My brother and I recently bought a 2001 L L Bean Outback with the h6 engine for our sister. We got the car at a good (we thought) price as it needed an oxygen sensor (the check engine light was on), new tires, etc. We had the sensor replaced but the check engine light came right back on. With a little extra checking, we found that it was misfiring on the 1, 3, & 5 cylinders.I read about the same problem on this web site and a couple of people suggested that the guy should try sea foam. I got the aresol  formulation and followed the instructions to a Tee. My brother then took the car and drove it "aggressivly" as it said to on the can to blow it out. It seemed to be helping a little until he punched it again and the engine died. We had it towed to a shop and were told the head (1 3 5 cylinder side) was bad. The shop quoted us $3900. to install a used engine with 106000 miles on it. We went on line and found a couple of used engines, one for $1250 and one for $1350. Now my question is how hard is it to swap out the engine and about how long should it take? I am a fair (shade tree) mechanic and have swapped a couple Chevy 350's in the past. I have heard the h6 is a hard engine to work on so am a little leary. Any advise? Should we sell it as a parts car and cut our losses?

Never did an H6 engine swap but subarus are one of the easiest engines to change. About a six hour swap. As for doing it that all depends on if the body is in good shape. Is it rusty ?

The body is in good shape, no rust or dents. It's a nice looking car. About 6 hours for the swap is the most encouraging thing I've heard since buying the car. 

H6 vrs an H4 (I've seen them in the engine bay) is probably 10 hours of work vrs 6 comparatively.  

 

But if your going to pull the engine why not just have the heads machined (find a reasonable machine shop) and reassemble it?  Swapping in a used engine for head work just seems wrong.

Ya it does seem wrong. I'm going to check with the shop that looked at it and see why they wanted to swap the engine.

Subaru engine swaps aren't bad at all, as far as engine swaps go.  No special tools or access needed really - the H6 and H4 engine swaps are almost identical in this regard - alternator, power steering, wiring, engine mount nuts are all nearly indentical in placement, routing, and size.  the H6 has one more radiator hose than the H4 - other than that it's about identical in scope!  you can pull an H6 and drop an H4 right in it's place (it just won't plug up and run obviously) - but that's how similar the lay out is.

 

the torque converter bolts are a little harder to get to on the H6, but that's minimal on a job this big.  make sure you know how to seat the torque converter too  - borks the trans if you dont'.  or just make sure it doesn't come out when pulling.

 

I would ask them what tests and how bad they were to determine the heads were bad. 

 

One reason it's worth replacing an engine is if the car was bought with headgasket issues and there are signs that it was egregiously overheated - which it sounds like it may.  Of course replacing the headgaskets might be a perfect fit, but prior overheats can result in later blown engine blocks - like those seen frequently in Ej25 world.  Not common, but annoying if it happens particularly after a costly/time consuming repair.

 

H4 heads = easy.

H6 heads = much more work.  they are routinely swapped because of it.

 

There are like 60 allen head bolts to get the timing cover off.  Granted i think i'm the only person that's had this happen but if they're all rusty or seized - they won't come out with regular tools.  i had to remove like 50 of them with a chisel - they were seized and wouldn't budge/stripped even with an impact driver. And there's like 5 different lengths too - so keep them all organized. then remove all the timing chain bits - gears, guides, oil pump relief - FSM/Subaru says certain bolts/washers need replaced and you need to mic the clearance of the central guide, the timing tensioners are tightly wound spring loaded suckers.  theeeennn you finally got that far - and there's like 40 more allen head bolts to remove to get the rear cover off.   then it turns into a somewhat normal head job from there....oh wait NO IT DOESN'T!

 

you have to clean 48 miles of sealant - outer timing cover, inner timing cover, those little goof ball ears that cover some of the head bolts.

 

run a 16.8 mile bead of sealant around the outer edge of the inner cover...hoping the start of the bead doesn't dry in the 2 hours it takes to run it and mount it and get all those 40 bolts in there and lined up without breeching that incredulous bead you made.  then install all the timing bits....then do it again - a 23.4 mile bead of sealant for the outer cover.

 

it's many hours more than a 4 cylinder headgasket job.

I wouldn't doubt it's more work but if he's doing it himself it may very well be worth the time.

H6 vrs an H4 (I've seen them in the engine bay) is probably 10 hours of work vrs 6 comparatively.  

 

But if your going to pull the engine why not just have the heads machined (find a reasonable machine shop) and reassemble it?  Swapping in a used engine for head work just seems wrong.

I should have said six hours for someone like me that has swapped many of the EA and EJ engines. Use to do EA engines out and back in 2 hours with air tools. For someone who has never done it 10 to 12 hours is a better estimate.

yeah, i think you need another estimate and/or a VERY good explanation of why it needs headwork.

 

did anyone check the fuel pump's cap/o-ring?

I'm planning to replace the EZ30 and transmission in my 2001 LLBean OBW 

any good suggestions where I might find one?

JDM, rebuilt, used     looking at all options

JDM sellers online don't have many, probably due to age

I’d scour around for JDM if you can find one.  Are they completely nonexistent?  Call them and ask?  There’s a handful of JDM Subaru importers they shouldn’t be hard to find - eBay, google, etc. 

agree with idosubaru    get a low mile JDM and swap it in using your intake and call it a day.  an 02 3.0 is a bitch to take apart and put back together.Timing chain, two covers with like a zillion bolts on the front to deal with.  You are way ahead with the JDM.

 

Call Foreign Engines Inc. in Lynnwood WA.

GD