DerFahrer

This is really starting to scare me. I'm not getting rid of my old Scoobs anytime soon, I'm just too in love with them. But let's face facts here: they're doomed to failure eventually. I will have to replace them someday. But I don't know if I'm going to replace them with a new Subaru. The stories I read and the business tactics I've seen is really making me wonder what Subaru's future is. It seems like they're "selling out." Now that the WRX is here, many customers are drawn to the whole line of Subarus, even if they don't get a Rex. So I think Subaru is just throwing cars together as cost-effectively as they can to boost their sales figures. Joybell is 100% correct too: us long-time loyalists are not going to be happy about it. And Subaru can't afford to be throwing all their loyalists out, they make up too much of the demographic.

It's nothing new, us 90-94 Legacy people have been chasing after it for YEARS. Try these things: 1) Make sure your alternator is good and not giving the electrical system bad juice 2) Change your knock sensor. If you look straight down on the engine on the driver's side of the throttle body, you will see the circular sensor bolted to the block. Chances are, if you find the connector for it, it will be the original gray. These were problematic in that they were oversensitive and prone to cracking. Get a brand-new one from the dealer, and make sure it has a white connector. This is the updated version which has dealt with those problems. 3) Try a fuel-injector cleaner called Lubro-Moly Jectron. It's a German company, their products are widely used in Mercedes and VW's. Run 3 bottles in 3 consecutive tanks, that should help out a bit too. If this still doesn't fix it, learn to live with it. I've improved upon it in literally dozens of ways, but never completely rid myself of it.

I was ecstatic when my 91 sedan got 24mpg average. These cars aren't especially fuel-efficient, I'm afraid... :-\

I have a much larger (1544X1024, 303KB) image of the one you see in my sig, without the descriptions. I don't have any way of hosting something that big so post your email and I'll send it to ya...

It's nice living in FL where they don't really care what you drive Still would have difficulty with a title though...

I wouldn't put a CAI on a 1.8 or a 2.2. One deep puddle and your engine is toast. Besides, it won't net you very much HP anyway, at least not enough to warrant the work of installing it. Put a K&N panel filter in the airbox. It's the best intake you can have.

What a shame. Why Subaru could build indestructible engines in the past, and not now, is a head-scratcher. So apparently, Phase II EJ25's aren't safe from HG failures either... Do not, under any circumstances, accept this ghetto-rig. The car is still under warranty, they should remove both heads, machine them back to specs, replace them, double-check the head bolt torque, wash the car inside and out, put a brand-new air freshener on your mirror, and wave goodbye to you with a smile even though you didn't pay them one red penny. I would accept no less.

If you wanna completely reseal it, you're also going to need the rear output shaft seal, might wanna get new reverse light/neutral safety switches too. That's all I can think of.

Definitely get it, and hang onto it. XT's are getting rarer and rarer. If you get it, feel free to also check out www.xt6.net which accepts XT 4cyl's as well as XT6's.

Yep. Speaking from experience, cone filters do no good sucking hot air straight outta the engine bay. A heat shield will make a difference.

Very creative... But, two words: Heat Shield

Being from FL, I can say two things: 1) I see a Brat once every 3 months or so. I think they're so precious, I'd try to save it no matter how bad! 2) I don't know very much about rust. My XT has hardly any at all, my Legacy doesn't have one speck of it anywhere. That said, I'd fix it, especially with that few miles on it!

Never used SeaFoam, but if you search the word "hesitation" on the BBS, you'll spend days sorting through it all. A very big problem. I used 3 bottles of Lubro-Moly Jectron FI cleaner, 3 tanks in a row. That has not 100% cured my hesitation, but it has made a bigger improvement than anything else I've tried. Don't bother with the Prestone FI cleaner garbage you get in Autozone, you might as well pour water in your tank...

Incorrect. I can see very plainly where my cam seals are leaking from behind the timing covers and slowly making their way to the bottom of the head. Definitely. My opinion is that it's not a good idea to run synth oils in old engines, especially leak-prone Subarus. I tried running only partial synth in my Legacy, and it would leak from the aforementioned cam seal so bad it would seep through the exhaust gasket and I freaked out when I saw blue smoke coming out my tailpipe Phase II EJ22's are interference starting with the 99 model year.

Can you just get an rust-free muffler assembly (from tailpipe to axleback) from a junkyard and bolt it right up?

I don't profess to be an electrical whiz, but as Josh said, the valves are notorious for sticking. Whether that has any effect on the voltage reading, I don't know. Nonetheless, it still is no emergency. I drove my Legacy around the first YEAR I had it with the CEL on for that code. Then I just mustered up $200 and let the dealer replace it.

The Phase II EJ22 arrived in 1999. The EJ22 has always been SOHC, no DOHC EJ22 ever came to the USA. The big changes were changes in the cylinder head, notably a switch to solid lifters and a slight CR ratio increase. And yes, these changes resulted in the Phase II becoming an interference engine. Some slight bottom end changes occurred as well. The Phase II EJ22 mostly seems to be as reliable as the Phase I, however, be aware, I believe the Phase II was the engine plagued with piston slap. It really doesn't harm the engine, nor hurt performance, but it can wake your neighbors up as you go to work

The only DOHC EJ22 was the EJ22T that was in the VERY limited-production (400) 22B in Japan and a handful in Europe. Except for that car, the US was the only market to receive the EJ22 at all, I'm pretty sure. If you are having aspirations of a DOHC EJ22, try this: Find an EJ22T, the best Subaru engine ever IMO, and find a way to get a set of AVCS DOHC EJ257 heads off the STi/Forester-T/Baja-T. Those heads will fit an EJ22T, and then you have a Subaru engine with forged bottom end and an unquestionable reputation, with variable valve timing, DOHC, sodium-filled valves, etc. etc. Talk about an engine!

I fully agree with everything said here. I also work at a Toyota dealer, and I can say that Toyota makes excellent cars, the only catch is you hafta keep after the new ones. Bob would completely agree with me, as I'm sure he knows as much about the aluminum V6 sludge fiasco :brolleye: I really don't know what BMW's secret is over everybody else about making engines. Somehow, they can make an engine that is smoother than melted butter, and reliable as a tractor, yet give it seamless power and torque curves. I drove a 02 525i once, and how a little 2.5 liter I6 with 184hp could move an almost-2-ton car as fast as it did and yet not even feel stressed about it is beyond me. Then there's the F1 engines they were making in the 60s and 70s. A 1.5L 4cyl turbo with 1000hp (yes 3 zeros, one thousand) that would last a whole 2hr F1 endurance event. Lexus: I don't care what Mercedes has, I don't care what Bentley has, I don't car what ANYBODY has, the LS430 is simply the best luxury car in the world. It's so close to being perfect it's scary. You can open the hood and put your head right next to the engine and barely hear it running, yet it will easily light up the rear tires with heavy throttle. The ride and ergonomics are the best of the best. And the brand-new ones have the fingerprint lock release system, where you touch a door handle or trunk lid and it recognizes you and opens it. NO KEYS!!! But Subarus still have a special place in my heart. They're not the most beautiful, or the fastest, or the most reliable (pretty close though ). But they have a charisma and personality unlike any other car I've ever driven!

Hehe, Pierman, if you and brat86 ever think of selling one of your Brats (assuming they're mostly rust-free ), let me know. I could really use a pickup truck, and having a Subaru pickup truck would perfectly complete the collection!

Setright lives up to his namesake: he's exactly right As long as your original PCV valve is still working, leave it. You will gain nothing by replacing it. And yes, replace it with OEM only. Aftermarket valves pull too much vacuum and actually suck oil out of the valve covers and dump it straight into your intake manifold! I also recommend changing both spark plugs and wires. Old wires' insulative material grows old and may allow interference in, resulting in a less-than-ideal spark.

Any Scoob is susceptible to headgasket failure. I know a friend in Gainesville, FL that blew his HG on his 90 Legacy 2.2, supposedly the best year. You'll find a few war stories in the Old-Gen forum about EA82T's blowing them too. Still though, the 2.2 line of engines is the best Subaru ever made IMO. Especially the 1st generation of Legacies. You'll get tired of beating on it before it will get tired of being beaten on. They're tough cars. The SVX, on the other hand , while I think they're BEAUTIFUL cars, are reliability nightmares. They're the same 4EAT that the 4cyls use, so they're not made for the massive 6cyl torque curve. I'd also be willing to bet that hardly any SVX still on the road today still has its original rear wheel bearings.

As of right now, I am 100% hardcore Subaru. I own nothing but them. And I will definitely own more of them. But alas, I wouldn't mind taking up other projects. I want a 91 Sentra SE-R. Those cars are so much fun. With the drift scene as rampant as it is now, I'm surprised no one has attempted a JDM sedan swap, like an old Toyota Cressida with a 7MGTE or sumthin Working at a Toyota dealer like I do I would enjoy doing something like that. But no matter what other cars I end up owning, Scoobs will still be my favorite. I have yet to have found a more perfect car.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but this board does have a search function Here's what you do: Don't worry about it.... That's right, leave it alone. Let the axle tear itself to shreds, then replace it with a new one from http://www.cvaxles.com at a mere $55 a pop with lifetime warranty. You don't know how long the boot has been torn, how much grease has leaked out, or how much foreign material has gotten in. To take the axle off and reboot it is doing more work than just replacing the axle, and the axle is doomed anyway. The two-piece boot is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. So don't worry about it until you absolutely have to, then replace the whole thing and do it right.