Dr. RX

I would love to see what it does to the bearing surfaces of the turbo charges that are not using roller bearings. I haven't own a Mercede yet (it's on my wife's wish list) but have own both a BWM (735i) and several Porches (911S and 914), yes they are older cars, but I never ran less the a 30 weight oil in any of them. There is a special oil, I think it is a 10W50 that is made specifically for BMWs, so I'm wondering which models run the 0W40 oil.

It is obvious that you have never seen the Bardall test, both the ball bearing and the surface it is in contact with are moving, the oil is forming a film (layer) over both surfaces, then pressure on the ball bearing is slowly applied. The idea is to see how the oil holds up to this kind of friction. You can see both metal surfaces get red hot from the friction. It basically creates thermol breakdown of the oil.

So, 0W40 is a synthetic (aka Mobil 1). What type of diesel do you have Petersubaru, certainly not a Subaru (I don't think they have release the diesel to Europe yet).

Engineers?? I know what those are, I have been one for the past 26 years here at Boeing, I'm a card carriying member of SAE, mostly because the "A" stands for both, automotive and areonautical. Maybe I'll have to delve into the SAE library to see what they have to say. Has anyone here every seen what only 10 psi of pressure can do, it can be very explosive if suddenly released, most engine oil systems operate at 30 psi. Unless an engine is left standing for a long period of time, there is residual oil on the bearing surfaces (the heavier the weight, the more likely to have a residual). At 30 psi the oil system is quickly supplied with fresh oil. What damages an engine most is revving it when it is still cold, this could cause starvation, even at 30 psi. What would a 0W40 oil flow like, water??? I didn't even know that they made such a thing.

The weight is the viscousity of the oil, lower number freer flowing. The molecular structure is the same, regardless of weight, it will flow through the same clearance, it just might take a few micro seconds longer for a heavier weight. The engines that I work on and play with are turbo charged, they by nature create more heat then a normal engine, therefore I am more concerned about thermal breakdown in an oil. For the region where I live, the 20W50 give me the best protection. So, a turbo engine would be better off running an oil with a higher weight, avoiding the themal breakdown of a lower weight oil, which would lead to coking (burnt oil buildup) on the turbo bearing surfaces. I'm always reminded of the Bardall commercial were the applied friction to ball bearings spinning in various weights of oil. The bearing in the lighter oil would seize up long before the bearing in the heavier weights and way earlier the Bardall. That to me always showed that lighter weight oils provided less protection, I guess I'll always think that until someone can prove different to me.

Gee, I have over 120K on my engine (JDM EJ20G) with no ill effects. Yesterday it never got above 26 degrees F, unusually cold for this area. The car started just like it does in 100 degree F weather in the summer. I never got a certificate, but if there were a grand master catagory, I'm sure I would qualify. I've talked to a lot of ASE certified mechanics in my life, and have never been real impressed, so if you were trying to impress me, you didn't. I have proven certified mechanic wrong in the past, and will probably continue in the future. I really doubt that my engine was designed for a 5W30 oil, but if you want to risk engine failure due to oil failure, be my guest.

Not just that but it has better lubricating properties all around, I've learned through the school of hard knocks what using too light weight of an oil can do. I've been building high performance engines for over 35 years, and I won't use anything less.

I run 20W50 oil in my car year round.

Since the pictures are of it sitting on the original intake, I don't think it will be that tall once it is installed.

So, it was only missing one side skirt? Yes, it is possible that it was a dealer installed part or someone installed them at a later date. I have seen several 3drs with aero kits, but not side skirts.

Not say all cars in Japan are driven this way, but when I was in Japan driving, everytime the light changed, it was like a drag race to the next light. I would say it depends on how long you are planning to keep the car, the rebuilt should come with some type of warrantee, the JDM tranny probably will not, you might have to replace the JDM tranny two or three time before you would have to replace the rebuilt one. If it is a matter of cash flow, then you only have one option, since you probably can't afford the rebuilt one.

Only RX's got the side skirts, everything else was available on any 3 dr or Sedan.

I think he was talking about the twin turbo.

I think you missed something, the twin turbo WILL NOT fit in a LHD car. I put an EJ20G (DOHC Turbo), which has the same external dimensions as all other DOHC 4 cyclinder Subaru EJ series engines, into an 87 RX, so the answer is yes, it will fit no problem.

There is no way to tell you what your total cost will be, even ball park figures can be way off. A rule of thumb that I use is, I try to figure how much all the parts will cost, then I double that figure, which still runs a little low most times.

Yes, a VLSD out of a 91 Leg Turbo will work, they are the same series rear diff, R180s I believe. The difference is that the Leg diff has stub axles held in by a 'C' clip and the others are held in by a bolt, so the inners will change, but you'll need the correct stub axles too.

Do you know what car they came out of, R160 parts does swap with R180 parts. It would be good to have some more info on what you are thinking of swapping.

Look at it this way, a car that was in a flood was probably no running at the time it was covered with water, so any water that got into the engine, didn't get into the bearing surfaces. If you blow a head gasket, the water gets into the oil system. People rebuild engines with blown head gaskets all the time, but won't look twice at a car the was in a flood, which engine do you think is worst? The engine should be fine, just make sure to change the oil, run the engine for about 500 miles, then do an oil change. If there is any rust internally, it would be surface rust and would not bother anything. There really shouldn't be any internal rust, the internals should have had a thin coating of oil on everything. I really doubt that must of the electrical would have been damaged either, it just may not look pretty.

Sounds like this is a known problem to SOA or they wouldn't be so willing to replace anything. They must know that there are two pistons that cause the problem and is why they are willing to replace only two. Yes, I would have them do it, hopefully they have a loaner car for you. If that doesn't fix it, then they will have to replace the other piston. It would be smart to replace all 4 at the same time, but they look at it as why pay for more then they need to.

Thanks, I never looked at the link, guess I should have first. The poster doesn't say anything about the car. From what I understand, the heel of Italy looks alot like the area around Tel Aviv.

I wasn't talking about the girl, she could have come from anywhere, but I would have bet Scandinavian before I would have guessed German. So, Lukas, how can you tell that the plates are from Israel. My guess was Italy because the building looked Mediterranean, Israel would work too.

My 95 L Wagon has around 85K.

I've been trying to figure out which country this car is in. It has to be one with LHD. The license plate is larger then a US plate, the decal on the side if different, if this were in the US, it would be a RS model with a decal on the rear spoiler, it is deffinately a 2000 or 2001 model year because it is a 4 door. Of course someone could have added the rear spoiler to a 4 door, but it is at least a 97, probably (because of the front bumper) a 98 or newer. It could even be a WRX, in which case it would be a early 98 since later on in 98 the WRX rear spoiler changed. A 97 WRX would have a Gen IV bumper, this is a Gen V or newer bumper. My guess would be Italy.

Yes there are such things are power folding mirrors, I have them on my 96 Impreza, but they are JDM parts.

Yes, there are power folding mirror, but they are JDM parts, and being setup for a right hand drive car they are difficult to adjust for left hand drive cars. I believe JHot Imports has a set on the eBay site right now. As for non-power folding mirrors, I would look at a Brighton model.