Day 1 - Hoist Hunting and Gathering

I now have the famous Subaru (EJ25) with the mysterious overheat - I'm working on the logistics today (engine hoist, labeling) and will post pictures as I go along.

In the auto world, I am a certified "shade-tree-oil-change" mechanic that can change oil filters and top up fluids - I have wrenched a bit on motorcycles, but the car is like playing with a Tonka truck in comparison.... In a way looking forward to this experience.

My diagnostics:
I went to lunch after 1.5 years, no problems with this car - drove around running errands after eating - got back to work - parked my car and as I reached for the key, saw the thermostat just under the "H". Had the typical denial, anger and acceptance cycle - then went back into work.

Drove it home that evening, cell-phone ready to call the tow truck - BUT.... it made it home??

I had a new thermostat put it, drove it down the highway (20+ miles) and it overheated, so I took it back and had a radiator put in it, drove it on the highway, same overheat.....

My symptoms are:
1) Overheat - not consistent, but mostly after highway miles - returns to regular temp quickly.
2) Bubbles in overflow tank.
3) Top radiator hose hot, bottom cold.

Day 2 - Hoist? Check! Parts, check!

Looked on Sunday and found a guy selling a 2-ton engine hoist on craigslist here in San Diego for $65 - rented a u-haul truck (this is a rip-off BTW) and I am now the proud owner of an official shop hoist, sitting in my garage....

Isn't she awesome!!?? I need a name...... anybody?

$130 dollars
including U-Haul ($65 for the rental - it's printed $19.99 on the side!! They get you for the miles.)

Ordered the overhaul gasket set, water pump, rear main seal, valve cover gaskets, the oil pump o-ring and timing belt online. (http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/)

$457 dollars
including shipping (10/27/07)

A good tip from Dad - "Get new head bolts, they are only good for one use."
(http://headbolts.com/) A little reading confirms torque-to-yield-bolts anneal, or some other fancy word, when originally placed and will not stress back to same spec reliably.

$72 dollars
including shipping

Also went to Subaru Technical Information to download service procedures for my car (http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp).

$35 dollars
for 36 hour access, unlimited downloads.

Getting labels and starting the prep for the new project my sister is (not) excited about, lol!

$5 dollars
plus a ride to the store.

Cheers!



The Ticker:
Hours:
- 2 - to get engine hoist
- 1 - to order parts
----
3 total

Dollars:
$ 699 - running total

Day 3 - One more chance for the shop...

Went over to the shop that replaced the radiator, local, good guy - to settle up for radiator - he wouldn't take my money - wants one more look.

I took him the link to the original article I read that started me on this road (http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/Head_gasket_replacement.html).

So, no labeling the engine yet.

Parts are confirmed on the road! Expected arrival this thursday.

Also allows me one last nod to the experts before I go for it.

Day 4 - Before - RTFM!!!

I got a jack today! Ahhh... simple pleasures, but real milestones - I got the car back from the shop, they say it won't act up.

I decided its worth the experience even if it turns out to be a loose wire - (and I have a couple side-bets just to help re-coop costs WHEN (if) I'm right!)

I'm currently on hold - as I need oil. Why? Because this guy got over excited and drained the oil before disconnecting the fuel pump.... so I need oil to add to run the engine until it dies... then I'll drain it.

Told you I was good at changing oil.

RTFM!!!

Did I mention I got my first jack?

Here's to lessons learned!

Day 4 - After- Stripped her down.

Finally agreed with myself to follow the service procedure on removing the engine - getting dark early, so had to call it quits after I pulled the radiator, air intake and disconnected all the electrical connections.

This is the engine compartment after 6 hours of work in under the hood.

Oh yeah - there are occasions where a stubby wrench can make your life alot easier - like when trying to remove a 14mm bolt from the back-side of the a/c compressor.....

When I look at this picture, I see what I accomplished today - but mostly prep work/removal at this point....

Tomorrow I see if I can get the engine separated from my transmission!


The Ticker:
Hours:
8 - today: parts runs and prep work
3 - previous
---
11 total

Dollars:
$930 - running total

Day 5 - Yank'n the engine

The time change made for a great day to work on my project - and no sun today meant I had a "second-monkey" - who suffered a mild injury... more on this in a little bit.

I started early this morning pulling the exhaust, putting some scrap wood over the condenser and removing everything from the path of the, soon to be exiting, motor.

Once the second monkey rolled out of bed and got her go juice (www.wingedbean.com) when went after releasing the motor from the transmission bell housing and the torque converter. then it was a matter of a little push here and another there - and poof!@ engine out!

The "as-yet-unnamed" hoist (some suggestions are "GreGor the HeHoist" and Super-hero names) did its job beautifully and my sister and I were able to modify a table I found in the alley to hold the engine and rest on the block itself.

There is alot of the red gasket sealant sticking out the valve covers and seems to be some blow-through the intake gaskets onto the top of the block (or the clutch is wearing out on the a/c compressor?) but bolts so far have been relatively easy to remove.

Once I figure out how to get to them!

I removed the air intake and am now on pause until I can get a locking chain wrench to release the crank pulley... (168Nm torque'd!)

Oh - And I labeled everything, including my sister - I hope to get it all put back together again so I can drive my victory lap!


The Ticker:
Hours:
10 - today: more prep work, labeling and pulling the engine
11 - previous
---
21 total

Dollars:
$1030 - running total

Injuries:
1 - scraped ankle (yes, it bled)

Day 6 - Before - One step at a time

So, engine is out - mounted to table - chain wrench is in and I am wondering if this is really possible?

So far it has been a pretty straight-forward disassembly and I'm glad there have been only a few challenges - I'm going to pull the heads tonight!

I borrowed a large impact socket from the local shop - to get the cam shaft pulleys off and I'm going for it!

Day 6 - After - Blown Head Gaskets?

I'll take two of those please!

It appears both sides have failed - the rubber lining on the factory seals looks deteriorated and show failures at the same place I've seen pictures before.... SO!! I did this for a reason.

I'm pretty impressed with this little engine - almost everything but the rear main seal and the head gaskets can be done with it mounted in the car. I suppose if you were really stubborn you could get the heads off in car too, but not the easiest thing to get to.

The cams look good a couple of clearances WAY out, but that can be fixed - appears the engine has been lubricated at least.

Not a whole bunch of gunk anywhere (besides red gasket everywhere!) Someone did the valves and instead of spending the $30 to replace the cover gaskets, put a layer of sealant on the old seals!

I have a quote for this I will decide if I should post.....

So now all that's left:
1) Heads to machine shop
2) rebuild oil pump
3) replace water pump
4) replace rear main seal
5) put it back together.....

I'm going to drive it to Wyoming!

p.s. - you really should consider a "second monkey, alot of parts and ziploc bags to deal with.

The Ticker:
Hours:
6 - today: pulling the heads
21 - previous
---
27 - total

Dollars:
$1050 - running total

Injuries:
1 - scraped ankle (yes, it bled)

Day 7 - On pause...

I'm currently on pause to get the heads machined.

I may as well enjoy the waiting, so Jodi and I went on a harbor cruise - my first one in San Diego - awesome time! We got to see the ONE day a year they take out the oldest iron bottom sailboat still sea-worthy. They drove it out of the bay and turned it back around.

There were some awesome sailboats out - this one caught our eye as a future abode??!!

Next time we have to go out to see the whales.

Day 8 - And they're back!

Heads are back from the machine shop - now it's time for the reverse tear-down....

I replaced the oil separator (highly recc'd by local shop) - new rear main seal, rebuilt oil pump and replaced the water pump.

Learned a good lesson about reading carefully - don't try to torque bolts to 80 ft/lbs that are spec'd at 8 ft/lbs.... this has a tendency to cause a loud snap and the head of the bolt to fall off the front of your water pump.

This was a stressing time as I figured I was going to get to take the whole block in to get the darn thing removed - ALAS, both said "snapped" bolts did so with enough room to grab them sticking out of the block (For clarification, the second "snapped" bolt actually broke when removing the obviously over-torqued bolts!)

WHEW and that deserves a hallelujah! LOL

Still a couple of small projects:
1) replace water pump bolts - these are the ones I over torqued
2) clean up mating faces and install heads
3) NEED valve shims - as a small reminder to myself, two of the exhaust valves were out in
excess of 20%... so have to replace those while I'm in there.
4) Put the engine back in the car - this should be minor (ONLY kidding)

I'll post some more pics later tonight.... and the ticker!

Day 9 - The reverse tear-down.

There is definitely more hesitancy in me rebuilding the engine than taking it apart.

I've officially converted over to re-building the engine... so off we go!

Tonight, myself and the second monkey installed the heads onto the block, with very minor issues - I cleaned up and scraped the faces to make sure they were ready. I layed a thin layer of motor oil on the inside of the cylinders - and wiped the faces down one last time. Oiled the bolts as directed and installed them, following the torque specs carefully.

I asked the owner of the shop down the street - "Any sage words of advice?"

- he says "Go slow and make sure you do it right the first time."

I'm waiting on the valve shims (need to calc new ones needed) and a couple of parts to come by mail.

Oh! and the second monkey was careful to properly torque the "dipstick mount".



The Ticker:
Hours:
7 - today: rebuild oil pump, rear seal, etc & prep work/install heads
27 - previous
---
34 - total

Dollars:
$ 1200 - running total

Injuries:
1 - scraped ankle (yes, it bled)