99 Forester 187K, About 1 month ago I lost a water pump on a long uphill doing about 75mph. Over heat, loss of power and engine quit. I have replaced waterpump and timing belt. No start. pulled spark plugs, all had antifreeze on the electrodes. Did a compression test, 60 psi one bank, 90 psi the other. I now know I need to rebuild/replace engine. Here are the question I would like to post.

 

1. Rebuild myself, if so please send me the posts with parts and gasket requirement.

 

2. Buy a rebuild.

 

3. replace car.

 

My skill set is shade tree for 30 yrs. Thanks for the replies.

Not worth rebuilding. No offense but if you have to ask how the first one you do will not turn out good. Subaru engines are not forgiving and are unlike other engines in many fundamental ways.

 

Good used engines are cheap - much cheaper than a rebuild. Check out http://www.car-part.com

 

GD

At 187k, the general condition of the car is an issue. My 99 is worth a completely new engine, since it has new struts, brakes, tires, wheel bearings, and still shifts good.

 

I unfortunately installed a top-end rebuild six months ago, built by a local guy on an untouched original used shortblock. It hasn't worked out, burns oil and is developing a rod knock. This is a typical scenario; new tight heads on old rings (less leakage --> higher compression) blows more gas into crankcase and sucks more air back form the crankcase, and blue smoke coms out your tailpipe. So I learned. The bottom ends on Subaru 2.5's tend to last about just that long (150-250k miles), and are therefore the limiting factor in the life of an non-abused/non-neglected engine.

 

I know of 2 sources for reputable longblocks, and fortunately one is a pleasant 2 hour drive from here. I won't name them until I have direct personal experience.

 

 

99 Forester 187K, About 1 month ago I lost a water pump on a long uphill doing about 75mph. Over heat, loss of power and engine quit. I have replaced waterpump and timing belt. No start. pulled spark plugs, all had antifreeze on the electrodes. Did a compression test, 60 psi one bank, 90 psi the other. I now know I need to rebuild/replace engine. Here are the question I would like to post

1. Rebuild myself, if so please send me the posts with parts and gasket requirement.

 

2. Buy a rebuild.

 

3. replace car.

 

My skill set is shade tree for 30 yrs. Thanks for the replies.

get another motor.

 

A lesser option is to bolt your heads to another EJ25 block...that's if you trust your overheated/oil compromised heads/cam bearing surfaces.

 

99-2001 EJ22's will swap into your forester as well.

 

rebuilds are not cost effective either...not too mention extremely time consuming to do it properly.

Thanks for the comments. Parking the Forester for now. Bought a similar one with a 75K engine and recent TB, Water pump and head gaskets. Will work on the other at my leisure.