Opinions on 2.5 Engine?

[Dano58]

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

 

[strchild]

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

 

[Josh Assing]

They blow headgaskets rather easily.
Subaru's "solution" was to instruct you to put in a "conditioner" (looks a lot
like barrs stop leak to me) in the radiator... regularly.
I'd skip the 2.5 engine...
also; if he was racing around his legacy and wrecked it; I definately wouldn't
get him a smaller sportier car.

 

[S]

Hi Dan!

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?

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

 

[Bob's Backfire Burrito]

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

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.

 

[nobody >]

Hi Dan!



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

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.

 

[daszkiew2000]

Hi Dan!



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

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

 

[jr]

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.

 

[strchild]

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//

 

[sndive]

Hi Dan!



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.

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