ron2368 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Took my 92 legacy 2.2 fwd to the shop, it has an erratic idle at times, if I rev it the idle drops almost like it will stall, but it rarely does. The word was that #1 cylinder is at 70% power, probably leakage around the valves. The head job was quoted at $1100 but not recommended. How long can the car last like this? Also is there anything I can do to delay its demise? thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 any info on the other cylinders? i would check the timing before i spent 1100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Took my 92 legacy 2.2 fwd to the shop, it has an erratic idle at times, if I rev it the idle drops almost like it will stall, but it rarely does. The word was that #1 cylinder is at 70% power, probably leakage around the valves. The head job was quoted at $1100 but not recommended. How long can the car last like this? Also is there anything I can do to delay its demise? thank you It is not practical to throw $1100 toward a nearly 20 year old car. Even though #1 cylinder is down on compression, you can still drive it that way for prolly a long time. Leakage with a bad valve will not kill the motor. It just won't be very peppy, and gas millage will be a little less. You could throw some additives at it like MMO, in the gas and oil to see if that helps a little. It is possible that a piece of carbon has built up on a valve, so now it doesn't close fully. MMO in the gas could possibly clean off the carbon, though it would take many tankfulls of gas with MMO to do so, but it is worth a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 (edited) If it's a burned valve, you should be able to detect a "put put put' sound at the exaust pipe. That is, what compression blows past a valve can be heard. Any chance the valves need adjusted? Edited August 25, 2011 by Quidam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 '92 has hydro lifters. One of the reasons that folks around here own cars that old is because: 1. They are cheap to buy. 2. They are very reliable. 3. They are cheap and easy to work on YOURSELF. You can easily do a valve job for about $400 including a complete 60k service, new hoses, belts, etc and probably run it another 200k miles. A head resurface and valve job runs about $160 at my local machine shop on the gen-1 EJ22E heads. If you can't repair your car yourself then you probably should just get a newer car that has a warrantee and make a car payment like most of America. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92_rugby_subie Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 If you can't repair your car yourself then you probably should just get a newer car that has a warrantee and make a car payment like most of America. GD spend time in your shop and I can picture you saying this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbennett2u Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 GD, with all due respect (and you are due a lot!), just because he cant repair it himself doesn't mean he needs to get a newer car with payments. Not everyone CAN do this and not everyone WANTS to do this. If my high mileage 92 legacy was slowly dying as it sounds the OP's is I would probably have the same mentality as him: Delay the death as long as it can be delayed and run it until it dies. In my case my car has many other issues as most 20 year old cars do (not to mention closing in on 340k miles) and wouldnt be worth the amount of time and effort required to do an engine repair like that. Also I am sure I wouldnt just be able to pop it out in a weekend with no experience in engine repairs, so time without a vehicle would be an issue. Original poster: What I personally would do in this situation is start looking for another early Legacy or Impreza... they are not very expensive to get ones in good running condition. Drive your current one until you find one, low compression probably wont cause it to completely die very quickly as another poster said, so you have some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Your easiest option is just to get a different motor that's in good condition. Swapping out an engine is wicked easy. Or a friend who's good with tools might give you a hand. I've sure given a few friends hands fixing cars with stuff like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron2368 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 Thank you all, the car is my daughters college driver about 20 miles rt . The trans is also slipping a bit so my plan is to drive it till it dies. My guy said it could last a year. I will slowly look for a replacement. It will need new tires but thats about it. I purchased it new and it has about 140 k on it so its got good use. As far as the repair its way beyond my ability both physically and mechanically. Just not realistically a weekend job for me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 If the trans is just starting to slip, that means you might have time to save it. Band adjust, fluid change, additives. Hell, maybe just top it off will do the job. If you just leave it the way it is, you'll definitely ruin it in short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 do you know what %70 power means? what exactly did he do - compression or leak down test? you seem confident he's accurate with what's wrong? was this like he looked at it, spit on the ground and told you something while polishing off his bud light and chucking the can in the weeds, or did he actually toss some gauges on it like it sounds like he did? any check engine light? i wouldn't be surprised if you got a lot more use out of it, but who knows. these jokers on here are good, if you can answer questions about what he tested exactly and that exhaust pipe test mentioned above they can give you some engine specific feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 As GG said - "70% power" is a meaningless figure..... for starters - 70% of what? Are they saying that one cylinder is 30% lower compression than the other's or are they saying it's 30% lower compression than and ideal figure of 185 psi at sea level.... or is that percentage from a leak-down test... and if so where is it leaking? Rings or valves? Not enough information. If (as I suspect) it's just some leaky valve seats - keep running it. If and when it gets bad enough - do a valve job and drive it more. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron2368 Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 I have no idea about the specifics of testing it . I am going to keep running it and treat it with tlc . I dont drive it regularly but when I drove it home I think it runs fine. Sorry I dont know more but thats why I come here. Wish I could do all this kind of work but its not in my future. many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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