the old car is starting to smoke when i start it and its got a ton of blowby. I hope its in good enough shape that all i need to do is re-ring it and get a valve job. maybe ill do a little light porting as well.

Could it be

just your PVC?

pcv was ok last i checked and virtually every engine seal leaks anyway. so i have to pull the engine anyway may as well rebuild it.

are you running a really light oil? - these engines are not designed for anything below 10w-30 - you may even try 15w-40 as it is (I assume) a worn engine

 

also, you may want to replace the PCV valve anyway - they don't always "look" bad when they are - a bad PCV will cause every seal to leak like it is bad - been there, done that - a $5 part is better than an engine rebuild - make sure it is OEM, as aftermarkets are known to have real performance issues

5w40 for me its not the oil im positive.

 

at 130k miles i say its safe to say that the engine is worn enough to rebuild. that and it has an unknown history.

 

current progress slow

no resize for you

 

the intake manifold bolts closest to the firewall wont bunge and im afraid to break them

 

what size flare wrench do i need for the egr tube

 

what size is the crank bolt socket?

 

the crank pulley should be a 22mm

 

on the EGR tube, do you mean the two 12mm bolts holding the valve to the manifold, or?

the intake manifold bolts, try soaking them in PBlaster before moving them. Also trying to tighten them will help break them loose but not too much or you could break them. If they do break, you can go to CarQuest and get a helicoil kit for about 40 bucks but it works on a lot of bolts that tend to break on Subarus

 

not sure on the EGR tube size

the crank pulley should be a 22mm

 

on the EGR tube, do you mean the two 12mm bolts holding the valve to the manifold, or?

 

the tube from the head to the manifold with the male flares on it

that would be 17mm I think

 

I am still surprised that your engine needs a rebuild - I have far more mileage on mine and am having no problems with it

that would be 17mm I think

 

I am still surprised that your engine needs a rebuild - I have far more mileage on mine and am having no problems with it

 

it smokes when i start it, the head gaskets leak oil, every seal leaks, lucky you.

yeah sounds like the PCV valve is gone and might run 10w30 or even 15w40 cause the weight your running is a lil light as for seals just reseal the sucker cause if your not leaking from the HG's don't take the motor apart, save the hassle but might do a timing belt change with also new waterpump while you are resealing the motor

yeah sounds like the PCV valve is gone and might run 10w30 or even 15w40 cause the weight your running is a lil light as for seals just reseal the sucker cause if your not leaking from the HG's don't take the motor apart, save the hassle but might do a timing belt change with also new waterpump while you are resealing the motor

 

the weird thing is it seems this isnt the first time its been apart. there were mixed fasteners all over and some bolts heads showed some wear. and I did throw in a new pcv before all this. the intake manifold gasket looks like it has been leaking coolant for a while as well.

 

I have all new gaskets and timing belts and its due for both.

 

edit why does everyone want me to run thicker oil?

my oil pressure is fine, i get no lifter tick, and it runs very quiet. thicker oil is just a waste of engine power.

Thicker oil has a harder time getting past seals and the rings, hence the advise to try to go thicker to cut down on smoking.

working very slowly about 3 hours a day so far.

 

heres those intake manifold bolts i was talking about

wow must have been some chemical reaction becauase the drivers side was terrible!! I can see what you mean about breaking bolts! so far so good.

 

so I foind out that my main really bad leak was the rear main seal. the clutch looked new and in fact said made in china on it. tsk tsk. but the whole of the bellhousing was covered in oil.

 

why are all the seals in my engine super brittle and hard? the valve cover ones crumbled in my hand when i took them off. every seal looked 100% shot.

it can happen and with the age of the car and such they prolly are the original gaskets and seals

 

 

you should see the EA-81 that I have taken apart in the garage the seals in the oil pump assy were hard as a rock and snapped in half when twisted so wouldn't be suprised about those seals being shot on yours

 

my headgasket was like a paper towel ive never seen anything like it.

 

as you can see there was definalty something bad because thats a lot of carbon build up over 2mm in some places.

:mad: :mad:

water pump is giving me hell. someone used black rtv to hold it in place and I can stand on the thing and it wont budge.

are you running a really light oil? - these engines are not designed for anything below 10w-30 - you may even try 15w-40 as it is (I assume) a worn engine

 

Where did you hear that from?

 

Ive got a 150k+ mile turbo shortblock in my RX right now, and it does not smoke one bit and i run 5w30 Motul Synthetic in it.

Where did you hear that from?

 

Ive got a 150k+ mile turbo shortblock in my RX right now, and it does not smoke one bit and i run 5w30 Motul Synthetic in it.

The 1985 MY owner's manual says specifically on page 90 (in bold):

CAUTION:

 

 

 

• SAE 5W-30 is not recommended for turbo vehicles or sustained high-speed driving on all vehicles
  
• On turbo vehicles, you can use SAE 5W-30 when engine starting is difficult in severe cold areas where temperatures are below -25C (-13F) or below. However, for warm weather operation, it is necessary to change SAE 5W-30 oil to a new oil listed in the above chart as soon as possible.
  

I have had trouble with lash adjuster noise in warm weather with 10w-30, so I think 5w-30 would really be thin, but if it works for you, keep doing it - you have pulled a lot more miles out of that turbo engine than most do, and with freash oil pump seals, it may be OK

I see. Its gone about 20k on the current config...sans the latest coolant leak for unknown reasons...so the Pass side head and headgasket got replaced.

The 1985 MY owner's manual says specifically on page 90 (in bold):

CAUTION:

 

 

 

 

• SAE 5W-30 is not recommended for turbo vehicles or sustained high-speed driving on all vehicles
  
• On turbo vehicles, you can use SAE 5W-30 when engine starting is difficult in severe cold areas where temperatures are below -25C (-13F) or below. However, for warm weather operation, it is necessary to change SAE 5W-30 oil to a new oil listed in the above chart as soon as possible.
  

...

The viscosity recommendations mostly have to do with oil pressure; they expect that the turbo engine or hot weather/heavy load driving will run the oil temperature hotter and thus reduce oil pressure under load. Any thinning will be relative to the higher visc number in the multi-visc rating (i.e. the -30 part of 5-30, 10-30, whatever). The lower number (i.e. 5- 10-) is relatively irrelevant at operating temperatures, as it is the viscosity index at low/ambient temperatures.

 

 

So, as long as oil pressure is good at operating temperatures then the viscosity is satisfactory. Running an oil cooler (as I believe WJM ALWAYS does) mitigates most of the situations that the manual warns about.

 

 

A small variation in viscosity should make little or no difference in oil getting past oil rings/valve seals.

So, as long as oil pressure is good at operating temperatures then the viscosity is satisfactory. Running an oil cooler (as I believe WJM ALWAYS does) mitigates most of the situations that the manual warns about.

good point, I agree - with an oil cooler, running a lower viscosity should not be a problem - I am actually looking at putting one on mine, if I can find one cheap, or can spare the money

 

erik litchy - looking at your engine, it looks as though it was running VERY rich, or had bad rings (which I think you mentioned) or both - however, it does look repairable so far - I would have the heads cleaned by a professional shop though - you will really know when you pull the pistons whether or not you can save it - I think the engine was badly overheated, because I have not found any seals in my engine in the condition you describe, save the oil pump - and that is under higher pressure (I resealed the front several years ago at 128k)

 

GOOD LUCK - I hope the water pump does not hold out much longer!!