Short Block

I just put a new turbo in my car and I started to have low oil pressure. Got home and threw on a oil pressure gauge just to be sure and it was low. Started to hear a rattle when first starting the car and has gotten worse. I am guessing it is most likely the main bearings. Found shavings in the oil pan.

 

Some questions

 

1) Could this be a problem with the oil pump? Could that fix the rattle or is irreversible now?

 

2) What are some good places to get a reliable short block?

 

3) Would there be anything else I should look into in this process i.e. anything to do with top half of motor, any standard tuning or maintenance that should be done wile replacing the block.

 

Thanks everyone!

Why did you replace the turbo ? Did the other one blow ?

 

Check the vendor link above for the two dealerships that offer a discount to us.

 

 

Most of us buy a ej257 for about $1800 buy the gasket set for your year car and have the heads rebuilt.

 

Replace the clutch and get a single mass fly wheel from a 07-09 legacy gt

 

Here's my thread.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/got-some-new-stuff-engine-r-r-184106.html

 

lots of good info there.

Max pretty much covered it, but to answer your question about the oil pump it can be disassembled and cleaned. It's really a simple design and they are not known for failing. If you have a knocking and found shavings it's more than likely bearings. For reference I have some videos posted here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/arm-chair-diagnostics-help-video-205621.html

Isn't there a know problem with the oil pickup failing/ cracking?

Isn't there a know problem with the oil pickup failing/ cracking?

 

Yes the pickup is known to fail but not the oil pump which is what they are talking about.

Thanks everyone. That's super helpful. A couple of questions with your response.

 

1) Upgrading to the 257, does it bolt up directly?

 

2) Does upgrading mean that I have to upgrade the turbo. I have the vf40 in there now. would it need 52?

 

3) Do these upgrades help extend life of the car/what do the upgrades do for car.

Yes a ej257 will bolt in with the engine gasket kit for your year car.

 

No the vf40 will work fine with it.

 

It gaves the car a new engine, that's all.

 

You should have the car Tuned to get it off the OEM MAP. Do you know about having that done ?

The big question is - were the metal shavings you found steel/magnetic, or no?

 

If not then it's either bearings, piston, or some other aluminum.

 

 

Yes, EJ257 will work lots more piston options out there for the EJ257 - the block is the same. You can find a shortblock from Heuberger Subaru out in Colorado for about $1750 shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states

 

You'll probably want a re-tune with CR changing, though. But yeah sounds like it could need a shortblock and better to do it now rather than have more metal circulate around in the oil, which can obviously damage other stuff, most importantly the heads and turbo.

 

It's just good sense to have the heads inspected thoroughly while they are out, most likely rebuilt. Look at the exhaust valves for damage, being burned up. If you had really low oil pressure, things could be a little ugly in the heads but the cams and caps can clean/polish up nicely and be within spec. Obviously checking the valve clearances and replacing lifters as required.

 

Hopefully the new turbo is good to go, but if you gave it a lot of boost on low oil pressure it may have overheated the core a bit.

 

If you end up swapping out the shortblock..... remove or replace the banjo filters obviously.

 

Other normal stuff, check the oil pump, oil cooler, then t-belt and water pump of course. All other gaskets and seals no doubt.

 

Better to probably pull the engine now because it would be better to save the bearing saddles and cylinders, as you may be able to get away with re-using the block and crank and rods, just new bearings/rings for sure and then you will want to enter the fray of OEM pistons vs Forged. If you do the labor and have a good machine shop, you would be able to save a bit of cash vs a new short block (if yours is re-usable of course).

I have not got it tuned before. Is that something I could do or best to be done professionally?

Tuning is best left to the Pro's.

 

I use http://www.tuningalliance.com Mike has years of tuning these and other cars.

 

Contact him from his web site, he's also a vendor in the vendor forum here. You can tell him I sent you.

 

You can get a e-tune if your good with a lap top, or get a Cobb AP $500+ and he can email you maps for it.

You could probably find a local guy to borrow an AP and load one of their stock maps (Cobb website) and see what works, if you're on a budget and don't want to try the eTune route

I would suggest to pull the engine now also. If plan on re-using some of the parts. The person who had my car before me kept driving it after the turbo went out and sent metal all through the engine and pretty much trashed it. I even had to purchase reman heads because the cam journals were so scored I didn't want to re-use them. And trust me you don't want to have to try and find or pay the price for a set of heads.

You could probably find a local guy to borrow an AP and load one of their stock maps (Cobb website) and see what works, if you're on a budget and don't want to try the eTune route

 

Not sure you can do that, I think the AP is tied to the car by VIN or something like that.

 

It's only good for one car at a time.

You can un-marry AP's, from what I know (which ain't much). The device itself is the real $$$$ not doing the software work

You can un-marry AP's, from what I know (which ain't much). The device itself is the real $$$$ not doing the software work

 

Yeah you can unmarry the ap which means the car you unmarried it from is back on the stock map (which doesn't cost anything btw). Then you can marry the ap to a different car and load an OTS ("off the shelf map") or have a tuner tune using the AP. You CANNOT use and accessport on 2 cars at once. You can find used AP's for around 400$