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How to blow up a Justy:


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Well, my sister needed a new car so we found a 94 Justy with a perfect interior and under 80k. Car ran great and was in good shape inside and out...that is until she got it.

 

On her way to pullman today she threw a rod (someone reported a car with flames coming out the back) and now we're stuck with a busted justy. Upon further inspection the guy who towed her said the rod went through the block! so much for a 3cyl going 70+mph.

 

ANY IDEAS? I'd love to put a ej22 or ea82 in there, but i realize it might be harder than I think. We're looking for a quick fix and would love any sort of input you guys might have. Thanks a bunch.

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Well, my sister needed a new car so we found a 94 Justy with a perfect interior and under 80k. Car ran great and was in good shape inside and out...that is until she got it.

 

On her way to pullman today she threw a rod (someone reported a car with flames coming out the back) and now we're stuck with a busted justy. Upon further inspection the guy who towed her said the rod went through the block! so much for a 3cyl going 70+mph.

 

ANY IDEAS? I'd love to put a ej22 or ea82 in there, but i realize it might be harder than I think. We're looking for a quick fix and would love any sort of input you guys might have. Thanks a bunch.

 

not even the same beast as the other subarus. the justy has a inline 3 cylinder vs other subarus having horizontally opposed motors.

 

the cheapest and really only way would be find you another justy motor.

 

i have seen an STI powered justy, but it's not what you call bolt in, lots of cutting, lots of fabbing

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Yep - that's the downfall of that engine.

 

It's got nothing to do with the speed, and everything to do with the oil pump. They always fail, and they always need rod bearings. It's the way of the Justy.

 

You should have come here and done some research. That could have been diagnosed and fixed..... before there was a hole in the block :dead:.

 

There's no swaps for those - the engine is transverse. Totally the black sheep of the Subaru family. Best bet is to find a replacement engine and do the oil pump and rod bearings BEFORE you blow it up.

 

GD

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AAWWWW i was expecting too have a step by step explanation on how to blow up a Justy !

 

but i already know that you only have to just drive one and it will blow up :lol:

 

Really sorry about your Justy but i REALY like SUBARUS but the Justy is like the step child no one really liked .

 

they were a good idea and i know people that have really good luck with them but they have a bad name when all you here about is the ECVT trannys dying and rods breaking . they need to be maintained more then a standard Subaru

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Interesting. I didn't know that Justys were the black sheep, as GD puts it. I was thinking about looking for one, but won't put any more thought to it. Besides, they're impossible to find here. There's a guy in San Antonio trying to get $2k for his, and it's not even in that great condition. (Justification is it's MPG.)

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Only black sheep because they are just rebadged Suzuki's. They are still awesome wee machines.

 

Why does someone always have to make this mistake?!?

 

They are NOT rebadged anything. The swift and the metro are Suzuki designs with either 1.0 or 1.3 liter engines.

 

The Justy is a Fuji design with a 1.2 liter engine. It's got 3 valves per cylinder, and shares no parts with the Suzuki engine. Really, they are only similar in that they are small transverse 3 cylinder's.

 

They never even made a swift or metro with 4WD.

 

NOT THE SAME. :mad:

 

GD

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I do Justys as well as ea81's. The forum link that Skip provided is a great resource, and GD is right (as usual) about the oil pump. HOWEVER...a '94 with less than 80K throwing a rod means somebody thrashed it and /or didn't change the oil enough, which common. Justy's don't get no respect. The other possibility is that your Justy may have just under 180k. Justy odometers only have 5 digits. The 1.2 liter engine design leaves a lot to be desired, but if you start with a good engine, are good about oil changes, oil levels (they often develop oil leaks) and drive it like it's a 3 cylinder, then the engine will be dependable and go 200,00+ miles before the bottom end needs to be re-done. If you swap an engine, you can expect 35-42 mpg for a FI 4WD or more for a 2WD. If it is 2WD I suggest parting it out and buying a different econo-car. In my opinion, the only reason to own a Justy is the on-the-fly 4WD and MPG combo. Any other car is going to be easier to find parts for, and they will be cheaper. If you can find a de-tuned 1.0 liter Geo Metro Xfi model, it will have better ground clearance than a Justy, and get can get 50-60 mpg.

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You can also find an engine at this site:

http://www.car-part.com/

 

Thats a great site. They have a justy engine listed in Kent...I'm awaiting an email reply from them.

 

I know I shoulda done some more research on the thing before we got it, however in my defense the car was in fantastic shape inside and out. Plus it was super low miles...70k something i think. I figured it was a subaru, 5sp and 4x4, didn't leak oil, ran great, and was in her price range. Plus, I had aspirations of buying it from her and turbo charging the bad boy. Also, its a 90, I got the year mixed up.

 

All was well the first month or so she drove it, but my sister in terribly tough on cars and doesn't know a thing about maintaining them (the perfect storm). My dad had just finished changing the oil before she drove it to its death. She told us it left a big oil spot when she parked for only a half hour....and i know she was driving it like it was her boyfriends Audi A4 1.8T.

 

We're stuck between dropping a new engine in and selling it as is.

 

I'll keep you guys posted on the situation.

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Why does someone always have to make this mistake?!?

 

They are NOT rebadged anything. The swift and the metro are Suzuki designs with either 1.0 or 1.3 liter engines.

 

The Justy is a Fuji design with a 1.2 liter engine. It's got 3 valves per cylinder, and shares no parts with the Suzuki engine. Really, they are only similar in that they are small transverse 3 cylinder's.

 

They never even made a swift or metro with 4WD.

 

NOT THE SAME. :mad:

 

GD

 

Your right the metro is completely different than the justy engine, but if you want to use a justy engine with out the electronics the metro ditributor will work on a justy engine with minor mods and if you use a suzuki intake manifold you can use a web carb on the justy engine.

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Thats a great site. They have a justy engine listed in Kent...I'm awaiting an email reply from them.

 

I know I shoulda done some more research on the thing before we got it, however in my defense the car was in fantastic shape inside and out. Plus it was super low miles...70k something i think. I figured it was a subaru, 5sp and 4x4, didn't leak oil, ran great, and was in her price range. Plus, I had aspirations of buying it from her and turbo charging the bad boy. Also, its a 90, I got the year mixed up.

 

All was well the first month or so she drove it, but my sister in terribly tough on cars and doesn't know a thing about maintaining them (the perfect storm). My dad had just finished changing the oil before she drove it to its death. She told us it left a big oil spot when she parked for only a half hour....and i know she was driving it like it was her boyfriends Audi A4 1.8T.

 

We're stuck between dropping a new engine in and selling it as is.

 

I'll keep you guys posted on the situation.

 

 

It's possible from the big oil leak on the ground when she parked it that the engine might not of had any problems when you bought it and her lack of cheking the oil before driving it till it died is all that happened.( well designed and not so well designed engines all need oil )

Justy engines are not that hard to find and no one wants them , It still would make a fun little pocket rocket with a blow thru turbo!!

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well I'll start by saying I owned a justy for just over three years. I found that it was very hard to find parts..I live in maine and have contacted people as far away as washington state. if you get lucky enough theres a few around that go for cheap or possibly free just dont get the auto....theyre junk.

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I was smart enough to research that the auto is crap, and made sure she got a 5spd. I talked to a close by junkyard with a justy engine he claims has compression of 155 across the top. I might offer him less than he's asking and drop that thing in.

 

Anybody completed a turbo project here? Just wondering how hard it is/how reliable it is.

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Wow, sorry to hear about your justy :dead: I had a FWD '88 in red that FLEW! I flogged that little 3cyl pretty good too, and it never complained :cool: But maybe I just got lucky? Mine was also very low miles, 50k I think, and got at least 35 mpg even when I road it hard. I drove it to Montana from Washington State and kept it for about 2 yrs total, and would drive it on the hwy in Montana in excess of 70mph on a regular basis, I didn't do anything special, used half synth valvoline and just kept up on regular maintenance. Did you know they also have the fastest top speed for their class?:-p I know it sounds silly, but they actually do have the land speed record for their class, not sure where I found that info, but it just cracked me up that someone would even take a 3cyl car to bonnavile to see how fast they would go, and test their 1/4 mi. time :burnout:

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