engine is out, what now?

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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Baja'nWisconsin
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engine is out, what now?

Post by Baja'nWisconsin »

I've pulled the engine out of my baja a while ago, and gotten a newly used engine from the junk yard with higher miles "150k". my Baja has about 210k, but my problem is, my father and I are working on it, and he does not believe me that it would be worth it to pull this block apart, and put new gaskets basically all around, including new pistons. All of which I have. I have new mahle clevite pistons, and manley rings, and a bunch of gaskets. But the thing about it is, I cant decide to save myself a headache of splitting the block, or saying to hell with it and just changing the timing belt. And if I do change a lot of parts, which parts are the main failing parts that I SHOULD fix? Besides, I don't plan on keeping it for long after I fix it. Because I need a more reliable car. but the thing about it is, do you guys think I should fix it all up engine wise to try to get more $, or say to hell with it, and save some time, and give the new owner the parts for cheap with the truck.
greymud
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by greymud »

It's out. You have the parts. Less work to do it now than to do it later, and you'll be happier with the new parts in.
05 NA 5MT
mike-tracy
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by mike-tracy »

If I was selling it, I'd spend the least amount needed to get it to a state that it ran decent.
1992 Legacy SS, 5mt and heavily modified
2000 Impreza RSTi Coupe
2003 Baja, H6 and Dual Range 5mt swap
ZUBAJA
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by ZUBAJA »

So which engine are you wanting to "go through"? 150K is LOW mileage for a Subie. My Baja had 213K and still runs strong. I pulled a Forester engine (cracked head) that had 200K. I decided while the heads were sent out to check the rings (this DOESN'T require pulling rods or block). I found all rings still within specs so I cleaned the ring lands, ran a quick hone through the cylinders, and put it back together. Ran fine.
I agree with mike tracy - I wouldn't put any more in it than necessary. From my checking, 200K plus Bajas tend to sell for around or less than 4K. I've seen them as low as 2500. (rare) and it wasn't all beat up (considered buying it). Dennis
Baja'nWisconsin
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by Baja'nWisconsin »

thanks guys, greymud, I think I'll kind of go with your idea, and use as many parts as I can before I do anything with it. And thank you for telling me ZUBAJA, that resale value with high miles on a NA Baja are meh, I'm kinda second guessing selling it now, and now might just run it until I hit a deer or I blow it again. I blew the first engine by trying to run too thick of oil in -30 weather, and the timing belt snapped because the cams were starved of oil and friction welded themselves.... yeah. Ill just fix the parts that I can, I've done the oil pump, water pump, timing belt, and new timing tensioners. What else should I do to save myself the headache later? head gaskets, and pistons where kind of what I hear about problems on the EJ25, Anything else? Also if I do the pistons, how do I do the rings, because I put them on the piston, and the oil rings don't seem to fit correctly so idk, also thanks guys, I've been lurking this forum, and ever since I've joined I've realized there are other nice people who like this weird wacky car- truck :)
ZUBAJA
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by ZUBAJA »

If you're doing the lower mileage engine, I wouldn't bother with separating the case or the main / rod bearings. This is called a "Top overhaul" (aircraft term). The pistons can come out through the tops of the cylinders. There are 3 allen (hex) plugs for the left (driver) side and the right front cylinder. The right rear is accessible through the oil separator plate on the r/r of the engine. Once these plus have been removed, you can remove the circlips / snap rings that hold the wrist pins. You will have to come up with some kind of puller to pull the wrist pins out through the holes.
For reinstall, a large radiator hose clamp can work as a ring compressor or a regular ring compressor. You will want to be careful to make sure the rings go into the cylinder (I.E. don't force anything). There are videos out there on teardown and overhaul / assembly. Dennis
greymud
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Re: engine is out, what now?

Post by greymud »

If you do sell it, all those new parts will not change the sale price much, but will change the speed of the sale.

IMO
05 NA 5MT
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