So, my sister bought this Legacy for $700 with the plan to drive it around and give this to my Dad when he returned from California (since he gave me my Loyale and hasnt had a car since). But unfortunately, it leaked a bit of oil, and on a road-trip to Greatwolf Lodge we lost 4-5 quarts of oil, basically did an oil change haha. So between that, and a flat tire, the car has been parked since February... Until now! The plan to reseal the motor and let it be driven again started when I got a job and had the income to do it

 

 

To be done:

Front main seal

Oil pan reseal (loctite)

Oil pump reseal (loctite)

Timing belt/water pump (AISIN)

Clutch

Crank seals

Water pump by-pass hose

Valve cover gaskets and grommets (Fel-Pro)

Replace oil separator plate with metal one

Intake/Exhaust gaskets

 

Basically the works.

 

Since Im doing this with my own two hands and not under the supervision of GeneralDisorder the Great (although hes being pestered by my questions via text/phone call) I just thought Id show off what I have been doing and keep everyone updated... This is the PICTURE INCOMING warning, as I have been taking lots of pics.

Day One. With the help of Carlos and Nick, we brought the motor out with no "real" issues and with no engine hoist.

 

The bolts to take a motor out were all finger tight... Engine-Transmission, Exhaust bolts, Crossmember bolts.

 

But we got it out.

 

Had a good long laugh at how lifted the Legacy looked

 

And then went to bed.

Day two. Got a pressure washer, air compressor, air impact tools and engine stand from Stubies_Subie (THANKS! ) and got to work cleaning up the parts and stuff.

 

Engine bay before (Id say it was leaking some oil)

And the engine itself (yupp, rear main is leaking, but its the metal plate so I dont need to spend $40 on a new one )

 

After some washing:

Engine didnt get as clean as I had hoped, but I made a mess of the driveway so I think its better than nothing at this point

Engine bay came out great in my opinion

Heres the valve cover, gonna paint them like I did on my old EA81 so I can watch for leaks and itll look cool (AGAIN, IMHO it will)

Edited June 29, 201213 yr by 92_rugby_subie

Got the Fel-pro gaskets

Intake/Exhaust gaskets

 

I also get paid again tomorrow, So Ill be buying more parts, probably the timing belt/water pump kit and some loctite so that I can get some real progress on the car done. Will also get the front main from Subaru so I can get the front of the engine done!

 

Pics when/while that goes on.

See that little diamond plate on the left side of the rear main? That's leaking worse than the rear main.

You GET that $2 O-ring that goes under that plate from the dealer and replace it. Part number is 806931070. You'll regret it if you dont.

 

Didn't see the cam cap O-rings in your list either. And since you'll have the pan off, get a pickup tube O-ring.

Edited June 29, 201213 yr by Fairtax4me

Ill use them on the car, but I will just pick up a O-Ring assortment from Harbor Freight, GD has great luck with it, but Ill get the one from Subaru you mentioned Thanks!

Darn... Now I gotta ask questions... Does this look baked? Like, no lie the engine has been low on oil before, but never for long... no funky noises... but the inside looks a little dark...

 

Pics (sorry about quality, didnt use GFs camera this time):

I've seen worse. That's mostly from poor ventilation and missed oil changes/longer drain intervals. Blame it on the PO. Change the oil every 3000 miles like you're supposed to and that buildup will actually dissolve and wash away.

I've seen worse. That's mostly from poor ventilation and missed oil changes/longer drain intervals. Blame it on the PO. Change the oil every 3000 miles like you're supposed to and that buildup will actually dissolve and wash away.

 

You can use a solvent like SeaFoam to wash that away.

Is this something that I can use ATF, run it for like 15 mins, drain it, new oil filter and fresh oil to kick start the cleaning process (since ATF is a detergent)

you can use ATF to clean some of that, or seafoam, or MMO, but the safest way to clean your engine is 1000 mile oil changes. that way you don't have to worry if you added too much ''cleaner'' or if it will hold up on the hiway.

 

i did 2 oil changes with mmo but i only ran it 1000 miles and then did it again. 2 of those and then on to 1000 mile oil changes for a bit . then 3k for life.

It's normal to see that kind of varnish under the seperator plates. Even on clean engines (I'm not saying that one is) you will still see a considerable amount of varnish in that location.

 

The inside of the valve covers tells the real story - if that's clean then it's a good bet it had proper maintenance.

 

The cam cap and rear wrist pin covers use special o-rings of sizes that are not in a generic kit - the diameter of the o-ring cord used for those is quite small - 1mm or 1.5mm IIRC. You will have to get those from the dealer.

 

GD

Is this something that I can use ATF, run it for like 15 mins, drain it, new oil filter and fresh oil to kick start the cleaning process (since ATF is a detergent)

 

I've seen people do that. I am a fan of Seafoam but ATF should also work.

I remember someone saying not to use ATF like that... engine oil is designed to let surface slip past each other, while ATF has some friction modifiers to prevent too much slipping

 

I have never used it, though...

Mix a half quart of ATF with the rest clean engine oil and the lubricating properties are practically the same. The detergents in the ATF are strong enough that you don't need much to clean a crank case.

The principal is the same whether using seafoam ATF or MMO. Mix too muh of the solvent in with the oil and it's effects can be detrimental.

 

A good alternative to bottled additives is to buy motor oils labeled as a "High Mileage" mix. They contain added detergents for cleaning the crankcase, and conditioners for oil seals.

 

A good alternative to bottled additives is to buy motor oils labeled as a "High Mileage" mix. They contain added detergents for cleaning the crankcase, and conditioners for oil seals.

 

This.

 

I thought about buying High Mileage oil since the car has 175K on it and I want it to last 105K with no serious problems for my dad... Plus he wants to show it off as look what I built for him... dont want them to think I built a pile of crap for him.

I've used Valvoline MaxLife High Mileage for years in several of my cars. After the first 3000 miles the oil drains out black as coal. Then over several changes it lightens to more of a molasses color. I've never had completely black oil after three oil changes with Maxlife.

 

I've heard that it also helps to quiet down piston slap in the 2.5 engines. I have a friend with a 99 Ej25 and I'm trying to convince her to change over to Maxlife so I can see if it makes a difference.

I run rotella t 15-40 in all my cars, over 100k. The only engine I have ever had fail (bearing or wear related) was the outback and it spun a rod bearing 1k after headgaskets and some hella overheating. My '90 (used rotella t for 30k) had the cleanest seperator plate I have ever seen. It never gets cold here though. In the winter I would run a lighter oil.