legacycentral bbs

Hey everyone,

I got the engine pulled out of the car today and will begin tearing it down monday at work. Apparently it wasn't very well maintained and has several oil leaks, and also had quite a bit of blowby.

The engine had a pretty serious knock. Im hoping to rebuild this engine rather than replace it and will try to take pictures along the way.








On to the questions:

#1 - The heatshields on the cross exhaust pipe are all beaten to hell and had even been welded a few times by the looks of them.. do i really run much risk by removing them competely? they look like hell and are beaten up and will undoubtably rattle.

#2 - Are the headbolts reusable on these engines?

#3 - Has anyone had success with a reman crank & oversized bearings in these engines? Im fearing a spun rod bearing and will probably replace the bad rod & crank. (Won't know for sure until its torn down) .. Did any other engines share the same crank as the ej22t?

#4 - Any other suggestions? I do plan to rebuild the block to stock spec, no plans for aftermarket rods/pistons etc.

Thanks guys.

Once you get the core of the motor like new again, make sure you replace ALL hoses, do the intake manifold gaskets, the throttle body gasket, o-rings on injectors, etc.

Likely that many of the stock plastic hose routings will be bad, just forget about them and use new hoses and fittings.

I imagine that it would also be a good time to replace knock sensors, etc.

Check all wiring and replace/resolder where needed.

I assume you will be doing timing belt, checking the bearings there, and possibly the water pump.

Now's the time to do it all!

Of course all gaskets and most rubber hoses will be replaced along with the timing components, headgaskets, valve stem seals etc.

1. You can yank the heatshields or even tighten some stainless steel hose bands around them if you want to shut them up (an easy job if the car's all together).

2. I've heard of people reusing the head bolts without issues, but I personally have reservations with it. They are stretched in installation by design and I don't know how that affects their elastic properties for reuse. For me, I wouldn't take the chance because I'm conservative with reliability questions.

3. I am 99% sure the cranks on the EJ22s are all the same. The N/A version looks identical and the FSM lists identical specs.

Yea the shields are pretty beat, i think im just going to toss them. I may even replace the exhaust with an ebay piece (not sure if they will fit or if there is any benefit).

If the engine is salvagable i think i'll go ahead and replace the head bolts. They dont seem to be to expensive.

Thanks for the info on the crank too. I guess i'll find out the beginning of next week what im gonna do with the engine.

If i end up not rebuilding it and get a jdm engine, are these ej22t blocks worth much in torn down condition?

That's what people say, but not what they pay. Are you talking long block or short block? I'd say $400 for a good long block seems to be about the going rate these days, unfortunately. Maybe you could get more from an Impreza guy.

My preference would be to rebuild this engine, but if i decide its not worthwhile i was just curious if its worth anything to somebody else. I would probably be selling it as a longblock.

if the heads have been off before or you plan to raise the boost down the road change the head studs. when i built my motor i reused them and its got perfect compression 25k later so i think they are fine.

green91 wrote:Yea the shields are pretty beat, i think im just going to toss them. I may even replace the exhaust with an ebay piece (not sure if they will fit or if there is any benefit).

If the engine is salvagable i think i'll go ahead and replace the head bolts. They dont seem to be to expensive.

Thanks for the info on the crank too. I guess i'll find out the beginning of next week what im gonna do with the engine.

If i end up not rebuilding it and get a jdm engine, are these ej22t blocks worth much in torn down condition?

I have one of these ebay headers you're talking about. Never used. I'll sell it to you if you want it. $150 shipped. Here's one for $208 shipped. I'm pretty sure mine is the same exact one.




ebay link

I'll keep that in mind, I really need to see if this engine is salvageable before i start spending money on performance parts

Oh yeah, are these engine mounts the same as a WRX or any other ej series engine?

green91 wrote:Oh yeah, are these engine mounts the same as a WRX or any other ej series engine?

The same as all other EJ engines. At least up the '05 Legacy and '08 Impreza.

Awesome, for some reason legacy mounts cost more than the WRX mounts so thats why i was asking.

Well i got the engine mostly apart, i will split the halves tomorrow. Ive got some play in the #2 piston, so im thinking i may have a broken wrist pin or piston but i wont know for sure until i split it lol. I will try and take some pics! Oh yeah, removing 15yr old oil soaked brittle hoses sucks.

I will say that out of many engines ive had apart and rebuilt this one has really surprised me. The intake ports are absolutely spotless clean and once i removed the VCs i couldn't believe how clean the heads are. Theres absolutely no oil varnish. Looks like brand new heads. There was some carbon buildup on the pistons but nothing major. The crosshatch was still clearly visible within the bore and there wasn't even a carbon ridge at the top of the cylinder like ive experienced on other high mileage motors. Not bad for 194k!

Yeah, these engines are tanks.

If you're not aware, good way to remove old hoses (but probably only worth it if you do it often) is to get an assortment of bent pokers, like large dentist tools with screwdriver handles. An actual screwdriver can't get into as tight spaces, but also works fine. Use it to break the seal around the hose and spray penetrant around it. If it's really stubborn, let it sit. I worked on boats and this method works very well and maintains the hoses for reuse.

Cold pistons are going to rock in the bores a little bit. You should see how much my wisecos rock in the bore when cold, at .003" wall clearance.





I've pretty much seen most EJ22T intakes really clean upon teardown. No EGR helps that situation immensly.

Got the engine completely torn down today...

Rod bearing on #2 is completely gone, rod is toast and the crank is scarred... however the block appears to be unhurt aside from some light metal shavings. So now im on the lookout for a rod & crankshaft!!


What engines share rods with the ej22t? Im going to try and find a reman crank with oversized bearings.

Any of the early EJ22 or EJ18 engines will have the parts you need.

Thank you so much! Its nice to see there are forums out there who are actually helpful.

Well guys its completely torn down now and in the process of being cleaned.. most of the bearings look bad and indicate oil starvation even though the oil level was fine.. then i started looking closer.

the engine has an aftermarket oil pump which actually caused the bearing failure. I found 3 of the 5 screws that hold the rotor plate on were backed out and was bleeding oil pressure off outside of the plate, causing a low pressure condition and destroying the bearings.

Good news is that my block appears to be in good condition and im in the process of rebuilding it now.

That makes more sense. I was wondering how you had such a failure from what seemed like pretty standard flogging. Cheap bastards—what does an OEM oil pump cost? $80? I can't imagine it's over $40 more than some aftermarket unit.

LOL yeah i know. Well the engine has 194k on it and it was definitely not maintained, it was covered in oil gunk. Ive never even driven the car, i picked it up knocking so i have NO idea how it was driven but i suspect it wasnt nicely lol.

Im currently trying to find a reman crank & o/s bearings to throw in it along with a few new rods.

Regardless of the knock the engine still needed a rebuild, it had a TON of blowby. When i took the pistons out today i found the oil control rings to be seized into the pistons.

BTW all of my oil squirters were still in the block

I know with Clevite and Federal Mogul you can get .25 and .50mm undersizes.

Yep,
fortunately most reman cranks come with properly clearanced bearings & a warranty so i will try that route first. If not i will have this crank machined

Subaru cranks are very durable. Have you thought about picking up a good junkyard crank and using standard sized bearings? Might be a cheaper option.