Can anyone give me advice on which engines would be an easy swap in a 1990 Loyal Turbo SW?

 

I'm pretty much in a no-win situation. I've talked about the car on here before. The car has very little rust, only has 123k miles on it, and since I was driving it a long distance to work, I invested over $2500 in new parts and mechanical upgrades. Everything works and ran fine. Then it started leaking oil pretty vigorously, but instead of fixing it, I bought my sons 1997 Impress Outback Sport. I threw the Loyal in storage and didn't start it all winter.

 

Well, I started the car the other day, and now its smoking. I don't know what could have happened, but its probably going to need the engine replaced, so now I'm in a no-win situation. I doubt if I can sell it for anything, and its just too nice to scrap. I'm thinking if I can find another engine for it, I can always use it as a backup. There are no Subaru mechanics around here that are willing to work on it, so having it rebuilt is not an option, but there are garages that are willing to do engine swaps. The new motor doesn't need to be a turbo as long as it has enough power to keep it fun to drive.

 

Just looking for opinions.

Any 88-90 EA82 turbo engine out of a sedan or wagon or 3-door will swap almost directly in. ( might be minor wiring connector differences.)  ANY EA82 turbo engine from 85-90 vehicles will fit, but might need some of your current external

parts (intake manifold, distributor, and/or pulleys) swapped to it.

 

It is unlikely that your engine needs replacing.  The oil smoke is almost certainly a temporary issue.  Where is the smoke coming from?  If out the tailpipe, it might just be oil that seeped into the combustion cambers over the long storage time.  It might also be the result of a plugged up PCV system.  If the smoke is coming from the engine compartment, is is likely that the "oil leak" has leaked all over the exhaust system during storage and is being burned off.

I agree with Eeyore. Track down the source of the smoking before doing anything drastic. 

 

Years ago, I ordered an engine for a Toyota from an outfit that claimed they were low mileage takeouts from Japan. Might check into that, or you could go with a reman from Marshall, jasper or another reputable company. 

 

John

It is smoking blue out of the tail pipe. I let it run for 15-20 minutes but it didn't stop. Maybe a ring cracked or something like that. Oil pressure seems to be fine, and it doesn't miss or run rough. But it should have stopped smoking in that amount of time if it was just oil that seeped in.

It is unlikely that a ring cracked during storage, or even on start up.  The oil rings CAN get gummed up from sitting, and often just fresh oil and some driving will clear that up.  The PCV system getting clogged/restricted/gummed up is a likely cause.  The PCValve itself may be stuck open or closed.

hi,

 my guess is the turbo might be leaking oil into the exhaust  (bad internal seals)  and is being burned in the downpipe cat,  or as mentioned a pcv issue could suck oil into the intake air,  and that would then be burned,  but the basic engine is not likely to just go bad from storage,  unless it had a water or headgasket problem and water leaked into cylinders  and rusted some rings or something.

OK, thanks. I'll work on the PCV angle first.