Ratty2Austin Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 so I went on the hatch patrol run to black diamond area today... very fun! brings back the offroad itch cause the weather was nice, and the trails were plentiful.... but problems snuk up on me at the last second... thenk made the kill! first minor problem during the trail run, (body damage doesnt count either) ... my electric cooling fan gets somehow jammed against the radiator and popped a fuse... didnt notice this till i did my usual once-a3-minutes check on the dash indicated almost overheating levels! i shut it down, let it cool (it seemed ok, there wasnt even a boil over or anything..) i had to un-wedge the fan, and then find a fuse... got it fixed..... it was going good till i decided it was about time to start my way back out of the woods while everybody was playing in the mud up a hill from me.... I went back thru a relativly large puddle, this time towards the middle- and suddnly my car sinks into a hidden hole! I was up to the headlights (above the door trim all around) in mudwater!!!! I tryed to free myself by going back and forth while i still had it running, but after about 5 minutes of trying myself, the air filter just couldnt hold the water out.. and it stalled the engine- then the starter was too wet to try turning it over. I waited.... meanwhile looking around inside the car for incoming water... and found none!! woohoo my new carpet was saved! the seals on my doors and floor held out all the water! so Zap hooked up, and pulled me out- once out, the engine was a big goo mess.... took a while to make it look like an engine again- but once it was cleaned up, it fired up, and got me out of there... but heres the bad part... once out of the woods and starting to head back I noticed a bit of noise... everyone said it sounded like exahust or something but i felt it was deeper in the motor- once we got to the parking lot in town, we noticed a rapid oil drip coming from the flywheel area of the engine! (rear main seal) I went to Qmans house to get some minor repairs done for the trip home (wagon wasnt running too happy) .and each time i started it up, the noise I heard got louder and louder.... but figuring that there wasnt anything we could do about it at this point.. we went home- freeway took us about 1 to 1.5 hours to get home... and when we got off the noisy freeway, the sound let itself be heard! *knock-knock-knock-knock!* bearing knock.... the motor is pretty much dead! it made it home... but every step it took it got closer to death... so now my wagon sits in the driveway, without an engine.. and awaiting the next.... but now, i need to hurry and find a good next! pictures of todays mishaps and adventures will be posted soon... but for now, i need to go fix my wagon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 damn dude, that sucks. Reminds me of 4x4ing my GMC S-15.... Halfway back the rod knock started. I wasnt fortunate enough to make it home though. Stuck the rod through the block (left a hole the size of a lemon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 sorry to hear about your troubles, but they usually get you home, if only to your driveway. its good practice, and maybe this is a good time to get a new engine from ccr, cant argue with a 3 year warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 noah - how much are they for a EA82? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Damn, and that was a sweet sounding engine. As I drove home by myself I was thinking about your engine and wondering how much damage that mud dip had inflicted and life taken out of it. I was thinking more in terms or scored piston walls and that. But it sounds like the mud also got into the oil. Guess it's a good thing there's still plenty of EA81s around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 I always consider it a good trip if you're not getting towed out. It's a bummer that you've got to replace your engine, but in some camps, that's the cost of playing in the woods. Fortunately, subaru engines are relatively inexpensive. But when all is said and done, you still will have had fun and wouldn't have traded the experiences for anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrench Princess Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 We were thinking about it last night and we both remember some noise before Austin even hit the puddle so we don't think the water was what started the problem. When we drained the oil it didn't have a bunch of water in it either, it was just very thin. It wasn't really that low either, which is kind of weird considering how fast it was leaking at Ken's house. We couldn't see any thick milkshake looking oil so I think that it held out the water. There wasn't metal shavings in the oil either luckily so it might be salvagable with new bearings (and of course, oil seals since those were toast). I had been trying as hard as I could the whole time to convince Austin that he was no hearing knocking because EVERY time I tell Austin that it looks, sounds, or smells like one of his cars is having a problem, I end up being right. I was hoping that being optimistic would help but it didn't. By the time we got off the freeway last night there was no mistaking the knock knock sound. The sad part is that I did tell Austin just before the puddle incident that his car sounded horrible! I guess I shouldn't have opened my mouth cause I think I might have jinxed us. Anyway, the update is that we are pretty sure that the motor started dying a little earlier on the trail and the water thing just finished it off. I need to wake Austin up now and tell him it's time to start working on his car again, I wanted to do more last night but it was 2:30 in the morning and Austin was just too tired. Thank you so much Ken for helping us out yesterday! You are awesome! I think that having your house close helped a lot and we got to pick up some goodies (but that we won't talk about just yet! ). Anyway, I think that there will probably be another update by Austin a little later when we a motor back in. We are just a little hesitant to use the motor we were going to because we thought it had blown a headgasket or two but both of them looked relitively new. Of course, the fact that someone had put about six and a half quarts of oil in it could be the reason that it was spewing oil too! I think that someone put the wrong dipstick in that motor too (we had another motor with the wrong dipstick). We are still figuring out what to do now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edalexandr Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 nasty story:mad: good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Bummer Austin! I thought everything was fine, so we cut out. . . Really sorry to hear about the wagon. Here's some photos of the day's adventures. http://usmb.net/gallery/Hatch-Patrol-04 I LOVE MY HATCH, it performs flawless. Did I mention I got the high mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Hey now that you mention it I heard some nasty knocky noise just as Austin crested the top of the Suburban hill. At the time I attributed it the oil slopping around in the pan and maybe not getting pumped to the top end. Maybe the oil pump crapped out and she was't getting lubed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 That sucks Austin. At least you made it back without getting towed like I had to after my dip in the water..... and thanks to Ken AGAIN for saving the day. I sure won't be forgetting how he helped me when my clutch went out (you too Eric). Someday I'll be able to return the favor. Glad to hear tha everyone had a good time - I would have come up, but my diff is currently out of the wagon (we welded it yesterday), and I'll be going to Medford next Sunday, so my fundage allotment for play this month has already been allocated. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Well, you can tell I had fun. And yes, I did break something. The left side diff hanger lost a bolt, then during one of my runs I pulled the other one out. It slowed me down some, but Mike(thanks again) had some extra bolts and I was able to get it reattached for the drive home. Most fun I've had in a while, even with the bad back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 My condolences Austin. This just goes to show how dependable our engines are. Mine went for 6,000 miles with the #1 cylinder doing nothing but transferring fuel and combustion gasses through blowby. Torxxx, I think you'd be looking at around $1700 for a CCR engine. That's what they told me for an ea82T, but an n/a might be a bit less. It sounds expensive, but remember that I've got about $1400 in my engine, doing all the work myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Austin, hows it coming along? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratty2Austin Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 progress... the car is disabled for the time being... motors are in the garage- I had to go to pullapart today and spend about 150 on a longblock... i really only needed a shortblock but I figured having the heads on there would save me some time here... (and get me yet another set of good ea81 heads) so I managed to pick up a hydraulic longblock from a 84 sedan AT.... at this time, I have packed it up for the night cause I have work in the morning and need some rest- I got the next longblock on the stand, scraped most of the dirt and roadgrime off of it and am preping it for drop in... I still need to put my flywheel and clutch on it, then install the longblock into the car, and get the manifold and carb cleaned out (from the mud) and put back on.... then I will cross my fingers and hope i scored a good deal at the PAP! (and hope that the 30 day warrenty wont need to be used on this one) meanwhile, my XT has been woken up from a long sleep to get me around, but it needs a lot of help itself- the corssover pipe is falling apart (and leaking) and the PS pump is really making a lot of noise (anyone have a ea82 manual rack that I can get for cheap or trade???) tomorrows another day of work for Patti and I in the garage- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 sounds like you've got one project after another Austin. I hope everything goes good for ya:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 ive been driving on a rod knock for 400miles now. 2050 quieted it down a bit. snorkel time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 You'll be up and running in no time! You don't want to miss the next trip? Good luck! Glenn, 82 Hatch, almost up and running... 01 Forester, bent but not broken... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Patti mentioned that the oil looked kinda thin. Have you done any more post-mortem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrench Princess Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Haven't taken it apart yet. I don't know why the oil was so thin but there wasn't water or gas in it (or chunks for that matter). You can be sure that I will take the motor completely apart though. That is my favorite part of wrenching. I love to disassemble, putting things back together is the more difficult part. I would be putting the motor in the car right now but Austin was talking about looking at the oil seals and deciding if he wants to replace them. He also needs to get some more silicone so we can reseal the carb. I am getting very antsy though so I am going to be very sad if we don't have it runnign tonight for sure. Anyway, I will have him update again later on and I will continue to try and get him to post some pictures of the fun on saturday. The only reason he hasn't yet is because got 159 pictures and he can't put very many on the board. There are some nice ones of Eric and Ken trying to tip their cars over though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asavage Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Originally posted by Wrench Princess He also needs to get some more silicone so we can reseal the carb. Tip: never use silicone in a carb. Silicone and gasoline do not mix. You will have gelatinized silicone in the carb's passages. As a kid, working in a motorcycle shop, I had to clean many a M/C carb that somebody had "resealed". Not fun. "Gasgacinch" (can with a pixie or fairy on the label) works well with gas, and won't come apart and gum up the carb. We call it "gorilla snot". Cans are freshness dated on the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratty2Austin Posted February 24, 2004 Author Share Posted February 24, 2004 thanks for the tip... we actually figured out that gas and silicone dont mix when we pulled my carb off of the old engine... and I think she meant silicone to reglue the intake manifold gaskets, and the carb base and weber adaptor too... we arent gluing anything on the carb... yet? there was chunky mud down in it due to the mud puddle though... might have been why it wasnt running very good.... anyone have a genuine snorkel fitting for the DGEV 32/36? I would like to buy one after seeing how well it sits on the carb on Qmans brat (getting ideas for a snorkel system soon to prevent furthur damage) I have the engine ready to install as of tonight... it is late, I think I am going to try to get the longblock bolted in for now, and call it a night.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Give up some of those photos!!! I wanna see me trying to flip my hatch!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratty2Austin Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 well, as of now, it can drive the wagon... so its running again! but.... the clutch, which was new around 4000 miles ago, is now slipping (I think its at the end of its adjustment too but maybe if I can find a cable with a longer end on it I can use more of the clutch up) I think it got oil damaged from when the rear main seal blew out, or mud damaged... the weber is not cooperating with me! it is sooo frustrating to keep it running now, if I get it adjusted the way it runs nice, then i let it idle for a little bit, or i rev it or drive it, then come back to an idle, it dies- or it idles too high... I think there is a vaccum leak at the top of the carb somewhere, (doesnt make sence?) but when i sprayed carb cleaner on the front of the carb, right behind the choke coil thingy, it ran smooth and idled correctly...? is there a gasket or something I need to fix there? a shaft that leaks? ahhhhh! so frustrating!!! fix one thing, find something else thats broken! anyone have a spare ea82 4wd clutch disc they are willing to donate to the cause? or for cheap? (needs to be clean and not oil soaked) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 That wasnt a river, it was one deep mud puddle:brow: Sorry to hear about your troubles Austin. But dont feel bad, Qman is having fits with his Weber also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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