Engine seized... now what to do....

Hey guys I've been having a month or so of misfortune... and now it's taken an even worse turn

 

About 3 weeks ago my 05 LGT made a sound like I had run over a cat or something.... long story short the stock turbo completely died on me. I managed to drive the car home and part it.

 

 

About 2 weeks after that I got a cheap td04 installed and the car was running decent again... I couldn't find a freaking wastegate actuator so I drove the car about week without one (no power at all lol).

 

The day before Christmas I started up the car and drove it 1/2 mile to my parents house... Oil light came on! I didn't think much about it because I assumed it was just low for some reason or another... I added 1qt without even checking the level... then 2qt more and the light stayed on. At this point I decided to check the level and I was 3qt's over full.

 

So I let the car sit for the night... the next morning I drain it back to full on the dipstick... start the car... and the engine completely seizes. I hear a rod or something start making noise right before it happens.

 

I have no clue what happened but if anyone can give me any idea of the $$$ I'm looking at (I know depending on the damage) to fix this? I'm trying to decide what to do with the car now... I still owe about 6 grand on it and it's been nothing but problems since day 1.... I have to figure out a way to either fix it or cut my losses and get rid of it.

Sounds like you starved your engine of oil. The light doesn't come on because your car is low on oil, it come on because your oil pressure is low. I'd say that something, possibly from your previous turbo misfortune, made its way into the oil pan and claughed your oil inlet.

 

This is quite the pricey fix. The engine will have to be completely rebuilt most likely. I'd say if you did the labor yourself maybe $1000 in parts, or without labor tripple or quadruple that. Thats just a very rough estimate.

:facepalm:

Sounds like you starved your engine of oil. The light doesn't come on because your car is low on oil, it come on because your oil pressure is low. I'd say that something, possibly from your previous turbo misfortune, made its way into the oil pan and claughed your oil inlet.

 

This is quite the pricey fix. The engine will have to be completely rebuilt most likely. I'd say if you did the labor yourself maybe $1000 in parts, or without labor tripple or quadruple that. Thats just a very rough estimate.

 

Exactly what I'm thinking. As soon as I wised up I read my shop manual and it was saying a solid light could mean pressure was too high/low.

 

What really ticked me off was that I had put 600+ miles on the car without a hitch before this happened.

 

Ok so the parts aren't the expensive part it's the labor eh? I know people hate to work on subaru around here so I'd be willing to do as much as I can myself.

 

Let the fun begin

Hey man.....sorry to hear this. Really sounds like Oil pickup tube failure. Piss-poor designed part.....once it cracks , it can't send oil to the engine , the oil light comes on , the engine continues to run (without oil). Is there no way to ask SOA to help pay for this ? Do a search on this forum....unclemat started a great thread about oil pickup tube failure. Good luck fellow leggy.

Ok so the parts aren't the expensive part it's the labor eh? I know people hate to work on subaru around here so I'd be willing to do as much as I can myself.

 

Well to put things into perspective, it took me over 25 hours to properly build an EJ251. And that doesn't include engine removal, tear down or cleaning. At $75, which would be the low end a dealership would charge. Thats $1875 in labor alone, not to mention they'll charge you tons more for the internals, bearings and gaskets you may need. At that point you'd be better off buying a used motor or new shortblock.

 

But if you are capable of doing the work yourself, it may be worth it. My entire motor, including brand new EJ257 internals and sohc heads cost $1000.19. Food for thought.

Hey man.....sorry to hear this. Really sounds like Oil pickup tube failure. Piss-poor designed part.....once it cracks , it can't send oil to the engine , the oil light comes on , the engine continues to run (without oil). Is there no way to ask SOA to help pay for this ? Do a search on this forum....unclemat started a great thread about oil pickup tube failure. Good luck fellow leggy.

 

Any clues as to where this part is located? I'm looking in the shop manual now.

 

Edit: I found some photo's... looks like it attaches to the oil pan... going to go check it out now to see if that was the problem. If nothing else I'd like to know what failed

 

Double Edit: Looks like I have to drop the oil pan for this... fun fun

Oh boy there is a cross member in the way... checking to see if I can get this damn oil pan out without pulling the engine :\

Yeah......you gotta remove the oil pan to get to it......I had personal experience with MINE breaking......limped to my Subaru dealer......they replaced the short block free of charge(40000miles on odo---still under warranty) Seriously.....read the thread. It has pictures of the part and peoples comments on how they removed/replaced it.

I will check out the thread again.... I'm sure it says info I need but I didn't see it right off.

 

I wonder if there is any chance SOA would do anything for my situation even though I bought the car used, don't have service records, and have 80k+ on the car. Very doubtful but I can at least threaten them with "this will be the last subaru i own" lol

IF you decide to sell it with the motor blown

im interested. Got a spare ej22t laying around.

I am a vulture.

 

But if you are capable of doing the work yourself, it may be worth it. My entire motor, including brand new EJ257 internals and sohc heads cost $1000.19. Food for thought.

 

 

you have SOHC on a turbo block?

IF you decide to sell it with the motor blown

im interested. Got a spare ej22t laying around.

I am a vulture.

 

What would one expect to get out of a car like this? 2005 GT 80k'ish miles auto?

 

I have another car (my evo) but I have no heating/cooling of any sort... it's a real PITA to drive around in the winter.

you have SOHC on a turbo block?

 

Had yes. It was for an N/A impreza.

rebuild your motor. If there are no shops in your area and you are not tech savy enough to do it on your own, you can have a pre-rebuilt motor shipped to you.

 

Good luck, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

I'm pretty tech savy..... I mean if this was a honda I'd already have the motor out and apart lol. I don't really have tools on hand to do motor builds but I could pull it no problem.

 

I'm going to check around to see if there is anyone within driving distance that can do a good rebuild for a fair price. I also want to see what I can sell/trade the car for as is. I could really use some help putting a price on the car as is -- I can take pics and describe the car if someone can help!

 

Either way I want to get rid of the car (I know I'll take a hit on it) and get something brand new with a warranty... No offense to anyone but this is the first and last Suby I ever own

I'm pretty tech savy..... I mean if this was a honda I'd already have the motor out and apart lol. I don't really have tools on hand to do motor builds but I could pull it no problem.

 

I'm going to check around to see if there is anyone within driving distance that can do a good rebuild for a fair price. I also want to see what I can sell/trade the car for as is. I could really use some help putting a price on the car as is -- I can take pics and describe the car if someone can help!

 

Either way I want to get rid of the car (I know I'll take a hit on it) and get something brand new with a warranty... No offense to anyone but this is the first and last Suby I ever own

 

Where are you located?

I'm in Charleston, WV. I gave up a long time ago trying to find good mechanics for imports around here... I have dealt with buschur racing a lot in the past for evo parts so I might give them a try.

 

If I could get at least 4 maybe more out of the car as is I'd much rather sell it than put the time and effort into fixing it. The quicker I can get rid of the car even at taking a loss the better in the long run

 

Either way I'd like to get this oil pan off without pulling the motor... it looks like a ton of work though... if the temps were warming outside i'd already have it off one way or another lol. If it was indeed the oil pickup tube I'd at least like to harass subaru a little before getting rid of the car.