thinking about taking the engine apart

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:43 pm

hey I have a 1990 legacy ls with 233000 miles on it and have thought about pulling the engine apart and cleaning it and putting new gaskets in it. would this be a good idea or give me anymore peformance. thanks

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:59 pm

it's called a reseal, and I'd only do it if you leak oil. Do not split the block.

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:06 pm

i dont leak oil but i think it burns oil. however it does not burn enough that it comes out of the exhaust. when oil gets low the engine starts making a knocking or ticking noise

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:12 pm

Do a cylinder leakdown test to see where the oil is going. If its the valve seals, then you can reseal those, but rings get a lot more complicated if you haven't split a block or removed pistons before. I've described leakdown tests before, just search under my name. You have a 90, so I assume its N/A.

I'd say it's not worth it to tear it down, You dont lose coolant do you?

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:20 am

yes it is a n/a unfortunitly, but no it does not leak coolant

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:30 am

you so i am new to the website and am not sure how to search your name or your topic

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:49 am

go to search at the very top, type leakdown in the terms,then type arctic assassian in the author field, then hit enter. The second result has the instructions about three posts down.

Saskatoon Subaru · Post by **Saskatoon Subaru** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:23 pm

It's not worth your time or money to rip an engine and replace all the seals unless your really pouring liquid form everywhere, or your rings or busted and burning oil like crazy.

Couple months ago i rebuilt a 90 N/A engine do to the keyway on the crankshaft being very damaged. This engine had 260,000+km and the internals were in very good shape for the years and km on it.

Just cause it's a old car with many miles, doesn't mean its falling apart inside.

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:54 pm

yea i guess i should listen i just want to do everything i can to keep it running smoothly

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:59 am

change your oil every 3000, air filter every 15000 and your plugs 30000. just keep the fluids clean, and they wont degrade things.

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:01 am

yea i do the oil change and i have an aftermarket intake. but i am thinking about upgrading the sparkpugs.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:26 am

I dont believe in 3000 mile oil changes unless you are using 99cents a quart store brand oil.

In our brand new g35 we are going for about 15-20k oil changes (with some super sized filters).

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:35 pm

^people will always differ on that subject. I am a firm believer in keeping the oil running through my motor clean.

Saskatoon Subaru · Post by **Saskatoon Subaru** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:39 pm

Arctic Assassian wrote:^people will always differ on that subject. I am a firm believer in keeping the oil running through my motor clean.

i second that. i run Mobil 1 synthetic oil, and i change it every 5000km(3000miles) or 3 months, my oil is always clean, and that the way i like it.

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:10 am

Try replacing the PCV valve. Fixed my burning oil problem. It HAS to be a OEM pcv valve btw.

lol funny you guys say, EVERYTIME i get a oil change the oil is soooooooooo black and thick. Yet its always full. Car has 312,000km now equiv to like 200K+ miles. I am thinking to try synthetic. What usually tells me its time for a oil change or it's low is the lifters knocking from time to time.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:34 am

Filters dont filter when they are new. I hope your 3k oil changes do not include filter changes or you might be doing more harm than good.

Besides, kevlar trash bags would be better than regular old plastic but better is not always "better"

The history of oil changes may surprise you. Don't you think its odd that 3k oil changes are no longer required by new cars? Older cars didnt require originally either.
Instead of spending the extra money on "feel good" oil why not send it off to BlackStone Labs and get a real idea of whats going on?

Saskatoon Subaru · Post by **Saskatoon Subaru** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:56 am

where do you get the logic or information that filters don't filter when they are new?

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:33 am

Same with air filters. The large holes in the filter let the small particles past. It takes some time before these large holes fill up and the filter starts to work better. I didn't invent the idea honest!

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:13 pm

Ciper,

While I agree with you that as filter media fills, it will filter out finer particles.

However to say "large" holes is a real misnomer. Filters are designed to filter particles above a certain size, 10 micron, 20, etc. As the filter media fills, it's true you may stop smaller sized particles, but you do this at a reduced overall flowrate through the filter and typically create a higher differential pressure across the filter.

If the filter was properly designed, then the fact the smaller particles pass through the filter really don't matter because they should not cause any issues suspended in the oil circulating in the engine.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:24 am

Large relatively speaking

Current engine designs aren't much different than ours and the change intervals are fairly long. Its not unheard of to go over 10k miles between changes on cars that have an automatic oil life calculator.

Either way why not spend the extra money on oil analysis rather than replacing it? You'd not only know when it was time to change but also have a trend that would show any other problems within the engine.

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:19 am

so how would you go about sending in your oil

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:01 am

With the free oil collection kit

I assume you have a Fumoto?

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:29 am

probably not because i have no idea what that is

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:06 am

A fumoto valve allows you to change the oil without needing tools. If you get the nipple version you wont even get dirty when draining the pan. Its basically a high pressure gas valve mounted in place of the drain plug

It also lets you remove any amount of oil you want, say for analysis.

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:43 am

very nice I like, now how to do i get one

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thinking about taking the engine apart

thinking about taking the engine apart