An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Heads, valves, pistons, rods, crankshaft, etc...

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WRXish
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An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by WRXish »

Those of you who have read some of my threads may have done so out of curiosity, and then laughed at what
I had to say or the questions I asked because I was truly wet behind the ears, a real newbie in terms of my intimate
subaru knowledge. That is changing and like most of us, some of what I have learned has been both learned through the school of hard knocks and through the wasting of money. Sad but true.

One of the hardest things to do I think is to choose an engine builder that can actually deliver the goods that they
promise. Most talk a good game, but few can deliver an engine that deliver the performance and long life that most of us require in a regular street driven vehicle. None of us are made of money, and certainly I am not either. The engine builder I chose, Ballos Precision Machine in Richmond VA talked a good game but what they delivered was pure junk. This thread is NOT about defaming them, though if that is accomplished by what I say here, it is both well deserved and not an unwelcome side benefit of the thread. The purpose of this thread is to explain how the engine failed this last time...and yes it failed once before after they had been through it, with a rod bearing failure.

So when I picked up the car from them the last time they went through the engine...the builder admitted he had dropped the rubber plug that fits on top of the bell housing down into the clutch area with the engine running and said that was the cause of the squealing noise it was making. It sounded for all the world like a squealing fanbelt except it was clearly coming from inside the bell housing. He said he expected the noise to go away as the rubber plug was chewed up by the flywheel and that if it didnt in a week he would take it apart and fix it.

Well I drove the car home from Richmond, about 2 1/2 hours, by the time I got here I had a badly slipping clutch because he had badly misadjusted it. So I was on the hook for buying a new clutch because he messed that up. And he broke the connector on the main wiring harness that connects to the knock sensor. I was able to repair the connector with a great deal of trouble and time...so I wasnt happy about that either. But the clutch he denied any responsibility for at all. The car was basically barely driveable because of the slipping clutch...and the clutch was new, had barely 6000 miles on it. And the squeaking did not go away and in fact began to get worse. I had a new clutch put in and there was nothing left of the rubber plug to remove...$600 for a new clutch...still squeaking. Mechanics listened and the general opinion was throw out bearing was bad...So pull the tranny and replace throw out bearing.... $600....still squeaking. Ok whats left? Bad pilot bearing? cracked flywheel? Pull it back down and inspect everything, replace all bearings, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, new flywheel, new clutch disc....reassemble...still squeaking...total exasperation...

It is now february...I have been without the car since August of last year. I need a functioning station wagon to pull my trailer. I live in the country. I use the wagon to haul trash to the dump, haul larger loads on the trailer that wont fit in the car, and I have now been without the use of it for over six months...had no choice but to break down and buy another car. $8000 later...but the old wagon is still broken and I want it fixed.

Finally while the transmission is out of the car my mechanic puts a breaker bar on the crank pulley and turns the engine around by hand with the spark plugs removed...and you could feel something dragging and hanging up inside the engine as you turned it by hand...oh shit. Engine had to come out and be disassembled.

He sent the engine to a local machine shop for disassembly and evaluation and when they split the block it was obvious as hell what they had done. The two block halves had obviously come from two different engines, one side had been sleeved, the other not. If that were not enough, one of the main bearing webs was cracked, and the thrust bearing was wiped well into the copper on both sides. The main bearing webbing in the block had been chewed up by the counterweights on the crankshaft due to the fore and aft motion of the crankshaft. The squeaking everyone had been hearing was the crank counterweights rubbing against the webbing in the block and the noise was amplified by the flywheel and clutch assembly making it seem like the noise was coming from the clutch assembly. Whether the crank is still good or not I have serious doubts, but the block is total junk...the main bearings on at least two journals show wear patterns consistent with the fore and aft movement of the crankshaft due to the fact that the bearing halves were actually walking in their seats and have left scars in the block underneath them.

So needless to say, this is not the kind of engine build you want to have done for your car.
mike-tracy
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Re: An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by mike-tracy »

That is very painful to read, though not as much pain as what you experienced. Sorry you had to go through all that bud.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
WRXish
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Re: An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by WRXish »

You have no idea...its not over yet either...still have to get another powerplant in the car and running and sorted out. I expected to have the car finished bodywork and all before now...and I dont even have it running...and I have spent virtually every dime I had set aside to do the project and some I didnt have. I am so angry with Ballos Machine I just cant even tell you...so incompetent!
WRXish
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Re: An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by WRXish »

This car has been in my family for its entire life. I refuse to let it die on my watch.
Legacy777
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Re: An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by Legacy777 »

Have you considered just buying a low mileage motor to swap in? I find that the factory built engines are almost always better than a machine shop work unless you get someone that just does Subaru engines.

Have you contacted the BBB about Ballos?
Josh

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1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
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Omega79
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Re: An Engine Autopsy...and what led up to it

Post by Omega79 »

Oh gosh, so sad to read this, I hope some sort of restitution come out of it all in the end.
lucas wrote:There were multiple Legacys with 300k+ miles. Jesus will return on a Turbo Lego.
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