August 14, 201114 yr A safety valve is a device that is used on many types of tanks and boilers to prevent the tank from exploding. This thread is to prevent me from exploding. . . Betty Bear is my 96 Legacy Outback that I bought off of a friend. I knew she had been lax on maintenance, and the last person to do any real work was either a crook, or an idiot. . . maybe both. Betty rolled over 300K about 12K miles back. I have been scrimping and saving for the parts to do the service I know she needs: Timing belt and all new seals at the minimum. Let's start off with a look at the beauty i'm working on https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3EtXskxmgZTl8owJxL_IIQ?feat=directlink As you can see, this beauty is well worth the effort I'm going to be putting into her. You may have noticed the lack of a hood scoop. That was not added until 97. So with no idea how many miles were on the timing belt, but a growing suspicion that it was well past the service interval of 105K miles, I started in on the job. the first thing I found was this: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6manHShzh2032TR2_4w_Kg?feat=directlink What amazes me more than finding this was that the car did not overheat at all! Yeah, this sort of set thde tone of the whole job right there. . . https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QBab6tFgVjZi_2gz26CMDw?feat=directlink In this photo, you will notice that the middle timing belt cover has been cut in half by the timing belt. This happened before the last time it was worked on (new heads because the original timing belt snapped), but the last "mechanic" did not deign to replace the damaged parts. . . https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AGFWL0cH_iF7ulT2VXumaQ?feat=directlink he didn't even bother to put the bolts back in the rail that keeps the power steering lines secure. . . https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qjn9gAnwCY6YyLR6g8PBKQ?feat=directlink and if you look closely, you will notice that the oil separator is that silly plastic pos that has been causing so many problems. Good thing I have the new better working kind on hand to replace it with. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/TFD1pJEiR4C17LIFc2E74w?feat=directlink Oh look! an original 96 MY engine! I'm still wondering if it has HLAs or if it has that shim and bucket deal that the 97-99 MY engines had. Yes, I'll be reporting back later on that. On top of some missing bolts, several of them were not the original bolts that came on the car, and really really not the right size. You know that one nut that goes on the drivers side lower stud to hold the block to the bell housing? Well, that nut turned out to be a 9/16" nut, instead of the usual 14mm one that came on the car. and it was cross threaded all the way down the stud as well. Took me two hours fighting with it to figure out that it was a replacement bolt, and then annother hour fighting with it to back it off. . . By the time I got the engine out of the car, I was fuming so hard that I just really had to take a bit of a break from the car and come in here and vent for a bit. Thank you all for the use of your collective shoulders to cry on. It is getting better, as I'm certain that when I'm done, this car will be one hundred times better than it was when I started. Edited August 14, 201114 yr by Gnuman
August 14, 201114 yr Author well, I cracked open the valve covers and found that I do indeed have the HLAs instead of the bucket and shim system of the later model engines. When I pulled the remains of the timing belt covers off, I found that three out of the four cams were two teeth off. I guess that accounts for the lackluster performance I was getting from this engine.
August 14, 201114 yr My engine project is to a can of worms, as your's is to Pandoras Box. I feel your pain.
August 14, 201114 yr Author Yeah, it gets that way when you buy a vehicle knowing it has "issues". . . I'll just be glad when this is done and I have finished laying hands on the engine to revive it.
August 14, 201114 yr I feel your pain... I got my car with a bad engine. Put in a motor I got REALLY cheap. And it had blown head gaskets.... Yay engine out again. Just remember that when it's done and on the road it will all be worth it.
August 14, 201114 yr Author Oh yes. really worth it!! Turns out this engine is the 96 MY phase 1 EJ25, the only one to have HLAs so thisw will be a very fine engine when it is done. I just may have to come in here and vent a few times before it is done. The engine should be in really good shape too, as it is coming to me in a thick protective coating of old dirty oil and sludge. . . .
August 14, 201114 yr Author I can take the bad with the good. I really can! *sigh* I started on the drivers side head today (cleaning it up in prep for new seals) and I found one canted forward, almost out of the fitting! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/o7Gm_-8dHrr7Wcu4aGaiiQ?feat=directlink Also one of the bolts on that cap was just past finger tight (ready to back out on it's own). In better news, Houston, we have confirmation of HLAs! that has to be the best part of the whole engine right there! (can you tell I'm a fan of HLA's?) https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nzr1mfZx1dIj6MtXPdaYUQ?feat=directlink https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/u-n_L78M1aa5OwAD-0bhnA?feat=directlink Oh, and the previous "mechanic" was a believer in "The bigger the blob, the better the job" it seems. Must have used half a tube of Permatex on the half moon caps at the back of the head. Yeah, that will be getting redone. . .it is cleaning up fairly well though, so that is good. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gCKvfbQJXQeClck2jhMXCA?feat=directlink Edited August 15, 201114 yr by Gnuman The promiused pics
August 14, 201114 yr The only issue with that '96 HLA 2.5 is that *technically* it required premium fuel. Though in all likelyhood it hasn't been given that. GD
August 14, 201114 yr Wondering how did the paper towel got into the cooloing system:confused: And the engine never overheated??....WOW
August 15, 201114 yr Author Wondering how did the paper towel got into the cooloing system:confused: And the engine never overheated??....WOW Wow, indeed. . . My guess is that the previous "mechanic" stuffed it into the lower rad hose to keep it from dripping coolant, then forgot to take it out. . .
August 15, 201114 yr Author The only issue with that '96 HLA 2.5 is that *technically* it required premium fuel. Though in all likelyhood it hasn't been given that. GD I happen to know it has not been given that. I did test it once on premium, and it did not run any different. . . Of course, three out of four cams being two teeth off may have had a bit to do with that. . .and yes, the one that was right on was the left intake where the cam sensor is. . .
August 19, 201114 yr Author More bad news: the bracket that holds the timing belt tensioner has two threaded holes in it for the bolts that hold the tensioner piston in place . . . or at least mine used to have threaded holes. . . the reason they were so loose coming off was that the previous "mechanic had stripped those holes out. . . Beginning of next month, I'll be going to pick and pull to grab a new one and redo my timing belt with a good bracket on the engine
August 19, 201114 yr More bad news: the bracket that holds the timing belt tensioner has two threaded holes in it for the bolts that hold the tensioner piston in place . . . or at least mine used to have threaded holes. . . the reason they were so loose coming off was that the previous "mechanic had stripped those holes out. . . Beginning of next month, I'll be going to pick and pull to grab a new one and redo my timing belt with a good bracket on the engine I had two of those strip on me in one day. Doing an ej22 swap. The ej22 had it's strip. I said no problem. Went to take the one off the ej25 and the threads came out with the bolt. I bet if you look at the bolt you took out, the aluminum threads are still in it. I wasted some time trying to get a nut on the back side, but finally took it to a local machine shop and had it heli-coiled to 3/8". Worked great.
August 19, 201114 yr Author You removed the custom coolant filter? You fool! Dave Thanks, i needed a giggle this morning! Engine is back in the car, and all done except coolant and final checks. Hopefully, I'll have good news later today on how it runs.
August 21, 201114 yr Author OK, it took a bit longer than I expected. I went to Pick and Pull today and grabbed the bracket that was stripped out, and redid the timing belt with a working tensioner. I took a test drive tonight, including a few fairly steep hills. Wow, that was a major improvement!! I barely had to touch the gas except to accelerate, and even that was a lot less than I used to need. got stuck behind a slow moving driver on one of the steeper hills, so I went around, and boy did Betty jump on that!! The previous "mechanic" had all but raped the engine, but I was able to bring her back! She now knows she has a good home with me. It only cost about an extra hundred dollars in parts to make her right. . . . And that from pick and pull. . ..
August 21, 201114 yr OK, it took a bit longer than I expected. I went to Pick and Pull today and grabbed the bracket that was stripped out, and redid the timing belt with a working tensioner. I took a test drive tonight, including a few fairly steep hills. Wow, that was a major improvement!! I barely had to touch the gas except to accelerate, and even that was a lot less than I used to need. got stuck behind a slow moving driver on one of the steeper hills, so I went around, and boy did Betty jump on that!! The previous "mechanic" had all but raped the engine, but I was able to bring her back! She now knows she has a good home with me. It only cost about an extra hundred dollars in parts to make her right. . . . And that from pick and pull. . .. Congrats! Glad to see that over 300k and another scoob is chuggin along... or purrin along as the case may-be
August 23, 201114 yr Author You should count that as two: my 92 was sold to my partner and she drives it all over the place, but those EJ22s are indestructable anyway. . . That and my '96 is now stable to run for a while. . .
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