I have a 98 outback 2.5l auto trans. with 190k that started overheating and blowing coolant out of the resevoir. I do not believe I did any damage to the heads because the engine still runs great. Lots of bubbles evident in coolant resevoir so I am positive it is time for head gaskets. I also need to do the timing belt and seals. I have the chance to buy a 2.2l engine with 72k on it for $425 but it doesn't have the egr but I was told I could use my egr components and adapt them to the 2.2. My dilemma; is it better to make the repairs using my own labor or doing the engine swap? I am thinking in terms of cost and time. Thanks

Personally, I like keeping cars stock, so i would repair the engine. others on the board are all for the swap thugh. I have done several 2.5 repairs and even with head milling it doesn't take very long. If the heads don't require milling I can do a head gasket replacement in about 5 hours. That means if you are new at it, you should be abel to do it in a weekend. not abad turn around. If you have any questions PM me and I'll get you my phone number and we can talk.

 

Good luck

 

Mike

No rod knock, heads not warped more than a resurface I fix 'em.

 

ANY rod knock I swap 'em.

 

I ALWAYS get the rad flushed/pressure tested while waiting on the heads.

The very first thing to do is a compression test. We need to see the condition of the rings on the engine. Even with a bad HG we will get good numbers from the other side of the engine.

 

Personally my cutoff for a sooby engine HG is 160,000 miles, i'll go higher if it is the original owner and well maintaned.

 

The fear is blow by. You have rings that have a lot of miles on them. Doing a valve job and even the minor milling for the heads will restore compression to factory specs. The rings may not be able to seal well against this and you may get some oil burning.

 

So the first thing is to see what the compression test numbers would be.

 

 

nipper

This is simple. If the engine was known good and ran fine, replace the head gaskets. I've replaced lots of head gaskets and if you caught it early like you said, you're fine. I would do it sooner rather than later though as these engines like to have lower engine problems that are probably encouraged by poor maintenance, letting this stuff go, and too many overheats.

 

Adapting that non EGR engine to your EGR fitted vehicle isn't simple. The only simple way to do it is just to not install the EGR stuff at all (that's what i do since it's LESS reliable and a pain the backside anyway). But most states have emissions and you can't do that, I don't have that problem so I actually look for engines without EGR.

 

But most folks don't want the check engine light or can't have it. In that case, get an EGR equipped motor. Adapting it is not straight forward and simple. There's not "bolt on" way to make it happen.