pzookey Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 (edited) Well my daughter finally killed it. Her 97 Outback had a slight knock during start up after it sat a couple days after I changed the head gaskets. I had told her to check the oil every time she got gas. Needless to say she did not always having an excuse. Well last week I heard it knocking every time she started it up. It stopped as soon as the oil pressure came up but I knew it was a matter of time. Her Grandmother was saying how proud of her she was when she stopped to buy oil when the oil light came on last week. Needless to say I was not proud at all. Last night I had to run out and get her off the side of the road. It is knocking all the time and will not stay running for more that a couple minutes. I am happy I save the engine out of the donor 98 that supplied her transmission. That engine will end up in her car this weekend. I dragged the car home the few miles this morning. Merry Christmas to me. Edited December 24, 2016 by pzookey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkyboy Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Merry Christmas everyone! A nice running engine for your daughter's Subaru is a great gift! I think she will learn her lesson about checking the oil more frequently now. Maybe Santa will bring her an oil pressure gauge for a stocking stuffer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 Well even more interesting is the fact it is 2 quarts over full now. She told me she added one quart last Saturday when the light came on, Two quarts on Tuesday, and then two more on Thursday. So from 3 quarts low to 2 quarts over in a week. I guess she still refuses to check the dip stick. Taking my time on it. Radiator is out and about half the bolts are out getting ready to pull. When I get done I get done. I am not rushing this time. I am glad I did not sell the spare engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 I think you should have made her pay to tow it. That and wait a week or so to get the engine all the way in and running again. Get her to appreciate that freedom of having a car by showing her what it's like to not have it anymore. Make her pay for it and work on it and maybe she gains some respect for the car. Just MHO. Have a merry Christmas! Kick back and watch some football or some of those Christmas classic movies and drink a little holiday cheer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 Well it is partially pulled apart and I think I am done for the day. I dragged it home myself (it was only 4 miles down the road). I may or may not get it done this weekend. I would much Rather be putting the Fitech Fuel injection on the 440 in my motorhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash138 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 (edited) My daughter just had the tranny go out on her beloved 05 mustang, because it doesn't have a dipstick, she ignored having any service done to it, so yesterday I drove 300 miles to pick it up and 300 miles back to my house with it. I'm thinking of setting it on fire for many reasons. Edited December 24, 2016 by Crash138 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 Well it will wait to next weekend. It was raining here so the wife and I went out looking at furniture for the living room. I will worry about her car come next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Well I got the old engine pulled. The IAC switched back onto the engine it came off of. The 98 engine is sitting in the engine compartment loosely bolted right now as sleet and rain put a stop to the work today. Tomorrow or Monday will be another chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iriejedi Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Might not be your daughters fault, heads up. I find removing the oil pump and inspecting them on all timing belt jobs solves many future issues for me. There are screws on the back side of that pump that can loosen over time on about 10% of the cars I do this to. I generally only remove and use locktight red on the ones that are loose. If they aren't loose I don't mess with them. Then it's a matter of replacing the crank seal and using ultra gray permatex to reseal the pump. Read the directions on how to use the permatex. As long as you have it apart doesn't hurt to make sure you have a metal oil seperator plate on the back (stock ones were plastic and they all crack and leek) of the engine not to mention the rear main seals and cam seals up front. The oil pump in my opinion is why these things go bad. The pump ends up starving bearings for oil. I've seen those 2.5's keep running with only like two quarts of oil in them. Never with a loose oil pump screws though. Besides who wants to have to add oil all the time, you reseal it and your need to add oil is greatly reduced. PS. Do the valve cover gaskets as well. I generally spend 6 to 8 hrs doing these little things before an install, I hate having to pull an engine twice because I overlooked those items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Her oil pump was checked when the head gaskets and timing set were done a little over a year ago. It has been burning some oil ever since it ran hot with the old head gaskets. Her waiting for the oil light to come on and then just adding one quart for the last six months combined with the one time over heat (she decided to take a 2 hour drive after I had asked her not to go to far with it) and getting stuck in Atlanta traffic with iffy head gaskets were the combined cause. I knew it was a matter of time but the continuous running with low oil did not help anything. The wide open throttle driving did not help either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 yep, either one of those pretty much make it clear. Add in the WOT on top of the other manageable conditions, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 It is not raining right now so I may head out to work on it some more. Bell housing needs bolted up and then lowered onto the motor mounts. Then it is time for all the hoses and other fun stuff. Driveway is still soaked so it may be a little while. Weather is calling for more rain this afternoon so I am not holding out much hope for completing it today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 No further progress last week due to the rain. Hoping the 2 - 4" of snow misses us here in GA so I can get the damn thing back together this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 Very light snow outside and a soaking wet driveway. Hoping it warms up and dries a little so I can finish getting the engine back in tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 Top bell housing bolts are in. Fixed the coolant leak in my 97 Outback. Sun is out and things are drying out so I am hoping to get her outback finished tomorrow. Still cold out but if it is at least dry I can get it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Still below 20 degrees outside. Waiting for it to warm up a little and the sun to hit the driveway. Then back to work getting the engine in and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Engine is in and running now. I had to do a little vacuum replumbing and the knock sensor on the replacement engine failed causing some crappy running. Pulled the sensor off the old engine and it is running great now. It sure is fun working in 30 degree temps. Inside warning up now waiting for my daughter to come over and get her car out of my driveway....lol. As she graduated college just before Christmas we signed the title over to her as her graduation gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Yeah, working with frozen fingers and toes sucks. Glad to hear you got it back together and running! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Yeah, working with frozen fingers and toes sucks. Glad to hear you got it back together and running! Well it did get up to 37 just as I finished. She also got a fresh oil change as I had no idea how old the oil was in the engine. It also has MLS head gaskets already in it so someone had the honor of doing that some time in the past. I am happy I did not sell the engine as the car it came out of was acquired for the automatic transmission and the running engine was just a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Cool gift you were able to give her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzookey Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Cool gift you were able to give her. She has had the car for 4 years now. The deal was it would be hers when she graduated. I did not expect to have to put the work into it that I did nor did I expect to have to replace the trans 3 times due to 2 bad ones from the auto wreckers. Now it is hers. It is time for her to start maintaining it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now