looking at new engine (some concerns)

[scoobyadam]

I went to this place in Gaston OR to look at a used ej22 motor with 90,000 miles. It was apparent that it has been sitting for a while but it was sitting in a metal container with all the holes plugged in it. But when he was doing a leak down test on the motor for us he had to break the valves loose on one side with a hammer but when it did break loose the motor ran almost a 0% leak down on all cylinders. so I was just wondering if this seems alright to you?

and by the way my motor in my car lost all compression on one cylinder but the piston still moves up and down. and all the other cylinders compression was all over the board. one read like 65psi. and this motor was put in around a year ago with a bunch of new parts installed by mtn tech Subaru in oregon. when we bought it they said it was perfect and all the compression came back amazing. I always took good care of my motor and did routine maintance on it. Needless to say, I am not happy at all with mtn. tech.

[Legacy777]

Did you do a leak down test on the motor in your car to see if you can determine where the issue is?

If the leak down test came back good on this motor that has been sitting, it's probably ok. Another thing you could do is pull off the valve covers and see how the cams and valve train look like. If it looks good, then I would think the motor should be ok. I'd definitely put fresh oil in it and maybe crank the motor over with the plugs out and fuel injectors disconnected to prime the engine with fresh oil. Also, checking/replacing the timing belt and oil seals would probably be a good idea.

[scoobyadam]

no all I did was compression test mine. and I had the valve covers off the new motor and everything looked good. and I already planned on replacing the timing belt and water pump but where are the oil seals? and thanks for the good idea about priming it!

[lucas]

oil seals are replaced when you do the timing belt, one each on the cams then one on the crank. they look like rubber "O"'s on the inner portion of the cam gear pullies same with the crank. sorry if that don't make sense

[scoobyadam]

oh alright, I know where your talking about. Are they easy to spot once I hate the plastic timing belt covers off the engine?

[lucas]

mine were brown when i pulled em if you know where the cam gear are you can pretty much tell theres a seal there same with the crank. getting a repair manual really helped me, shoot read that thing more when I'm crapping then anything else

[Legacy777]

You will need to remove the cam pullies to get at the cam seals. They can be a little tricky to get out, and a seal puller would probably help. If you're going to do the front crank seal, it's probably not a bad idea to pull the oil pump off to check the screws on the backing plate, and put a new o-ring between the pump & block. I put a small bit of locktite on the oil pump backing plate screws to keep them from loosening up.

If the motor is out, I'd probably suggest doing the rear main seal as well. It can be tricky to get in. Using a large PVC cap the size of the seal helps. Also, the passenger side rear cam cap should be done, it's just an o-ring, and do the valve cover gaskets & grommets too.

When putting the front crank & cam seals back on, I find that a deep socket works pretty good as a seal driver.

Here's most of the engine & electrical section of the factory service manual
http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... ectrical)/

Here are pics from when I did my timing belt. There are some from the seals, which may help.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... imingbelt/