tjb2k3

$150 WOW!!! thre's hope yet

TOD AND rod knock... it's the latter half that justifies replacement.

LOL.... forgot your the EA hater

EA82... I was considering a donor vehicle with the EJ engine in it but I"m not wild about that idea.

I need a good ea82 short block.

I know that to do the oil pump, water pump, timing belt w/ tensioners, HVLAs, are cam seals would cost me just over 300 on ebay for everything... how much could a rebuild kit or short block really cost?

I just need a good short block.

oh ok cool lol

I'm in Indiana..everything subaru is pricy and and hard to locate lol.

Ok cool... figured that they might have gotten that wrong.

Umm... I must have missed something with that link cause the price of their weakest engine is 13K... i don't want to spend 1,300... I'm trying to get this done.. completely done car and all for less than 800.

the 98 forester I'm looking at is listed as having a 2.4L engine.

It's a shame I don't live up where these are popular or I'd buy it and part it out.

He turned me down cold at 200... 300 is the negotiated price.

Well I went and looked at it today... The Good: The body is 99.9% right. Some surface rust in 3 small spots (largest is about the size of a half dollar). Floors, sub-frame, and doors are all solid. Far as I can tell the car has never been hit or painted. The interior is just as nice. No major tears. No major fading. Some aftermarket wiring for a long gone sound system. Engine has a new alternator & radiator. Car has 4 "new" tires on it. (It's sat for a year but was only drive about 2k on tires before parked) Car fired right up on starter fluid, but old gas prevented a test drive. the Guy is willing to part with it for $300. The Bad :Flame:The engine has a definite rod knock when warm in addition to TOD all the time... :banghead:not good. The engine needs to be torn down and rebuilt or replaced.. needless to say I did not come home with it today... but that's the only bad thing on it. Missing the battery. (started it with a scavenged battery) I've priced a salvage engine off ebay for this car and it'd cost $1,395 shipped. (***WAY*** more than I want to invest) Does anyone know what it costs to do a complete short block rebuild with also doing cam bearings/ seals, oil pump, water pump, etc.? If I rebuild the engine, will I likely recoup the extra investment when I go to sell it? Does anyone make a rebuild "kit" for these like they do for chevy 350s, etc., or do I have to buy everything separately? I also have a line on a 2.4 legacy (I think its a 97?) but it's not in as nice of shape as this car body wise, and also a forester where the left fender, headlight, bumper etc. are all caved in from collision damage. (Donor vehicle?) These are both in the $700-1000 range. Has anyone tried to swap a 2.4L into a Loyale? I know the 2.2L works but haven't seen anything yet about 2.4L.

Is it possible to fit the 2.4L drivetrain into this car? Does it take extensive modification?

It's a push button... not wild about that either... It sounds like what I should do... since a good legacy is not available within 400 miles of me.. literally. I should buy this one, fix it, enjoy it, and flip it before something REALLY bad happens. When I posted about the Tbelt covers I didn't understand that they were "overstressed". In that case it does make sense to leave the covers off. I am one to be crazy enough to find a wreck of a legacy to swap drivetrains with, but I doubt I will have this car long enough to justify the swap.

Well the fact is that since I don't live in the pacific northwest, where old soobies are apparently plentiful, they are extremely hard to come by here in the midwest...especially with low to no rust. For example the last old soobie i bought was in 02'. They just aren't around in any kind of decent shape. Besides this will not be a primary car... it's a winter kick around/ car I'm not afraid to put mulch, car parts, etc in. I just want something to use so my brand new altima doesn't get all jacked up by my hobbies (one of which is rebuilding garden tractors). I love tinkering with cars and have a soft spot for ugly, utilitarian, and odd cars...hence I like this one... lets face it this thing wasn't good looking even back then. My first choice was actually an early 80's GL hatch, but those are damn near impossible to find let alone in nice condition anymore. As far as the EA82 having it's issues...at least I know what to expect.. (this same thing kept me driving Toyotas for years). It's better than buying some Chevy or Dodge where literally every little thing is a likely candidate to break... I'd much rather know that when the engine ticks it's lost one of three things, rather than wondering "What's gone wrong now?". I've decided at this point that if the car checks out I will probably go ahead and buy it. I appreciate all of your advice, even those of you who say not to buy a car with this engine. Also a little side note... if this car does give me too much trouble to be worth it... I'll just flip it at the end of winter and keep looking.

What limited pictures I have.

I'm pretty sure the car has approximately 139,000 on it... if I'm remembering what the guy told me correctly. I've seen a lot about this seafoam stuff... I looked it up on youtube and it's interesting but has anyone used BG's 44K and other products? Also I have this engine flush in a bottle stuff that I used on a previous soobie I had and it worked really well... also a BG product. (I'm familiar with BG from working for Lexus.. stuff works!) It's been my experience that leaving timing belt covers off is a BAD thing... dirt, moisture, and timing belts don't tend to get along as it will cause them to wear prematurely..instead of getting 75-120K out of them you'll only get about 50K. However, this comes from working on Toyota products (including Lexus). Not to mention that if something should find its way into the engine compartment it can destroy that stuff easily... your drive belt is far, far more durable than the timing belt when it comes to "foreign objects". Cold weather also adversely affects it as the belt looses flexibility and will crack more quickly over time. I admit it looks cooler, but it's just a poor maintenance practice. However this does explain why an 89 non runner I bought years ago was missing the covers. That all said I have no idea if this car even has the covers anymore.... for all I know they are long gone.:-\

I'm looking at buying an older soobie... a 93 loyale to be exact. However, the car apparently has a leaking oil pump and develops the TOD when warm (I don't know how severely). I've been reading this forum all day and I'm curious. Would any of you who are experienced with these cars buy one with the TOD problem preexisting? I figure a new oil pump may fix it and I'd do the timing belt, water pump and Cam seals a the the same time... none of these seem all that difficult to me since I used to be a professional mechanic. The body of this car looks to be perfect (owner claims "rust free")... I've not seen it in person yet just pictures so far. So I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. The seller claims that the car is very nice all around, save the engine, and the price is more than fair being that it's less than $400. That all said what would you do, buy or pass?