legacycentral bbs

I've heard about the HG issues. This one has 160k and the gaskets look to have been replaced, but I have no way of knowing for certain.

The car drove smooth, however it did sort of sputter around a hard u-turn. I noticed the Trans pan was dented a bit, but saw no other signs of unusual wear and tear. I will be taking it for an extended test drive before I make my decision to check for any signs of overheating. Any other insight into what I should check would be greatly appreciated.

Kbb says 3k in fair condition and the guy is only asking 1850. It does have a small fender dent and the clear coat is peeling, but I'm not too concerned with that.

The car would be a daily driver for my girlfriend, whose Mazda died two years after I told her to buy a Subaru instead of buying a 626. My knowledge is limited to the sohc ej22 but I have read up on the dohc set up quite a bit, I'm just looking for any and all pointers the brain trust here on the bbs has to offer. Thanks in advance

Not a bad price. Engine and tranny will blow eventually. As long as you don't mind replacing them then I dont see why not.

Personally I'd get a car with an ej22 and save the hassle.

She's kind of in need of a car and can't wait for one. That's exactly what I told her too. I have spare everything for my ej22. I've read about people getting 200k + on those things if kept up. The 4eat is pretty strong from what I've read and I plan on putting a new filter and new fluid, along with all the other little things I like to keep up with(plugs, wires, oil, pcv, fuel filter, etc). If she can get to 200k without issues, I can drop in my ej22 once I complete my ej22t build, which will take me every part of 2 years.

Yeah the tranny is less of a concern than the engine. I ended up swapping in an ej22 into my outback, to replace a professionally rebuilt ej25d. That rebuilt engine cost me a ton of money, and blew HG's 3 times. Twice the heads were decked, and once the block was decked. It still sits in my garage under the work bench, spiting me. Beautiful engine when it ran, I hope to someday rebuild it with a turbo ej25 block and swap n/a pistons in.

She doesn't like to drive as aggressive as I do in the bc, so hopefully the ej25 will last her a couple years.

I acquired 2 98 GTs in the last year or so, both 2.5 and both had bad bottom ends. Drop a 2.2 in it with the dohc heads and you're fine for awhile. It's a little sluggish in the lower rpms, but it'll be reliable. It's also a good candidate for turbo if you ever decide to go that route.

She was driving a 626, so this is an improvement as is. I'm going to do an extensive tune and make her baby it. Fingers crossed it will give her years of trouble free Subaru ownership. She won't be tracking the car or anything like that, so I don't see the bottom end failing if I keep up with all the recommended maintenance intervals.

I have an na 2.2 with 15k since I rebuilt it in my 93. Once I get my ej22t, the na motor will be a backup motor if anything happens to hers. I've kept my first gen going for about 15 years now, I know I can do the same with the GT.

He's only excited "for me" because now he can be underneath another Subaru

Welcome to the BBS

Getting a bit stale...but my .02>>>>

Please! ensure you watch your temp gauge and look in the coolant overflow tank once a month for bubbles. If you CATCH the HG b4 it overheats the EJ25 should last, but what you don't know is how many times it was previously overheated. I had a '98 EJ25D that blew thru 2 HG's b4 I got it. I fixed it and sold it a friend and he drove it another 30K miles b4 it started playing 'knock, knock who's there'. We put an EJ22 into it.

Also, the 'sputter' you noticed might be torque bind. That was supposedly fixed around '97, but still can happen. Do the drain, refill, drive, repeat 3X and see if it goes away.....and get an ATF trans cooler.

Have fun,
TD

Update: that is now my ex and good riddance. She won't change the timing belt or head gaskets like I recommended and has yet to have any more Trans fluid drain and filled. Not to get all emotional, but I hope she blows it up and I can go buy the dohc heads from the scrap yard dirt cheap. I'm a terrible and petty person. (Also none of the above things are why she is my ex. )

speezly wrote:Update: that is now my ex and good riddance. She won't change the timing belt or head gaskets like I recommended and has yet to have any more Trans fluid drain and filled. Not to get all emotional, but I hope she blows it up and I can go buy the dohc heads from the scrap yard dirt cheap. I'm a terrible and petty person. (Also none of the above things are why she is my ex. )

Why not explain to them why I'm your ex? These are your people, surely they will understand