01 Forester, 5sp, non-runner

 

http://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/2817141100.html

 

Got lucky, on a whim I checked craigslist for "Subaru" and it was right there, listed yesterday, its a dealer here in town where I live. I was there 15 minutes after I saw it, and made the deal pretty much right away. The guy pretty much let me name my price, and I said 700. I guess an 11 year old non-running car is worth nothing to a dealership lol...

 

So this is an EJ251 then right? Any ideas what could be wrong? Everything on this car looked STRAIGHT. The body is near perfect, the interior was a little dirty but nice, under the hood looked decent too. I saw nothing wrong. When I hit the starter it just clicked like the battery didnt have enough juice to crank. Im hoping worst case is a broken timing belt, bent valves, I can just throw the heads from my OBS on an have a frankenmotor... I really dont feel like digging into a full engine swap in the middle of the winter.

 

The dealership had no idea what was wrong other than they were told the engine is "bad". They said it was just hauled in off the turnpike.

 

 

EDIT: They already took the posting down. I saved the pics though...

Edited January 26, 201214 yr by bhazard

Yeah someone probably popped a timing belt and just had it dragged to the closest dealer and traded it in. Dealer probably gave them $300 for it and figured they could sell it quick locally or send it to auction and still make the money back easy. Not enough profit margin in it for them to pay a bunch of money to get it fixed.

Great deal for you though!

Looks good! Hope it's an easy fix for you. BTW, where's Wauseon?

Yup I'll be popping the belt cover off first thing, then maybe taking a wrench to the crank pulley. Just see if theres interference first.

Looks good! Hope it's an easy fix for you. BTW, where's Wauseon?

 

NW Ohio about half an hour west of Toledo.

Yup I'll be popping the belt cover off first thing, then maybe taking a wrench to the crank pulley. Just see if theres interference first.

 

Probably won't be able to tell if there is interference. If it spins at all then you'll at least know it isn't seized. More than likely it will just turn over really easily because there is no compression.

I missed the part mentioning how many miles on it.

 

then report if the belt snapped so we know about how long they are going.

I think the odo said around 204,000. You cant tell at all just looking at it. I would be surprised if it was the belt, it seems like the car was maintained.

I think I'm as excited about your great find as you are!!!

Please do keep us up on your progress.

 

NW Ohio about half an hour west of Toledo.

 

Would be nice if you'd add Ohio or OH to your ID.

I see you found a good replacement for you OBS already Congrats!

I wonder if there's a "how to evaluate what you already purchased" guide... After all, if something is bad with your brand-new-used-and-not-running soobie, you don't want to make things worse, right? i.e., if the timing is off, you may not want to just crank the engine.

 

One thing that worked in my case was to look at the glovebox for old receipts, or something written on the user manual. I found a receipt for an oil change, and the name of the owner on the owner's manual, and was able to contact him. To say he was surprised is an understatement but being honest and straightforward usually pays good dividends.

Yeah I'll definitely check out the important things like timing first, though I have a feeling "they" tried to crank it... what would you do if your car just died on the highway?

 

I also have a feeling this was a female's car, judging by the bumper stickers on the back.

Wow, that's a great deal.

I always wanted a Forrester.

Last one I saw down here for sale in one of these

repair.sell lots we have in Houston was like 7000 bucks.

I hope it's fixable w/o the engine

I dont think Im gonna get the easy break here. If I rock it back and forth in gear I can hear a bit of a clank coming from the bottom end, as if theres a broken rod flopping around in there.

 

There was also an empty jug of oil in the back. A one gallon jug.

 

The crankcase is overfilled, way overfilled.

 

So who has a spare EJ251 longblock collecting dust?

Ask Davebugs. He's in Pittsburgh PA, but he has a bunch of 2.5 and 2.2 parts for sale.

Well, I've located an engine from an 02 Impreza, a few hours away in Cleveland.

 

Im told it ran well when it was pulled, but knocked when cold. 95,000ish miles.

 

$450 obo, I think I'll try to offer $300.

 

Question is, should I just drop it in and go with it, or should I tear it down and try to fix the knock (new bearings, etc)...

 

I've never tore down a Subie engine before, so it'll probably be very time consuming for me, as well as costing a large chunk more change to get it back together.

 

The EJ22 in my OBS knocks when its cold, but shows no other signs of blowing up, runs great.

 

Im thinking drop it in and run it. It'll at least buy me time to find a better one, or find the components to build a frankenmotor, which is what I really wanna throw in it.

Not worth trying to fix the knock because it's probably piston slap. Very common in the 2.5 and practically benign. Piston slap goes away when the engine warms up If its rod knock it won't go away, and then you take the engine back for the warranty.

Go the Frankenstein route. I just built one in my legacy and love it. Lots of bottom end power and still pulls decent up to 6000rpm. i got a used ej257 block with 30,000 on it and rebuilt my ej22 heads with deltacams torque cams.

Or you could search car-part.com for a motor that doesn't knock.

I'm on a super tight budget here. I scored the engine for 350. So it'll at least hold me over for a while til I can get what I really want for it.

You posted that the engine was over filled with motor oil. I am wondering maybe the engine used some oil, so owner carried a large can of oil to add on a road trip. Maybe the owner forgot to add oil, and so ran out of oil, and locked up the engine, then added too much oil in hopes of getting the car to run again...with no success.

 

Well if it were an out of oil problem, or timing belt problem, I think you made a good choice to replace the engine. With 204K miles on the odo, it is better to go with a replacement engine.

 

Have fun with your new Subie!!

Yes there was an empty 1gal jug of Chevron delo in the back. And lots of directions to places in Wisconsin. So im sure theres a lot of highway miles.

 

Timing belt looks good though. The car seems fairly well maintained other than the blown motor.

Yes there was an empty 1gal jug of Chevron delo in the back. And lots of directions to places in Wisconsin. So im sure theres a lot of highway miles.

 

Timing belt looks good though. The car seems fairly well maintained other than the blown motor.

 

Since the timing belt looks good.........I got to thinking.....Subies don't burn oil, even with 200K on the odo, so if the car used oil, it would be more then likely that there could be a major oil leak somewhere. I have seen where oil filters, or the pan bolt weren't tight to cause a major oil leak. The result is a seized motor, that won't turn over, and I remember you saying the motor will not turn over. Is the bottom of the motor covered in leaked oil? Just curious??

Brought my replacement EJ25 home today. Festiva ftw.

 

Timing belt is a Gates and looks pretty new, so I think I'm gonna run with it. Maybe check the idlers and water pump and see if they've been replaced as well.

wow, look how small that engine is...

let us know when you get it running, ok?

Yep, they're kinda tiny.

The block by itself you can pick up and carry around without much trouble.

 

 

Festiva! I drove one of those for a few months. It was a go cart with a tin shell, it was so much fun to drive! It would burn clear through third gear in the rain.