q240z

You guys are awesome. OK, so 2.2 it is. Now I just need to find one in the DC area... There are, like, zero wrecking yards around here.

I picked up a '96 OBW (auto, 156k miles) with a blown EJ25. Pulled it apart, ground the valves, and swapped in a new HG etc. Been driving it for the last three months. Yesterday it was hot here. All the sudden the AC stopped working. I looked at the temp gauge and saw the needle deep into the H zone...like pegged, with the needle wrapped around the stop. Oh, and I was 50 miles from home. It took 3 hours to get back, stopping every couple of miles to let it cool off so I could toss more water in. Typical scenario --big spash out of the radiator fill on start-up, then bubble, bubble, bubble out of the bleed hole. There was no evidence of cracks in the head and the block surfaces cleaned up just fine. I'm now considering whether to swap in a 2.2 or redo the 2.5, with a trip to the machine shop for warp & crack testing. I'm leaning toward the 2.2 swap, but have some questions that are answered in many different ways all over this forum. I thought I'd ask here one more time: * 2.5 (DOHC) & 2.2 exhaust manifolds appear to be different. How far back do I have to replace if I go 2.2? * 2.5 & 2.2, being different displacement, ought to have different fuel requirements. Must I swap out the wiring & brain from 2.5 to 2.2? * I'm not interested in go-fast engines. Slow and bulletproof is what I'm all about. Which 2.2 is the one to go for (assuming the weight of opinion here doesn't go to fixing the 2.5)? There is nothing worse than having to do something twice...

The funny thing is, that Honda gasket I hacked in there is working just fine. I might just leave it there for a while. Does that make me a bad man? lol

I thought I read somewhere that '96 was an odd bird. The ebay seller of the gasket sets is sending me the proper gaskets now. I just hope those Honda bits don't mess up the Subi mojo.

I just picked up a 1996 Outback automatic with the factory installed bad headgaskets. During the swap out for new style multilayered gaskets (+ hand lapping the valves just cuz I was already in there), I discovered two things: 1) 1996 doesn't need valve shims. +1 for '96!! 2) the spark plug hole gaskets are different from what I expected. The old gaskets are back at home and I didn't take pix of them, but here's a rough sketch. Try not to be too dazzled by my MS Paint uberskills. It's a gift... The 4 gaskets along the top look like what I got in the kit I received. I ended up trying to reuse the old gaskets. Bad move. It pissed out a cup of oil before I figured out there was trouble. Faced with being stuck without a car, I dug into a gasket set for a Honda V-tec that I had laying around. Honda uses the same 1/4" tall x 1/8" thick rubber seals for the valve cover, but it's one big loop with no irregularities. I just cut it up and ran a length of the Honda seal around the groove in the valve cover. Follow the red arrows in the sketch, if you can, to see how I routed the Honda gasket material. It seems to work just fine. There are no leaks after 50+ miles, but I'd like to get the right gasket in there. The gasket kit I got said it should fit 96-98, which they clearly do not (for '96 anyway). Any idea what year they changed those gaskets over?

My money's on a burnt valve. You'll find out anyway if you intend to pull the head, but you might want to hook up your compressor and go check the tailpipe for the sound of wind. That's what confirmed the burnt and cracked exhaust valve on my '97 OBW.

I'm from out west, so these east coast safety inspections have always struck me as kinda funny. I mean, the last time I can recall maintenance issues causing crashes it was an underinflated tire problem on Ford SUVs that were driven at high speeds. In the vast majority of cases it seems to me that safety's not in the car--it's in the way the car is driven and the mental state/capacity of the driver. Let's face it--tires lose air 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. Should weekly inspections be the standard? You can pick up a nail anytime. maybe daily would be better. And think of all the jobs this would create! Why is a windshield with an 11/16" crack safe, but 3/4" on the passenger's side so hazardous it needs replacing? Laws are for changing, people. Write your state representatives and let 'em know that we're not driving '36 Fords with real rubber tires anymore.

HA! Funniest post I've read here in a while!

I'll ask only because nobody has so far...did you check the fuse?

Well, if I was gonna spend $13k on a Subi that can pass trucks, I'd buy an older OBW for less than $5k and pick up an STi drivetrain for about $5k, then (if you're not a wrench) pay somebody to put the two together. Subaru reliability with 300hp & 300lb/ft of torque in a sleeper package--your old Honda buddies won't know what hit 'em. Oh, and you'll have no problem passing those pesky trucks on mountain roads.

Nope, Jake, nothing so crazy as that. Some valves are longer or shorter than others by a few thousandths. Some valve seats are set deeper or shallower than others. Take precise gap measurements, then pull all of the SHIMS and measure them. Then, by pretty simple arithmetic you can figure out what you need vs. what you've got. You'll find that you need a shim of size X.XXX and then you find that clearly marked shim in the pile you've got. It's straightforward but like others have said, getting a book is essential.

Without locked up diffs front & rear, it might be a challenge getting all the wheels to spin at the same in a lo/no traction situation. I think. But then, I'm new to this whole Subi thing.

Wierd. I wonder why Subaru wouldn't use input from the ABS sensors in their AT cars, as many other manufacturers do, to detect differential wheel speed and control shifting?

Kewl. Thanks, johnphils.

The work was done by Subaru, so I assume it was done with Subaru brand parts, though there's no mention of a flywheel replacement on the work order. The work was done in at the end of 2003. I was under the impression that the clutch troubles were specifically associated with the 2002 model year cars. You don't suppose the dealer used parts in stock that he must have known were faulty, do you? Unfortunately, since the work was done so long ago I doubt they'll warranty it.

Yeah! There are tons of Subis in nice, clean, well organized yards out in Oregon. Unfortunately, I now live in the automotive do-it-yourselfer wasteland of DC. There are a handful of yards within 50 miles of here, but almost no U-pull-it places and all of them seem to want 50% of whatever the retail new price of any part is.

Well, the OBW's engine shakin' days are long gone. That new exhaust valve solved the problem, but now a new one has become apparent: this Subi shakes like a mutha on take-off. Hot or cold--doesn't matter. Only happens on initial take-off. No problemo on 1-2-3-4-5 upshifting or downshifting. Regular clutch release at regular rpm--judders most but not all of the time. Slow release at low rpm--BIG judders. Slow release at 1500-2000 rpm--BIG, kidney-bruising judders. Fast release at 1500-2000--not much of a judder, but the missus doesn't appreciate launching. The weird thing is that the previous owner gave me a receipt from the dealer in Pennsylvania (Minooka) for a $1000 clutch and rear separator plate replacement less than 20k miles ago. If this was a Datsun, I'd say somebody at the dealership was sloppy with the clutch plate and got some grease on it, since there're no oil leaks on the car. But then I noticed that '02 Subis are known for having clutch judder problems. The solution on many web sites: replace the clutch with an OEM Subi unit. Been there, done that. Any thoughts on this one? As always, thanks in advance.

I have to wonder, though, why any driver on a public road would push it hard enough to have enough understeer to not be able to miss a telephone pole. There's race tracks for that. Good thing she only took herself out. She could just have easily committed vehicular homicide. Where's a cop when you need a cop?

If you're doing the TB, you're probably also going to do the cam seals. The cams come off easily at that point, so doing a valve adjust isn't all that much work and you won't need the special spring compressor. But you would need dial calipers or a micrometer to measure the shims. The previous owner of my '97 didn't have hers adjusted and burnt the hell out of an exhaust valve. Big gaps are much less of a worry than tight ones. Over time, the valves seat deeper in the seats, which tightens up the clearance. If you don't adjust the valves, eventually they don't seat at all and then things get very hot and go boom.

chilly, I listed the essential tools you'll need a few posts up.

Try https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ for genuine Subi parts at much cheaper prices or http://www.advanceautoparts.com/ for aftermarket stuff at even cheaper prices.

Tell you what I'd do if I were in your shoes: go buy the spark plugs, get out your socket set, and have a go at that. I find that a selection of extensions and a universal joint (the short "wobbly" extension) help in this job. You'll also want to pull the windshield washer tank and the air filter housing so you can get at the plugs, so you might want the new air filter ready to go, too. If you are really starting from scratch, pick up the Haynes manual while you're at the parts store. If you can change the plugs in less than an hour, you're golden. If you lose a pound of knuckle skin in the process, you're right on schedule. But if you pull it off but hate the whole thing, don't even think about DIYing the timing belt. On a side note, I wouldn't replace the oil pump--just the o-ring and the usual locktite on the screws on the backside. I also wouldn't replace the TB pulleys or tensioner unless they're making noise. That might be false economy, but there are folks who claim to have taken these engines to 300k miles without replacing those parts. The water pump is a different story.

I'd be willing to step out on a limb here and say that anybody who can manage to change spark plugs in a 2.5 Subi should also be able to swap out the timing belt and related components. You might spend a weekend doing it, though, so you have to weigh out the cost/benefit. Personally, I like to know my car, so I just did the head gaskets, replaced a burnt exhaust valve, ground the remaining valves, and tossed new o-rings, seals, and belts on for a grand total of about 350 bones. But you will need to invest in torque wrenches (ft/lbs & in/lbs), a chain wrench (optional, but cheap and useful), a 3' breaker bar, a metric socket set, and some sealants. If you want fair quality tools at a price that won't break the bank, check out http://www.harborfreight.com/. They do shipping, too.

Curious....the only specs I've seen on the 2.5 are that it has 100,000 mile timing belts. The 2.2 has the 60k mile belt, according to every source I've ever seen. chilly b, you could always think about getting yourself the belts, seals, pumps, and everything else + a repair manual for a total of about $350 and do it yourself. Of course, that won't help the economy out quite as much and the People's Republic of California will miss your sales tax something fierce, but you'd be better off wallet-wise.

You sure there isn't a vacuum line that got left loose?