 1/8" down on the stick, which I attribute to the valve cover gaskets. All driving is the dreaded city driving with rare highway at this point. My previous 96' Mark VIII had 62k when I bought it, and 128k when I sold it, and even running the 4.6L DOHC and I think 5w 30, it never dropped levels either and that car saw a ton of Ohio to Indiana and Ohio to PA trips, weekly, with a ton of city driving too. Only time it had an oil issue was when the oil filter adapter gasket failed, and it puked everywhere. Once fixed, it was always very close to max line level. It would seem the switch to mineral oil-like thickness is to appease tighter EPA regulations with no concern for if the engine will actually make it or not

Get it figured out? Was it actually knocking or have you passed on it?

My 95' ej22 just has exterior rust issues, occasional brake line rot, occasional steel fuel line rot, and rear cross member was replaced after getting it. Being 21 years old and seeing it's share of Ohio winters, it's still a very strong car IMHO. I wanted a winter car/truck with AWD/4x4 and was interested in Subaru as I could never find anyone really bad mouthing them, and it was pure luck I got a desirable year/engine model, OBDII, dead simple layout, non-interference, etc. Other than a simple fusible link jumper wire in the engine fuse box failing and car batteries not built as strong as they seemed to be in the past, it's always started. Heat and A/C still work. Added heated driver seat element under factory cloth from a OBW and so far no regrets. Being in Virginia, it might behoove you to travel a bit south or S/W to get a cheap, no rust variant. I'd say mine qualifies as a great college student car, even in wagon.

0w 20 is crazy. So is 7k mile changes (I realize this is coming from Subaru). Makes me wonder how many of these engines will even be in service in the next 10 years, as that type of consumption is high enough many people could be 2 qts low and not even know it. Also, it makes wonder if the newer WRX high spun bearing failures are related to this? 20 oil seems very thin for an engine being worked harder. If it won't break anything, consider running a 5w 30 full synthetic and see if consumption lowers, and also note how dark oil is vs. before. If it were me and I wanted to keep the engine in top shape as long as possible, I wouldn't go over 4500 miles of light driving w/o a change. They've clearly got an issue and are apparently ignoring it. Be proactive.

Anti-seize is your very best friend. Buy a tube of it and throw in your tool box. When installing the new cover, apply some to each bolt, and make sure the cover holes have some on their inner surface. A little dab goes a REALLY long way, so no need to over do it. Used it on any thing attached to the engine that doesn't require thread locker instead. Next time you need to pull a cover, 5 ft/lbs and every bolt should crack free. Consider replacing the junk bolts too. Can also use it on bolts/screws that thread into the plastic radiator sections including fan assembly. Mine had none, and was a nightmare too.