Best Years for EJ22 Legacy Wagons

[Reveeen]

Trouble with that comment is when you buy one used. Unless it comes with service records, how do you know if has been changed and when?

 

I bought my 91 with 100,000 miles on it. It should have been changed once but I don't know for sure. I could just go ahead and change it anyway but that's a lot of work (or money) wasted if it was just done 10,000 miles before.

 

I plan to change it next summer as part of routine maintenance but at least I don't know to worry about destroying my engine if I guessed wrong.

 

Now that most, well not most, but how about "a lot" of cars come with a timing belt, the sensable thing would be to pay one kind of price for a car with full service records, and another kind of price for a car with no, or limited, service records. In your case timing belt breakage causes no internal engine damage, but in most cases it does, so the prudent thing to do is ALWAYS change that unknown timing belt. Again the prudent thing to do is to change the idlers, water pump, and carefully inspect the belt tensioner (for leakage) while "there".

I guess it all comes down to if you are into this thing for the long haul, or "just visiting".

[86BRATMAN]

here in the mountains of va where we "use" to have cold winters our 90 L 2wd has seen starts into the -20's with never a problem, the car never had a bit of problem in its 238k service to our family, we ended up selling it about 5 years back, and to this day the guy who bought it drives it to work and back with no problems, with the trip to his work and my mathematical skills that puts it to somewhere around the 400k mark... now thats one pos engine right... i think not

 

and as it turns out the motor i'm putting into my brat has got 218k on the clock, and even in the wagon it came from was strong enough to outrun a manual ford focus hatchback, up hill, with a fouled plug

[firstwagon]

Now that most, well not most, but how about "a lot" of cars come with a timing belt, the sensable thing would be to pay one kind of price for a car with full service records, and another kind of price for a car with no, or limited, service records. In your case timing belt breakage causes no internal engine damage, but in most cases it does, so the prudent thing to do is ALWAYS change that unknown timing belt. Again the prudent thing to do is to change the idlers, water pump, and carefully inspect the belt tensioner (for leakage) while "there".

I guess it all comes down to if you are into this thing for the long haul, or "just visiting".

 

The long haul is a tough thing to say when you are driving a 16 year old car. This car has already done "the long haul" and while I could easily spend a few thousand on preventative maintainence (just to be safe), it's not always worthwhile on cars that only cost a few thousand.

 

The best thing to do is to prompt on the regular maintainence (i.e. oil changes, tire pressure, brake pads) and worry about the big things when they happen.

 

Like I said too, I'll change the timing belt next summer ( when it warms up, I don't have a garage).

 

I agree records would add to the value of the car but this one was completely rust free, no accidents (checked with insurance company), local, aircared (has never failed since new). It's fully loaded and everything worked. No scatches or dents and original paint. It looked and drove like new unlike everything else I had looked at in the same price range.

 

It just happened to be at a dealer that gets their cars wholesale from local new car dealers, thus no maintainence records or anyway to talk to the original owner.

[Reveeen]

The long haul is a tough thing to say

 

I own and drive daily a '91 Sport Sedan with 322,000 on the clock, I expect 500,000 with "proper" maintence. Look at it as an investment with 100,000 on the clock it's barely broken in. If I was to go out and buy a new car, monthly payments would be probably in the $300 range, so what is a couple of hundred here and there? I do my own work and buy parts at trade price.

[Manarius]

I own and drive daily a '91 Sport Sedan with 322,000 on the clock, I expect 500,000 with "proper" maintence. Look at it as an investment with 100,000 on the clock it's barely broken in. If I was to go out and buy a new car, monthly payments would be probably in the $300 range, so what is a couple of hundred here and there? I do my own work and buy parts at trade price.

Exactly. My car's maintenance costs (which amount to less than $200 a year most years) is a lot less than going out and getting a new(er) car with a payment. Plus, because it's old, I can get a good insurance discount (I'm 19 and my insurance per year is $700).

[WRX1AB]

I agree with q-man, but he did not SAY it yet. Best engine for reliability and low maintainance was the ea81t, VERY tough block, loads of extra webbing, and a particularly clever timing belt that consisted of a single cam doing the work for both banks and two gears that never ever ever slipped, stretched, creeped, softened in oil or snapped. all other sube motors after that one are whimpy pampered princesses! I wish i had found cheaper replacemnt parts for it but they were ALL in teh sky attathced to planes, which made them VERY EXPENsIVE AND RARE. It was WAY better than the ea82t which replaced it. OOOOPDS WRONG FORum!

 

but to be fair, i like the ej22 except fo the annoying oil leaks at the front of it that I just cant be bothered to sort out just yet.

[86BRATMAN]

but to be fair, i like the ej22 except fo the annoying oil leaks at the front of it that I just cant be bothered to sort out just yet.

 

usually that is the front main seal or cam seals, in my experience anyway

[tysn]

I agree with q-man, but he did not SAY it yet. Best engine for reliability and low maintainance was the ea81t, VERY tough block, loads of extra webbing, and a particularly clever timing belt

 

did the ea 81 t have a timing belt?

[86BRATMAN]

no, no they did not

 

correct me if i'm wrong but they were gear on gear driven

[WRX1AB]

......and thats why the timing belt never snapped! a great peice of enginerring. the funny part was that the ea82 had belts.... but more or less exaclty the same combustion chamber profile. I never got that one, what was the point? ever see an ea82 snap one belt but not the other and keep going, and THEN siesze? wierd!

 

Yes its either cam, front main or oil pump. I live in the UK now so I am trying to gert my dad to ship the parts over for me. they cost a fortune here as there aren't any 92's (let along ea81's or 2's save hte occasional brat on a farm) left in the UK. I am loathed to do repairs on it because its a rust bucket, but its what we have and we have no cash.