I had my oil pump fail on my 1987 ea82. The belt pulley broke off the shaft. It seems the rotor seized in the block (see pictures) and I am not sure what could have happened or if metal flakes got in between the rotor and block because it looks like the rotor had been scraping as you can see in pictures. why would the rotor go rogue and do this damage? also is that opening in the middle supposed to be misaligned? it almost looks cracked?! I have just recently purchased this vehicle and have had zero issues or TOD until the pump failed after I put roughly 700 miles in. I am a little scared to try and remove the rotor using some force because I don't want to damage the block.  Advice or ideas?

Edited August 1, 20178 yr by bingerbangers

That engine is likely destroyed. In any case you can't buy oil pumps for these engines anymore. So there's no way to fix it without used parts.... that happened for a reason and that reason is: oil contamination or starvation. Either way if this is what became of the oil pump - what do you suppose the rest of the engine looks like inside that relies in the life giving oil this junk was supposedly supplying? 

 

Don't throw any more money away. Get a Legacy or Impreza. The EA82 is a dead platform with no support. 

 

GD

replace the pump - search for a used one as I understand new ones are nearly impossible to find.

I have purchased a used pump from a forum member should be here Friday just kind of at a loss about the rotor issue. I'm pulling the oil pan tomorrow and seeing how much shaving are in there and then go from there.

Might want to cut open the oil filter and drain and check the oil instead.

 

If the pan has baffles in it, it is a pain to remove - I mean it's not terribly hard but It takes 10x longer than it looks like it should. the sump has to snake through the narrow opening of the baffles, so the engine must be lifted to gain clearance between the sumo and baffles. Maybe some EA82's didn't get this but I'd avoid it unless there was a clear reason. Cutting the filter open and draining the oil should clearly tell you if something catastrophic happened.

Open the filter. Check the pan. Hard to imaging only the pump failing.

 

Find a used engine might be the best thing, depending on what you find, if you want to keep the car stock.

Filters long gone but I didn't see anything unusual... side note. Anyone have an ej22?

grab a blown trans, wrecked, or rusty legacy with an EJ22 on craigslist and you've got engine and wiring and bellhousing if you're going to make your own adapter. I've seen quite a few around the $400 mark over the years.

 I didn't lift the engine to remove the oil pan on mine.  The trick is to remove all bolts then turn the pan 180 degrees so the drain plug faces the drivers side, instead of the passenger side,  then it can be maneuvered off the engine.

that block is trashed.  The scars in the pump housing back side are bad.

 

Expect new pump to fail sooner than later.  

 

But you may get some life out of it.  

 

Run heavy oil with lots of lucas.

Complete waste of time and effort and a potentially good used oil pump someone with a not-f**ked engine could use.

 

Trust me on this. That engine is scrap metal. You can't get to where that is without collateral damage. No. Way.

 

GD

Out of curiosity how do you guys quantitatively know the block is trashed?

 

could the oil pressure be tested after installing another pump - if it gives adequate oil flow or not would that confirm diagnosis?

 

Or is the failure mode something else

Are you guys assuming something caused this rather than the pump simply failing? I think that's what you're getting at which was my initial thought as well.

 

If Someone recently worked on this vehicle - is there any damage they could have done to cause the pump to fail?

 

When you were removing the pump were there any signs of someone mangling the sprocket, shaft nut, pump or improper sealant or bolt installation?

Out of curiosity how do you guys quantitatively know the block is trashed?

 

could the oil pressure be tested after installing another pump - if it gives adequate oil flow or not would that confirm diagnosis?

 

Or is the failure mode something else

 

The outside housing of the pump (the part the rotor rides inside)  is scarred visibly in your photos.  The new rotor will b´riding against that scarred suraface, and will chew itself up again.

 

You can bet the rod and main beaings are shot.  Infact if one of them spun and the port in it is now blocked, the rest of the crank could be starving for oil. 

I'm probably going to try and part out and scrap if I can't find an ej22 from the junk yard the guy I bought the DL from said he had a bell housing to do the swap.

There is no such thing as a bell housing for that swap. It requires an adaptor plate. 

 

GD

Thanks. I'm just asking to learn, this is out of my experiences. scarred surface - could be smoothed down and avoid damaging the rotor, But I realize we're taking about the block so you can't just hack at that.

It goes way deeper than you can see. Smoothing the surfaces will not restore the clearances that have been lost. It will only increase the clearance and that will result in further issues and more rapid wear.

 

The issues is simple - the oil pump seized and destroyed itself because the oil was either A: not present, or B: heavily contaminated with metal.

 

Here's your scenarios:

 

A: It ran dry of oil. The pump seized. But up to that point nothing downstream of the pump had oil either. So the pump was only the *first* casualty. The rest of the engine is right behind it. Giving it oil once this process has started is 100% futile and is just ignorant of reality. That's living in the same dreamland that all my customers who put oil in the engine after it starts knocking are living in. Last week it was a 2009 Forester. Came in with a full pan of nice clean oil. 86k miles..... I digress.

 

B: The oil was contaminated with metal from a (likely rod) bearing elsewhere in the engine. The oil pump was simply the first casualty that was so obvious it couldn't be ignored..... See A.

 

My money is on B. For the simple reason that the OP didn't hear lifter tick prior. Means oil was there. Just heavily dosed with particulate.

 

Want to see this stuff each and every day? Work at a shop. Or check out /justrolledintotheshop over on Reddit.

 

You can't fix that. Plain and simple. You can't. Walk away.

 

GD

Edited August 3, 20178 yr by GeneralDisorder

I guess I ment the adapter plate... I'm a newbie with basic mechanical knowledge. This swap will be my first huge endeavor

right on, i wasn't denying it. my question to him offline was "make sure you don't have an oil issue that caused this", but for me it's more a guess than you guys. 

 

thanks again GD and GLoyale.

That engine is likely destroyed. In any case you can't buy oil pumps for these engines anymore. So there's no way to fix it without used parts.... that happened for a reason and that reason is: oil contamination or starvation. Either way if this is what became of the oil pump - what do you suppose the rest of the engine looks like inside that relies in the life giving oil this junk was supposedly supplying? 

 

Don't throw any more money away. Get a Legacy or Impreza. The EA82 is a dead platform with no support. 

 

GD

 

at least GD is consistent ...