watson524

Nope, timing belt didn't break, and doesn't look like it jumped time either. We aren't entirely sure what the heck happened but something in the passenger side bank went awry since it'll turn with the key but gets stuck there by hand. Someone interested in buying it was asking me about their Forester engine.

Yep SUS is DOHC. Thanks for the info.

Still trying to sell the dead 99 SUS. First off, can someone tell me if it's EGR or non EGR? If I'm counting bolts correctly, looks like it's a 4 bolt? Also, can a 99 Forester engine go in it?

Oddly no metal shavings of any kind came out when the oil was drained so we're still perplexed. Got the 2015 yesterday. Sweet car! The voice commands do way more than just dial someone like on my Honda Pilot which I wasn't expecting. The 99 is still for sale.

Good tip on the car parts but not posting, just might do that. And the 2015 should be great. Amazing what all the new "fancy" stuff it has It'll be my husbands. He took my 99 back in late 2010 when I got a Honda Pilot tho I can easily see me going back to a Subbie when I'm done with the Pilot, and since I tend to keep cars a long time, it might be the 2015 Subbie that I end up in when the time comes

I am sort of hesitant to put it on the car parts section because I don't want to have to rip it apart and not sure I want people coming here and picking it apart either. But I'm renewing it each week so it gets back to the top, maybe I should do it more often if they allow that. Ordered a 2015 Legacy Limited with the 2.5 engine.

Yep, we ordered the new one last nite with no trade. Just not worth it for us to mess with it. Thought I had a bite on it but the guy wanted to give me something ridiculously low (even after I came down in price) and then when I wouldn't go lower told me he had to come to wherever I was (Craig's list ad tells where I am) and haul it away. Yeah not exactly my problem when you're shopping for a car that's advertised as "bad engine, doesn't run".

Ok so sort of what we expected but not sure if we want to go that far vs hope someone wants to buy it and bring it back to life. We're ordering the new one this week because even if we got it going, it'd be to trade in and what we'd make on the trade in vs what would be put into it plus our time, probably doesn't make much sense.

What does pulling the heads entail here? Radiator out for more room I guess, mainfold off and have a go at it? Would a bore scope show valve through piston if that's the case? The valve clearly isn't opening all the way as we turn it.

Valve cover came off. I think it must have loosened over nite Anyway, cylinders 1 and 3 both appear goofed up (which the compression sort of already told us). The stop point for turning the engine is visible where the cam lobe on 3 comes around to meet the valve. I have to do some more research on the timing marks because there for some reason are two on the top sprocket of the passenger side. When we get one lined up with the notch on the cover, the driver side isn't lined up and we can't line the driver side up because of the "stop point". Still not sure if it jumped time or what the heck happened but I'm going to try to source a bore scope and have a look down in there to see if we can see a bent valve or something. Don't really want to take the head off at this point unless we get motivated when we see what we see with the bore scope.

We've had every kind of wrench and vise grips and vise grips on wrenches known to man on this at this point. Trying again in a bit.

The head gasket was done not ALL that long ago so we're all shocked that this one won't budge. And with the rubber gasket at the top of it, penetrating oil doesn't really get down in there and then threads are so far in anyway, not sure if it'd help. We'll give it another go later today.

Well the saga continues. At this point it's more to find what the heck the issue is than to actually fix it. Compression on drivers side cylinders front and back (2 and 4) is 85 and 100 respectively. On the passenger side, 0. Doesn't even move the gauge. Ok so we took off the timing belt inspection cover and the other cover on the driver's side and the belt looks fine (as it had before but our friend wanted to see it). Put a bar on it and turn it by hand to watch things..... turns left to a certain point, then stops. Like no budging makes it go. Same after a certain point to the right. Now apparently the starter is strong than we are so now we're thinking it skipped time (tho there's no slack in the belt and it's in good shape) and let valve and piston collide. Ok it's Friday afternoon and why not pull the passenger side valve cover and see what's what. 5 bolts off. Bottom rear bolt will NOT come off. Tried everything possible and it just will not budge. I am wondering if whatever flew off the tracks is up near the bolt and has it jammed up (is that even possible??). So my husband's friend is coming back tomorrow and they'll try some other things. Getting on this one bolt is particularly hard but there's no way it should be this tight.

So for my own learning, in that clip, is there 5 full cycles and that high whine at the end of each is the compression issue?

We looked at the timing belt and it seems fine and turns when you crank the engine. I made a sound clip of it tonite if anyone wants to try to play guess the sound site unseen http://sveneskyrealtor.com/testsite/engine.html

Thanks for the info! Tomorrow will be very telling then. To me, the engine sounds totally normal as its cranking just that it's not catching. We have a Mexican VW Bug (2003) with a very high tech (LOL!) security system in it. You have a little wand thing that you have to wave under the steering column to engage the circuit. If you don't, it turns and turns but won't catch. That's exactly how it seems with the Subaru right now.

I want to revisit this one with you gurus if you don't mind. We have the car listed for sale, other than 2 scammers on craigs list, no bites. So we've been messing around with it. Drained the oil fully expecting to see metal shavings and chunks.... not a thing, clean as a whistle even after putting it through a strainer. What does this say? If it threw a rod, wouldn't you expect some shavings? We also took the cover on the front passenger side of the engine off and verified status of timing belt. In tact and spinning when you turn the key over. For giggles, we're going to do a compression test tomorrow - can someone tell me what compression should be for this engine? We are assuming we'll have low/no compression on at least one cylinder. 2 other theories that friends who are "car guys" have kicked around.... bad compression and no metal could mean that the timing belt skipped and caused valves to hit - i.e. valve job at a minimum and still pricey. If compression is ok then the other theory is that an ignition coil died (apparently there's two on this engine?) and those have gone "bang" when they die which would cause car not to start. Any thoughts on the validity of all this? We figure while the car is sitting in the driveway, might as well play around with it and a compression test is easy enough to do.

I found a 2.2 about 20 miles from us for a decent price, but that cost, plus the tires and windshield and still having a 15 year old daily driver are making us think trying to sell it as is to someone who wants to keep it going is probably the best option for us at this point.

I think what we're leaning towards is putting it on Craigs list for $700 and see how it goes for a week or so (we have other vehicles that my husband can use - darn he'll have to drive the Miata as a daily driver for a while). Then if nothing, decide if we'll spend the money on the engine, tires and windshield and run it a while or just cut ties to it. If anyone is interested, we're in Northeast PA.

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll have to start looking for motors and decide what we want to do. Thankfully we won't pay much in labor for the swap if we do it since we know a guy that works on cars (and races other cars) and has a shop (and just changed a motor on his 97 subaru - he said he'd help us out). Would it be wise to change head gaskets on a motor we bought? Trying to think of other "incidental" costs that would be involved here. Also on a used engine, what's a "good" mileage range? I'm finding a few 2.2s locally but I don't know what's acceptable

1999 SUS with 260k on it. Kept up on maintenance as far as oil changes, timing belt, water pump etc. Due for inspection in November and would need new windshield (star crack went to side and in PA that's a no no) and tires as well as some muffler work. Had head gasket done at about 180k miles. Figured we'd put the money into it for this year to get more time out of it and then think about a new one. Body is in good shape, some rust but very minor. Interior is in above average shape. Last nite driving home my husband heard a loud bang, lost all power and it died. Won't turn over. My guess when I got there was it threw a rod (there looked to be a bit of oil around the one plug tho I wasn't convinced it was fresh). Had it towed to mechanic, he said piston went and the engine is shot. I'm not entirely sure how he determined this (bore scope in the cylinder or what). What would you do or what are the options? Mechanic is saying take the about $200 and scrap the car. I really don't want to do that. My thought was that if block was ok, could it be fixed enough to get it to car dealer for a trade in (possibly $1,800 - $2,000) or is it really just not worth it and scrap is the way to go. This was the first car I ever bought and paid for myself as new so there's sentimental attachment that I'm trying not to let come into (too much) play here. thanks!