Probably Need New Engine

Yesterday my wagon leaked some coolant. Luckily I had stopped and saw it. Assuming this was the dreaded HD issue I parked and called my mechanic.

 

My mechanic started the car and poured more coolant in the radiator. The temperature remained steady. He noticed some residue in the radiator. I told him about the well documented HD issues these engines are so well known for. He told me that the residue he noticed in the radiator could be a HD sealant.

 

He was more concern about a claking noise he can hear. He thinks there's a bad rod bearing. The noise is more apparent when accelerating, and as soon as I start the car.

 

Now I have to decide what to do.

 

Rebuild this engine vs. finding another.

Pros and cons.

I imagine a rebuild is likely to be more expensive.

 

Should I bother with another 2.5L engine?

 

What sucks is, tomorrow Saturday it will be 2 weeks since I bought this wagon.

Is it more of a clacking or a tapping? the lifters on our cars like to be noisy when they are cold.

it does sound like you have bad head gaskets. sorry. the seller probably knew.

 

the noise coukld be a rod, or maybe piston slap. that makes noise at start up and then quiets down . it does not mean the engine is going to die but i guess it could still be a rod. once these engines are overheated for a while they can throw rods even aftr the hed gasgets have been replaced.

 

i would swap in a 2.2L engine. search for ''ej25 swap'' and read up. it easy and you can doit pretty cheap if you swap it your self. ~$1200 if you buy the engine and pay a shop to swap it. new seals and ALL new timing components.

Ok time to ask the experts.

Started looking for engine an replacements.

If I was to opt for something a bit more powerful like:

 

EZ 3.0 6 Cylinder, 2001 - 2004

or

EJ 20TT 2.0

 

Will other components of my 2.5L fit into either of these two engines?

If I go this route I plan to purchase a transmission as well.

i believe u can pick up another 2.5 off ebaymotors.com for around a grand, i did while back and the motor had 36k on it, all i had to do was swap injectors and re wire the harness

if your car is LHD then the ej20tt won't fit without substantial modification including removal of a turbo

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-EJ25DE-2-5L-DOHC-Engine-Subaru-Legacy-Forester-EJ25-/280660136599?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4158a5d297

 

heres one, free shipping

Thanks for the links and suggestions.

Here's another:

http://www.enginesus.com/ejsp/items.jsp?type=Engine&enginemake=subaru&engineid=19

 

But I still wonder if, since I ve to replace the engine, if it would be best to get a more powerful, or newer engine:

 

http://www.enginesus.com/ejsp/items.jsp?type=Engine&enginemake=subaru&engineid=171

i got my motor from enginesus, they are good, somewhat, had a slight problem with them and they werent very helpful cause they were unsure of the answer and as for the v6, im unsure if it will bolt up maybe someone else can tell you if it will

 

i was told that the JDM 2.5 came with an extra 15hp, true or not im not sure, but u can put mods on it while its out of the car, headers, intake and so on

my understanding is the ez30 bolts right up, mechanically. your biggest problem is wiring with any engine other than the stock 2.5

jdm wiring can be a slight nightmare but my buddy figured it out after a week of messing around and going to different shops to see if they can pull up a wire harness diagram

with enough time and money you can do anything, but the only easy engine installs are going to be the ej22 95 - 98 and the ej25 96 - 98/99.

EZ30 is a pain unless you're willing to go with aftermarket EMS from the start. IIRC trying to use the factory setup is a major PITA.

Called enginesus.com

Asked the guy what he thought about upgrading to a newer more powerful engine.

He told me "forget it!"

Asked him if he sold manual transmissions and he said "forget it! thats too much work. Sell the car and buy a manual."

heheee.

 

Sounds like the most sensible thing to do is go for the same 2.5L, rebuilt with upgraded head gaskets. And forget about the manual transmission, for now...

 

Thanks again to everyone for your advice.

A manual swap isn't that difficult....lol.

I hate when people say "sell it and buy a manual" that is fine for newer cars, but on cars this old, finding manual transmission car with as little rust as mine has is nearly impossible in my area. I had to fly to Florida to find the one I have. I plan to swap to a manual at some point, possibly even a WRX swap.

manual swaps arent hard, i did one on a 90 nissan 300zx, i say the hardest part was the pedals those were a bastard -.-

 

and like i said enginesus arent helpful or do they care

Totally, but I see where the guy from enginesus.com is coming from. For the average person switching to a manual transmission is just not worth the expense.

Though I still don't know what the expense would be.

 

That WRX swap would be sick TbirdMan. Sounds quite expensive too.

 

The good thing is that the Legacy is still running without issue. Looks like if I take it easy on her I'll be able to drive it to work and back for a few more months until I find everything I need.

 

Any suggestions for mechanics in southern California?

i now take auto repair and the very first thing i did was a auto to 5 speed swap so i think it could be done by the average person, i know some shops wont even mess with that stuff, expense, u may luck out and find all the parts u need for under a grand then possibly another grand for all of it to be put in depending on the shop and labor rates

I actually had a line on the parts i needed for 450, but just couldn't scrape the money together fast enough.

Another possibility.

Find a donor car on Craigslist or similar for cheap and use it for the rebuild, tranny etc.

This presupposes you have a place to keep a second vehicle.

 

O.