1996 Legacy, bad year, valve problem ???

[akm]

A few years ago we posted a question on a forum (cant remember which one (old Subaru forum links no longer work) about a 1996 Subaru Legacy wagon engine problem, and got an answer that the 1996 Legacy 4cyl engine, was a 'lemon' year for Subaru.

Apparently, there was a 'valve' problem, just this particular year, that caused the 'check engine' light to come on and there was no fix, because any fix was to replace the parts with the same parts as new, and so the problem would still be there.

The problem was such that it could run forever, with the engine light on, or the engine could die tomorrow.

Does anyone have any info about such a problem ?

Thanks much.

[idosubaru]

Not true.

 

1996 EJ18 and EJ22 - bullet proof engine, one of the favorites on here. don't run it out of oil or overheat it and it'll run as long as you care to maintain it.

 

1996 EJ25 - first year, it has head gasket issues for which Subaru redesigned the head gaskets. But no "valve problems".

 

The EJ25 is an interference engine, if the timing belt breaks, the valves will collide and result in valve damage. That would be operator error for not maintaining the vehicle, not the engines fault. Lots of newer engines are interference design.

[GeneralDisorder]

Never heard of such a thing. The only weird thing I know of on 95/96 OBD-II systems is that they have an issue with the "readiness monitors" being incomplete. But all the DMV's know about it and there is an exception filed for this so they will still pass.

 

'96 was in the introduction year of the EJ25D, which has head gasket issues and always did - right up till they phased it in '99. The replacement gaskets fix the problem though.

 

'96 was also the first year for single-port EJ22 heads - but those engines are bullet-proof and I've owned a number of '96's without any problems at all.

 

That's it for '96 engines. I think you must be thinking of another brand of car.

 

GD

[akm]

Not true.

Thank you for the info.

The true part is that there was the forum discussion about such a problem, and it was confirmed by a local Subaru shop, but like I said, it was years ago.

Guess Ill just keep trying to find the data.

Thanks again.

[idosubaru]

Doubt you need to go anywhere else. Why are you asking, like what are you looking for or trying to solve? We can tell you everything you need to know about Subaru's.

 

Could the "valve problem" just be that the EJ25 went to Subarus first interference engine design in 1996, like i mentioned earlier? If the timing belt breaks - replacing the timing belt won't fix the problem...so that sort of lines up?

[GeneralDisorder]

Lets see - a "valve problem" that causes a CEL and can't be fixed with factory parts and only occured in '96??

 

It's simply not possible. Many other years use the same parts or only slightly different parts that could simply be installed in their place. If that was the case with the EJ22 then you could just swap '95 heads/cams and a '95 dual-port exhaust header onto the '96 engine in place of the '96 parts and it would work fine. If that were the case with the EJ25D then you could replace the heads/cams with '97 parts for the same effect.

 

Either this problem was more wide-spread than '96 - in which case we would have heard about on here , or it doesn't exist because many other years have heads/cams that will work just fine in place of the '96 stuff.

 

I call BS.

 

GD

[subaru360]

If there was a problem, it would be known on here. There is no better source for info on older subarus.

[Fairtax4me]

Suppose this "valve problem" isn't a valve inside the engine?

 

Might it be an EGR or BPT valve issue? IAC valve problem? Or it might not be a valve issue at all. Might be that he's referring to the P0420 problem, which affects nearly every Subaru. That's about the only one I know of that you can replace the everything perceivably related to the problem and not get it right.

 

All I can really say though, is my 96 is running just fine with ~175,000 miles on it.