s'ko Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 How do I tell if an engine that I bought it good. At the junkyard, put my finger into the oilpan and there was no metal shavings, crank turns by hand, coolant is green. i mainly want the shortblock to make a frankenstein ej25. I will be pulling the heads to do a HG job. Also plan to reseal it while it's on the stand. The car had 160k on. There was slight front end damage, but not certain if that was the reason it was on the yard or if it happened afterwards. Someone got the tranny from it. There is no real indication as to why it was in the yard. It's a 1996 EJ25 DOHC so it might be a HG problem that they just gave up on. i guess once I pull the heads I will be able to tell more. The shortblock should be ok if it was a victim of the Phase I HG problem right? IIRC it's the heads that warp and not the shortblocks. BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Actually since your going to pull the heads it makes it a bit easier. Always buy from a place with a warrenty. Next pull the plugs and inspect them, they should all look the same. Check to make sure the timing belt is in time and hasnt jumped. Does it still have a thermostat (they get removed in the false hope of tring to halt overheating). ROck the crankshaft back and forth and listen for any knocking noise. Inspect the PCV line for any oil film. If an engine is badly overheated the cylinder liner can shift and that can not be fixed. If that is the case there would be signs of recent work being done to the heads, as that is only found out after a HG is done. The other failure mode is that the engine gets cooked, and so does the oil. If the oil isnt changed it can take out the connecting rod bearing. If your going to build a monster engine, at that mileage you really should replace the bearings and rings, and really beef it up. There also are some overheat tabs, but for the life of me i can not remember the details about them. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 thanks. Found a machine shop that will inspect and balance the crank for $65.00. That seems like a screaming deal. Anyone know if those bolt that secure the shortblock halves together are reusable or are they the same as the head bolts? I also found a place that makes clutches. Depending on what materials are used and how strong the pressure plate has to be, they range from $250 on up. He can also make 4 or 6 puck clutches at that price. BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Ive always reused the head bolts. The head bolts are stronger then the aluminum block so its really hard to stretch them out. Even subaru doesnt recomend replacing them. You can reuse the case bolts. Thats a good price on the crank. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 The 2.5 blocks can warp. Last one I did had a warp of .002 in. Just at the limit of acceptable. I can imagine that some could be worse, but ussually they are OK. And they can be milled too. Surface grind limit is .016 in. so there is room for a fresh cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 reuse both the head bolts and case bolts. if you're going for a crank grind then sounds like you're doing a complete rebuild? so as long as the block doesn't have some massive problem you're fine to use it. the statistics are going to be highly in your favor on that. the $65 is nice, the work and labor involved is the hard part! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 i guess this is the next step in my mechanical education. The farthest I have gone is redoing headgaskets. I have taken three engines apart just to see what they look like, by they are all lying in a heap or been recycled. Is there anything special I should know about getting the bearings put in right and all of that other stuff or am I just over complicating things? Thanks BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Four things. 1- work clean 2- Assmebly lube is your freind 3- Take pictures 4- Number everything or refernce it as to where it orignally came from. This is a bit of overkill, but for someone who has never rebuilt an engine before its a good thing. Some things need to go back to where they came from, some dont, but its just easier to do it as a general rule. Get a haynes manaul and read it completly as to the engine section. I can send you a FSM section on the engine, read that too before starting. Just msg me with your email and which engine you are using. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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