Topic: Chronicle of Jer's Subarus

[jer]

Well there's the problem...

[Mason]

[seat safety switch]

[RockThePylon]

Huh.

What caused what here...

[jer]

Huh.

What caused what here...

It was a used motor that I've had trouble with from day one...

[jer]

Talk about a stale topic...

since then:
- made it to a lapping day at the end of last year. Didn't finish the day. Another motor succumbing to failed oil pickup tube brazing
- Took a while to find an affordable replacement block. Used 05 LGT motor did the trick. note that 05 LGT heads and 06 WRX heads are VERY different (in subaru terms)
- Spent a lot of time replacing the shortblock - learned the lesson and bought a morroso oil pickup tube
- ran into issues with random oil leaks
- finally got it all done this spring and drive it sporadically. It had been having idle/stall issues sometimes
- went to work checking for vacuum leaks, replaced the spark plugs, and did a compression test - no leaks and compression tested good.
- now it has developed an interesting noise/issue believed to be a throwout bearing and (very likely) the transmission snout wearing out

So it is, once again parked until I fix it.

The project car:
- not been touched in... 2 years?
- looks like I'll be reassembling it as it's going to a new home


All for now...

That was 2 years ago...


Now we have this :




Well the teardown began...

Here we have the Moroso pickup strainer (yes that's RTV from the oil pan)


Here's some of the problem


Some Piston information









#2 does look worse but look at #3 closely and you'll see it has worn down edges even further (almost through). Also note #2 and #4 having excessive wear on the skirts? Well here's what it did to the cylinder walls:





And also amongst the carnage... The crank. Note Cylinder 3's journal...



And the crank measured out to:

cyl 1 - 51.99 mm
cyl 2 - 52.01 mm
cyl 3 - 51.82 mm
cyl 4 - 51.95 mm

main 1 - 59.93 mm
main 2 - 59.91 mm
main 3 - 59.91 mm
main 4 - 59.91 mm
main 5 - 59.91 mm

And the Main bearings... From left to right #1 through #5 with 1 being the front/snout and 5 being the journal/rear




For anyone that has WAAAAAYYYYY too much time on their hands... here's a 20-something minute timelapse of the tear-down including:
- welding a 14mm nut onto a bolt to use as a 14mm Allen wrench
- grinding down my brand new 12-point 12mm socket so it fits into the stupid water jackets for the crank case bolts


And here we have the not-publicly-recommended, jer-approved method of splitting the crank case...

[seat safety switch]

Impressive restraint after dropping the jack on your foot there.

[jer]

I'm seeing a pattern of not posting/working on the car for lengths of time. But I guess that's life... 

Now on to the update

Got some bits. Gaskets, bearings, bolts, tools, etc.:


Wrangled some shiny Manley coasters:


Avoided the stealership and got new OE case bolts, and ARP rod bolts:


Conjured some form of treated crankshaft for an EJ257:


Snagged some EJ257 rods (and a new woodruff key):


Retrieved the bored, honed, and cleaned EJ257 crank case halves



Fought with some new tools:


Slapped some EJ257 and ARP bits together:


Dropped those bits into a case half:


Smushed some Ultra Grey between 2 case halves and bolted it down:


Dropped in some Manely Coasters:



Reinstalled some oiling bits:


Squished some headgaskets and corralled some camshafts:


Cleaned up an oil pan:


While I was at it I decided now would be a good idea to throw caution to the wind and (de)install some bits:




.... more to come!

[tperkins]

This always seems like such an intimidating job to me.. measuring bearings and gaps and blah blah. Setting up the measuring equipment. I would like to watch it done a few times IRL, seems like it could be fun.

[seat safety switch]

That crank looks great. This will be fun.

[jer]

This always seems like such an intimidating job to me.. measuring bearings and gaps and blah blah. Setting up the measuring equipment. I would like to watch it done a few times IRL, seems like it could be fun.

It is "fussy" and took FAR longer than I would have liked. I think I ended up measuring over a dozen times. The way I see it is... I'm only gunna learn one way haha

[JJx]

Very cool stuff! I just bought a spare longblock with the same goals in mind...
If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the casehalves done, and how much did it run you?

[SlowLGT]

Looking great. I am also in the middle of building an engine. Words cannot describe the excitement and the anxiety from project start to the first crank.

[jellynuts]

You make it look so easy

[jer]

Very cool stuff! I just bought a spare longblock with the same goals in mind...
If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the casehalves done, and how much did it run you?

I used Alberta Cylinder Head. They're in the shop that used to be Best Engine before they moved. Their prices vary depending on what all you get done.

[silent]

Very cool stuff! I just bought a spare longblock with the same goals in mind...
If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the casehalves done, and how much did it run you?

I'm not sure if they're still around or not, but Trac Cylinder & Head did a great job resurfacing the heads of my old EJ257 many years ago.  They were who Rally Subaru normally used for their machining work.

[JJx]

Makes sense- I'll check them both out- sorry for the slight thread derailment
-Joshua

[jer]

some say he's a moron... some say he's gassy... All we know is he's called "sketch"

Feel free to laugh that I used a ratchet strap on the hoist while the leveler is sitting RIGHT THERE on the ground

Motor went in fairly easy


hmmm... looks like the turbo inlet needs a trim


And trimmed it shall be


New center timing cover for the one I broke


Seem to have screwed up a valve cover gasket install of all things


And may have forgotten to clamp a hose

[jer]

The car is running/driving/etc but I've been chasing a strange issue that is very similar to what I was having before the motor blew up.

Symptoms
Engine will randomly stall when coming down from RPM to idle
on WOT between 2800 RPM and 5500 RPM it will misfire (codes on all 4 cylinders) and pop/bang like there is far too much fuel being dumped in

Troubleshooting already done
boost pressure tested the intake system - found a vacuum host tear near the turbo and fixed
exhaust leak tested pre-turbo - header wouldn't seal and replaced header
checked intake manifold bolts - tightened down

Other things I've done
replaced o2 sensor
deleted evap "stuff" and capped intake manifold nipples

Next to try/test
Injector seals ordered
fuel pump/filter check

[silent]

Had that issue on the RS Turbo job we did 10-15 years ago.  Turned out to be a vacuum leak allowing unmetered air into the system.

[firebane]

The car is running/driving/etc but I've been chasing a strange issue that is very similar to what I was having before the motor blew up.

Symptoms
Engine will randomly stall when coming down from RPM to idle
on WOT between 2800 RPM and 5500 RPM it will misfire (codes on all 4 cylinders) and pop/bang like there is far too much fuel being dumped in

Troubleshooting already done
boost pressure tested the intake system - found a vacuum host tear near the turbo and fixed
exhaust leak tested pre-turbo - header wouldn't seal and replaced header
checked intake manifold bolts - tightened down

Other things I've done
replaced o2 sensor
deleted evap "stuff" and capped intake manifold nipples

Next to try/test
Injector seals ordered
fuel pump/filter check

Do you have a AP or Tactrix cable for logs?

[jer]

Do you have a AP or Tactrix cable for logs?

Yep. WBo2 also... I'm just nervous to log repeated WOT pulls until I have this sorted.

[firebane]

Yep. WBo2 also... I'm just nervous to log repeated WOT pulls until I have this sorted.

What do logs look like outside of WOT? Is this a stock map on the car? Or modified?

[jer]

What do logs look like outside of WOT? Is this a stock map on the car? Or modified?

Outside of WOT car is completely fine. no knock, no misfire

It's fairly modified...
06 WRX w/ 6MT
Freshly rebuilt block with forged pistons (stock size/8.5CR)
VF34
Catted 3" TBE
STI TMIC
Air injection pump delete
OE WRX blue injectors
OE WRX fuel pump
Stock intake and MAF tube
Grimmspeed EBCS
Light flywheel
LC1 wideband
OpenECU
94Octane

[jer]

I pulled the injectors and the lower seal (injector to intake manifold) looks like this.



... that's likely the problem