sparkyboy

Maybe there is simply an air bubble or your thermostat isn't opening. My 2.2 would get hot on rare occasions, so I would feel the top hose and it would be hot, but the bottom one would be cold, same with the top and bottom sections of the radiator. I fixed it a couple of times by squeezing the hoses and the thermostat would open. I had a failing radiator cap that caused this nonsense. If it just the fans not coming on, the car should cool right back down once you start driving again. These cars have a sensitive cooling system and have to be filled a certain way to minimize air bubbles. Water should flow immediately to the heater core, so if the heater hoses are staying cold, or only one gets hot (check the bypass hose) then you have the right idea about looping the hose so you can drive her until you replace the heater core, but it probably just needs a flush. If the heater core had a leak then it would fog up your defroster, but maybe the leak you have is a tiny one. But small enough to let some air in while cooling off Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but I thought that an easy way to test for head gasket problems was to take the radiator cap off and turn the starter, and if a bunch of coolant squirts out then hg for sure, but maybe that is just for one that is blown and not just leaking a little?

I completely agree with you, she is plenty quick and I have trouble getting traction as it is already. I can burnout well through second if I do it on purpose. Don't really want to mess with a good thing.The turbo would be a cool setup if i had another car to experiment on, maybe the car gods will show me some mercy in the form of an RX or GL coupe with a blown engine haha!

Hey, thanks monkeyposeur. I don't know anything about the ej22 turbo models. I'll have a closer look at this car and see what the deal is. I am a tad reluctant to start dicking around with my 86, because the swap took me 8 months and is running fantastic, in fact almost 10,000 trouble free miles and beast off road :-) I thought i recall reading somewhere that an ecu from a 99 2.5 will work nicely to boost an n/a ej22. True or no?

So this car must be swapped already then? Guess I will ask him about it and see for myself.

I am considering purchasing a 91 legacy lsi with a seized engine. I have a spare ej22 from a 92, non turbo. Are there any diffrences between the blocks with the turbo and n/a? If i can simply swap cylinder heads i would flip this car quickly... I also have an 86 GL with a 95 ej22. Would i be able to put the turbo goodies on that car without a bunch of nonsense from the ecu or something goofy like that? I looked at the wiring diagram for the 95 and noticed a boost sensor, but couldn't find it on the pinout. If i steal the turbo stuff for my 86, will my n/a ej22 be an easy swap into the lsi body? I have the ecu. Thanks for your help, boys.

I would like to offer my perspective on this subject. I have owned a handful of late 90s and early 2000s ej25s. They are excellent engines but at least for me, a head gasket failure was inevitable. Every one I had had a HG go on me. I also own several 2.2s, although never a phase 2 engine like you are considering buying, although I understand they are essentially the same engine save for the valve interference differences. I have never had a head gasket failure on a 2.2, and I once overheated the piss out of one, rod knocking and all. I still drive her to this day, all I did was change the oil and get a replacement heater bypass hose. I am the kind of person who maintains his cars well, but almost never does preventative maintainance, such as changing head gaskets on a 2.5 if I don't know the history or it has been x amount of miles since the last set. I always wait to experience a failure or signs of failure before I do anything. The one exception was when I bought a ej22 for my 86 GL, and resealing one is very easy. The timing belt is cake too. Parts are plentiful and cheap. If I were you, or had a budget of $2,000 for a car I would buy a phase 1 ej22 car and drive her silly. You won't break anything if you have a timing belt failure and if you are anything like me that is good peace of mind because I won't change a timing belt unless the car starts running goofy from a skipped tooth or a complete failure. I just saw a clean 95 legacy (one of the better phase 1 ej22s because some of them have obd2 diagnostics) for $550 on CL here in CO that just needed a clutch, if you can find a deal like that, then you would have money left over for some boss snow tires or another car or what have you. :-) Either way you go, I think you will be pleased with your new car, Subarus are great cars and even the 2.5s which I think kind of have a bad wrap as far as the head gasket issue goes are quite fantastic.

If anyone would like to see how i got the factory ea82 radiator to work with the ej swap with flexy hoses and two silicone adapters that are $5 on ebay i will get some pics. 1986 GL Oh yeah and fill the engine through the top hose first is the way i fill with coolant and it has worked well for me

Thanks fellas, that's why I always come here for Subaru repair advice!

I do plan on trying to use a thread chaser first, i haven't had a chance to look yet but she told me that the spark plug blew itself out of the head.

Thanks, i figured as much

Hey fellas, my girl has a 1995 ej22 (in an 86 GL ) :-) Well the cylinder head needs to be replaced due to a stripped spark plug thread. My question is, it's the passengerside head and i have a 92 ej22 that i can take the head off of. There can't be any reason i can't use a 90-94 head am i right?

Good tip! Keep rollin now that you are comfortable with the brakes!

My 96 did some wacky stuff similar to yours, when coming to a stop she would stop running, I usually didn't notice until I tried to go again! Mine would always restart immediately however, and no codes. I switched the maf with a junkyard piece and it seems to have solved the issue. She hadn't done it since. But on a side note, sometimes she wouldn't start first time of the day unless I disconnected the maf, then started her and let her run all crappy for a bit, then hooked it back up. She would die again at that point, but started right back up. food for thought, I would clean the maf first then maybe try another one to start with. some say that the vehicle speed sensor causes stalling when coasting to a stop with ej swaps, but I never connected mine on my ej22 swap into an 86 GL, and no stalling like that. cheers man, hope you find the problem!

I can tell you my experience with the ej swap in my girlfriends 86 GL. Hers was an ea82 carbureted model. I was reading in numbchux's write up that it is only the ea81 models that experience this type of fuel starvation. I can tell you after nearly 2000 miles on the swap, that we have not experienced these issues, and we have run the tank down to almost empty. It does have a monster fuel pump installed, but I think as long as there is sufficient pressure you should be ok. One critical piece of advice that I learned from GeneralDisorder is that you have to switch the return and vent lines at the front of the tank, otherwise gravity will cause fuel to flow back through the vent line and come out of the evap canister, which will result in the engine getting flooded and stalling. Other than that, all the fuel lines are factory size and location, including the steel lines and the ones coming out of the firewall. Happy wrenching!

1986 GL with a 1995 EJ22 2" Homemade lift Factory everything else!

Sorry to hear about your Loyale, nighthawk. If you still have the old girl maybe we can do an ej22 swap someday! I'm down to help! Good luck on finding a first generation turbo legacy, those are really cool cars! When you get one you have to get a lowering kit, those cars look super cool when they are slammed! I have seen a handful of them on Craigslist around Colorado. If the car gods are good to you, maybe you can find another turbo leggo that has been wrecked or something but has a good turbo ej for your Loyale! Cheers man

Yup that's us! She named her car Ragnar but I call her the baby lion :-) Kevin told me that you ordered the 2" lift kit for your loyale, very nice indeed! Check out these pics of us 4 wheeling at guenella pass! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/162350-high-centered-gl-beast-in-the-snow/

My 96 has 315,000 without problems! IMHO the ej22 is best in an 80s body :-) My girls 86 GL has an ej22 with nearly 200,000 miles, the last 1500 or so in the GL and I simply love that car

Good work man! Glad you got it fixed :-)

Thanks fellas, yes we will be MUCH better prepared next time!

Guenella Pass, CO High centered, 86 GL 2+ feet of ice and snow, A nice guy in an F150 tried to help and got stuck well before he made it to the GL! 2 Snowmobles helped pull him out luckily! (3 hours of digging!) The snomobiles couldn't budge us! More digging and luckily some sunshine to help melt the snow and she drove out completely by herself Turned around under a tree, then drove straight back on the pavement! We had to spend the night in the car! -heater works nicely :-) What had happened was some other guys 4 wheeling got stuck and dug themselves out, then the hole they left got covered in snow! Lessons learned that day: -We need to buy a winch! That would have saved us 15 hours of digging! -Keep calm and dig on, we literally had to dig to the dirt road underneath the snow -It is well worth the cost and going through wiring hell to install an ej22 into a GL -4LO on these cars are beastly! we made it farther than anyone that weekend! Cheers boys!!!

i just completed an ej22 swap for my chicks 86 gl. The car is pretty quick now. it can keep pace with my brothers bmw and is faster than my camaro in a drag race!

Sorry about your luck man, these things happen no matter what you drive.

Merry Christmas everyone! A nice running engine for your daughter's Subaru is a great gift! I think she will learn her lesson about checking the oil more frequently now. Maybe Santa will bring her an oil pressure gauge for a stocking stuffer!

Good work man! If your daughter breaks her car, make her do most of the engine swap!