Bent Valves

[Southpark]

I am looking at buying a used 2003 EJ25 engine with 73,000 miles. It is complete with all accessories including a/c compressor, alternator, p/s pump etc.

 

The engine has already been pulled and freshened up by the shop I am thinking of buying it from. Work done by them are - new oem cam and crank seals, one new double bearing idler, timing belt and one new head gasket. Yes, only one head gasket. Apparently, one "bank" of cylinders had 2 bent valves. This supposedly has been fixed and now in good working order. I am still waiting to hear back from them about the exact cause of the bent valves and what other items may have been damaged(ie - pistons, block, etc.)

 

Can an engine with bent valves be repaired back to a reliable engine? Or should I walk away?

 

Many thanks!

[nipper]

Yes it can be made into a reliable engine.

 

nipper

[idosubaru]

yes they can be repaired just fine.

the timing belt probably slipped.

[The Dude]

I would say from the list of replaced parts that the timming belt snapped on this engine. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. This engine may be perfectly repaired, then again, it may not. You'll find out after YOU pay to have the engine installed. If it's not right, then YOU will have to pay to have the engine de-installed. If the sellers "fix" the engine again, then YOU will have to pay to have the engine re-installed. See where this is going? Make sure you have a warranty. Buy only in-state, so you have easy acccess to small claims court. And see if the seller will pick up the install/de-install charges if his "fully repaired" engine takes a dump, which it very well could.

[Bluestone]

If the timing belt did, indeed, break at only 73k miles, I'd really be interested to know why? Possibly the engine was driven to its limits, pushed abusively? Or somehow became soaked with oil?

Anyway, I've never thought well of the trend of car manufacturers toward timing belts. Timing chains are far more robust and much longer lasting. And the necessary belt replacement at 60-105k mile intervals just adds a big expense to overall maintenance costs, unless one has the expertise/time to do it oneself....which most of us don't. Ah well, sigh..........

[idosubaru]

I've never thought well of the trend of car manufacturers toward timing belts. Timing chains are far more robust and much longer lasting.

it's market and consumer driven. minor functional differences at the expense of reliability doesn't matter if the market supports it (which it does). it's more about creating unsatisfied consumers, not reliability or good engineering. that's how corporations make money...of course their goal is to impress both on consumers, but it doesn't take long to realize which dominates.

 

but...on a functional note, i think timing chains now are much higher quality than they were when manufacturers started using belts in the 80's. and when they first came out there was less risk since many cars were non-interference. then the market changed drastically in the 90's. the quickest and most profitable way to deal with that was to use what you already had and tweak it.

 

timing belts are reliable actually if things are done properly. a 100k interval with very low failure rates is good enough for the market to bear. if those bother you then the EJ25 replacing the EJ22 should really cause a stink since that's a notable downgrade in reliability and cost.