Threw a Rod - Suggestions on what to do

[Rebecca]

I stupidly let this kid drive my car without me in it, he basically drove it like an idiot and caused it to throw a rod. I'm livid. I would like to find a different motor to put in it, but don't really know where to start looking for one or if I should just sell my car as is and buy something else. Because I currently don't have a car and I go to school and work. I just love my LGT and I don't know what to do. Some input would be nice please.

[seabass07]

Beat the shit out of the kid until he pays for a new engine?

[RWebb]

Lesson learned.

 

Rental car stock rebuild and be done.

[GTTuner]

Start searching for a used one! They are out there but pricy and hard to find. Expect to pay 3-4K to get this running regardless of the route you take.

 

Grab the retard that blew the motor in the first place, go to the the bank and sieze his bank account.

 

Orrrr, do you have full insurance (collision/comprehensive)?

[lingling1337]

Check your states laws and possibly take him to small claims?

 

Side note, how do you throw a rod? If I were going to try I'd probably just bounce it off the rev limiter till I hear a pop but I can't imagine doing it during driving.

[Rebecca]

Beat the shit out of the kid until he pays for a new engine?

 

Believe me, I want to.

 

Start searching for a used one! They are out there but pricy and hard to find. Expect to pay 3-4K to get this running regardless of the route you take.

 

Grab the retard that blew the motor in the first place, go to the the bank and sieze his bank account.

 

Orrrr, do you have full insurance (collision/comprehensive)?

 

Insurance doesn't cover this. Hopefully I can get him to give me some money....

 

Check your states laws and possibly take him to small claims?

 

Side note, how do you throw a rod? If I were going to try I'd probably just bounce it off the rev limiter till I hear a pop but I can't imagine doing it during driving.

 

I'll see what I can do. And he was driving it in tiptronic and basically redlining it through shifting.....

[Xplosivo1]

What is your level of mechanical ability? These engines are easy to pull, similar to a VW bug. The cheapest route to take wold be to buy a new short block and have your current heads refreshed. Depending on how much damage was done, your heads may be toast. I threw a bearing and the scoring is pretty deep, doubtful I'll be able to polish them out. I purchased a complete long block from Phoenix Performance the price is competetive but shipping from PA to CA killed any benefit.

In my opinion, after having made many stupid mistakes buying and selling cars you are better off repairing what you have. If these cars are taken care of they will last a very long time. In the long run, if you spend 4k on repairing the car you love you know its history vice spending 4k on a used car that could break down any moment. This forum is full of good advice, if there is anything we can help you with we will...Just ask!

[Xplosivo1]

You can get brand new factory short block for around $1900 from the vendors here. It will require a lot of swapping parts from your new motor which requires a higher level of mechanical ability. If you can afford a long block it is much simpler to do. The one I bought came with everything already set up (oil pan & pump, wate pump, heads, timing belt w/ timing set etc...). The only thing I really have to do is switch over the exhaust and intake manifolds w/ associated wiring and piping. It's not really that hard just time consuming looking up all the proper procedures. Even if you don't have a lot of mechanical ability you can search for "vacation pix" and get all the remval/installaiton procedures. Good luck!

[Max Capacity]

For the DIY, here http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/got-some-new-stuff-engine-r-r-184106.html

[Chameleon]

If mechanical ability is limited or rather not venture into the unknown then you beed to find a reputable subaru shop in Ohio.

 

Mead Engineering ??

[Rebecca]

You can get brand new factory short block for around $1900 from the vendors here. It will require a lot of swapping parts from your new motor which requires a higher level of mechanical ability. If you can afford a long block it is much simpler to do. The one I bought came with everything already set up (oil pan & pump, wate pump, heads, timing belt w/ timing set etc...). The only thing I really have to do is switch over the exhaust and intake manifolds w/ associated wiring and piping. It's not really that hard just time consuming looking up all the proper procedures. Even if you don't have a lot of mechanical ability you can search for "vacation pix" and get all the remval/installaiton procedures. Good luck!

 

Thanks you! I'd rather find the simplest way possible, I'm not going to do it myself, just the smartest and most affordable.

 

For the DIY, here http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/got-some-new-stuff-engine-r-r-184106.html

 

Thanks! But I won't be doing anything myself. lol.

 

If mechanical ability is limited or rather not venture into the unknown then you beed to find a reputable subaru shop in Ohio.

 

Mead Engineering ??

 

Thanks! I'll ask around!

[Chameleon]

Keep us updated ...

[jgross2020]

Be very careful if you buy a used engine make sure it has some type of warranty with it. You don't know who had the engine before or how they treated it. I just replaced my engine went with the short block it was more expensive but I know what I have and plan on keeping the car for a while. If you have someone else to do it make sure they know about these engines. I wouldn't take it to just anyone I was a GM technician for years and I did the job myself because I didn't trust anyone else and I had to do a lot of studying and ask a lot of questions. But you came to the right place for help. Max and a few others really helped me they are very knowledgeable about these cars.

[frank_ster]

I stupidly let this kid drive my car without me in it, he basically drove it like an idiot and caused it to throw a rod. I'm livid. I would like to find a different motor to put in it, but don't really know where to start looking for one or if I should just sell my car as is and buy something else. Because I currently don't have a car and I go to school and work. I just love my LGT and I don't know what to do. Some input would be nice please.

 

there is pretty much nothing he could do that could of caused that that wasnt on its way out already or low on oil.

[rob-2]

I'll see what I can do. And he was driving it in tiptronic and basically redlining it through shifting.....

 

Throwing a rod bearing isn't RPM related. As the rpms rise you get more oil pressure, assuming all other components are working.

 

Unfortunately I don't think the driver is to blame. The car can and will go to redline without problem. Your rod bearing failure is another issue.

 

Poor kid. Probably thought he ruined your car.

 

Expect a rebuild to run $4K. Take a while and you'll need to budget for a rental car.

[frank_ster]

Throwing a rod bearing isn't RPM related. As the rpms rise you get more oil pressure, assuming all other components are working.

 

Unfortunately I don't think the driver is to blame. The car can and will go to redline without problem. Your rod bearing failure is another issue.

 

Poor kid. Probably thought he ruined your car.

 

Expect a rebuild to run $4K. Take a while and you'll need to budget for a rental car.

 

well its sort of rpm related. as the rpm increases the load of accelerating the piston and rod back and forth rises exponentially.

and for arguments sake the bearings would last forever with very little oil at idle.

 

but there was a previous condition or low oil to cause this. because i have beat the f*** s*** out of a few lgts and wrx's rying to make them blow on test drives and no issues.

[Max Capacity]

You'll see in my thread I bought a new OEM ej257 and gasket set for my year car. Have a mechanic remove the engine, take it to a machine shop they use, drop off the new short block at the same machine shop.

 

Have them rebuild your heads and assemble them onto the new short block. Have the mechanic install the new engine.

 

It really should be that simple.

 

You'll see that's basically what I did except I did the engine R&R.

 

Currently my mechanic pulled the tranny, my tranny guy who works at the machine shop, picked it up, rebuild it in his basement, took it back to the mechanic who will install it tomorrow.

 

It really is that simple when you find a mechanic and build a long term relationship with. He knows who he can trust and will send you to the right people.

 

Ask around work, see who people use to fix there cars. My mechanic works on every kind of car out there and trucks too. I would recommend him to anyone. I have been using him for about 30 years. My dad used him. I found out yesterday talking to the machine shop owner, that he (mechanic) bought the garage when he was about 20 y/o. His son works there and another young guy, they both are very respectful of these cars and every car they work on.

 

Ask the guy at the auto parts store's who is good.

[starionesir]

If there is nothing wrong with the block you can have the machine shop polish the crank and give you all the bearing specs needed and even put it together for you need be. Just a thought but need to check cost effectiveness vs going with a new short block like max capacity said. When he said threw a rod I thought he meant threw it through the block. Sounds like he just spun a bearing which is not a huge problem to fix. Hole in the block would be though. And rpm plays a big factor on spinning a bearing as well. Just ask any honda guy especially s2000 guys who like to run crazy high rpm.

[rob-2]

If there is nothing wrong with the block you can have the machine shop polish the crank and give you all the bearing specs needed and even put it together for you need be. Just a thought but need to check cost effectiveness vs going with a new short block like max capacity said. When he said threw a rod I thought he meant threw it through the block. Sounds like he just spun a bearing which is not a huge problem to fix. Hole in the block would be though. And rpm plays a big factor on spinning a bearing as well. Just ask any honda guy especially s2000 guys who like to run crazy high rpm.

 

111K on an 04 Honda S2000. It's seen a lot of high RPMs, track days, autox and on some desert runs sit at rpms higher then the legacy's redline for hours. Not one problem

 

And you're referencing a car that until surpassed by Ferrari had the highest hp per liter in an N/A production car. It's also 110% volume efficient and has no track record of failure. Basically the closest think you'll find to an F1 design in a car under 100K.

[starionesir]

I have had many friends build hondas, and work for honda and they have plenty of bearing failures. If don't believe it google it. Just saying that rpm plays a role in bearing failure among other contributing factors. Not getting in a argument over your s2000 when it has nothing to do with the op question.

[rob-2]

I have had many friends build hondas, and work for honda and they have plenty of bearing failures. If don't believe it google it. Just saying that rpm plays a role in bearing failure among other contributing factors. Not getting in a argument over your s2000 when it has nothing to do with the op question.

 

Tolerances are the key factor between the two motors you're comparing. The "load" on a given bearing, in a given rotation, is lighter due to lower tq figures, but the 2.5 Turbo more puts out my TQ at lower RPMs; but also has higher tolerances. Resulting in there being more oil between the surfaces. RPM's themselves do not wear bearings. A properly lubed bearing surface doesn't make 'contact' with the crank. The F20C and F22C run rather high oil pressure to help overcome the tighter tolerances. There are more rotations in the higher RPM design, but the 'load' is not increased.

 

Neither of these two motor designs EJ255 or F20/F22c have bearing failures in them from design. All the reported cases I've seen of the Honda motor failing was due to poor levels of oil, sweeping turns at the track or the use of dino oil under performance driving conditions.

 

The oil pump or oil pick up on the OP's car may be failing and/or he had low oil level. Any or all would result in low oil pressure resulting in this failure. In an overrev (mechanical) you see the head or heads fail first. Typically the bearing surface can handle it.

 

Or if not the original owner, the prior owner may have had one or all of these problems.

 

As for comments, we're not seeing high bearing failures in the group of regular trackers in the S2000 club. So you can ask a regular Honda guy, like me, and I'll tell you there isn't real world evidence to suggest this is a regular failure. There are regular posts about 'my oil dropped 1.5 qt after 2K of driving' threads. I suspect ignorance, age of car and oil quality will be to blame for nearly all of the failures you see online. For example, there are people who track with M1 5w30.

 

I think quality of oil is getting more attention from Subi as well. You'll notice there cars now suggest a syn blend or full syn as do other manufactures.

[Shello007]

I just picked up mine today. Went to do head gasket and found piston#4 cracked. basically, I bought a short block and had it installed. Shouldn't have you down more than 3-4 days, as long as it's a reputable shop that knows these cars; and should cost you in the vicinty of $4K as stated. I hate how fragile these engines can be. This is my second subaru engine failure, but then again, I ran it for two years with the incorrect tune. ( previous owner stated injectors were 750cc and they weren't). So I guess to the EJ255's credit, running lean and with wrong tune for 2yrs with no physical signs is applaudable.

[ragman]

As others have said, take it easy on the poor guy who was "left holding the bag". Unless he loosened the oil drain plug before romping on it; it really wasn't his fault. Going forward, always check your oil when filling up with gas, and top off.

 

Now, it is what it is. You need a new or rebuilt shortblock. If you know a good engine builder, rebuilding is cheaper. If not, just buy the new shortblock. The Suby dealer in Colorado Springs seems to have the best prices on short blocks that I've seen around.