Bushwick

You dyno'd a before and after and saw zero change? I'd expect a couple hp/tq to be freed up (with a capable muffler), with maybe a slight loss in off idle torque or something. I've had positive results with my other cars and MPG always improved, even if only by a very small amount, but then again other small supporting mods were also included to achieve best effect.

What size rims do you have? $472 installed isn't bad considering mount and balance is included.

Suppose that'd be easier to torque if you have an impact and those specialized black swivel sockets that can withstand an impact wrench.

Well, went back to AWD and the noise up front never occurred. So it seems to be related more to when the front was lifting excessively. Kinda funny how this thing likes to spin it's tires with forced FWD. Between the excessive weight transfer to the rear and the gearing, it doesn't take much. And the rear end whine has subsided once again. Sometimes it's slightly pronounced, other times it was barely audible and sounded more like normal steep gear whine. Guess both of these issues are getting filed away for now until something breaks or gets worse.

Dual tips are a nice compromise with some mufflers when you are limited to how large of an exit diameter is offered as they obviously allow more flow to exit and lessen any bottle-necking in the muffler. Although I'd rather get a small single out and cut the pipe off at the muffler back, enlarge the hole, then weld on a larger outlet rather than a dual-tip with the particular muffler in mind. The Summit Racing Turbo mufflers are traditionally styled mufflers, have a decent sound, and are extremely light + really inexpensive & compact. The galvanized ones don't last that long when subjected to salt, but they sound really nice and give a stock-like performance note, though I'm guessing the stock cats on these cut most of the fun noise out. If I had the gusto right now, I'd stick a single high-flow cat in as the factory units look like bloated HP robbers, then maybe do a "Y" pipe near the rear bumper and run dual mufflers. A Frankenmotor would probably really benefit from that type of setup. Glass packs are too loud Guess I'll just look for a 2.5" outlet (better looking tail pipe ) and match to an adapter, or 2 adapters as going from 1 7/8" to 2.5" typically isn't normal and see if the extra flow helps. Figure freeing up 5hp and dropping what looks like 40 pounds of factory muffler would be worth it, though MPG is more important in this car.

Haven't checked u-joints. The sound was further up in the engine compartment, and only occurred under harder acceleration with FWD forced. There's no delayed clunk when going into reverse/forward gears either. Not near the trans tunnel either. Haven't driven in a couple days, still need to see if it occurs with the rear axle engaged. Never did in the past, but the front doesn't lift anywhere as much with the rear axle active, which I think would point more towards a suspension piece or a mount somewhere. The more lift the front gets, thew harder it it'll pull on the end links, which pull on the swaybar. Thinking it's up around there. 95' Legacy wagon in the sig.

Seems I still have a factory muffler (or factory replacement), with the TINY outlet. Anyone bother putting a freer-flowing muffler on their NA EJ22? Any improvement in MPG or midrange power? Between the weight and the overall restrictive appearance of the factory GIANT muffler, looks like it could use a little help letting spent gases exit easier. I always use Summit Racing turbo mufflers or Thrush's equivalent in my cars (not the loud ones), and the sound barely changes but the there is usually an improvement over stock. A 2.2L should have a minimum 2.25" exhaust and muffler, I'm guessing mine is 1 7/8"? Was thinking of getting a 2.5" outlet muffler, and adding a jump adapter to get it to match the factory pipe. Should help reduce back pressure a bit. Any muffler anecdotes people want to share?

Ignore this double post. Had a time out during the making and it doubled.

My 95' is OBDII. It's possible you had an end of the run 94' drivetrain that was squeezed out as a 95' or something. It's not entirely unheard of for previous year parts to find their way in, or god help you it was a rebuild or a previous theft vehicle

What is sipping? Are you guys talking about adding studs or something?

Eh, in the Ford stuff it was a bolt and cover, slip gear off and new on, and you have correct speed. Unless trying to trick someone into thinking your car can do 0-60 in 2 seconds , always found it annoying and it racks the miles up prematurely on the speedometer (or slows them down). Can be easy to get a ticket if you aren't paying attention.

If you are constantly pulling hills, what kills an auto trans early is: 1. HEAT; 2. Leaving in overdrive. If you install an aftermarket trans cooler with a small fan, the trans will live longer. Pulling steep hills is just like towing, so leaving in "3" will prevent the converter from locking up, thus adding life to the trans. Routine fluid changes are also a must.

That stinks. Around here the EJ2x engines are a dime a dozen and go for less than $150. Swap in a new block and/or heads, and you could have more life out of it or sold for 2-3 times easy what scrap prices go for.

The struts are dry. Actually, with the exception of a very slight leak on the passenger side valve cover, there are no other visible leaks which is always puzzling. Are there any other hydraulic bushings or hydraulic motor mounts up front? I remember about 5 years ago my mom's Buick LeSabre had a near identical puddle towards the center of the engine. The oil smell was unfamiliar as well. Puddle size was about the same, same color & consistency. Had no idea at the time what is was, then discovered the front motor mount ruptured (40k miles and it failed).

Are you guys/gals saying the entire engine needs lifted out of the engine bay? Or are you unbolting everything, unbolting the bellhousing + converter, then pulling the engine forward a couple inches towards the radiator to give clearance? Also, can you leave the exhaust attached at the headers and just unhook the exhaust mounts and let the entire exhaust go forward with the engine?

Snatchedhatch made some good points about the dry/wet/braking/snow/noise, etc. of a tire. I spent awhile on tirerack learning about all the different ratings and trying to get a "new eyed" insight into what would work best for the intended car. What was amazing is how some well known tires excel at one area, and are completely lousy in others. I focused on all-around handling wet/dry/stop and went with the tires that were getting the most positive reviews from the people buying them. People doing write-ups about their tires is fairly brutal and appears uncensored (on that site). So if the tire has lousy dry/wet braking, or their MPG increased by 1 point, you'll read an eyeful.

The rear diff either has 80w 90 or 85w 90. I'm just wondering if the ring and pinion might be engaging incorrectly at times, or if something is worn and allowing the carrier to shift slightly i.e. worn spacers or failing carrier bearings? Under load it's always been quiet. But the coasting howl has me on alert. Well, that oil on the driveway wasn't grey. The sound is a knock....knock....creak..knock, but again only occurred with around 50% or more gas pedal. Enough to break traction and lift the front up. The rubber spring lifters in the rear are preventing full squat, so the rear is staying up more. Suppose I'll try and run it hard w/o the FWD fuse and see if the sound up front persists. Never heard it before with AWD going. Easier to live with noisy bushings over a winter than a possible CV failure.

The control arm bushings are hydraulic? *sighs*. I had noticed a very small puddle of "oil" about a week ago, under the evap canister area on the driveway. It didn't smell like engine oil, or any oil I'm familiar with. Definitely not trans nor power steering, nor non oil smells like coolant. Seemed similar to cooking oil. Couldn't see where it was leaking from either. I'll bet that's where the "oil" came from. The "howling" sound is more inline with steep gearing whine. I put 3.73's in a 79' Mustang with an 8.8 swap, then decided to run 4.10's. I remember the 4.10's had a tinge of noise which was apparently normal. It's similar to that. Low pitch whine when coasting, immediately disappears when you push the gas pedal, returns when coasting. Last time it happened (months ago), I found my rear tires were roughly 10 psi low, filled all 4 to be identical, whine stopped. It's slightly unpredictable at this point as after I installed the rubber lifts, it wasn't as consistent.

tirerack sells rims, for excellent prices, AND they list the weight of the rims. If you can get 17 pound each rims, you just dropped 30 something pounds off what Texan was saying. Tires have different weights as well, so to further the effect you can get tires that weigh 2-4 pounds less each, so that 30 pound drop just became 40. Pull the rear spare (if it has one) and the jack, and you just dropped another 40 pounds. So 80 pounds getting pulled (40 of which is unsprung weight) might not sound like much, but in a race against an identical model, you'd be a touch quicker. Your MPG will be a touch better as well. Next up I'd suggest a true cowl induction hood. The lighter, the better. Hoods can weigh as much as 65 pounds (in general), so pulling 40 pounds of hood off and and having the cowl effect pull in air at the back of the engine, the car will be quicker, not to mention the cold air pulled will cool the intake and probably the trans depending which route the air travels. Next up I'd suggest lowering the car 1.2 to 1.5", and installing adjustable shocks/struts. This will make the car handle much better, and the adjustable struts will allow you to cater to soft to hard ride. Upgrading a a larger diameter rear stabilizer bar will also improve handling, though be careful how strong of a bar you install as it might cause the rear to kick out if you aren't careful. Next up I'd suggest a front and rear strut tower braces, as they'll help keep the car flat in the turns, which is really nice. All told, do everything above and you'll drop roughly a 100+ pounds from the car, while increasing it's cornering ability. The weight savings and lowering will increase MPG. To further increase MPG, go with synthetic fluids to reduce internal friction further, though with synthetics jumping to a RIDICULOUS $9 a qt. the last few months, basically doubling their cost, it might be a little bit of a put-off.

I buy my new tires from tirerack.com. They show actual ratings and many tires are actually tested to give their reviews. Even with shipping (from Indiana warehouse) I bought some really nice Japanese tires for my Saab when I with the BBS in my avatar. Total price shipped was under $450. They also have authorized install locations (basically mechanics that will honor their tires to install as some places are picky) so use their locator. Some places charge more per tire than others, so keep that in mind. One place might charge $15 per tire to install (normal) while the other place might charge $25, which means you just wasted $40. To even get a local place to put similar quality tires on, it would have been $100-200+ MORE.

OK, a few nights ago I heard a decel whine. Figuring the tires might be getting under inflated, I checked but they were all spot on. While checking the air pressure, I went ahead and installed those 2" spring lifter blocks on the rear springs as the car was squatting a bit (about 150 pounds of equipment in the rear) and wanting the ride height OK for the snow that's coming (front struts are newer, so the car had a fairly ugly negative rake). Drove around and the whine stopped (for whatever reason) but occasionally came back, though not as loud. Seemed as though is was a central to rear whine sound, but hard to detect location. On a hunch, I decided to pop in the FWD fuse and see if the sound would persist or not, and drove 20 miles. During that time, the deceleration whine stopped completely. BUT, anything above 50% throttle was causing a clunking sound up front. Seems more prevalent under straight-line acceleration and not present during turns. It sounds similar to a CV clunk, BUT it wasn't speed consistent. Mash up a creaking wooden ship on the ocean with a CV clunk sound, and that's what I'm hearing. With forced FWD, the front end rises a lot (gearing) obviously at it's throwing the weight to the rear, which seemed to play a part in the noise, as light acceleration didn't make the noise, nor does turning. 1. What causes decel whine on these? Carrier or wheel bearing? Cold weather? Rear end fluid was replaced when the rear crossmember was done and isn't leaking. 2. The clunking.... could it be something with the sway bar mounts? As the car is trying to squat in the rear, maybe it's lifting pressure on the sway bar C-clips or the end links are clunking?

That really stinks. I don't believe the 91' engines were interference engines. Meaning, if the timing belt let loose, it'd just close all the valves at once as they physically can not touch the pistons. If it were me, I'd get a second opinion stating exactly what's wrong (I personally don't trust mechanics). If you have Pull-A-Parts near you, you can get an entire running engine for under $150. These cars are pretty rugged and what you remembered about your prior one remains the same throughout the 90's. Might be able to trade with someone (that car for another that's running) or find someone on here semi-local to you willing to kill some time on a weekend to get you squared away. Never know.

GT 96-98; If the speedo is "off", wouldn't that suggest a different final ratio? If all truly 4.11:1, then what's different? I know Ford's T5 trans had interchangeable teeth gears that allowed the gear cog in the trans the speedo cable fed into to be swapped out to the correct rear end final ratio to keep speedometer correct. Is this not possible with Subaru? And still confused how the GT 96-98 (with 4.11's) would connect correctly and give a different road speed? Thanks.

A little back story to the car and your issue would be nice. Did the engine just let go? Was it making any noise? Is the timing belt still attached?