Subieguy Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Ok I just bought a 98 Forester off a guy. The car has 200,00 miles on it and it is on it's second motor. The guy says it blew up. He does not know much about cars from what I got from him. He said while he was driving it the car started making a skweaking noise and then blew out a big white cloud behind it. He had it towed home and it has been sitting since June. Could this be a blown headgasket? Or could the motor went sour? I will know more when I actually drag it home. Nice car though. Fully loaded, tires were only 2 months old when it broke down. The guy just had $1500 worth of work done on it at the dealer back in May too. The two previous owners were good about keeping up on repairs at least. I have all the service records for it. The original motor was replaced at 160,00 miles with a used Japanese engine. I guess I won't know the full extent of the engine problems till I start getting into it. What engine will this have in it anyway? I am more familiar with EA-82 EA-81 and, EA-71 engines. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 The 98 Forester will have the 2.5 litre motor. The skwkeaking noise with a cloud of smoke doesn't sound good at all. Sounds like the motor may have locked up because of no motor oil, or over heated. The first think I would do, is check the dip stick for oil level. Second, pull the radiator cap to see if the water level is low. Third, look around the motor for signs of an oil leak, or engine damage caused from blowing up. If nothing obvious, try starting the motor. You might get lucky, but I think you may need to drop another motor in this car. You got the car at a low price, so you can afford to spend some money on repairs. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 That should have the phase I 2.5L dohc. If it's an auto trans don't just tow it behind another vehicle or anything; get a flatbed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 It's a 5 speed. Thank goodness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Sweet! No problem flat towing it then all wheels on the ground. Sounds like it should be back in top condition with a new engine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Yeah I hope so. Just could not pass it up at $600 bucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 That's a good buy. Most Forresters I've seen with bad engines go for $1000 or more. Should be an EJ25 dohc phase 1, but if it was a JDM import engine there are some weird ones out there like the EJ20 etc. EJ22 will also fit and cost less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 That is a good deal. I dropped a 2.2 in mine that had a blown motor. I put a 95 2.2 in and it saved me a pack of dough versus the 2.5 replacement. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
who1981 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I agree, great deal, I'm jealous! yeah, drop a 2.2 in there with a lightened flywheel, some headers, a better muffler, and a K&N, and you'll have stock 2.5 type power but with 300,000+ mile reliability!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Is the 2.5 not a very good motor? What all needs to be done to drop a 2.2 in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
who1981 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 The DOHC 2.5 motors in the 90s have head/gasket issues...the new 2.5 SOHC seem to be better, but they are spendy. You will probably need to swap the ECU, but if you get a certain year (not sure which) you may be able to user the one it has, or perhaps just the wiring harness. Other than that the 2.2 should just drop in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 DO a search on the 2.5/2.2 swap. It is well documented. The 95 2.2 is a really clean swap and requires very little change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon38iowa Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 DO a search on the 2.5/2.2 swap. It is well documented. The 95 2.2 is a really clean swap and requires very little change. ? Can you actaully feel the power difference between the basic version of each? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 ? Can you actaully feel the power difference between the basic version of each? Hardly, it's only 25 HP difference. I've done a few of these swaps and it works out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towel Rail Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 I've never driven a 2.5, but the rip-snortin' 135 HP 2.2L is enough for my needs. I got it up to 90 MPH once! - Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 The 2.5 has more guts than the 2.2, but it is not that noticable. Maybe when you are on the entrance ramp of the highway or in the mountains you would notice. The reason I recommend the 2.2 in this case is that the 2.5's are hard to find at what I feel is a fair price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Around here it's $900- $1200 for a used 2.5 or $200-500 for a used 2.2. If you don't mind pulling it, you can get 2.2's at the U-pull it for $80 all day long. I've never seen a 2.5 in a U-pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 10, 2007 Author Share Posted November 10, 2007 Well I finally went and picked the car up today. Now I know why it does not run. It has a rod sticking through the block! Guess it needs a new motor. Since I never have been able to figure out how to post pictures on here I will just give this link to them:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/subieguy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueTrain Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 nice score. drop in a 2.2 and you still got a helluva deal. sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Well I finally went and picked the car up today. Now I know why it does not run. It has a rod sticking through the block! Guess it needs a new motor. Since I never have been able to figure out how to post pictures on here I will just give this link to them:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/subieguy/ Sorry to hear how bad the motor really is. On your original post, when you said the previous owner stated when he was driving the car it started making a skweaking noise and then blew out a big white cloud behind it. That is the classic report on a motor throwing a connecting rod through the side of the block. I suspected that upon first reading that, but didn't want to simply jump to that conclusion. If you watch NASCAR racing, you will occassionally see a car there blow a motor with a thrown rod. Instantly, you will see the same thing, a big cloud of smog trailing the ailing car. There is just too much noise on a race track to hear the skweaking noise. Well, you certainly got the car at a great price, so don't feel too bad. Drop in a motor, and it will be ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 See it in Nascar all the time. I'm not down about it. It was a great price. Now I just need to find a motor and replace a few missing or broken parts and I will be all set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieguy Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 Does the 98 Forester have the sohc engine or the dohc engine? I need to know so I can find a new engine for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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