Opinions on 2.5 Engine?

Looking at a 2000 Impreza 2.5RS to replace my son's wrecked '99 Legacy. Have read conflicting stories regarding this engine vs the

2.2. Car has about 75k miles. Thoughts, opinions?

Thx,

Dan D (was '99 Legacy L 30th, son's) Central NJ USA

Reply to
Dano58
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Well, I've heard only unhappy things about the 2.5l motor myself, except for the power it produces, but have no personal experience with it the way plenty of others in this forum have. If it's the story I recall from the other day, "was probably going a little too fast," I would feel uneasy about replacing his damaged car with a more powerful, sportier unit. Is he the primary maintainer of his own vehicle? If he is vigilant and treats his motor responsibly, he can probably keep it from catastrophically self-destructing, but is it not a shame to invest in a car with a motor that seems to bear a history of needing close attention paid to it, and a bit more preventive maintenance money put toward the repair of head gaskets before they deteriorate to the point of engine damage, unless that's what you like to do? Of course, with the right maintenance plan, most things become much more reliable, so, maybe decide how much maintenance a car is worth to you and to your son.

~Brian

"Dano58" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@o40g2000prh.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
strchild

Reply to
Josh Assing

The DOHC subaru engines make considerably more power than the SOHC EJ22. With the increased output comes a corresponding reduction in fuel economy.

They also do not seem as robust of a design, the head seems particularly to be a problem area; head gaskets fail, and the cams aren't well supported. This on the earlier vintage ones (up thru MY98-99ish, anyway); quite possible Subaru has worked the bugs out of the newer versions.

Anyone on the group have a 2.5 with more'n 150K or so on it? Any major problems? For comparison, my '90 Legacy wagon has 312K on the original motor, tho I did have to replace the 5spd transmission at about 270K. This is not uncommon performance for a well-maintained EJ22.

I have heard it said that the EJ22 is a non-inteference engine, but I have also seen EJ22s with bent valves, presumably as a result of timing belt failure. That said, the DOHC motors are definitely interference-type, and a timing belt failure is gonna cause extensive damage.

The DOHC engine is considerably more trouble to service in nearly every way.

The RS _is_ a fun car to drive, tho; good power and good handling. Lots of aftermarket goodies available for it as well. Just stay on top of the engine service schedule, any updates as far as head gaskets and such, _and_ the cooling system, as loss of coolant will fry one instantly.

I will add that if the 2.5 does give you problems in the future, it is quite feasible to swap in an EJ22; almost a bolt-in swap (at least on the OB models).

FWIW, the AT (at least as found in the '96-'99 OBs) isn't noted for it's reliability either; there seem to be a lot of failures at around the 130K mark . . .

Hope this is helpful.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

Reply to
S

The 2.5 Engine is a ticking timebomb.... read ALL about it here and other places. They are known for failures. Failures that Subaru refuses to address. The 2.2 and early engines were bulletproof, The 2.5 is a joke of an engine, turbo or not. Avoid it.

Reply to
Bob's Backfire Burrito

Did Subaru put the DOHC 2.5 in the Impreza in 2000? My 2000 OBW has the SOHC 2.5,and I doubt they would have produced 2 versions.

Reply to
nobody >

2000 OBW Ltd. here - EJ25 motor; driver side HG replaced under warranty ( @ 45K miles+ they did timing belt, too); since then no problems except for minimal coolant wheep on drivers side HG and oil weep on pass. side HG ( coolant mainly in winter, oil in summer) - current mileage - 131 K cheers kd
Reply to
daszkiew2000

Replaced head gasket at 82K under warranty (after phone call to Subaru of America). Run it pretty hard commuting highway, and running kids around back roads. 102K, seems to be running strong still.

Reply to
jr

I have an EJ18 that I run the pants off of every day, and it's about to roll past 147k, and how many head gaskets has it needed, none! No coolant weeping, no oil weeping, in fact, no loss of oil between changes at every

3k, knock on wood, and it pulls as strong as you can expect a little hummingbird to pull! Heck, for that matter, the oil doesn't even darken that much until it hits almost 2k. (-;

//opinionated rant mode on//

I question whether or not Subaru saw the EJ25 as something of a nitch filler? Did they expect it to be an everyday driver, probably, but maybe they were really aiming at enthusiast folks just short of the racing crowd who regularly rebuild their motors anyway? No matter their reasoning, they should stand behind their product and tell folks up front of the extra care needed with the 2.5l motors. I really don't care if the warranty is not as long, or about the stop-leak nonsense, and feel the warranty on the 2.5l motors should reflect the fact that it is not as reliable in all aspects as the other EJ motor sizes have proven to be. Let the warranty be shorter to help express to the buyer what to expect. I don't purchase cars, especially expensive ones, without first doing my homework, and wouldn't expect at this point, anybody else doing similar homework to really say that Subaru duped them into buying a vehicle with a lemon for a motor. I wouldn't expect to buy a race car, drive it like a race car, and have it last 2 - 8 years without major maintenance, as I may with an average passenger car. While the EJ25 isn't exactly a race motor, it is hardly the average, podunk, 120+ HP offering, either. I find myself inclined to think the mileages folks are reporting is fair, based on the investment, and length of time before first major maintenance work. Any race fans out there? Would you expect to get

40k out of your racing motor before the first head gasket replacement, or how about 80k? Probably not.

//end rant mode//

"jr" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@r30g2000prh.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
strchild

fun to drive compared to what? i think the only fun part about impreza is the turbo in the rex unless it snows and rains year round where you live. i'd avoid the base model like a plague: the power is produced in a very unpleasant way: i get non turbo lag :-[ btw for 08 sti gets si-drive but there is no word on rex and the rs. probably they do not.

if you get an impreza get a rex and skip rs/obs

Reply to
sndive

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