Hi, I have a 1985 Subaru Wagon with a fast dying carb engine. It has little compression and gets under 20MPG on the highway. I was going to just get rid of the car but I secretly like it and with gas prices I would like the MPG.

 

If I swap in a good engine what kind of gas mileage should I expect out of a carburetted non turbo wagon?

 

Is anyone selling a good EA82? I can swap all of my components over to it, just need the block but extras are fine to. I live in Walla Wall Washington, the southeastern corner but can drive over to the coast to pick up.

 

Thanks,

Drew

Hi, I have a 1985 Subaru Wagon with a fast dying carb engine. It has little compression and gets under 20MPG on the highway. I was going to just get rid of the car but I secretly like it and with gas prices I would like the MPG.

 

If I swap in a good engine what kind of gas mileage should I expect out of a carburetted non turbo wagon?

 

Is anyone selling a good EA82? I can swap all of my components over to it, just need the block but extras are fine to. I live in Walla Wall Washington, the southeastern corner but can drive over to the coast to pick up.

 

Thanks,

Drew

 

Don't know if this is too far for you (or if it's still available) but I saw this around Denver a few weeks back:

 

http://denver.craigslist.org/pts/88700848.html

 

Good luck!

Kevin

Yup I that is probably to far to go for a worn engine but thank you for telling me about it. I wrote him to ask how he is doing the VW conversion, very interesting.

Thanks

Ive got one if you dont find any locally .Got around 100000 miles on it ,dry and not leaking.Im in Chicago.

Jude

Call Aarons auto wrecking in Seattle. All Subie junkyard.

Call Aarons auto wrecking in Seattle. All Subie junkyard.

 

Hey thats a good idea, I'll call them in the morning. If I drop in an engine with 100,000 miles or so what kind of mileage do you suppose I can get. Thanks,

Drew

Over the years I've picked up a number of JY EA82 spfi engines - all with 125K-145K miles. They've all gotten 30+mpg (2/3 hiway & 1/3 around town) and they are all still running with one at 220K now. I would think a well tuned carbed engine should do about the same.

 

You've got to be carefull though. While not a guarantee of a good engine, check at least the following on any JY/used engine you are going to buy - especially if you are selecting/pulling it yourself (even if there is a guarantee, it's a real pain to have to remove and reinstall the replacement engine for the "guaranteed" one!):

 

1) Turn it by hand (22mm or 7/8" socket wrench on crank pulley nut) through 2 (or more) complete revolutions of the crank. Assuming the timing belts are intact, you should feel the resistance increase as all 4 cylinders go through their compression strokes. The resistance should be the same for each cylinder. Note that the resistance can vary quite a bit from engine to engine depending on how long the engine has been sitting - the longer it sits, the less oil will be left on the cylinder walls and the less comression. If one or the other timing belts are broken, you'll only feel the compression for the 2 cylinders on the side with the intact belt - if those feel good, then the other side will usually be OK as well if there is no other obvious sign of damage. If you have access to a known good engine - or 2 or 3, pull it though by hand (ignition off & pull the coil wire, please) before going to the JY to get a sense of what the compression on each cylinder should feel like. I've used a compression guage while turning an engine by hand and by "popping" each cylinder through the end of the compresson stroke I've gotten readings as high as 40-50 psi for a really good spfi 125K engine that hadn't been sitting too long (once installed and running, that engine had high 150s compressions).

 

2) Pull the spark plugs and look at them for signs of normal firing color and no oil fouling. If you didn't get the compression you expected in step 1 above, you could squart a little oil in each cylinder at this point, spinning the engine without the plugs, putting the plugs back in, and then turning the engine by hand again to see what the compression feels like.

 

3) Wipe your finger around in the water inlet & outlet passages - if you get a grayish/whiteish slimy mess on your finger, there probably has been an engine failure (head gasket, cracked head, etc.) letting oil into the water. If the engine is still in the car, look at the radiator inlet/outlet, fill cap, and expansion tank for the same signs.

 

4) Look at the oil dipstick for signs of water in the oil and remove the oil drain plug and stick you finger in there as well - same advice as for water inlet/outlet.

 

5) Pull one of the valve covers - especially if you detected something in 3 or 4 - it should be clean in there.

 

I hope this helps. I'd also like to hear about anyone else's technique for evaluating a used engine.

Hey thats a good idea, I'll call them in the morning. If I drop in an engine with 100,000 miles or so what kind of mileage do you suppose I can get. Thanks,

Drew

 

Well, we have the same 85 car models, so.............

 

One of those baby-faced engines with 100k? I dunno...but my 265k engine gets 26mpg still, and that's with one so-so valve. I just went to the Aaron's website and saw that they have 90 day warranties on the engines! Oh yeah!!

 

Before you go, test out your vacuum motor inside your air cleaner housing (you know, suck on the hose to see if that white flap comes up). Mine was broken and by replacing it I went from 18 to 26mpg overnight. And been there for a year. And how do you replace it. Not by calling the dealership and forking out a hundred bucks! Aarons should have and entire air cleaner housing with a working vacuum motor for $20. So while you're there to get an engine, pick one up if you need. Keep your old housing to salvage the temp sensor (if it is working,,,,but you need a working engine to test it!)

 

Aarons auto wrecking

OWNER: tom Keyes

10432 15th Ave SW

Seattle WA 98146

www.aaronsauto.com

800-541-7271