18 replies to this topic

[Hondasucks]

My GF and I looked at a 93 impreza that supposedly has a bad motor. The girl said her sister was driving it and she was coming over the summit and it just died. I turned the motor over by hand and it will turn to a certain point and then it will stop. If you turn it and then crank it it will crank for a little bit and then makes a solid thunk noise. I didn't see any holes in the block like it had thrown a rod or anything, and it has plenty of oil and antifreeze. I'm leaning towards a timing belt, but not entirely sure. It's an EJ18, are those an interference motor? If it does indeed need a motor, anyone know where I could get one? Would an EJ22 swap in? It';s in really nice condition so I'm thinking if I get it goign just turn around and sell it and get an AWD 5 speed Legacy or Impreza (It's a 2WD Auto )

[Dr. RX]

My GF and I looked at a 93 impreza that supposedly has a bad motor. The girl said her sister was driving it and she was coming over the summit and it just died. I turned the motor over by hand and it will turn to a certain point and then it will stop. If you turn it and then crank it it will crank for a little bit and then makes a solid thunk noise. I didn't see any holes in the block like it had thrown a rod or anything, and it has plenty of oil and antifreeze. I'm leaning towards a timing belt, but not entirely sure. It's an EJ18, are those an interference motor? If it does indeed need a motor, anyone know where I could get one? Would an EJ22 swap in? It';s in really nice condition so I'm thinking if I get it goign just turn around and sell it and get an AWD 5 speed Legacy or Impreza (It's a 2WD Auto )

If it only turns so far and then stops, that has nothing to do with the timing belt. Pull the spark plugs, I'll bet that if you spin the engine with the spark plugs out you will spray water out one of the spark plug holes. The EJ18 is a clearence engine, so there will be nothing interfering with the crank rotation. I wouldn't touch it if it is a 2WD, but that also depends upon the asking price (free would be nice). If you really thing it is a timing belt, pull the cover by the battery, turn the engine over by hand and see if the belt moves. That is also the side that has the cam angle sensor, so if that cam isn't turning that the engine will not get that correct signals and it will not fire.

[idosubaru]

a water filled cylinder will prevent you from turning the motor over by hand. pull spark plugs like mentioned to check. or have someone stand behind the car as you crank it. if water drips out of the exhaust (anywhere between motor and tip, not just the end of the exhaust) then you're getting water in your
cylinder(s)

i doubt it, but it could be a timing belt if something strange is happening. pull the left and right timing covers (just a couple 10mm bolts) to check the timing belt. i could forsee a rare case where a timing belt pulley seizes, brakes or separates and somehow causes the timing belt to turn into a tangled mess where it's still wrapped around the crank sprockets preventing it from turning. removing the covers would be really easy and tell you in a matter of minutes whether that's the case or not.

[Flowmastered87GL]

I was talking to Jess earlier... my guess is hydrolocking too. My GL did that when it had a bad head gasket.

So ya try pulling the plugs.

Shouldnt be too bad to yank it, and reseal it.

[Snowman]

Ditto on the hydrolocking thing. That's EXACTLY what our shop truck (chevy 350) would do when it was losing water into the number 3 cylinder. Dunno if anything else would be hurt from having water in there (like rust on the cylinder wall or putting a heavy load on the bearings during the initial lockup), but if it's cheap, and you can verify that this is the problem, I'd go for it.

As to EJ22 swap, It would probably fit w/o much trouble, but I would guess you'd have to swap the entire engine control system.

[SUBARU3]

The 2WD Imprezas are fine cars! I have an AWD and a 2WD and the gas mileage difference is significantly better in the 2WD. I get well over 30 on the highway. I like the handling of it better than my AWD too. You also don't have to worry about torque bind and duty C issues. The 2WDs will last and last. I'll bet this one overheated pretty bad and blew a gasket. (Always watch your temp!)

The car is worth something for sure! I would get it and either re-seal , or find a 1.8 or a 2.2 and fix it. The 2.2 would need a harness though. I would stick to the EJ 1.8. Less work and not a heck of a lot of difference from th 2.2.

[Hondasucks]

The only thing that has me edged away from hydrolocking, unless it was fuel from a stuck open injector or something, is that the radiator was dead full, right up to the neck, I'd think if it was leaking enough to hydrolock, it would not have a full radiator, if the water created enough of a vacuum when it cooled to pull enough water out of the overflow tank to put it back to it's regular level, I could see it happening. Also puzzling because there is no water in the oil, as usually happens with blown head gaskets, and they USUALLY don't just blow right out of the blue, they leak for a while then fail catastrophically in some cases if the operator is dumb enough to keep driving it and ignore the temp gauge... She did say something that made me think that her sister isn't the brightest when it came to cars, however the oil and the water were both full.

One other thing I was brainstorming last night was the possibility of something being stuck in the hydraulic pump in the transmission, since that is directly driven off the motor, if it was siezed or had sometihng caught in it, it would not allow the motor to turn.... At any rate, if it needs a motor, in the condition it's in it's worth a little over 2 grand in running condition, and I doubt a motor will cost me $1500...

I jkinda wanna get it running and sell it and my red POS Mirage and get a AWD 5 speed Legacy or Impreza, since I'm not too keen on Automatics, much less FWD in Laramie, although I guess it's better than RWD The Dodge gets a lil squirrily in 2WD when it gets slick out....

[Flowmastered87GL]

Andrew, if it comes to having to get a motor...

http://www.franticfour.com/garage.html

This is where I bought the 1998 black impreza that I used to have from too.

maybe without some of the extras like clutch and stuff you could get it for $350?

I could pick it up for you if you wanted and get it down to portland at least.

[Dr. RX]

There doesn't have to be water in the oil for the head gasket to leak. It also doesn't take much water to hydrolock. If it is cheap, buy the thing, humor us, plug the plugs and give it a spin, then let us know what happened.

To SUBARU3, I said that I wouldn't touch, I didn't say there was anything wrong with 2WD Subarus, just that I won't own one.

[SUBARU3]

Oh, no offense taken. I was just commenting in my impressions of my FWD.

Todd

[Hondasucks]

okay so Saturday night after I got back from Fort Collins, my buddy Sean and I decided to tear into the Impreza. I gathered my tools, and after several trips to the shed and back I got the spark plugs out. This is what I found when I removed the #2 spark plug (Front cylinder, driver's side):



I did not think that looked good at all, since hydrolocking didnt' do THAT to a spark plug. My next thought was that perhaps it jumped time and a valve hit the plug, or something got sucked into the motor and snapped a valve, or phungled the spark plug somehow. So after some more wrestling, and running back and forth between the shed and the car, we managed to get the head off. And this is what we found:
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Funny thing is, the rod and the wrist pin appear fine (Although I will be fully tearing the motor down to determine the cause of failure... My theory is she hit something, since there is a nice 2" or so deep dent in the front of the oil pan, smack dab in the middle.... Kinda weird cuz it appears that the piston cracked right around the wrist pin....

Oh well, new motor is $350

[Dr. RX]

WOW!!!!

No, that doesn't appear to be hydrolock. I'm not sure where a dent in the oil pan would cause this either. It seems like a case of piston failure. Kind of strange how the valves are broken off so far up the stem, it is like they were snapped off when the valves were wide open, but if they were, the piston (or rod and wrist pin in this case) would have been at the bottom of their stroke. I hate to think what the cylinder walls look like.

[Hondasucks]

They're actually not too bad, I felt in there with my hand and I didnt' feel too many scores, you could probably hone/bore/sleeve the block and it would be usable. My theory is that it might have failed as the piston was on it's way up, which would explain the way the valves are broken. Funny thing is, is how mauled the piston is, almost like the engine turned over several times before it locked up solid. (The girl said that it just died suddenly, which is why I originally thought it was a timing belt). My theory is on the oil pain is that it crushed/restricted the oil pickup tube, and the piston was the first thing to succumb to lack of oil pressure... (Although the valve train looks fine, which is weird.. I dunno, I'll know more when I tear into it...)

[slo5oh]

Next engine leave off the Nitrous kit.

[eat1short]

Next engine leave off the Nitrous kit.

Oh come on, how are we gonna beat those hondas?

Ok, it was a honda wetdream.

[ShawnW]

Putting in an EJ22 doesnt require a wiring harness change. THats what I would do.

[Dr. RX]

Putting in an EJ22 doesnt require a wiring harness change. THats what I would do.

I think that you must use the EJ18 intake manifold though.

[Hondasucks]

I already gotta EJ18, $350 from the bonyard out of a way newer car with only 73 k on the odo

[Qman]

Yes, a 2.2 will bolt into the engine compartment just fine. All that is need is the original intake. It will bolt up fine. We were looking at the kids 1.8l Imp and Zap's 2.2l Imp/ Most things look identical including the transmission.

Is that possibly the result of ping or predetonation over time?