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I got my 95 2.2 engine with 71k on it from the junk yard today for $200 pulled. Tested compression at home by turning crank by hand. 1&3 went to 60 on first turn but 4 Had zero and 2 had 35. I then did a leak down test and could hear the intake and exhaust on 4 don't close and 2 closes but not all the way. So what could this be? Please say timing jumped or sticky valves!

 

:-\

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Easy enough to check the timing with the engine out, just pull the two side covers and check the cam marks.

 

You might try the aviation opposed engine trick and stake the valves, put a brass drift on the valve rocker when the valve is closed and give it a good rap. The valve will open and spring back, seating the valve.

 

A compression check by hand, engine cold is not very reliable.

 

Did the yard give you a 30 Day? With that low of mileage, I'd put it in and start it up.

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checking compression by hand is not at all accurate.

 

i have an EJ22 (i believe it's a 1997) - a guy i know tested the compression and said one cylinder was low. a friend (also a board member) told me it was probably just the lash adjusters were bled down since the motor sat for awhile. i don't know what years do or do not have HLA's (actually i didn't think 97 had them), but maybe someone else can chime in.

 

i'm with larry though, there's a good chance the engine is good and compression will be good. but i'd want to verify as well. i just put the engine i was talking about on an engine stand yesterday to try and verify as well.

 

good luck - i'll be watching....

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I know a hand crank test isn't accurate but It was getting compression in 1&3 but zero in 4 and a little on 2. As I said I did a leak down test with 4 at tdc and it pushed the piston down enough to toss my ratchet off the crank. Doing a rudimentary leak down test I could hear a lot of air from intake and exhaust, when I crank it it got quieter but was still leaking a bit in 4&2. This engine did sit for a about 2 months. I have the intake off and just went with a light and looked at the intake valves and they look fine couldn't get under it to look at exhaust valves. I then took a little light saber thingy I have that is a light and put it in the spark plug hole and turned the engine until the valves closed and I could see no more light. When they were closed the crank timing mark is way past the timing scale on 4. Shouldn't 4 be on the 0 mark with the valves closed? I will take timing cover off tomorrow and see if it jumped. This engine is really clean inside with very little carbon build up in on the pistons and none on what I can see of the intake valve seats. The car looked like a little old lady drove it to work on Sundays it was that clean.

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i don't know what years do or do not have HLA's (actually i didn't think 97 had them), but maybe someone else can chime in.

 

from what i've read, 97 was the first year for solid "lifters" so 95 would be hla's.

 

i'd bet it just needs some oil pressure. i put a 92 ej22 in a car after the engine had sat for a few months in my garage and the valves tapped so bad i thought i'd have to tear into it to replace the hla's. took about 15 minutes of idling after warmup to recharge them and the guy's had no tapping/problems since.

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If this was my engine ....

 

I would take off the heads, see whats going on (better now then its in the car). I would also reseal the engine, replace the water pump at this time and replace the timing belt.

 

Check the timing and make sure its on the money.

 

For this low a mileage engine (but long on time) , its due for all that stuff anyway.

 

 

nipper

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OK good news! Someone replaced the timing belt and instead of lining the notches up they lined the arrows up for the marks. I am in the process of fixing it now. WOOHOOO a 71 k engine with new belt and tensioner!

 

:banana: :banana: :headbang::clap:

 

Wow, if that engine with that low milage is as good as it sounds you're one lucky guy desertsubaru.

 

I'd be tempted to wash that beautiful hunk of aluminum down, put it on a stand in my living room and just sit back and enjoy it!

 

I know, I know--I'm prejudiced. But at 126k miles my '95 Legacy L is just getting nicely broken in. Such a sweet engine.

 

Enjoy!

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good news!

wow - that car may have gone to the yard for that?! whoops, the motor is hosed - scrap it.

They said it ran but had a miss, I figured bad plug but seen when I got it home that the wires and plugs are brand new ngks. I think my tensioner piston is bad because it wont move in. I don't have a vice but I do have an 8 inch C clamp, will that push it back? Also how far should the tensioner piston come out when you remove the tensioner? Mine only came out about an inch and I was able to put it back on the block with the tensioner pulley in place, Should I be able to do that?

Thanks for the help everyone! :banana:

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First, congrats on finding the timing problem. :clap:

 

[...]I then took a little light saber thingy I have that is a light and put it in the spark plug hole and turned the engine until the valves closed and I could see no more light. When they were closed the crank timing mark is way past the timing scale on 4. Shouldn't 4 be on the 0 mark with the valves closed?[...]
Even though the problem is resolved, I thought I'd provide a little info anyway. Obviously, when cylinder #1 is at TDC (Top Dead Center) the mark on the crank pulley will point to 0 degrees on the timing scale. The engine's firing order is 1-3-2-4. Since we're dealing with a four-stroke engine, halfway through the firing order the piston-to-crank relationship repeats, so #2 will also have 0 degree indication at TDC. However, cylinders #3 and #4 will be 180 degrees (half a crank rotation) off from that.

 

The "divide the firing order in half" approach should work on any conventional four-stroke engine. What could change is the number of degrees some of the cylinders will differ from zero at TDC, depending on how many cylinders there are. For example, the Subaru H-6 has a firing order of 1-6-3-2-5-4, so again #1 and #2 will have the 0-degree agreement between TDC and the timing scale. Cylinders #6 and #5 will be 120 degrees later, and #3 and #4 will be 240 degrees.

 

Of course, for each circumstance I described above, whether the valves are closed or not depends on which cycle the cylinder is at. If you're doing a leakdown test, and you have the crank in what should be the right position, but there's no compression, try rotating the crank another 360 degrees.

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