mdjdc Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 I just picked up one of these cars and I know that the engine has overheated twice. Are these engines like the ea82's in that they crack heads, or can I safely rebuild the engine? Will I need to replace the heads, or should I just go for a used engine. It seems that the mechanic that rebuilt the engine the first time did nto recommend a replacement radiator and that caused another round of overheating within 40k miles. Just looking for some advice so that I can get this car resurected. Thanks guys Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspen Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 The heads will warp fairly easily. You can take it apart, put a flat edge on it. Get it machined if it's not too bad. Check the pistons for excess play while you are in there, these motors tend to have slappy pistons too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 there are a few things that can be very very bad. On ANY engine with aluminum heads , if it overheats and blows a HG the Cylinder heads have to be checked for warping. You say its the 2nd enine in this car. What has me concerned is if the cylinder liner moved. If you repeatedly overheat any aluminum block engine with steel liners, the liners can move, and the engine will never be fixable (well throw enough money at something and it can be fixed). If the car did not get a short block, i would wonder about that. I'm not one quick to condemn an engine, but in this case i would look at used engine. A bad radiator would show up within a 100 miles, not 40,000. What would show up in 40,000 miles is shifted cylinder sleeve, or cheap HG's. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 you say "rebuilt", what all was done then? and when was that done, what year? do you know if they used Subaru's newer updated gaskets? there's a chance the heads weren't milled and Subaru gaskets weren't used, which could easily cause this problem to come back again. typically the heads are fine. a machine shop will do a valve job, mill them and test them. they can tell you if they are bad or not. i have yet to give them a head that was trashed. that's more common with turbo motors, but is possible to any. if they gasket-slapped it, just installed new gaskets without milling the heads, that could be the problem as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 This is going to be my first foray into the world of ej engines and I want to have as much knowledge before I get into the job. I just want to do it once as this may become my daily driver. I'm leaning toward a japan pull with 40k on it, but if the head job is less expensive I may go that way. I will definitely put a new radiator in as well. Any other info is greatly appreciated and thanks for the info thus far. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 How many miles on the vehicle? If it's not too bad and the rest of the vehicle is in good shape, the '99 should be a pretty good vehicle and may justify the cost of a good rebuild such as ccr. '99 should be the phase II 2.5?, which sometimes has the external coolant leakage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron917 Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 The '99 Legacy Outback has the Phase I DOHC 2.5. The HG leaks are internal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 i wouldn't get a "JDM 40K motor" again. i got one last summer and it came complete with bad headgaskets. i just did it on a whim, figured i'd try it out, waste of time. i'm sure that's rare, but no need for me to go that route again. the best options are to fix it or get a CCR engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted May 1, 2007 Author Share Posted May 1, 2007 The car has 180k on it and is loaded. Five speed tranny with a new clutch. Seems worth the energy to restore. Body in great shape too. Got the whole thing for 500.00 so not much lost. I'm going to check with a machine shop on the cost of a head job for the heads. I have time and want to check al of my options before I dig into this car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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