SAR-baru Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Background on this car...'88 Gl-10 Turbo with just over 165k miles. I got this car for free from my father (no complaints there). 2 years ago, i put a new clutch into it, new tires, brakes, wiper arms, full set of lights (front and back, they were stolen off my car!) 2 front windshields, 4 kc lights, fog lights, deep cycle battery, high output alternator, and a LOT of electronics, including 1 custom built car-computer. Now I'm hoping I dont have to put a new engine into it. I started getting air bubbles in my radiator while the car was at idle, so i thought i might have a hole somewhere. I used some of that liquid glass/aluminum stop leak stuff from NAPA, and it helped for a few months. Coming home from a Search and Rescue mission in my Beast, my temp gauge went from about 1/3 to top end of red, and my oil light came on. I shut down the car immediately and managed to coast almost 3 miles downhill. turns out I blew a nice big hole in the intercooler for the turbo. it was cracked. I tok a nice long piece of 1/2" radiator hose and bypassed the intercooler and it ran just great, even upped the gas mileage and got more oomph out of the turbo. bubbles stopped for a while, then returned. Last winter, somehow I managed to pop a freeze plug out of an obscure piece of the engine that is damn near inaccessable. local shop checked on the parts $250 parts bill becasue they couldn't just put a new plug in, they had to replace the whole piece. girlfriend had them do the work, turns out they put in a silicon soft-seal.. rubber freeze plug with a screw in it for tension with silicon gasket stuff around it to make sure it sealed..when i got it back from the shop, i tried to fill the radiator and it drained straight into the oilpan.. maybe 10 second delay from teh time the water went in to the time it drained out.. does this sound like a cracked head? i'm already looking into a rebuilt engine (or even a good running one) to put back into it, but if i can get the headgasket work done for less, i will. I'm just a little clueless where to proceed. the car hasn't run in almost exactly 1 year. the tires have less than 400 miles on them, the clutch has less than 1000..and all my nifty electronics for the car are sitting in storage for safe keeping..I want my Beast up and running again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Intercooler? Are you talking about the water jacketing on the turbo center section? Where was that "freeze plug"? I guess that I have at look at mine to see if it has any freeze plugs at all. Cracked turbo heads normally crack into the exhaust port, draining into the exhaust pipe. That rapid of coolant draining sounds like something different to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 A friend of mine had a ea82t that had cracked a head/gasket and had been left sitting for a while. When the heads were removed to replace the head gaskets, the bore in one cylinder was found to be severly pitted. This was due to water sitting in the cylinder the whole time that it had been out of use. You may find you have this problem too (if, in fact, it is a blown head gasket/cracked head, on this i'm not sure), in which case, the block will have to be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subynut Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Water pump gasket? My sister's did that. Pour coolant in, couple seconds later it's running out of the bottom of the car. Bubbles in coolant sounds like a head gasket to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKrazy Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Okay how did you lose the freeze plug??? Did it pop cause your engine froze because of having water in it instead of antifreeze?..is so that would lead me to think you have a cracked block (I have experienced this, friend had forgot to put antifreeze back in his jeep after he blew a radiator hose, eventually got to well below freezing overnight and he blew his freeze plugs out, but also cracked his block :-\ )..thus the radiator draining straight into the oil pan, sincerely hope that's not your case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 What Dr. K. said. Freeze plugs really aren't freeze plugs; they are casting core attachments. If the block freezes they are likely to pop out, but the block is also likely to crack. So if the freeze plug was damaged due to freezing rather than rust-out, you may have serious probs with the block. I hope it is something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAR-baru Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Northwet: you are correct, it was the water jacket on the turbo that blew the first time.. and yes, there are two freeze plugs on this engine, they are in a damned hard place to find.. when I get home, I'll try and get some digi-pics to show you..funny thing was that it popped out in september of last year, and it wasn't freezing and I KNOW i had enough antifreeze in the engine, i kept a jug in the back of my car with a 1:1 mix that i had to refill my radiator with every week or so.. the draining out the underside of the engine is directly into the oil pan..i took the oil pan off afte rthe first fill and found a nice (un) healthy mix of the antifreeze i put in and oil from the change i gave it the week prior. Ross: I was afraid of that.. new engine, Here I come.. Oh well, since i've only put $650 into this car so far in necessary repairs, and it was given to me free and clear, i guess i deserved it.. for some reason, every car i've had seems to die right after i get new tires put on them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 for some reason, every car i've had seems to die right after i get new tires put on them... If it makes you feel any better, the past 3 times I have put new tires on a car, it has been hit within 3 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 hey....sent you an email. If you do need a motor, I know a local guy here in Spokane that has a brand new rebuilt long block for 600 bucks. Really good guy and knows subarus extremely well!! Hope you figure it out:brow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAR-baru Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 I'm in Boise currently, so Spokane is a bit of a stretch for me to get to in reasonable time. My dad got a quote from a company in SoCal called Rising Sun Engines.. for a used *tested* turbo engine (less than 65K) on it, they wanted 650$ plus shipping 80 to 120. timing belts are another 75$. for the carb ver. they wanted another 100 PWOENS, if he could do the install too, I may just have to go down to the bank and clean out my savings for that engine...for a rebuilt thats a helluva deal. It's a 14 hour drive at least from here to Spoke, plus towing my suby.... I'm only driving a Honda Accord Wagon right now. and my damn Class 3 tow hitch is on the back of my Suby!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBrumby Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 i would prefer to push my subie than drive a honda. heh hopefully ill never have to proove that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 It's a 14 hour drive at least from here to Spoke, plus towing my suby.... if it makes any difference to your decision, I have done boise to spokane in about 8 hours with a car in tow.. 6 without..Mapquest says just under 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudrat79 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 SAR-Baru..... Sent you a P.m....... Talk soon...??? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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