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98 outback JDM replacement ej25D


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Okay so this is the first time I've delt with an imported motor and I've never had so many issue in a job like this.

 

First of the motor was picked up by someone else, I was just hired to swap the motors out.

 

The motor was sitting on the floor with a non EGR intake and the head has an EGR port.

 

Spark plug wires were taken off one side and cut off the other.

 

There was orange silicone on the valve cover gaskets.

 

The timing belt covers were broken and the motor looked worse for wear than the other motor I pulled out.

 

So I swapped the intake, timing covers, cams, sensors, valve covers, and misc other stuff off the other motor.

 

I put a gates timing belt kit on, with a genuine Subaru water pump and a new ntn tensioner. I filled it most of the way up with coolant and put four quarts of oil and a new filter on it and fired it up. At that point it ran great, oil light turned off in 30-40 seconds.

 

Then it started knocking. I got in and reved it up and it would quiet down, then i put it in gear and reved it up and it knocked loud. It sounds like a rod knock to me, but I had another mechanic I know look at it and he thinks its something to do with the cams.

 

Could it be something to do with the cams or is it worth even messing with?

 

I'm at lose of what to do, the motor that came out was overheated till it shut off so I doubt I'll be able to use any parts off that motor to fix this one.

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i THINK rod knock would almost always be worse as you rev higher.  anyone? but I don't want to think a new tensioner is bad letting the belt flop around. There is a video at youtube showing a guy using a screwdriver on the tensioner to smooth-out belt travel and stop a knocking sound.

 

piston slap? seems unlikely but, maybe possible in a JDM ej25?

 

like wtdash - I have read that, since Japanese drivers know that stringent emissions testing is likely gonna force them into a new car quickly, they tend to not do proper maintenance and many of those front clip motors are in bad shape. Not sure if it's a universal truth though.

 

anyway, try to get pics of the problems you found if you still have pieces of the JDM motor and its cut wires and sealant smeared everywhere. just CYA.

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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My experience with subaru rod knock is,  Noticeable clatter at first start up...in yard at  apx 3000 rpm noticeable knock . also if you listen closely while driving you should hear the same knock at certain times  ( when engine is floating).  If this is a jap takeout, it has a warranty.  They won't pay your labor unless an extra policy is paid for but they will replace the engine. I have installed 2 dozen or more of these mainly in subi's but toyota & nissan's as well. Only got one motor (toyota) that threw a rod thru  the block. Was replaced with hardly any questions asked.... they even let me keep the blown motor (had a perfectly good head) . They can look bad and you have to follow their instructions on removing and replacing everything but compared to a  pull and save motor that you have no info about nor a warranty other than if it doesn't run bring it back... I will recommend a takeout motor every time.

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Well I've washed my hands of it, the customer wants me to warranty the motor even though they bought it and hired me to install it.

I told them I would drive down there with them and help them get it warrentied, but I couldn't get down there till Monday and they freaked out on me.

 

Long story short I'm out 6+ hours of labor not including the 2 hr drive time each way.

 

Long story short from my research any ej25d is a gamble JDM or not, its just a crap shoot for these motors.

 

Oh well learning experience.

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i THINK rod knock would almost always be worse as you rev higher. anyone? but I don't want to think a new tensioner is bad letting the belt flop around. There is a video at youtube showing a guy using a screwdriver on the tensioner to smooth-out belt travel and stop a knocking sound.

 

piston slap? seems unlikely but, maybe possible in a JDM ej25?

 

like wtdash - I have read that, since Japanese drivers know that stringent emissions testing is likely gonna force them into a new car quickly, they tend to not do proper maintenance and many of those front clip motors are in bad shape. Not sure if it's a universal truth though.

 

anyway, try to get pics of the problems you found if you still have pieces of the JDM motor and its cut wires and sealant smeared everywhere. just CYA.

Its definitely a rod knock, I ran the motor with no covers on it and the tensioner stayed steady the whole time it was knocking.

I should have just refused to install the motor when I saw all the things that were wrong on it. The orange silicon on the valve cover gaskets made me worry.

 

Under no load it just lightly ticks until reved up, but under load it gets really loud and louder the higher the rpm.

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Your customer is nuts to want you to warrant the motor that they brought in to you for installation. What is he thinking???

 

Before driving 2 hours each way, may I suggest you get on the phone, or your customer gets on the phone to get the warranty process in motion with the motor seller before ever driving there. Might make things a lot easier for everyone.

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Your customer is nuts to want you to warrant the motor that they brought in to you for installation. What is he thinking???

 

Before driving 2 hours each way, may I suggest you get on the phone, or your customer gets on the phone to get the warranty process in motion with the motor seller before ever driving there. Might make things a lot easier for everyone.

That's exactly what I was about to suggest to them when they started cussing me out. So I told them they need to deal with it and that I'm still willing to finish the job, but they still need to pay me for my labor.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Update if anyone is interested.

My customer took the car over and they confirmed it was a rod knock and warrentied the motor and they called me up and offered to pay my to R&R it again plus gas. Hopefully this one will be better.

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Too bad you can't build a test harness out of a junk car's ECU/ bit of wiring.

That's not a bad idea.

I've thought about making a plate that I could bolt on for the starter so I can spin an engine over and do compression tests and check overal condiron of the motor.

I'm so used to being able to do that with my old Chevy's.

Edited by mikaleda
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You know, I might just cut the bell housing out of an old transmission I got laying out back, then I could torch the converter off behind the ring gear. Then I could bolt the ring gear, the cutoff bell housing, and the starter to the engine and spin it over. That would be something that would help to tell me the condition of the motor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

update

forieghn engine service repaced the motor, this motor was in much better shape and had "egr driled & tapped" on the tag.

 

but my customer decided they wernt going to chance the same problem and ordered a brand spanking new short block from subaru. so we are sending the heads in off the new warrentied motor for resurfacing and putting them on the new shortblock.

they also bought a new subaru oil pump headgaskets and cam seals.

 

the short block didnt come with any special instructions for install other than to use the provide lifting point.

 

anyone know the proceure for break in of a new shortblock?

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good question,  it didn't come with instructions? I'd expect since it would have new rings and cross-hatch honed cylinder walls so, probably similar break-in procedure as most engines; dino oil,  avoid steady rpms, avoid redline, basically, take it easy for a while. I'd consider accelerating the first 2 oil change intervals. But, I admit that's just guesswork on my part.

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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