What's up fellow Minny-sotans! Just had a friend drop off a 2003 Impreza Outback at my house. He gave it to me for $500, but the motor is kaput. Makes an unholy rattle and knock. It has around 140k miles on it. The other forums I'm on tell me to just buy a used motor - thoughts on this vs rebuilding it? I've been involved in mechanics for the past 12 years, but haven't ever swapped or rebuilt a motor. My gut reaction is to get all crazy and see how much HP is possible from an EJ25 (that's the correct engine, right?), but I think I should just see if I can get it running again and go from there. Any and all advice is appreciated. Chevy trucks are way more my speed, but I've always been a Subaru fan, and who doesn't need another project car ?
Save yourself the almost guaranteed disappointment and just find a known working, used engine and just swap it out. You surely can rebuild but your end cost would be much higher. And then if you're shooting for power? Best of luck to ya. If money is no object and you're doing this for fun/out of boredom, go nuts and take pics along the way.
Everyone already said it but a known working engine swap is pretty much the way to go unless you hate money. The cost grows exponentially as soon as you split the block. Mostly because head bolts (and I believe case bolts) are torque to yield and aren't really cheap. If you want something faster, eazys H6 swap is an awesome template to follow. Watch it regardless of what you do. That or swap a bugeye wrx drive train into it.
My younger self would have vowed to make it the biggest, baddest Subie in MN. My older self though... he recognizes the limited amount of time I have each week to work on this. Given that it's my first motor swap, I think staying stock will be my best choice. Might put some new injectors and a bigger turbo on my diesel Cruze, though...
NA motor swap is really straightforward and everything is easily accessible (compared to the turbo motors anyway). Might be worth spending an extra couple hundred bucks on a longblock (or whatever you can find that's as close to fully assembled) to save some time and money (mostly gaskets but I'm sure some hoses as well).
Finally had time yesterday to get it prepped for removal. I'm shocked at how easy it was; 1.5 hours with a friend and it's ready to be pulled. Need to get an engine hoist next and then decide if we'll send it somewhere for a rebuild, or source a used motor. Just to be certain - it's an EJ25 engine, correct? Want to make sure I buy the correct replacement before I go shopping.
If you are looking for a direct replacement, i’d pull the numbers off of the block once it comes out. There are a handful of variations of the EJ25. Looks like the EJ251: source-Wikipedia
You shouldn't have too many issues putting a ej253 long block in an older 251 model as long as the cam/crank gears and intake w/ sensors of the 251 are still used. There's also a ej252 used in 01 due to some California regulations where they used the same cam/crank sprockets of a 251 auto on 252 manuals. The point of telling you this is that the long block shouldn't matter, just keep everything labeled and put the right cam/crank sprockets for the cars ecu. If you don't, it won't fire and the backfire could cause internal damage.
Awesome, thanks for the information. Might finish pulling it this week or next week and then the search begins for a donor motor.
Ha, how time flies by and the car just sits there, waiting to be worked on. Still haven't pulled it, but it's ready to come out now. Wife bought me some a new Milwaukee 1\4" impact and 3\8" power ratchet so I got to try them out on the Subaru. Tonight I removed the A\C compressor, but I was able to keep the hoses attached and it should not be in the way when I pull the motor. I did check the spark plugs just for kicks, and each of them was just over finger-tight. Each of the spark plug boots was coated in what looked like coolant, but the passenger side boots were especially bad. Threads on one of the passenger side plugs was pretty oily, too. Next plan is to get a hoist and then pull the heads off to see what kind of carnage took place. I want to see how far I can get into a rebuild... this car has no dollar or practical value to me, but it definitely is a fun project and I'm learning a lot already.
This is the best way to learn! Lots of research and then get in there and tear **** apart. That's how I've always done it lol
