Suraru service warranty on rebuilt engine, PLEASE help, dealers especially!

[PictureChasers]

Urgently need help on dealing with Subaru dealer on engine they completely rebuilt! We are in BC.

 

We have 2 Justy's which we LOVE! My wife & I live over 800km apart, so we NEED them!

 

Our first Justy had it's engine completely rebuilt by my local Dealer 5 months ago, complete with warranty, or so they said. We paid to remove & replace in car. Asked them many times to tell us anything else it needs, so we could approve it. we wanted this engine to last!

 

We change the 20-50 oil every 2-3,000km, use Subaru filters, use fresh Prestone anti freeze. We maintain it, and we use it a lot! Our initial oil changes were at 40km, 200km, 1,000km, 2,000km.

 

Motor cooked as my wife was driving last Monday. Our local dealer INSISTS that to be covered by Warranty that it must be brought to THEM(local dealer) at OUR cost. It's over 500 km away, there are 2 other Subaru dealers MUCH closer! I havent seen it but they say it's the bottom end, of course.

 

Then they will remove and tear down, THEN decide if they choose to cover under warranty. If they choose not to cover, they expect to be paid in full for engine removal and teardown. They tell us that if any PART whatsoever is at fault, we must wait until they try to get money from the part manufacturer. Does this sound right, or should they warranty their engine rebuild as a whole?

 

Any thoughts, comments? Among my potential actions are forget the warranty and have my competent Justy mechanic build another one, ICBC complaint resolution dept, Subaru Canada, BBB, letter to the editor, or simply parking across the street with window lettering that clearly states our problem and lack of warranty support...

 

THANKS!

 

Darren

 

 

FYI This dealer originally took so long rebuilding the engine that they cut about 40% off their price, and lost their parts & service girl. The story is she quit after getting in constant trouble for promising us a speedy rebuild. She said a few days, it took a few weeks. Since our rebuild they have also lost their manager, I don't know why.

[justified]

Sounds a little shady to me. I dont know about up North, but down here a subies a subie and any dealer can make warranty claims for you. At least thats my understanding. I had a friend who owned a 2.5rs that self destrcuted. He bought it in Illinois and then moved to Tennessee shortly after. The Tenn dealer had no problem making a claim for him. He got his new motor and the 2.5rs now has almost 300,000 miles on it..I would suggest calling the other dealers and letting them know whats up. They may be able to help you..

[PictureChasers]

Sounds a little shady to me. I dont know about up North, but down here a subies a subie and any dealer can make warranty claims for you. At least thats my understanding. I had a friend who owned a 2.5rs that self destrcuted. He bought it in Illinois and then moved to Tennessee shortly after. The Tenn dealer had no problem making a claim for him. He got his new motor and the 2.5rs now has almost 300,000 miles on it..I would suggest calling the other dealers and letting them know whats up. They may be able to help you..

 

We have talked to another dealer, but this is not a new engine. This dealer said it sounded like we did everything we could to make this engine purr, and a machine shop problem is the job of the MECHANIC to not install it. Had this particular dealer done the original rebuild, they would be inside it right now.

 

It was parts & labor to completely rebuild everything. Their machine shop was part of holdup so we grabbed heads & crank & got rod resizing(2 thou, however you write that?), crank grind, head milling, valve grind & glass beading. I also asked 3 times for pistons but mechanic managed to cinvince me mine were perfect. It seems that our warranty is only with the Dealer who did the work.

 

I watched & photograph most of the teardown, all of the machine work at Paul's MAchine Shop in Oroville (very cool), and little of the assembly cause it had been a few weeks and tension was high. I am a stock photographer primarily for text books, and writing a series on this Justy conversion to world-ready adventure car.

 

I HIGHLY recommend Paul's in Oroville WA for ANY engine, the best tools very experienced, combined with an atmosphere where you can ask to come back & see your work in progress. They came Highly recommended to us by Lordco Parts in Penticton

[ShawnW]

It probably has a clogged cat on it. I know a subaru rebuilder that quit doing Justy engines because customers would refuse to replace the catalyst and then blame the engine builder for premature failure.

[PictureChasers]

It probably has a clogged cat on it. I know a subaru rebuilder that quit doing Justy engines because customers would refuse to replace the catalyst and then blame the engine builder for premature failure.

 

Interesting idea. In the case should Subaru be checking cats upon rebuild? Had they brought it up and tied it to engine life, we would have replaced cat at same time. We repeatedly asked them for more stuff to fix, anything that would extend engine life. 15,ooo km lifespan is not too impressive, especially with half of those miles being towed behind our RV.

 

We are new to Subaru. Have no air care here, but are environmentally friendly. What to most subie owners do with cats? Replace, remove or punch them out to retain stock appearance? I figure that cats have their place, but a plugged cat I believe is a detriment to the enviromnent by making car run poor.

 

I just phoned the dealer in Kamloops BC that I LIKE, and am buying my fuiture parts from. He said a cat failure would first show up as poor performance. This car performed wery well for it's whoppin 73HP. Even with 175/7513's robbin my torque, yes I had to cut & bend but only small amounts.

 

Once I can figure out how to lift it properly I will still run 13's, but as big as they make em. I want tiny rims and big air for lower unsprung mass, and air for flotation.

[nipper]

OK the reason why its not a Subaru warrenty is that it sounds like this was done in house at a subaru dealer. Normally a Factory rebuily engine is what is called either a long block or a short block.

If you had one of these sunaru would be more then ahppy to honor the warrenty. I would notify subaru about this dealer having sold you a "subaru rebuilt" engine, when it was not.

In the meantime you are stuck with having to go back to the original dealer.

 

 

nipper

[viehmann]

Man..What a rotten situation!!! My heart goes out to you!! Reading your thread makes me realize just how lucky I am that I can do all my own work. It also reminds me of the main reasons why I started working on my own/family cars at the age of 17. (I'm 42 now) My dad back then, had a really bad experience similar to yours with a dealership on Long Island where I grew up (Hey NIPPER!) I ended up fixing that car myself after the dealership "bailed out" on the warranty. I got so pissed, it made me made a life changing decision....I went out and got a factory service manual, A good set of Craftsman tools and with a little help from some "Friends in the Know" we fixed it right!! The process gave me a sense of accomplishment that led to a life long hobby/profession of working on automobiles. Today, I am an automotive instrustor at a local Community College. I teach in several areas but, my specialty is engine rebuilding/repair.

 

As I read your story, It reminded me of an old but, true saying.. "Success has a million fathers but, failure is an orphan!" If or when a rebuilt engine fails, who is to blame? Dealership, Machine Shop, Parts Supplier, Dealer Tech, Customer, God Maybe??? In my experience, all of the former blame the latter as a last resort!

 

I hope you can get this situation resolved with the Dealer but, In the end you may have to go the route that I did...Rebuild it yourself. I just rebuilt one for my 90 Justy 4WD with ECVT this past summer. It was really not too bad... Heck, Take pictures and do a book..."How to keep your Justy Alive" Turn the negative experience into a positive...It worked for me!!

 

P.S If you do the book thing I would love to contribute!!

 

Jim

[PictureChasers]

Take pictures and do a book..."How to keep your Justy Alive" Turn the negative experience into a positive...It worked for me!!

 

P.S If you do the book thing I would love to contribute!!

 

Jim

 

Viehmann, are you psychotic, I mean psychic?

 

I'm a professional photographer of 20 years & budding writer. For the original rebuild I photographed almost every stage of the rebuild. Removal, teardown & machine shop fully. Sporadic coverage of assembly as they took forever and tensions were getting high. This particular dealer has lost their parts/service person(over our engine), their service manager, and now I hear their senior mechanic, all since they started our engine 5 months ago.

 

We took the machining ourselves to the highest recommended shop we could fine, Paul's Machine Shop in Oroville, WA. I photographed every minute of machine work, those guys were great both in workmanship and for letting me shoot them. Our primary market is school text books, the machine shop images are great stuff for us.

 

My main article in progress is about the car's entire transformation. I travel a lot, full time in 2 years, this car is to tow behind our 1959 MCI MC-1 motor coach. A What? None were ever sold in the USA, only in Canada Eh? I believe we have the last one left of 26 made. If anyone has even trace evidence of another one please CONTACT US!

 

I have a full re-engineering of car planned beginning next spring. We have been planning for our journey for 3 years to date. We began "practicing" for fulltime life on the road by living in our first bus in my wife's back yard, then RV park, then 6 months on the road, now RV park for winter. I travelled for 3 months straight this year in the Canadian Rockies chasing waterfalls. My wife works but meets me most weekends, even though we are often 800km apart. In 2008 we begin a 45,000km journey covering most states, all provinces, and most of Mexico.

 

We don't plan a Justy book but DO plan to publish a lot of Justy info online for free, you are welcome to contribute. We are currently seeking a NEW engine directly from Subaru, I found 2 in the middle of our original rebuild but not cheap and too late for us. If I cannot find one we will rebuild at our neighborhood backyard Justy expert, who again we met too late for our initial rebuild.

 

Anyone aware of a NEW engine or carnkshaft for Fuel injected 5 spd Justy? Anywhere? PlEaSe?

 

Everything else on the Justy I plan to do myself, but I think the engine requires more finesse than I have. On the other hand I am certain that NO one cares about this engine more than me. This last one left my wife stranded at 1AM in Valemount BC. The dealer abandoned us, they gave us a refund of $700, any idea how to rebuild for $700? lol

 

We learned the same lesson with out 24,000lb bus. Fix it yourself! "I don't have the tools"? BUY THEM I was told by my bus mentor Russ. "I don't know how"? LEARN Russ would say. I guess our 50 year old bus is about the same as our weird little Justy. NO one in the industry really knows how to fix them, so we ALL gotta learn to do it ourselves.

[viehmann]

My wife laughed and said you were more on target with your first word selection! Psychotic fits to a tee!!! Your "Bus Guru" has given you the best advice you could ever get! The rest is up to you!

 

 

I have (at last count) 9 Justys I think! (4 Gen 1s and 5 Gen 2s) All but 2 are carbureted, Of the 2 EFIs I have one I'm driving and the other has no engine (I rebuilt it to replace the blown up one in my driver). I will check my Subaru Justy parts book and see if the Carb and EFI crankshaft are the same. If so, I'll see if I can round one up for you but,... Shipping will kill you!!

 

Good Luck with the Justy...The "Redheaded Stepchild" of the Subaru clan!

 

I'll E you some pics of my Justys when I get a couple of minutes.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[PictureChasers]

I will check my Subaru Justy parts book and see if the Carb and EFI crankshaft are the same. If so, I'll see if I can round one up for you but,... Shipping will kill you!!

 

I believe the crank, rods & Pistons are same, but not block. But that is third party info.

 

Shipping is worth it, if we can get our car to keep running. Our first choice is a new long block, I see you are in NC. Will located one previously, we'll see if it actually exists. Will phone him on Monday. If no long block then we will seek out brand new crankshaft. I have a line on used crank, but prefer new if we can find one anywhere in the world.

[Ross]

any idea how to rebuild for $700? lol

 

 

 

Depending on exactly what has gone wrong, that may actually be plenty, especially if you do it yourself. I have rebuilt an ea81 for much less than that.

[nipper]

That should be plenty. The two high cost areas in a rebuild are machine shop time, and labor. I have done larger engines for less.

 

 

 

nipper

[PictureChasers]

Depending on exactly what has gone wrong, that may actually be plenty, especially if you do it yourself. I have rebuilt an ea81 for much less than that.

 

Not opened it up yet but it spun a bearing on a crank already turned to .020 over, so crank is very likely gone. The parts alone here are over $1000 in Canada, NOT including crankshaft.

[nipper]

i know on ebay where there is a running low miage justy whihc is cheap so far, i was going to keep this gem to myself, but its 2wd ..... maybe that will help.

I mean its ajusty ...throw some postage stamps on it and mail it to you

 

 

nipper

[Syonyk]

I can't offer much wrt the warranty stuff, but I can agree with all that has been said regarding doing work yourself.

 

The major thing is that if you screw it up, there's only one person to blame, and you usually learn a whole lot in the process.

 

Tools are too expensive? Figure the labor savings in the first major project. Engine rebuilds aren't really that difficult, but it seems to take me a month to complete them.

 

Also, there's the major factor of knowing exactly what the state of everything on your vehicle is. When you've rebuilt the motor, and done work on pretty much every part of the vehicle, you've got the knowledge to look at a problem and say "Eh, it'll hold for another 1000 miles" or "I need to fix that *now*", and if it's the latter, you know how to do it.

 

If it doesn't show, I don't like shops. :-)

 

-=Russ=-

[PictureChasers]

I can't offer much wrt the warranty stuff, but I can agree with all that has been said regarding doing work yourself.

 

Just got off phone with my wife, we're rebuilding ourselves.

 

We WERE leaning towards finding a NEW engine, but last one we found was $1,700USD, plus shipping, duty & BS factor. Then we assume that to actually get a warranty, a Subaru mechanic must screw it up, I mean install it. Now we are getting close to $3,000CDN already. If the motor cooks, Subaru tears it apart, if they decide not to honor warranty, you owe them $1,000 for removal and teardown.

 

This does not sound like a very good deal. I have some OK assorted tools, but going to Sears tomorrow for $800 worth of Craftsman on sale for $400. Will buy whatever else we need, and still be way ahead.

 

Im seeking another Justy beater anywhere in British Columbia. Prefer at least running but will look at any if the price is appropriate. I can tow them home with our RV so we may buy a couple if we can find them. Would look at very cheap ones in Washington to strip on the spot and bring parts home.

[Ross]

When you say over $1000 dollars in parts, what does that include? Sounds very expensive, if its only a main gone, bearings should be WELL under $100 Can. and you should be able to pick up a second hand crank with no undersize fairly cheap.....

[nipper]

This does not sound like a very good deal. I have some OK assorted tools, but going to Sears tomorrow for $800 worth of Craftsman on sale for $400. Will buy whatever else we need, and still be way ahead.

 

Not that im one to ever deprive someone of going on a shopping spree to buy tools, but you wil be surprised at how few tools you need to rebuild an engine.

Back off on the whole hog tool kit. Get a good socket set english and metric I can guarentee you that you will use maybe 20 tools out of that entire set to tare down and rebuild the engine

 

A piston ring compressor (or rent one)

Torque Wrench

Feeler Gauge

inexpensive caliper

Rubber Mallet

 

You may not have to have the cylinder head rebuilt or touched since that was done recently, jusyt have it inspected. Oif the engine over heated when it spun the bearing, then you should have it rebuilt at a machine shop (not that expensive). A machine shop can be your best freind, as they can inspect things for you and help you figure out bearing sizes etc.

A godd machine shop wil also have the capabilities to clean the block and the sheet metal parts.

 

Also consider replacing the clutch if it hasnt been done before. Get yourself a good manual.

And remeber one thing CLEANLINESS CLEANLINESS and CLEANLINESS.

I would rather see you get the 200.00 toll set and throw the rest in better parts then 200 more in tools you would rarely use.

[PictureChasers]

When you say over $1000 dollars in parts, what does that include? Sounds very expensive, if its only a main gone, bearings should be WELL under $100 Can. and you should be able to pick up a second hand crank with no undersize fairly cheap.....

 

It's over $700CDN here (with jobber discount) for all parts for total rebuild from Subaru dealer, not including a crankshaft. Good used cranks are non existant here. I am looking at one this week, but since it's the weak spot we are seeking a new crank if possible. We travel 1,000km journeys every week or 2, so we need tight cars.

 

We have already paid to completely rebuild this engine, and it still cooked, so we are taking no chances & replacing everything. This block has now spun bearings twice so it's not my favorite piece of metal. The rods were resized but we suspect there are at least 10 things that caused our failure in 5 month old engine. We had head planed, new valve stem seals and valve grind. I wanted heads polished but they are pretty much streamlined, they are not quite like an old dodge.

 

We are installing a mechanical oil pressure guage this time since that seems to be the big issue with failures. A mechanic talked me out of it last engine, so this engine I am following my gut! Also I believe a second water temp guage is simple thru block heater hole.

 

We changed our oil at 50km, 200km, 1,000km, and 2,000km, then every 2-3,000km with 20W-50W Castrol GTX or other brand name, Subaru oil filters. We check oil every fill and neither of our Justy's lose much. Our Subaru built one leaked a bit. Our Justy friend used aviation gasket cement on our stock Justy and it doesn't leak a drop.

 

Our potential failure cause list, please comment as we are planning our new engine. Keep in mind that I trust the machine work at Paul's explicitly. I will likely take this new motor work there.

 

Oil Pump - It was brand new so we didnt replace it, now I have learned that it was likely ruined when the original bearings packed it in

 

Timing Chain set - Same thing, were brand new so we left them in, both on Subaru's advice

 

Oil Pressure guage - Could have prevented failure I bet

 

Sloppy assembly - Subaru waited for a month, then rushed to assemble it.

 

Timing - was off 10.5 degrees

 

Piston Rods - Were resized and de-stroked by .002 inches, my Justy expert cringed, but they were slightly bent

 

Head glass beaded - I thought it was great idea, but my Justy friend again does not like glass beading, saying it's difficult to get all glass beads out. Heads were pressure washed afterwards in a spinning steaming machine with some solvent or something. These guys build many race car engines, so I think the glass beading was a good idea.

 

Pistons - They looked fine, but I asked Subaru mechanic 3 times to order them, he talked me out of it. I just figured that they were only $150, on top of an job that cost over $2,000 with Subaru labor.

 

Plug Wires - Original Subaru items were not replaced, our Bosch Platinum plugs had a burn mark on one of the wire ends, but the electrodes were beautiful

 

Fuel pump or filter - We learned just before spun bearing that it was running lean, likely fuel pump or filter

 

RPM - I drove for 9 hours at 120-140km/h, 4-4,500RPM, but everyone here says that with oil pressure that should be no problem. Temp guage ran at bottom third. Car packed it in a month later doing the speed limit

 

Catalytic Converter - I do NOT think it was the Cat. This car hauled rump roast, I dont run them hard, but at high speeds where limits & safety permits.

 

Crankshaft - turned nice at .020 inches (is that how you write 20 thou?), with Clevite bearings

 

Plastigage - I suspect that Subaru doesn't have any

 

Balance - Machine shop said it was not worth balancing, anyone balanced a Justy engine? Or other soobies? I dont want power, I want smooth reliability. Will it help, or make the parts TOO light/weak.

 

Genuine concern for engine - This engine was built by a Subaru dealer trying to get us out of their hair, the next one will be hand built lovingly by me!

 

Any other causes? Please post them but this is what I have learned so far... Any machine work advice GREATLY appreciated! I am not concerned with machine costs, I want the best engines possible within reason. Machining is cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

Any other tips to improve LONGEVITY and RELIABILITY are very welcome on our journeys. I'm not sure about the turning up the oil pressure relief valve screw trick? I like the idea of an external oil filter, but I think maintaining pressure is more important on these little engines.

[nipper]

there are so many things on tha list....

 

There is nothing worng with glass peening a cylinder head.

i think the root cause of the failure was a spun bearing pure and simple.

Pistons rarely get replaced unless the machineing marks are gone on the pistons. They are rarely replaced.

it is NEVER a waste to balance an engine, whoever said that should get a swift kick you know where. Balancing is done in fractions of an ounce to a few ounces. it makes for a smother running engine and better performance.

Oil pump should have been replaced (it could have eaten some parts from the original spun bearing). Right there is another failure on the dealers part, especially if the did not blueprint the pump.

Timing chain could have been stressed from the orignal spun bearing.

It doesnt take that long to assembly an engine once all the parts are preped and ordered.

I have never ever heard of destroking a connecting rod in my life. Thats a huge red flag right there.... do they mean oversized bearings on the crank?

Get a GOOD oil pressure and oil temperiture gauge. Bearings spin due to oil failure, or mis sizing on a new engine.

Anyone who rebuilds engines has plastigauge, and if they didnt use it should be shot.

This was a very penny wise and dollar foolish rebuild.

 

nipper

[nipper]

I just saw the part about bent connecting rods, they should have been replaced too. This would cause the combustion forces to not be placed evenly on the crankshaft, but slightly offset. That can cause unequal forces across the bearing, insted of a triaght line force across the journal surface ..... causing .... a spun connecting rod bearing.

 

 

Balancing really isnt a big thing, it is surprisingly easy if you use a primitive balance beam and a scale. Get yourself a book on hot rod engines and it wil tell you how to do it and where to remove material.

 

Anything you can do to increase oil volume is a good thing. It also helps keep the oil cool.

 

I never heard fo a cat blowing an engine, and the way an exhaust system works, and how the engine moves a compressable meduin (air) i seriously doubt thats possible. Only way i can think of is that when a cat clogs, performance drops dramatically, and the cluless driver tries to push the poor car and it ends up spinning a bearing or throwing a rod from being lugged.

 

hope this all helps

 

nipper

[PictureChasers]

Not that im one to ever deprive someone of going on a shopping spree to buy tools, but you wil be surprised at how few tools you need to rebuild an engine.

 

I am missing deep sockets, decent nut drivers and the odd everything. It's not just for the Justy, I also restore & maintain a 1 of a kind 50 year old motor coach. We have 2 DD Justy's, a DD Class C RV, and the bus parked for restoration so making minimal toolkits for each has left my red toolbox quite bare.

 

Our old bus received about $32,000CDN damage when hit by a reckless driver at double the speed limit in 2003. Even though other driver recieved 3 charges and me none, the "good neighbor" has not yet come thru. It seems that I am now my own 20ton bodyman. Oh well, I became a budding diesel mechanic on the roadside. We have bought a some hydraulic toys for $150 and actually enjoyed getting our door at least street legal status. This old bus saved the life of my entire family(and likely the other driver), can't wait to make it right again!

 

I inherited over $3,000 in Craftsman tools when I was 17 and they were ALL stolen a year later, I still miss them 20 years later. I worked as a brake press operator in metal shop around same time. This winter I am picking up a small hand brake press and pipe bender to relearn some of my old skills making a combo elephant rack/rooftop photo platform/land bridges.

 

Welding is my last hurdle, seems I always want something welded, and the storefront welders dont want to weld anything automotive cause of liability. I can design & fab & prep, but have always depended on someone else to stick stuff together.

 

I have 2 years to create an "Adventure Car" before we leave on a 45,000km journey, have been restoring the bus for 2 years already. My wife sacrifices big time and works 800km away from me to provide our expenses, and I work very long days as a photographer and bit of a programmer. She has another job interview this week in Calgary AB, and may soon be only 700km away, yippee!!

 

We are now 3 years into our 5 year plan to leave debt free on a 3 year adventure of photography & fun!

 

You would not want to see our spare parts list. My Justy has 12 new winter tires, 6 with studs, proposed to my wife while we were at Kal-Tire too, since our first date included Kal-Tire 3 years previous.

 

Still seeking bargain 13" stock rims in BC & WA.

[PictureChasers]

I just saw the part about bent connecting rods, they should have been replaced too. This would cause the combustion forces to not be placed evenly on the crankshaft, but slightly offset. That can cause unequal forces across the bearing, insted of a triaght line force across the journal surface ..... causing .... a spun connecting rod bearing.

 

 

Balancing really isnt a big thing, it is surprisingly easy if you use a primitive balance beam and a scale. Get yourself a book on hot rod engines and it wil tell you how to do it and where to remove material.

 

 

The rod was hardly visibly bent, it was resized which makes the bearing race perfect, but I suppose that the OUTSIDE of rod was still crooked & off balance.

 

I had forgotten about seeing balancing in old hot rod magazines, I would do it myself on a v8, but will leave this one to the maching shop. How much could it be to balance 3 little piston/rods?

[PictureChasers]

there are so many things on tha list....

 

There is nothing worng with glass peening a cylinder head.

i think the root cause of the failure was a spun bearing pure and simple.

Pistons rarely get replaced unless the machineing marks are gone on the pistons. They are rarely replaced.

it is NEVER a waste to balance an engine, whoever said that should get a swift kick you know where. Balancing is done in fractions of an ounce to a few ounces. it makes for a smother running engine and better performance.

Oil pump should have been replaced (it could have eaten some parts from the original spun bearing). Right there is another failure on the dealers part, especially if the did not blueprint the pump.

Timing chain could have been stressed from the orignal spun bearing.

It doesnt take that long to assembly an engine once all the parts are preped and ordered.

I have never ever heard of destroking a connecting rod in my life. Thats a huge red flag right there.... do they mean oversized bearings on the crank?

Get a GOOD oil pressure and oil temperiture gauge. Bearings spin due to oil failure, or mis sizing on a new engine.

Anyone who rebuilds engines has plastigauge, and if they didnt use it should be shot.

This was a very penny wise and dollar foolish rebuild.

 

nipper

 

- 1 vote for glass peening, great

- machine marks were still on pistons and cylinder walls, compression rings perfect, oil rings shot

- I think I told dealer oil pump was new, had not considered at the time that the original spun bearing I know believe could kill the oil pump and the timing chain guide(is it plastic). I believe it was their duty to replace both pump & chain. I woiuld have approved if they suggested it.

- Rod was shortened only 2 thousands of an inch, you have to resize the bearing race. Resizing was Subaru's idea, and it HAS to be shortened a tiny bit to resize. Not 20 thousands, but only 2. You never heard of destroking a rod? A JUSTY holds the land speed record in it's class at I believe 133MPH on the Salt Flats for a 1.2L destroked to 1.0L.

- Mis sizing on a new engine? Am I correct in that if I carefully use Plastigage the old hot rodder way, that I should find most any machining or part mismatch? I dont believe Subaru uses it, and my back yard Justy expert doesn't, that's the main reason I am doing it myself!

 

I have only had Justy's for 6 months, and learned everyting I know in that time, mostly on this board, THANKS everyone!

 

Nipper your stashed 2WD Justy is a little far for me.

[nipper]

- 1 vote for glass peening, great

- machine marks were still on pistons and cylinder walls, compression rings perfect, oil rings shot

- I think I told dealer oil pump was new, had not considered at the time that the original spun bearing I know believe could kill the oil pump and the timing chain guide(is it plastic). I believe it was their duty to replace both pump & chain. I woiuld have approved if they suggested it.

- Rod was shortened only 2 thousands of an inch, you have to resize the bearing race. Resizing was Subaru's idea, and it HAS to be shortened a tiny bit to resize. Not 20 thousands, but only 2. You never heard of destroking a rod? A JUSTY holds the land speed record in it's class at I believe 133MPH on the Salt Flats for a 1.2L destroked to 1.0L.

- Mis sizing on a new engine? Am I correct in that if I carefully use Plastigage the old hot rodder way, that I should find most any machining or part mismatch? I dont believe Subaru uses it, and my back yard Justy expert doesn't, that's the main reason I am doing it myself!

 

I have only had Justy's for 6 months, and learned everyting I know in that time, mostly on this board, THANKS everyone!

 

Nipper your stashed 2WD Justy is a little far for me.

 

 

Im going to have to look up destroking an engine, see if the rod was actually shortned, or if they mean something about the crank journal size. The bent connecting rods bother me to no end. Other way of doing it is by using a thiker head gasket. Another way is shorter connecting rods, but those can be made in a couple of ways for a drastic loss of volume.

Plastic gauge , and a feeler gauge will give you the prober gap, and the side to side play in the journal. Since the bearing was spun, take the crank to the machine shop and let them inspect it. Also let them blue print it, and they will recomend what size bearings to get. WHne in doubt, leht the machine shop measure. And make sure you find a speed shop, not a regular machine shop if you can.

At least it sounds like the failure was caused by a spun bearing, and im surprised with wiped out oil rings that the cylinder walls were not scored.

Bring that to the machine shop too.Everything is salvagable as long as the head and block is not cracked.

 

good luck

 

nipper