Hello Out there,

I Have a 1988 Gl Wgn Turbo, metallic grey. About 190,000 miles. Delivering pizzas one night, my subie was leaking a lot of oil and a little antifreeze. Suddenly, I hear a noise (undescribable) and my subie breaks down. Unable to restart I tow it to a mechanic and he said the engine is locked and they couldn't do anything else to it short of replacing the engine. $1000 or more. Internal work needed to be done. Does anyone have any advice on how to restart my engine? I have a friend who says he might be able to restart it underneath the oil pan. Is that possible? I really love this car, any help or advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to the Board!

 

Couple of things I can think of off-hand are;

 

Coolant in cylinder, caused by bad Head Gasket.

This will cause the engine to be Hydraulicly locked, as you can not compress a liquid.

Pull spark plugs and attempt to turn engine by hand, watch for coolant from plug holes. If you see any, you've blown a HG, and it needs replaced.

 

Thrown connecting rod.

This is not good. Engine will need to be replaced.

 

Thrown Timing Belt.

Possibility, albeit extreme, of a T-Belt breaking and getting wrapped around the crank, and other parts there. Could have gotten wedged, locking engine.

Pull the outer ends of the T-Belt covers, see if belts are still there. If one is missing off cam sprocket, you need to replace your T-belts. These are non-interferance engines, so no valve/piston damage if a belt breaks.

starting *under oil pan*, not sure what that means but i wouldn't expect too much. rule out simple things, make sure it's actually a blown motor. if it is, replace the block. i could find an engine block, even an entire motor for 200. buy one and drop it in.

hydrolock i.e. water in cyl is one possibility

 

engine siezed up due to overheating and lack of oil?(warped or melted engine block)

 

will the engine turn-over at all when you try to start it or is it completely locked?

If a MEchanic Shop said Engine Locked up, then you most likely siezed the crank to the block or a connecting rod...

 

You say it locked due to overheat and Lack of Oil....? These two combined Kill a Turbo engine in very short order.....and If you were hot dogging around with it while delivering Pizza's, when the Lock up happened, it only worsens the issue....

 

I say if you are remotely mechanical, and the Car is worth stuffing a fresh motor into, Find a Good Engine and Go to Town....

 

Good luck, John

DON'T PANIC! (courtesy, Douglas Adams)

 

Look for the already suggested simple stuff first: Pull the spark plugs and rotate by hand; check the t-belts to see if they are broken and wrapped around something.

 

Try to describe the "indescribable noise". Was it one loud and sudden clank, a series of clanks, a screaming/screeching noise (hi-pitch or low pitch?).

 

What mechanical resources do you have available? At the least, it sounds like a broken timing belt, but more likely a blown headgasket or worse. Can you or your friends replace a headgasket? If not, you realistically are looking at finding a replacement engine regardless of how bad the damage really is. (Having a mechanic replace a headgasket is probably as expensive as getting a replacement engine.)

 

Just because a mechanic says an engine is locked and needs replacing doesn't make it so. Many mechanics know little about Subaru engines and their oddities, and very few seem willing to tackle replacing a headgasket.

 

Again, don't panic... yet.

 

TTFN!

yo if you need a motor i can find one for you, there are a few carb blocks you could build on for a little more compression.

 

how far is bristol from fort wayne? i will be coming back from columbus with parts. hollar hollar

:cool: Thank you very much for all the advice. There is a lot to check. Gimme about a week and I will let you all know how it turns out.

Roxtar- The engine is completely locked up. Do have power though. Definitely right about overheating and no oil.

yo i got your email and phone number. over here in columbus there is a turbo motor with a blown head gasket we are using the heads and the top end, but the bottom end may be extra i will hollar at john about it, and aside from a head gasket set that would fix you right up.