ouch, hopefully it still has some life left in it. im guessing you are going to overhaul it?
ouch, hopefully it still has some life left in it. im guessing you are going to overhaul it?
98 GT -- Intro to Subaru. Cooked HG, dead suspension, and lots of ricer mods.
02 Outback H6 -- No more HG issues, but ate two 4eats.
09 Subaru Tribeca -- slow and ....um fat, definitely fat.
13 E350 S212 -- No more Subaru!! Why does that make me happy?
Depending on the extent of the damage, yes.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Got it on a stand, pulled the crankshaft caps.. and found that cylinder 2 rod bearing was toast.
Tomorrow, I will pull the crankshaft and get it over to a machine shop. Once it is machined, I will order the proper bearings and a replacement rod and cap.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
didn't it have low oil light on? maybe there was more to it then swapping sensor?
98 GT -- Intro to Subaru. Cooked HG, dead suspension, and lots of ricer mods.
02 Outback H6 -- No more HG issues, but ate two 4eats.
09 Subaru Tribeca -- slow and ....um fat, definitely fat.
13 E350 S212 -- No more Subaru!! Why does that make me happy?
How many miles/km's did it have when it let go? I was about to pull the trigger on one, but got worried that near 100,000km was too many miles for $3750. I hear G&R Imports has good prices on parts and replacement engines.
ver2StiRA BD legacy
88 RX
07 FXT
It has somewhere around 52,000 or 53,000kms on it.. (I pushed the chassis outside, and I do not feel like going out to look exactly). The issue here was that it was not well maintained.. the last oil change before I received it was about 4 years prior.. even though it had only driven about 1000kms. I also was traveling about 70-75mph with the engine spinning at 6000rpm.
I have been in communication with G&R and Twin Rivers here in the states, as well as Yokohama Motors and JapanParts.com to source various parts. The only quote I received back was for a replacement crankshaft with bearings at $850 (!!!) plus a $300 core (and core is graded as well) from Twin Rivers. I guess $150-200 for machining and $170 for bearing kits is a much more palatable option.
Today the crank is out. I have it wrapped up in bubblewrap to prevent more damage, and I will bring it to the machine shop tomorrow.
I took the head off as well today. Cylinder walls look good, no gouges or visible cracks. The head gasket was also fully intact.
The head looks okay as well. No valve damage or anything of that sort. I will have it cleaned and pressure tested. I will also have the block cleaned. I measured the head, it is 28cm from one end to the other.. just over 11 inches!
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
After looking at the pieces a little more, it appears that the #2 piston made contact with the head. I am not sure if it just broke the seal of the headgasket or if it cracked the head, but that does explain why the cooling system pressurized and pushed out a bunch of coolant. As such, I no longer trust the head or the piston. I bought today a new head, piston, and a brandy new crankshaft.. as I found one for not too much more than I can have my old one machined for.
This engine rebuild is beginning to get quite expensive.. but I should not have any more issues for a very long time.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Well, this has turned into a ground up engine rebuild. Not all of my parts have arrived, but the last few should be here by the end of the week.
Rebuilt and ported Head, new piston (just #2), new rod (just #2), new rings, new crankshaft, new oil pump, all new gaskets and seals, new thermostat (while it was all apart), new pilot bearing (to go with the clutch I did last month).
Once the last few packages show up, the pictures will start flowing again. Speaking of pictures.. I just corrected all of my MR pictures from the Photobucket debacle. I need to come up with a good solution for new pictures going forward.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Oof, that's an unfortunate to-do list of items, especially when it was out of the blue.
Was it difficult actually finding the pistons and rods for this motor? I'm assuming since you're only replacing one that you got an OEM one. I'm surprised you're still able to!
2004 Subaru Outback Wagon | EJ251 | 5MT | Limited - Sold but not forgotten!
2005 Subaru Outback XT Wagon | EJ255 | 5MT | Limited - Daily driver
This engine was in continuous production from 1990 to 2012, so parts are fairly straightforward to find. Many parts never changed for the entire run, but quite a few have been updated along the way. The non-supercharged version was used in the Vivio in Europe as well and many parts were for both the NA and SC versions. Not a single part was "difficult" to track down, it really just came down to what vendor could get each part for the lowest cost. I ended up ordering everything from JapanParts.com, Yokohama Motors, and from PartSouq.com. Some really common parts like o-rings and some fasteners I ordered from my local Subaru dealer, Secor Subaru.
After everything is said and done, not counting tools, cleaners, sealants, and the towing charges... This engine has cost me more to repair than the total cost of the truck by the time it got to my driveway, but given the excellent original price.. It will still be less than the cost to buy one already here.
Also, it will be an essentially new engine.. I should have no more issues for a long while as far as the engine is concerned.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Progress!
While I was awaiting the arrival of parts, I decided to change the oil in the Supercharger. I may mess around with the pully size later on, but I need to focus on just getting the engine working at the moment.
I also decided to clean up the pistons with some Berryman Chemdip cleaner. I let them each soak for about 90 minutes, and then scrubbed them down. This is a before/after.
Here are all three cleaned pistons, as well as the new piston that showed up today. There are also brand new rings installed.
I rehoned the cylinders with a 320grit Flexible Ball Hone. They were not bad to start, but I figure to deglaze them and allow the new rings to properly seat.
All 4 pistons reinstalled.
Brand new crankshaft.
Crank installed top view.
Crank installed bottom view with all cleaned up bearing caps and new bearings.
New OEM head gasket.
Flowtested rebuilt head reattached.
Unfortunately, I am stalled at this point as my new oil pump has not yet arrived. It might be here tomorrow.. monday at the latest. Once that arrives, I can fully reassemble the engine.
Did I need to replace as much as I did? No, but since it is fully disassembled, I might as well replace all of these to gain back some power and prevent potential issues.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
The oil pump finally showed up today, so assembly resumed.. until I realized that the oil filter stud is not included with the new pump, and I cannot seem to remove it from the old one. So.. yet another part ordered from Japan, and it will not be here until after I am back from vacation next week. :/
Water pump, Oil pump, Timing belt, Injector assembly, exhaust manifold, and engine wiring harness installed.
Engine "Strengthening Plate" and oil pickup installed.
Oil Sump installed.
Timing Cover installed.
All valve lash set.. and the engine spins nicely and in time.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
The engine is reassembled and remounted! I have other pictures, but I need to sort them out later.. In the meantime, here is a video of the second start!
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
The truck is officially back on the road, took it for a drive of about 50kms today to seat the rings and test for leaks. I have a couple of pictures after the valve lash adjustment, that I will pick a couple and post tomorrow.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
I have been working on completing the engine break in for the last few weeks, so I have neglected to post up the rest of the pictures.
The engine has been running very very well since it was rebuilt. I still need to re-adjust the valve lashing now that it has been driven 500kms or so as the valve train is being a little chattery. I also need to pick up a Tee for the crankcase breathers, which I will explain a little later on. Today I changed the distributer rotor and cap as they just showed up this morning, as well as the drivers mirror which was very loose and moving around on me while driving.
But first.. Here are the last few rebuild pictures:
Coming back from vacation, these were waiting for me: The oil filter stud is obvious, but the valve cover was an OEM option. The red version was no more expensive than a non-colored cover, and it was cheaper than having my existing cover powdercoated.
I also picked up a magnetic oil drain plug. It uses a M16 thread just like the newer FA and FB series engines. The hex is WAY bigger than the original (19mm vs 14mm), but it works quite well.
Here is the engine reassembled, clutch installed, ready for going back into the chassis.
First break-in oil change at 50kms. Lots of stuff on the magnetic plug, and the oil was dark grey with a pearlescent look and a couple of white metal flakes.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Total list of replaced engine parts:
#2 Piston
#2 Rod
Crankshaft
All rings
Main Bearings
Rod Bearings
All Gaskets and Orings
Oil Pump assembly
Head
Valve Cover (not required)
Distributor Cap/Rotor
Water pump (previous work)
All belts, including timing (previous work)
Spark Plugs
Supercharger Silicone Joiners (previous work)
Clutch, Pressure Plate, Throw out bearing, Pilot bearing (previous work except for pilot bearing)
I changed the oil at 50km, 150km, and 400kms. The 1st change was photoed in the last post. 150km was still a little dark, but much fewer metal bits in suspension. 400km was nearly perfect oil, just slightly darker than when it went in. I am going to do another change at 650kms, and do a compression test at that point.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Compression test results: #1 - 108psi, #2 - 112psi, #3 - 113psi, #4 - 115psi
I also re-adjusted the valve tappet clearance, and the engine is significantly quieter now. It was a little chattery before, but this is much better.
That said, I have also developed another exhaust leak somewhere.. I have a feeling I am going to have to have some sort of custom exhaust system fabbed up.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
I have been driving this around for the last month and about 1200kms.. and I noticed that it started to very quietly knock like it was before it spun a bearing. I had only replaced one of the four rods, so I decided to pull it back apart and replace the other 3 rods and re-replace the rod bearings.
In doing this, I discovered that one of the rod caps was slightly loose! Either the studs stretched or I neglected to tighten that one down. Luckily, I caught this before the brand new crank was damaged. I do know that I neglected to mark the rod caps, and I wasnt sure on their order.. turns out they were all wrong after I found the marks during this second teardown. That may have contributed to the loose #3 rod.
One of the new rods was damaged before installation, so I am awaiting the replacement to show up before I can finish reassembly of the engine, but when this is all done.. every single moving part in the engine (except for 3 of the piston crowns themselves) would have been replaced.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
So-it will be done in time for the R.I. meet? (Sorry-I had to say that-still waiting for a date!)
Last edited by thenines'; 09-01-2017 at 05:01 AM.
Legacys are like potato chips-You can't stop at just one!
Yes, it will be at the RI meet for sure. The last rod just shipped, and I hopefully will have it by the weekend. The reassembly should only take a day or so once I have that last rod.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Due to Eid Al Adha, my rod is stuck in the UAE until Monday, so I will not see it until Wednesday now. Oh well, I guess it will be back together by NEXT weekend.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Scratch that, somehow it made it to me on Friday, so I reassembled the bottom end last night. I waited until today to do the rest as I wanted to give the RTV on the oil pan time to set up.
During the reassembly, I ended up breaking the tab off of the temperature sensor. Luckily, it is the same sensor that is used on the 1st and 2nd gen Legacy, so a quick trip to the parts store and now it is quite happy. I am still bleeding out the coolant system, but I did take it for a quick spin around the block. The engine is nice and quiet and happy, but I need to do some adjustments on timing and the belts (The supercharger seems to be straining, and the alternator pulley is squealing)
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Oh boy, I have a lot of updates to post.
First, before the parts showed up for my second "mini rebuild", I installed a few LED lights. The first one was a significant upgrade for my reverse light. There is only one reverse light on this truck because of where the muffler is located. It is a small wimpy incandescent bulb which was hard to see before I tinted the rear window, and impossible to see afterwards.
I picked up a pair of these surface-mount LED spot lights, broke out the angle grinder and got to work. This shot shows how much larger the new lamp is from the old one.
Here is the new lamp installed
And here it is in operation. Unfortunately I ordered the spot beam instead of the flood beam, but it really illuminates directly behind me!
I also finally installed the 4x4 LED flood lights to the back rack. They are installed, but not yet wired up. I have had these lights since before the truck showed up, and I drilled the holes in the rack prior to it being powdercoated. It just took me this long to put them on for some reason.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
The second "mini rebuild" was a piece of cake.
I am getting too good at pulling this engine, I believe I can do it in about an hour now.
I now have 4 brand new rods, all with matching caps that are facing the correct direction, properly torqued, and a second set of rod bearings.
Yet another new head gasket
All reassembled and back in.
The observant among you might see that the two vent hoses are connected now. I decided that since I had to wait for parts to arrive from Japan anyways, I might as well order the correct Akabou valve cover. Here are the two side by side.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
I have been driving the truck every day since the build, and it is very happy. I did have a rattle that resonated at around 2000rpm, which ended up being a loose timing belt cover.. and a bit of a drone that seems to be the supercharger belt tensioner. I have a replacement tensioner on the way from Japan now.
While driving around, I am often asked "What kind of Nissan is that?" because of the Sentra wheels. Just today, I was asked that question 4 times in traffic... so I decided to grind off the Nissan logos from the center caps.
What I started with
After a minute or so with the stripping wheel and my drill
Final result (until I paint the wheels that is)
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
I also decided to get my gauge pod installed. I am not really convinced on the placement here, so I double sided taped this down until I can come up with a more permanent solution. This will do for now and I will readdress this after the RI meet. First step was to trim the gauge pod to somewhat match the curve of the dash.
The curve is pretty good, but I cannot get it to sit flush on the sides. This is what bugs me the most about this setup.
This is the end result for the moment. I do not have the vacuum hose run yet nor the wiring connected to the truck yet, but the wiring runs into the dash, and the whole pod is double sided taped down.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Thats a lot of work. Well done sir.
My cars:
2019 Impreza Sport
2008 Miata
2009 Legacy 3.0R Limited- Sold
1998 Legacy L wagon- Sold
2000 Outback- Sold
Holy cow. Talk about unexpected maintenance! Crazy how much you've torn this apart. Glad to see it's running right though! Hopefully that'll be the last of your major troubles for a long time now that it's all fresh.
2004 Subaru Outback Wagon | EJ251 | 5MT | Limited - Sold but not forgotten!
2005 Subaru Outback XT Wagon | EJ255 | 5MT | Limited - Daily driver
It has been going very well since the last build. The supercharger idler pulley should be here any day... I finally connected and plumbed in the gauges, and I now know for sure that the supercharger produces a little over 0.5bar of pressure (about 7psi) I also know that my oil pressure is 90+psi at full tilt.
I also dealt with a very minor leak on one of the coolant hoses. I was able to repair it, but with all of the hoses being 25 years old.. I figured I should order a new set of hoses today.
2010 SH9 Forester X Limited
1992 KS4 Sambar SDX S/C - JDM Kei Truck
2017 BN9 Legacy 2.5i Premium Eyesight - Wife's car
2013 GP7 Impreza Sport - Daughter's car
2004 BEE Outback Sedan - Legacy B4 RS30 Project - Scrapped
Gezzz all that trouble and you probably could of done a electric motor swap in her.
97 RHD SOLD
99 RHD SOLD
01 Outback SOLD
01 LGT SOLD