frag Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I'm just back from 7 days of real shade tree mechanical work. Rented a engine hoist, worked outside surrounded by trees, had to move the car back and forth since the engine hoist steel wheels where dug in the turf. I was blessed cause the weather was fine the whole time. In fact it started raining just as, having finished, I was pouring the prestone down the new radiator. I replace all the clutch components, all of the timing belt components (except the cam sprockets). I put in a new radiator (new thermostat) and had the valves done in the left head of the engine. 1) Like I tought, there was one burnt exhaust valve in cyl no 2, but the cause was a dropped guide that had broken and was preventing the valve to close completely (maybe by a thousandt or two). One side of the valve had a small flat on it. I was also lucky to find an excellent machine shop in Thetford, a former small mining town (asbestos) 250 kilometers from Montreal ( I was working at the cottage). They resurfaced the flywheel for approx. 50$ USD, and did the left head valves for approx. 150$ USD. That included replacing a broken valve guide. I gave them one exhaust valve and all the seals. I removed and replaced the rockers and cam myself. The idle is now silky smooth like it was a couple of years ago. I think this valve condition had been developping for quite a while. I also feel a little more power at cruising speed. 2) I had trouble - like everyone else I think - separating the engine from the trans. I think I found a new twist to a known trick: after having prudently banged the trans and the engine with a hammer,lifted and lowerd and twisted to no avail, as I was walking towards the neighbour's house, a 70 year old former mechanic, for help, I had an idea. I turned back, took a plaster spatula (very thin and sharp blade about one inch and a half wide and succeeded without damaging anything to get it between the eng. and trans at the top. I then took another one and slid it against the first blade into the small crack that then became a little wider. Then I pushed a big screwdriver between the blades preventing any damage to the mating surface (not that it matters a lot, but I like neat work). The two parts craked open and that was it. The machine shop removed a few thousandts more (I dont know exactly how much) to the outer crown of the flywheel to give the cluch more grab when I'm stuck in snow or mud. The new cluch is a silk, grabs smoothly without any jerking or chattering. The resistance of the clutch pedal is so much less than it was before that I first tought I had done something wrong. To finish by bragging a little, since I was alone there ( The neighbor helped only to connect back the engine to the trans) three mornings in a row, I had to bicycle to and fro Thetford by very hilly dirt roads with first the flywheel (around 30 pounds ?) and then the head ,which is lighter, in a back pack. I may be old but I'm far from dead yet. That was 100 kilometers total of hilly dirt roads bicycling with weight in the pack in three consecutive mornings rides. The rest of the day's work seemed a little easier for it. That's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 One more thing. I've read time and again people telling about having trouble filling their cooling system to capacity and getting rid of air pockets. Here's what I've always done and never had any trouble. The key of the matter is first installing (it stays there afterwards) a plastic T fitting in one of the heater radiator (I dont remember if it's in ou out but I could find out. It's the one on top of the other) hose with a garden hose fitting on it with screw cap. It's sold in evey car parts store for flushing the cooling system. I first open the bleed fitting on top on the right side of the radiator and the garden hose fitting , then pour coolant down the rad till it overflows the bleed hole. At that point I put a funnel in the garden hose fitting opening and pour more prestone till it overflows. Doing it that way you fill both side of the closed thermostat with no need to start the engine, bring everything to temp and have coolant gushing all over the place. I then close eveything and drive the car for a while. Let cool and most of the time you need only a couple of ounces of coolant to bring the rad to the top fill line. FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Was the head resurfaced? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 three mornings in a row, I had to bicycle to and fro Thetford by very hilly dirt roads with first the flywheel (around 30 pounds ?) and then the head ,which is lighter, in a back pack. Way to go, frag! Just wish I had been in Thetford to witness your morning bicycle rides with pieces of Subaru sticking out of your backpack! And "+1" on your bleed valve installation. I've always believed that such a device should have been designed into our engines originally. Congratulations to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Wow that is a cool story. Do you have any pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Was the head resurfaced? nipper Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Wow that is a cool story. Do you have any pics? No. I intended to take some to help me put things back together but I forgot the camera in Montreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Way to go, frag! Just wish I had been in Thetford to witness your morning bicycle rides with pieces of Subaru sticking out of your backpack! And "+1" on your bleed valve installation. I've always believed that such a device should have been designed into our engines originally. Congratulations to you! Thanks Olnick. Nothing war stiking out of the backpack except once for a two feet breaker bar I bought in town to release the head bolts (12 pans heads! Had never seen that before). They are a bear to remove but quite easy to torque back. Since i'm a very good cyclist this was a little exhausting, but a fun part of the affair. The morning's light was magnificent, nobody on the road, just me and my flywheel chugging along... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Forgot to say that I replaced the separator plate (plastic to metal), the rear crank seal (put it a little deaper than it was before, so crossing my fingers) but kept the left cam seal that I had replaced 40,000 miles ago and which seemed in excellent condition. I was very careful removing and replacing the seal support sliding it over a very oily cam shaft and I'm pretty sure I did'nt damage it. And new motor mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 One last thing. Haynes shows an O ring at the back of the cam. None was there but there was an O ring in front on the back of the cam seal support or housing behind the cam seal. I replaced that of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Haynes shows an O ring at the back of the camDo you mean the cam cap o-ring at the engine drive end, right (pass) side? There's an o-ring in there, at least on my '94 2.2L... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Do you mean the cam cap o-ring at the engine drive end, right (pass) side? There's an o-ring in there, at least on my '94 2.2L... I mean the cap at the back of the engine in which the back end of the cam goes, on the driver's side. I hope I did'nt miss anything there. I did'nt remove the cap (it was not leaking) but i felt with my finger and looked inside with a strong lamp and no O ring. Is your 94' O ring sealing against the cam or is it sealing the cap against the engine? And do you have an O ring where I say I have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I don't have an o-ring on the driver's side, drive/trans end of the engine. I heard/read the cam is the same on both sides, just installed in reverse, so on the driver's side the cam o-ring is in the cap behind the cam sprocket, and on the passenger's side side the o-ring is at the trans end of the engine. Anyway I wouldn't worry about it, as this o-ring took about 5 minutes to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avk Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 There is some sort of cap at the rear on the left cylinder head but it only plugs a hole that was used for machining the cam bore at the factory. I believe it's threaded in, with some sealant, and not a maintenance item. The cam support on the right-side head should be there on any pre-1997 (cam in head) 2.2 engine, it's just may be hard to see. It uses the same O-ring as the left side at the front and is easy to access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 There is some sort of cap at the rear on the left cylinder head but it only plugs a hole that was used for machining the cam bore at the factory. I believe it's threaded in, with some sealant, and not a maintenance item. The cam support on the right-side head should be there on any pre-1997 (cam in head) 2.2 engine, it's just may be hard to see. It uses the same O-ring as the left side at the front and is easy to access. That puts me at ease. But why the different treatment for the right and left cams ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avk Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Actually, the cams are the same if you count only what's inside the heads, but, like the heads themselves, the ends of the two camshafts are flipped 180 degrees relative to each other. So one cam has its thrust support on the front side and the other one on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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