iriejedi

I'm having a similar "stumbeling at idle" issue on my 09. However the 4 codes I get are a missfire on each of the four cylinders. Have you guys seen this before? BTW I purchased the car as a fixer and just put a used 100,000 longblock (longblock only) in the car since the old one was a knocker.

GD. So if pulling and installing a good used engine you recommend swapping in 10mm oil pumps with used engine installs? I'm grateful we can get info like this. Your experiences are genious!

GD, I don't understand what you mean about oil pump sizes. They where both similar engine's being 2000 - 2002 in years.

So dash gauges are a possible issue although neither times spit coolant or oil. Nor is there reason for second to fail it went twice as far and hard which still was only an extra 80 miles. I think the slight increase in temp without overheating (pegging) is possibly due to bearings failing. Still I find the similarities strange as well....

I pulled the second engine from a wrecked Outback. It seemed very clean, the impact caused the passager cam to slip one tooth. I've seen these run fine when timing is corrected with good belt and parts. This second engine also went about 120 miles over 5 mtn passes at hwy & interstate cruising speeds before the 6th mtn pass back to Frisco killed it. First engine owner said ran fine when tranny failed. That engine never made the first one, Loveland Pass out of Denver. Other than oily the first one drove good around the city it seemed to for me to be okay.... Anyway if a car can survive Colorado mtns it's good to go long distances I figure. Hopping between Denver, Frisco, Leadville, Vail, and back through the mtns to Denver is what I do normally in my car on a weekly basis.

Thermostat and radiator were not replaced however they were not bad as far as I could tell. No overheating to the point at which gauge climbs into hot zone, only climbed slightly below 3/4 mark at first signs of issue, no coolant leakage. Clean engine everywhere on the second one. First engine had oil and or antifreeze near the bottoms of the HG's and had for some time it had seemed. Radiator has coolant.

So I've owned a lot of older Subarus (1990 - 1999) and have recently purchased my first 2002. I believe these come with the ej251? Regardless I bought it with a bad transmission and replaced it as well as the clutch. Changed the engine oil and started driving. Car ran great until I was climbing mountain passes. At 10,000 feet on I-70 the engine begin to slightly overheat not even at the 3/4 mark. Immediately after Crank bearing failure and knocking began. I removed the engine replaced it with a good one and began driving again. Drove over two 10,000 ft passes this morning and on my way back home engine failed in the same place as before with the same symptoms. Never once did the temp gauge go above 3/4 but rather went up only slightly before the crank started knocking. And this occured going up the pass on I-70. I have always used Valvoline 5W 30 and 10W 30 motor oils on my Subies with no lubrication problems. Fresh coolant and antifreeze, no coolant leaks seen at time of failure. The first engine could have had headgasket issues but this second one I really doubt it. Any thoughts? I don't want to have a third running engine installed and get this happening again. Both engines failed within 100 miles of the oil change. No codes, or check engine lights ever came up.

I wish the original topic #2 question of antifreeze types for 2.5L Subaru's 2000 - 2004 was reviewed and answered in more depth rather than everyone arguing about how to burp the system.... No one ever really approched an answer to the "Asian" brand coolent verse other brands or even just the green Walmart glycol. Sounds like anything can be used that has "long life polymers" in it.

I have been experiancing heavy shutter in reversing situations only. 1996 Subaru Outback 2.2L with 5 speed tranny. Anyone else seen a reverse only shutter?

On this topic I'm curious if an 04 short block will work with 09 heads. My 09 is a knocker and I have access to an 04 short block that busted a timing belt and most likely trashed the heads.

GD one last question. Is the 2.5L engine the same from 2005 to the earlier models in 2009? If I do find a wrecked 09 with good engine is it going to fit in the 05 without much extra work like swapping heads?

Thanks GD, unfortunately I have more questions.... If the phase 1 has a thicker case but #3 thrust and phase 2 has a weaker case but with a #5 thrust (superior especially for manual tranny's) can one swap the #5 crank into the phase 1 block or will the 48mm rod journels be to small and case major problems? What I've noticed looking around salvage yards in Colorado with ej25's is all the phase 1's tend have less thrown rods (holes in the block) than the phase 2. Those good phase 2 ej251's are also in higher demand (later model so kind of makes sense) and much harder to find as well.

Interesting, so the 95 and 96 2.5L shortblock has different pistons from the 97 thru 99 shortblocks. Thank you for this insite. Is there other aspects in the phase 1 blocks that make them different (inferior or superior) from each other or the phase 2 shortblocks? I had noticed the 96 valvecovers looked different from the 97 but didn't think much of that. Also with 97 - 99 does one just need thicker headgaskets and their good to go with this type of swap into a later model 2.5? Are the phase 2 shortblocks superior, I sure see a lot of them with broken cases or knocking lower ends where the phase 1 2.5L just seems to mainly have headgasket issues.

To high to be a dependable runner? Higher compression isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially living at 10,000 ft. Swapping pistons requires cracking open the case correct?

I've heard of people doing this personally as well. Is the car you did that swap to still running? I live in Colorado so a higher compression would be nice going through the mtns!

AdventureSubaru, What I do have laying around is a good phase 1 EJ25 from a 1996 Outback that I put a 2.2L in place of. It needed new gaskets and seals. I had a good 2.2L ready to go so instead refreshing that engine I just dropped the 2.2 in it. The block was running strong when it was removed. Can I use this shortblock and put the heads and intake from the 2005 engine which had the blown bottom end on that old 2.5 bottom? Do I need to use special headgaskets since it's a phase 1 short block?

I don't believe the 2002 ej22 engine has the same wiring harness connectors as the 2005 ej25. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Ya seems that one needs to develop an adaptor plate to attach to the intake rather than swapping heads to get a ej22 into a later model Outback.

Not trying to make a race car, just a dependable 2005 Outback. This one threw a rod so exploring options on using a ej22 shortblock. Doing a search didn't yeild much here for the 2005 2.5L.

So I am curious does anyone know about putting the heads and intake from a 2.5L on a 2.2L short block? Year ranges of 2.5L this can work with, reliability of that ej22 type of frankinengine, headgaskets necessary, etc....

I would bet the tensioner failed. I had a 2.2L skip timing about three times in 1000 miles. The third time I reset the timing I swapped the belt and tensioner with a good used pair I had lying around and it never skipped timing again. I just threw out the removed parts so as not to revisit that problem.

Fairtax, your the MAN! Thanks a bunch, I double checked the fuses and tested power to the coil. No 12v on the center wire. Then I checked your suggestion on the harness plug and squeezed them all tight. I think one was kind of loose, she started right up after that. :-)

Thanks Fairtax, this is useful info! Yes Lucky, the timing is correct I'm positive.

I checked power to the coil and was getting constant 12v but I do not remember the color wire. I will double check this tomorrow.

Might not be your daughters fault, heads up. I find removing the oil pump and inspecting them on all timing belt jobs solves many future issues for me. There are screws on the back side of that pump that can loosen over time on about 10% of the cars I do this to. I generally only remove and use locktight red on the ones that are loose. If they aren't loose I don't mess with them. Then it's a matter of replacing the crank seal and using ultra gray permatex to reseal the pump. Read the directions on how to use the permatex. As long as you have it apart doesn't hurt to make sure you have a metal oil seperator plate on the back (stock ones were plastic and they all crack and leek) of the engine not to mention the rear main seals and cam seals up front. The oil pump in my opinion is why these things go bad. The pump ends up starving bearings for oil. I've seen those 2.5's keep running with only like two quarts of oil in them. Never with a loose oil pump screws though. Besides who wants to have to add oil all the time, you reseal it and your need to add oil is greatly reduced. PS. Do the valve cover gaskets as well. I generally spend 6 to 8 hrs doing these little things before an install, I hate having to pull an engine twice because I overlooked those items.