Ok I just bought a 98 Forester off a guy. The car has 200,00 miles on it and it is on it's second motor. The guy says it blew up. He does not know much about cars from what I got from him. He said while he was driving it the car started making a skweaking noise and then blew out a big white cloud behind it. He had it towed home and it has been sitting since June. Could this be a blown headgasket? Or could the motor went sour? I will know more when I actually drag it home. Nice car though. Fully loaded, tires were only 2 months old when it broke down. The guy just had $1500 worth of work done on it at the dealer back in May too. The two previous owners were good about keeping up on repairs at least. I have all the service records for it. The original motor was replaced at 160,00 miles with a used Japanese engine. I guess I won't know the full extent of the engine problems till I start getting into it. What engine will this have in it anyway? I am more familiar with EA-82 EA-81 and, EA-71 engines. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Richard.

The 98 Forester will have the 2.5 litre motor. The skwkeaking noise with a cloud of smoke doesn't sound good at all. Sounds like the motor may have locked up because of no motor oil, or over heated. The first think I would do, is check the dip stick for oil level. Second, pull the radiator cap to see if the water level is low. Third, look around the motor for signs of an oil leak, or engine damage caused from blowing up. If nothing obvious, try starting the motor.

 

You might get lucky, but I think you may need to drop another motor in this car. You got the car at a low price, so you can afford to spend some money on repairs. Good Luck!

That should have the phase I 2.5L dohc. If it's an auto trans don't just tow it behind another vehicle or anything; get a flatbed.

It's a 5 speed. Thank goodness!

Sweet! No problem flat towing it then all wheels on the ground. Sounds like it should be back in top condition with a new engine!

Yeah I hope so. Just could not pass it up at $600 bucks!

That's a good buy. Most Forresters I've seen with bad engines go for $1000 or more. Should be an EJ25 dohc phase 1, but if it was a JDM import engine there are some weird ones out there like the EJ20 etc. EJ22 will also fit and cost less.

That is a good deal. I dropped a 2.2 in mine that had a blown motor.

 

I put a 95 2.2 in and it saved me a pack of dough versus the 2.5 replacement. Good luck!

I agree, great deal, I'm jealous!

 

yeah, drop a 2.2 in there with a lightened flywheel, some headers, a better muffler, and a K&N, and you'll have stock 2.5 type power but with 300,000+ mile reliability!!!

Is the 2.5 not a very good motor? What all needs to be done to drop a 2.2 in it?

The DOHC 2.5 motors in the 90s have head/gasket issues...the new 2.5 SOHC seem to be better, but they are spendy.

 

You will probably need to swap the ECU, but if you get a certain year (not sure which) you may be able to user the one it has, or perhaps just the wiring harness. Other than that the 2.2 should just drop in.

DO a search on the 2.5/2.2 swap. It is well documented. The 95 2.2 is a really clean swap and requires very little change.

DO a search on the 2.5/2.2 swap. It is well documented. The 95 2.2 is a really clean swap and requires very little change.

? Can you actaully feel the power difference between the basic version of each?

? Can you actaully feel the power difference between the basic version of each?

 

Hardly, it's only 25 HP difference. I've done a few of these swaps and it works out well.

I've never driven a 2.5, but the rip-snortin' 135 HP 2.2L is enough for my needs. I got it up to 90 MPH once!

 

- Scott

The 2.5 has more guts than the 2.2, but it is not that noticable. Maybe when you are on the entrance ramp of the highway or in the mountains you would notice.

 

The reason I recommend the 2.2 in this case is that the 2.5's are hard to find at what I feel is a fair price.

Around here it's $900- $1200 for a used 2.5 or $200-500 for a used 2.2. If you don't mind pulling it, you can get 2.2's at the U-pull it for $80 all day long. I've never seen a 2.5 in a U-pull.

Well I finally went and picked the car up today. Now I know why it does not run. It has a rod sticking through the block! Guess it needs a new motor. Since I never have been able to figure out how to post pictures on here I will just give this link to them:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/subieguy/

nice score. drop in a 2.2 and you still got a helluva deal. sweet.

Well I finally went and picked the car up today. Now I know why it does not run. It has a rod sticking through the block! Guess it needs a new motor. Since I never have been able to figure out how to post pictures on here I will just give this link to them:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/subieguy/

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear how bad the motor really is.

 

On your original post, when you said the previous owner stated when he was driving the car it started making a skweaking noise and then blew out a big white cloud behind it. That is the classic report on a motor throwing a connecting rod through the side of the block. I suspected that upon first reading that, but didn't want to simply jump to that conclusion. If you watch NASCAR racing, you will occassionally see a car there blow a motor with a thrown rod. Instantly, you will see the same thing, a big cloud of smog trailing the ailing car. There is just too much noise on a race track to hear the skweaking noise.

 

Well, you certainly got the car at a great price, so don't feel too bad. Drop in a motor, and it will be ready to go.

See it in Nascar all the time. I'm not down about it. It was a great price. Now I just need to find a motor and replace a few missing or broken parts and I will be all set.

Does the 98 Forester have the sohc engine or the dohc engine? I need to know so I can find a new engine for it.