Another noob misfire issue.

If it's not visibly apparent try something like this:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2002-subaru-impreza-wrx/checking-valves/

 

Its not safe to assume that the damage is solely isolated to the heads. If you are lucky it is, but to confirm, its best to remove the heads to inspect. Likely, the cheapest option is to pull the heads, have them fixed to whatever level is necessary (decked, valves, etc) and put them back in. If you want to limit down time, swapping heads might improve but it will likely come at some cost.

Like @idget said, its best to just yank the engine and inspect everything while its out.

 

And while the engine is out you might as well swap a V8 in there!

 

No, buying fixed or known good heads will likely be cheaper. Unless you have a business account or good relationship with a machinist. You're looking at 250-600 for ready to go, stock to mostly stock heads, depending on condition. Compared to labor cost of cleaning, pressure testing, line honing, refacing, etc...

 

That's kinda what I was thinking/hoping. Just score a set of used/refurb'd heads and let 'er buck. Will start the teardown process tonight hopefully.

So, what's my resale value on a wagon with a junk motor...

 

A lot less than what it's worth after spending $500-1000 to fix what you (likely) have going on right now.

 

Alright. One last bit of speculation/stalling/stubbornness. Again assuming it's a head issue, is it better to source one good head and repair the bad side only or if I'm pulling the motor do I get a set, do the whole thing because I'm already there, and have a "fresh" top end on the whole thing. Seems to me like the valves being an issue with a higher mileage motor, it's only a matter of time before it happens to the other side.

 

Yep.

Do both. Not sure its all that much cheaper to piece together a single head, single head gasket, single valve cover gasket set, etc... You aren't saving a ton of time or money by skipping a side. Certainly not compared to pulling everything again xx months from now. And like you said, assuming the other side is original, chances are it's close to out of spec or needs a refresh anyway.

 

Cool. Well, I certainly appreciate your time and advice today. Maybe someday in the near future I'll be able to drive this thing again to meet you in person and repay the favor. I think the post office still frowns upon shipping alcoholic beverages.

 

Don't sweat it, dude. You've done your research and have very pointed questions. It's not like you're asking us to do all the diagnostic work for you or haven't at least tried to work things out.

The worst situation is when someone has an issue, wants an answer, but can't articulate the question. No fun for anyone.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

Another question. I checked prices for gasket sets at rockauto and they range from around $100 to just under $500. I'm sure most people would suggest genuine Subaru everything but of course I don't have an unlimited budget. At the same time, I don't want to get a sh!t gasket set. Thoughts?

One more thing, I feel like I've noticed this mentioned while maybe reading something unrelated, but for some weird reason are the main head bolts and other misc. fasteners/hardware NOT re-usable? I'm just trying to account for all of the "hidden" costs that I'm most likely not aware of and hoping to not get surprised with something crazy later on.

Clearly the heads will take up a big chunk, as well as the gasket set (depending on quality I guess), just wondering what else I can expect to run into.

Also, does anybody know of a favorite/good link to a motor pulling and/or rebuild thread? I've got a pdf version of the factory manual but holy crap are those hard to follow sometimes. Working at my current job I've gotten pretty good at just labeling the hell out of anything that gets unplug, disconnected, etc. and aren't too worried about that kinda stuff, but I don't want to get all willy nilly and do more than necessary to get the mission accomplished. Like I hinted at before, this is way more complex than pulling the ol' 440 out of my Dodge truck.

 

Oem head gasket. Everything else, not sure. What kind of condition are the tbelt, tensioner, idlers, cam seals, water pump (and gasket) in? Can't think of anything, outside of gaskets, that I'd consider one time use if in otherwise good condition.

Pulling the motor is really straightforward.
Drain coolant, undo lines, pull radiator fans (you can pull the radiator later once its drained)
Pull battery
pull washer tank
pull intake box
free up ps pump and ziptie it off to the side
pull intercooler
pull starter
undo bellhousing bolts and nuts
undo 2 motor mount nuts
undo clutch fork pin plug (10mm hex)
pull clutch fork pin (I use the battery tie down j-hook)
undo pitch mount
split the bellhousing (I use a good thick paint scraper, hammer, and assorted soft pry bars)
lift trans a bit
hoist engine out once you wiggle it clear of the motor mount studs
[front O2 sensor should be removed, but you can get away with just unplugging it if you're careful]

For disassembly and rebuild, these threads are decent.
http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t74...ck-pictures-head-removal-splitting-block.html
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1965190

 

Timing belt, tensioner, and pump were replaced 5k ago. Dumb question, but cam seals would have to be put in new heads, right? Like transfer the cams and every thing over to the new heads?

 

Update - Finally got some time this weekend to pull the motor and further investigate. Was pretty apprehensive going into it but having the thing out and actually seeing all around it, while also taking it in just in general is pretty cool. Also found my "mysterious" oil leak in about 10 seconds (valve cover gasket). So that's good.

Anywho, while it wasn't the blatant evidence I was looking for, I'm hoping that you guys will be able to recognize the issue. Pics of suspect area (click for full size if needed):

Both exhaust valves on #2. The one is obviously discolored, and was sorta wet looking. The other 3 on that side were dry and white-ish.


Sample of the rest.


Close-up of the dark one.


Hard to tell, but the one that was dark on the back was a little darker on the face as well.


#2 hole. Seems legit minus some carbon build-up.


Another shot of #2.


Face of #4 for comparison. Disregard the little scratch mark, I was using a piece of wire to follow the piston up and down while troubleshooting previously.


Don't know much about clutches, but would I be stupid to NOT put a new one in at this point? 150k miles right now.


If so, what's a decent daily driver clutch kit gonna cost me? Quick search via RockAuto yielded about $230-ish.


Thanks all!

 

Nice work. You're mostly past the hard part.

Do that starter fluid test I linked to. Guessing that wet valve will leak quite a bit.

The clutch disc looks like its running out of life and the pressure plate is definitely hot spotted. Pick up a stock replacement kit ($250-300ish for clutch disc, pressure plate, and pilot bearing) and an oem throw out bearing. Get the flywheel turned as well.

 

Nice work. Lowball Terry for his clutch and you'll be sitting pretty
http://mnsubaru.com/threads/exedy-oem-spec-wrx-clutch.47455/

 

Holy crap. Thanks for this. That's the exact one I was looking at on RockAuto.

 

Ah ha. Now I know what you're talking about (starting fluid thing). Was slightly confused by it as they didn't really explain in detail what they were doing. I'll try that tonight.

Several of the exhaust gaskets were absolutely roasted and I'm surprised I didn't have more leaks, unless that's why the car just seemed louder than the others I've heard running. Also good to see that the uppipe hadn't started to disintegrate into the turbo inlet yet either. Going to replace the up and down while I'm at it, since I don't feel like doing it while it's in the car later.

 

Took the exhaust valves out of the left head this evening. Perhaps one of the rare instances where the cat in the uppipe actually saved the turbo... Here's the front one from #2:



Pulled the right head off as well. Didn't take valves out as they appeared to be decent on the surface. However, there seems to be a ton of crud/carbon build-up.

Messaged him right away this morning and of course it sold last week. Any ideas on decent brands for a clutch? I've at least heard of Exedy before and can find that same kit on eBay for a not so terrible price. However, there are a ton of other ones for considerably cheaper as well. I know you get what you pay for, so what's the cutoff on this stuff?

 

The Exedy one is the OEM, so that's why it's the easy relatively inexpensive choice. Maybe try the NASIOC FS and see what's there too? I'll let others with more experience chime in on acceptable cheaper options

 

Yep, there's your problem. Like I suspected. Glad you got it figured out.

Exedy is fine for stockish power. Drives nice. Cheap. Reliable. Long life.

 

Just a little update for anybody interested. Been quietly/slowly making some progress on this thing and it's finally nearing the stages of rumbling once again. I ended up having my heads redone at a local machine shop down here since my boss is pretty good friends with the guy. Got two valves redone and the rest of them checked over. Heads cleaned up, seals replaced, valves all set back to spec (probably typical head job).

Anywho, have been assembling a pile of "Christmas presents" in the meantime. Figured now would be the ideal time to do any performance mods I've ever wanted to do, so got an EBCS, lightweight crank pulley, phenolic spacers, and complete exhaust gasket set from GrimmSpeed. Also new silicone turbo inlet since my stocker was pretty much crap. Put the aftermarket up and down pipes in and will have the thing wrapped up hopefully within the week. Just gotta get a tune lined up and should be good to go.

Buddy came down this weekend and we put in a 14 ish hour day yesterday. Got the motor completely reassembled and into the car. New clutch kit in, most of the motor hooked back up. Gonna go get a cam sprocket holding tool tomorrow to get them retorqued then can put the front back together and finish the task. Fingers crossed the beast will live.

My only progress pic, as of about 1230 last night. Nothing special to look at, but damn it feels good.

 

Congrats! Looks like youre a couple hours away from driving it again.

 

Did it blow up again? lol

 

Not yet... Why? Don't curse it!

 

Totaled.

 

I just saw you liked my V8 comment from 3 years ago haha. I figured you were looking through this thread trying to figure out where you went wrong after totaling it again.

 

LS JUAN

 

I was wondering where that came from. Yeah, went back through it to see roughly what mileage it happened at.

I think it would be pretty awesome to have a rwd LS swapped Subaru, but I'd most likely be buying it already finished if that were the case.