rockdalesuby Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 First post here, hope you can help a newbie out. I have a 1997 Legacy OB wagon with 131K, and has been determined that i do need a new engine. Not the typical headgasket problem. Question is, whats the chance of finding a reliable junkyard engine that i can depend on to get a year or 2 more out of this car? I enjoy driving it, and really dont want to get rid of it right now. Whats the chance of having a head gasket issue with the new motor that goes into it? Is it worth it to take the chance of doing the motor swap? Im just really confused right now as to what my next step should be, and any help would be much appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 A quality engine from www.ccrengines.com out of Denver will give you the reliability you are looking for at a honest price. If its out of your range, drop in a used 95 2.2 Hard to fine a used 2.5 without HG or other issues. If the T-belt has broken the valves are most likely bent. If it has overheated, the HG will most likely go at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 i have a good used 2.5L but its stil in my car and running fine. Since your looking at a rebuilt, in my opinion i would go with another 2.5. The rebuilt would have the headgasket issue dealt with. The 2.2L wil give you a little better gas milage, but will do more shifting which will be annoying in hills. Thats why i went from a 2.2 legacy to a 2.5L outback. Just my thoughts.. im sure the world will disagree with me nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 I am not looking for a rebuilt...it will be a used motor. WOuld it be better to cut my losses now and try to get rid of the cas as is? I really dont want to do that, i like the car a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 get a 2.2L.. me i would get another 2.5 and replace the HG before installing the engine. Why are you so quick to get rid of the car, you said you like the car. you know the cars history. By another one you wont know any of this, and no guarentee it wont be running any better in the long run. The headgasket issue is over blown. Also the cars are getting in a milage range that blowing a head gasket is not surprisng in an aluminum engine. At worse case scenario, for 100 Outback owners with 2.5L, only 15 (worse case) have Hg issues. after 130K if a HG goes, you cant blame the car anymore, you can blame milage and age. Out of curiosity, why do you need a new engine? nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Well, it comes down to how much you have in the car now, how long you are going to keep it if you fix it and what you would do to replace it if you did not fix it. With a bad motor, these go for $1000-2000 depending on condition and demand. If you are going to keep the car for 3-5 years then a few thousand for a rebuilt engine would be worth it. Used engines can be had with 30-90 day replacement, but they will just give you another engine. If you are not doing the swap yourself, you are out the labor cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thanks nipper, thats what i kind of wanted to know...the odds( 15/100) like you said of having HG issues. I was also nervous because my girlfriend has a 97 w/ 78k on it. There is serious compression loss in one cyl. about 65 PSI while the others are running at about 195-200. People who I have talked to around here have said that I would be better off to just swap the motor rather than paying for a rebuild of my current one. I have driven subarus for a long time, just never learned that much about engine quirks...have devoted more of my time to building jeeps...so like I said before , any input is greatly appreciated!! If i fixed it with the used engine, most likely i would drive it into the ground, which is what I planned on doing with the car since I bought it. If i got rid of it, i would look for a newer OBW (02-04) with less than 50K. I dont have that much into it, the car has been nothing but good to me. Has been paid for for 2 yrs, and nothing other han regular maintainence into it. another edit...not a really significant power loss at higher RPM's, but runs horrible at idle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thanks nipper, thats what i kind of wanted to know...the odds( 15/100) like you said of having HG issues. I was also nervous because my girlfriend has a 97 w/ 78k on it.There is serious compression loss in one cyl. about 65 PSI while the others are running at about 195-200. People who I have talked to around here have said that I would be better off to just swap the motor rather than paying for a rebuild of my current one. I have driven subarus for a long time, just never learned that much about engine quirks...have devoted more of my time to building jeeps...so like I said before , any input is greatly appreciated!! If i fixed it with the used engine, most likely i would drive it into the ground, which is what I planned on doing with the car since I bought it. If i got rid of it, i would look for a newer OBW (02-04) with less than 50K. I dont have that much into it, the car has been nothing but good to me. Has been paid for for 2 yrs, and nothing other han regular maintainence into it. with subarus driving them into the ground can be a very very long drive. the way CCR works is that they send you an engine, and you ship yours back to be rebuilt for somone else. Was a wet compression test done on the engine. Subaru engines are tough, aside from HG they dont often die at such a young mileage. The only thing i can think of is a burned valve, and that is fixable. Im not sure your engine is scrap yet. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Those results were from the wet compression test. i was suprised myself, because I know the HG is usually the weak point. Like I said, i really know nothing about these motors, what do you think cost would be to fix the issue (if it is a valve) vs. a new motor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 If i was you, im going to assume that your not driving this car right now, i would pull off the head on the offending side. A failed wet test rules out the rings, unless you have a whole in the piston. The only way to find out is to pull the head and inspect the valves and piston. Odds are its an exhaust valve thats burned. i would pull the motor (makes life easier to inspect things) pull the offending head and inspect the piston and valves. i dont know how much it costs to rebuild the heads, but it is going to be far far far cheaper then an engine. DId you do the comprsssion test or did a shop? nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 A shop did the test. Only problem with your suggestion is that I have no knowledge of these motors, and that it would be impossible for me to do the work you talked about. SHould i suggest this to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 A shop did the test. Only problem with your suggestion is that I have no knowledge of these motors, and that it would be impossible for me to do the work you talked about. SHould i suggest this to them? the best time to learn is when something is broken and you cant make it any worse. They arent all that hard to work on (except that they are engines ). That aside, ask them why they have ruled out a burned valve, i have a funny felling your going to be looking for another shop. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Yep, I'd want to at least pull the heads before I ruled it out. It might only need a valve job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 Im going to talk to them tomorrow, I will ask why they think it is not a valve issue. Perhaps they figure that the cost of taking the heads off to investigate, repair, and reassemble, will be higher than just swapping the motor?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Im going to talk to them tomorrow, I will ask why they think it is not a valve issue.Perhaps they figure that the cost of taking the heads off to investigate, repair, and reassemble, will be higher than just swapping the motor?? thats a very exp and lazy way out. i am still suggesting a second shop to look at the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdalesuby Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 Ok, thanks for your advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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