Bdamit

Hello again its been a little while, juggling a few hours here and there to finally get the little engine back together again. so we have installed new piston rings, main bearings, conn rod bearings, seals for crank, cam, valve stems, water and oil pumps, and the belts. Everything has been deep cleaned, there’s a new clutch kit, and hey, it started on the key as if nothing had happened! no smoke, no rattles, and it doesn’t miss a beat. Now the tricky part is treating it gently whilst we run her in. Taking General disorder’s advice, I did not touch the decent bores, letting the piston rings do their job with some SAE 30, now changed after 30 miles of run-in. Running in: First start I disconnected the fuel system fuse, letting the engine crank on the starter until we reached oil pressure. Then with everything connected I started the engine and gently played with the revs (2-3k) with gears in neutral for about 20 minutes. all good, so onto the road run; a good 30 mile drive, gently building engine speed then deccelerating in gear. No problems. fresh oil and filter, and now I shall accumulate another 500 miles of gentle highway before a further oil change. Then 1500, then every 3-4000 miles as usual. so i’m a happy bunny, time to give the forester it’s service.

Thank you for your comments, gents. El Freddo - I'll certainly be checking that pump thoroughly, I have a Subaru Sambar service manual which I use for engine work- it is the same engine as far as the major components are concerned. I have all the new seals too. General disorder- That article is really useful, thank you; I was concerned about the honing part, especially as it would likely be done inaccurately with a hand drill as I have seen and read all over the internet. Doesn't seem the most professional method for these Japanese motors.... it scares me a bit! Additionally, the bores actually look really good, and I was secretly hoping that a good reason NOT to hone the bores would crop up. And it is totally intuitive that a well 'finished' shiny not worn cylinder is what is needed. Four bores like this; excuse the shop-rag residues: There are even traces of the factory honing on all bores: The pistons show a light polishing on the pin sides of the skirt, but no 'rubbing'. I am installing brand new Subaru rings, though the originals look quite good too. (I snapped one stupidly while giving the piston a preliminary clean, damn they're fragile) . Something to clean the grooves with! I am waiting for some parts, which gives me time to check and clean, and I'll post my progress and countless questions. Thanks again!

Hi all I know there are few (or none) Vivio owners on this forum, but as it is a full-fledged Subaru I hope some of us may find this interesting. I am in the middle of an engine rebuild for the tiny 4WD, and so far so good (tearing down is the easy bit). This is my first full engine job. After my little spark plug worry I have since stripped down the head and block, and given the clutch housing a good clean inside and out. It has been accumulating a lot of leaked oil inside, apparently from some bad head seals. The pistons are in good condition, except number 2 which has some minor damage from the spark plug insulation which had broken off. The cylinder bores are fine, as is the crank, but I have the **flywheel-end** main bearing with some wear through to the copper. This one is furthest from the oil pump. I am guessing that a new set is on the cards. **my bad- it's not the flywheel end, it's the other end, closest to the pump!! Go figure. I shall plastigage the caps to see if I need undersize bearings, but judging by the condition of the majority of the bearings I imagine not. The bores shall be lightly honed, new rings installed, and perhaps I should check the oil pump too while everything is off. Fingers crossed, thanks!! Block out and cleaned up: Gear box spruced up: That worn bearing :/ The rest look like this:

The valve stem seals are all identical by eye, same colour, same springs, same shape inside. They did not come inlet/exhaust separate, and are aftermarket. The manual stipulates black inlet, brown exhaust. I think I'll order the genuine Subaru parts, now that I have destroyed them again!

Piston #2 has been mashing that piece of insulator against the head: There's a 5mm wide x 0.5mm deep crater (top centre) in the piston, and a few nicks. Can I get away with some light sanding? Your thoughts please... The remains of the insulation can be seen on the top centre border .... and you can see the nicks in the head (bottom right): The 4 cylinder bores are very good, a little polished perhaps, very few fine vertical score marks. Cylinder 2: I was planning to pull the crank and pistons this month for a light bore honing, install new rings, main seals etc.

Here we go then. Front end off and lets crack it open....

By the way, the car is from 1995, has multi point injection, N/A, no PS or AC, runs on 95 unleaded, manual shift. It was sold with 50,000 km, but I am erring toward 150,000 kms (hard to tell with the five-digit counter, and the official dealer was a bit dodgy and not completely honest with a few things. The car has fresh paint, some good knocks underneath, a well-polished steering wheel and gearknob, brand new upholstery.....many many things tell me that it has done six-figures!) But it will be a peach when I'm done fixing.

Thanks for the positive replies guys. But I think they are running hot, possibly due to incorrectly set timing, they are quite white and scaled. This could explain the broken insulator? The oil slick on 2 and 3 concerned me the most, initially making me think the rings are worn. I put back the old plugs (which were actually really good colour, but I change filters and plugs when I buy a car), and ran the engine for a minute or two. I pulled the plugs again and they were soaked! I then realized/ remembered that I had not sorted inlet/outlet valve seals when I did the head reseal, so they are likely all mixed up, at least on 2 and 3! What a tool I am. The head comes off tomorrow and I shall check those seals (and the state of the cylinder bores obviously). Back to engine school for me... Expensive lessons.

Is that turbo or supercharger? I didn't know about a turbo model. thanks!

Now you're talking

Wow, that's insane. Loving it! I shall be watching closely from now on, thanks!

Inspirational work sir, keep at it! thanks!

A fine carriage! I would have a Brat if a) they existed here b) we weren't a family of 5 I will have to make do with my 1/10 version! Thanks for sharing Ben

HiBennie the Vivio is the 1990s evolution of Subaru's Kei - car range. Smaller than the Justy.... 660cc capacity max, and exterior dimensions not exceeding 3.3m (11 feet) length, with height and width limits too. here is the Wiki description: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car Surprisingly I fit perfectly, (5'11"), with legroom in the back. This version is with multi point injection, no supercharger. Four doors, four cylinders, four seats, 4 wheel independent suspension and four wheel drive (selectable at any speed). I love it, enough to proceed with a full engine rebuild, most of the important parts come from Japan, smaller consumibles I can find in Europe. The build quality is pure Subaru, and underneath it looks just like any other 4WD / AWD Subaru. It is basically a shrunken Legacy. No boxer engine though: it uses Subaru's own EN07 motor, 4 cylinder in-line transverse, where all other kei cars used a 3 -cyl as far as I can tell. Hilarious! Here it is next to our '93 Fiat Panda. The Panda is pretty small, but looks quite fat in comparison...

Well, as a recently-arrived forumster, I have more tales from the little Vivio. its 660cc 4cyl works quite hard- 4200rpm at 60mph +-. Recently I changed the head gasket and cam seals hoping to curb the leaking at the top of the engine, and the serious oil consumption, and basically to check the general engine condition. Without noting much difference between the condition of each piston, I rebuilt as best I could with new plugs, and no proper specs to help me except head bolt torque and valve clearances. I plan on rebuilding the whole engine this month, once my rings and seals kits arrive, as there is considerable smoke at higher revs, and the power seems down. Today I pulled the plugs and found some ugliness, especially cylinder 2... Left to Right, cylinders 1,2,3,4 respectively, 4 at the flywheel end. So the rebuild needs to go ahead urgently, I don't think I can use this car until it's fixed properly. I am stumped because the other car (Forester) has just decided to split its radiator too! two sick soobs...

Vivio again:

Thanks dfoyl for confirming reusable bolts, that saves a considerable outlay on hardware! Montana Tom: Thank you for the tool tip, so my basic long hex socket won't be enough then... As a rule I am all over this engine, quite anal in fact, but it is a fine piece of simple yet exotic 20 year old machinery which has a serious job to do, and I hate messy/expensive surprises. I have a water pump renewal and oil pump reseal on the cards, I just changed the belts with Gates and new genuine Japanese pulleys, clutch and flywheel from Subaru, Subaru metal oil separator plate, Subaru main crank seal etc etc. Im aiming for ten more years if law and fuel prices permit! 500000kms? Why not?

Haha true. not an sti by no means I have always had comparatively underpowered cars but ones' driving technique can make all the difference. A few lumps of sti rubber underneath also help loads. And I don't do autos! On the short motorways here I'll chug along at 100kph 60mph but I enjoy maintaining that speed on the country roads. It's the handling I like on these cars, and third gear at 4000+ pulls quite well out of the corners. The vivio with 660cc requires even more balls-out driving technique, but the rewards are in the handling when you think you're going into a curve too fast....in the wet, and the orange 4WD button on the gearknob comes into play! I'd likely have a motorbike if I were a proper high speed junkie, but I have three sons- my maleness is proven beyond hp

The PCV was a little black, not clogged nor oily, and it happily fap-fap-fapped when shaken. I have cleaned it up anyway and reinstalled with some ptfe tape on the threads. After the radiator is replaced I shall drive normally and check the levels carefully! I'm not keen on opening up the heads until I am certain of their failure, the engine otherwise runs really smooth and clean, reasonable economy, blah blah At least when the gaskets need changing I'll have the gaskets in my garage!

Hi Bennie That is an interesting note about the synth oil that I did not know. Yesterday I ordered a new Nissens radiator at a ridiculously reasonable price, 80 euros delivered. Subaru want 375 euros for the Calsonic!

After a quick inspection of the exhaust gases and engine compartment, I noticed two things: No steam from the tailpipe, no smoke, totally clean and smelling normally of catalytically converted gases. There is humidity inside the tailpipe tip, which i believe is normal as the engine is warming up. Second, there is a new hairline crack in the plastic radiator top, just where the top hose connects. That immediately explains the coolant loss and adjacent staining. any excessive pressure in the cooling system is obviously fed straight to the expansion bottle, so I suppose my rad had a weak spot where hottest and has finally failed. I do not have any idea where that oil has gone. Is there a way to repair a plastic radiator, or is it 350 euros to replace it? I shall top up the oil, fix or replace the rad, and see if the head gaskets need changing presently. Weird oil mystery is perplexing me....

Today I discovered very, very low oil and coolant levels in the Forester, and at 200000 KM I am hoping for good luck and a simple gasket change. As far as I can tell there is a delicate oily rainbow on the surface of the coolant in the radiator (difficult to tell with fresh pink coolant and brand new clean oil, and maybe this is possible under normal circumstances). I check levels more or less weekly, and until today all was OK... I have not noticed steam, smoke or whatnot from the exhaust, but I am alarmed at the rate at which the oil has suddenly gone. I am going to run the engine to temp and make a visual. What is more obvious is the fact that there is no external oil leak (I recently replaced the gushing plastic oil separator plate and crank main seal, and everything is still dry down there) but coolant has been spraying itself around the radiator top hose and cap area. Over -pressurised cooling system? I am going to drive the car down to my workshop and start to dismantle. I have ordered two standard genuine gaskets, 11044AA483, in the hope that I shall be lucky and the aluminium is fine. Regarding the head bolts, (can of worms) I have done a number of head geaskets on various vehicles, always renewing bolts, where recommended, possible or economic - why not? I notice on this forum (and others) some heated discussions regarding this topic. I dont see it mentioned in the official Subaru Forester workshop manual - they say USE NEW GASKETS, but the bolts are not mentioned. Looking at the torques applied, and compared to some cast iron diesels i have work on, one could agree that they are reusable... Wish me luck PS the car is a 1999 SF Forester I, 2.0 N/A , totally stock standard, maintained with genuine parts (even down to the Geolandars), family runner, regular oil, general maintenance, NO racing, doughnuts, drag or burnouts. I do enjoy brisk driving. Thank you in advance for any gems- SAVE THE FORESTER!!

Those supercharged ones like Mcray's must be hilarious! I have to make mine SCREEEAM to get max power!

Id never seen one either until I bought it! A little rash perhaps, as I soon discovered that parts are quite non existent locally :roll eyes: haha

I love the robust Subarus, built like any of the best cars in the world, 4WD, sporting, comfortable and really good for our daily off-road needs (we live 'off the road'). We have two cars, both from the 90s, first was our 2.0 Sf5 Forester from 1999 (gad i love it!), followed three years later by the 'shopper' ; the Vivio 4WD 660cc from 1995 (insane 8000rpm fun).