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As some of you already know, i have no compression in cylinder 4. Leakdown results showed leakage past the piston rings. Compression in the other 3 are ok. At this time the car has 108k. It has been consuming oil at about a quart a week. Instead of honing and rebuilding this block i am just going to drop an ej257 shortblock and rebuild my heads. I will have about a 2 week downtime while the heads are out being rebuilt by Heads by Drew.

 

Saturday my wife and I drove all over picking up the parts that were needed, and getting the short block.

open?id=0B7N2GbDmFnDZcE1wVDYtRTFNS1E&authuser=0open?id=0B7N2GbDmFnDZcE1wVDYtRTFNS1E&authuser=0open?id=0B7N2GbDmFnDZcE1wVDYtRTFNS1E&authuser=0view?usp=sharing

Yesterday I only had a couple of hours to work on it, i was able to get all the small parts up top off, intercooler, air filter housing etc, as well as the entire intake manifold/tgv assembly.

 

http://i.imgur.com/DS4SgeN.jpg

 

Very happy to find a very small amount of turbo shaft play. No bent fins on compressor side. Measured radial play at .0025".

I will be doing small amounts at a time, doing this all at home. sucks without a lift.

Will be staying stock for now, except for a tranny cooler, and a catless grimm speed up pipe. IF monies allow after, will do stage 2 at 1500 miles on the block.

 

EJ257 short block, gasket set, conti timing kit, transmission cooler, oil pump, oil pickup, grimmspeed catless up pipe all right there.

 

http://i.imgur.com/4bfHgub.jpg

 

 

Shopping List:

 

*Subaru Parts*

Ej257 Shortblock from Subaru

10103AC040 1694.97

Gasket Set

10105AB010 261.35

Head Bolts (12)

11095AA042 100.92

Oil Cooler

21311AA051 214.61

Cam Plugs

11051AA070 (4) 8.52

PCV Curved hose

99071AC220 6.82

Power Steering Suction Hose

34611AG22A 23.76

Power Steering O-ring

34439FG000 1.48

Exhaust Cam sprocket

13049AA041 71.26

Exhaust Cam sprocket

13054AA033 71.26

Oil Control Valves (2)

10921AA020 176.80

Stock TMIC NEW

21821AA021 289.60

New Stock BPV

14471AA130 73.75

Oil Pump stock 10mm (2)

15010AA300 277.42

 

*Grimm Speed Parts*

Grimm Speed Catless Up Pipe

003001 234.99

Grimm Speed Extra thick gaskets

020040 105.99

 

*Fred Beans Parts*

Thermostat

no part # 22.46

Oil return Hose

no part # 8.68

 

Heads rebuilt 525.00

Heads by Drew- Aurora, CO

 

ARP Head Studs 180.54

 

Rebuilt VF-40 from JMP6889928

$475.00

 

O'reilly Various Supplies

86.75

 

ATP Turbo.com

12mm Banjo Bolt -4an Male

ATP-FTG-018 18.95

 

ANPlumbing . com

Tee 3 way male

982404 7.88

10mm Banjo, Male

997641 7.69

Male to A.N. Adapter Male

9919BFF 7.65

-4 AN FEM Swivel to 90 Deg -4 FEM 16"

64192016 20.88

-4 FEM Hose Assy w/ steel ends 8"

64191908 10.98

-4 FEM Hose assy with sttel ends 10"

64191910 11.49

 

Conti Timing belt kit 300.99

 

Used V2 Sub-002 Accessport

Local Member 300.00

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Made a little more progress last night. Drained fluids, wrestled with the turbo heatshields and the down pipe, i really wish i was replacing that pos. The downpipe unbolted easily, however i could not drop it off the mount underneath, the 14mm bolt that mounts to the bracket on the transmission. Finally got it free by jacking the exhaust up a little bit and wedging my prybar between the bracket and the mount, then lowered the exhaust, worked like a charm..

Once i got that off i checked shaft play on the hotside of the turbo. The little bit i was able to detect on the cold side, cannot be felt on the hot side. I did notice something else, that is rather alarming, and will be needing attention before installing the new block. The wastegate on the turbo is pretty much rusted shut, wont move. Access was a bit of an issue, but i really cant even pry the gate open. The actuator is pretty well rusted up- its all soaking in pb blaster. Maybe this is part of the problem with the engine blowing.

 

Have any of you come across this? what did you do to remedy? IIRC, the wastegate is not a serviceable item, and I am really not trying to buy a new turbo.

10422928_10202751065126765_7832570580360067126_n.jpg?oh=fa62e08581a2f6cdc140b61abfe64727&oe=54830A72&__gda__=1421690893_47cab788a3bfabf2c4a50973ab82cbf2

 

10628247_10202751064806757_6982109352686397368_n.jpg?oh=ba446a8502c795a87fe00b0fdcf2302a&oe=54B693DF

Have a small oil leak somewhere, possibly the port on the block for the oil seperator? I know i have seen this buildup down here since i purchased it.

10253990_10202751064686754_5978363591291611309_n.jpg?oh=7e8a32be60946058896d35436c2747d3&oe=54BF01EC

 

1601362_10202751065246768_2628138388326342890_n.jpg?oh=17df68f7b68dc06c96f2997dbf0ce8c0&oe=5483A43E&__gda__=1421356213_a6b25b2f5f40b66023fc07926e2e1a58

this threw me for a quick headspin, i was looking for a valve with the petcock in it to drain the radiator, its just a small phillips head plastic screw on the pass. side of the radiator.

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The above mentioned plastic radiator drain plug. threads are very thin, very fragile (Italian?)

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This is the tar like substance i am finding in my brand new, less than 3k miles turbo inlet. Shit is like a resign, very sticky.

10414579_10202751065886784_7994694502077522128_n.jpg?oh=7cfea5b1d3caee2e402b743145da0bb9&oe=54BDE17F

more tar.

 

 

Thats all for last night.

 

A few things left for tonight then i will hopefully have it out by the end of the night.

Rad fans, lower rad hose, tq converter bolts, starter, trans bolts.

 

***********Update 10/5/14**********

 

Got very little done most of this week, late nights at work pretty much prohibited any progress after work.

 

Had no problems removing the last few items, engine however did not want to seperate from the transmission. I was able to work a prybar in places and finally got them to seperate.

1620864_10202788084532227_5868716747942466591_n.jpg?oh=ee2c195cc85b2dce27c87dfd5745159d&oe=5482C6F3&__gda__=1422307704_ba3835494f1ab2edce9ade2b02a38220

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Found when trying to mount the engine to the stand that the flanges on my stand are incredibly large. The trasmission bolts dont even run all the way through. Ran around town and all i could find in the 10x1.25 were 100 mm bolts which were also too short. maybe two or three threads would actually be holding.

1461039_10202788086812284_8283555934698052297_n.jpg?oh=ce4eb93f2540eb4fbf143f9a5ef25ed6&oe=54B54DEB&__gda__=1421738450_f47932eec2694e5d597eb593646a123a

 

so im in search of m10 x 1.25 115mm long bolts, ive heard 100mm is tops before you need to look into titanium...

So went ahead and set the block on a tire and went to work on the timing covers, and timing components.

Take off the tensioner first then the 5 idler pullies.

10703671_10202788086572278_1778997952700519675_n.jpg?oh=0ffd6eb122fd4eeaf169cf8ee766360e&oe=54B152D1&__gda__=1422306876_c0e65cfabc99672b725dd048723c087d

 

then with the company 23 intake and exhaust cam tools i went after the most nervous part yet for me, the FU cam bolts. Both Intakes loosened up with no drama.

10289975_10202788089132342_8773849791162389494_n.jpg?oh=4f050d6ce659329d8155b4cbcedaec5c&oe=5482FF7A

exhaust tool on top, intake bottom.

 

10348526_10202788087812309_2089400290938578981_n.jpg?oh=21cd86836d6da770021ddb1cf71d5aa6&oe=54C03630&__gda__=1422999375_39efa1bc042bbc87d6d2e255a1be257b

 

10660159_10202788088412324_2135403330561740708_n.jpg?oh=14961ddff06c49b08a50c0017189a77f&oe=54B70AB4&__gda__=1421383649_341cebfa7e0fb5fa5614ecceead6a05e

 

The exhaust camshaft bolts however were not so fun to deal with. The righthand head, the bolt has rounded, and when it rounded it rounded my $65 Mac tools bit. That pissed me off. So now what, Im looking at two options. And only one seems reasonable. I could weld a nut onto the head of that screw cap and hope it holds to over 300+ft/lbs of break away torque, or cut the ****** off. Welding is really not an option. time to dust off the dremel.

10710526_10202788087372298_2048971769727776764_n.jpg?oh=91cb5de9afcf4bbf871eee85a8b2c2b0&oe=54D07C8B

Its in there solid. Already ordered new ones from tic to avoid this in the future.

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Sorry for lack of updates recently, have been very busy. Got a lot done on saturday, I finally made a good bit of progress.

I tracked down bolts for the engine stand locally in Denver at a place called AAA Metric. 10x1.25 120mm. Got the old motor off the tire and onto the stand to continue battling the exhaust camshaft sprocket bolts.

10665153_10202800660126609_3576365554259614648_n.jpg?oh=5ba2677107e486cedd3993f269891f79&oe=54BAD4A5&__gda__=1421167344_7bd8b5cc38aa53949506280ca4d9b400

 

In a separate thread it was suggested to drill the bolt with various sizes of bits. Anywhere from 21/64" to 1/2". So, Drilled it out with consecutive sized bits from 21/64, 23/64, 25/64, 27/64, 29/64, 31/64. Drill it deeper than the head of the bolt, but dont go too deep because about an inch into the cam is the threaded portion for the sprocket bolt. Since this was exhaust side, no avcs, i wasnt worried about any metal shavings getting into the camshaft. If this happens to you on an intake cam sprocket, liberally coat the drill bit with axle grease, or similiar heavy grease to capture metal shavings.

After drilling other members had suggested to wack the 10mm hex socket into the bolt with a hammer and loosen the bolt- This did not work. The drilling did not release enough clamping force.

Dremel is shit, its old as hell and wont spin up faster than 2k rpm. SO, at this point I took it in the pants like a champ and quartered the bolt with my grinding wheel. when quartering the bolt the sprocket sustained damage. Not a lot, could probably get away with using them still, but will replace them for the piece of mind.

1000270_10202815053646438_6744374368542211731_n.jpg?oh=9602c2499048e08f9b8c465b30b17780&oe=54F31C86

Once the bolt was quartered it basically fell apart with a hammer and chisel, what was left (below) came out nicely by hand.

10703880_10202815053166426_1236932024928368153_n.jpg?oh=715914c588869f09eb3f92490d38cb34&oe=54ABE9F0

 

10704038_10202815053326430_8612664137669828384_n.jpg?oh=3fb1019edb2c92bf9face7fd7ea00616&oe=54F0ACE6

 

10169177_10202815053486434_5676796230456003383_n.jpg?oh=65ee94716f8e9301714ea7772b89819d&oe=54B003AC

It is important to note, that when youre drilling these bolts, hold the camshaft, use the belt trick, especially on the exhaust side as the company 23 tools i am using do not hold that sprocket well, not much to grab onto, and also you dont want that camshaft spinning if the drill bit sticks, possibly smacking the opposite valves in the cylinder.

10665094_10202815053006422_5601205625003327927_n.jpg?oh=10d07fd420a03214832bb90b4c1aae5d&oe=54F15347&__gda__=1425154129_c30f1ea378095f57824e1b56d1ac491a

 

The left hand head was much simpler, and much faster. I only drilled 21/64", then quartered the bolt, the with hammer and chisel i was able to work the bolt counter clockwise and out.

1898088_10202836340218589_5035406344872057087_n.jpg?oh=6f81d8484510ca130da19308e86ae6f1&oe=54AC7D23&__gda__=1421261716_24f0d44e769c0f5808ed7c4dc9c9fdc7

 

10711115_10202836339338567_8606844661522892_n.jpg?oh=469682bab89a6ea29f3575195bc4a402&oe=54EDF16D&__gda__=1421552630_bf76e3500748c68fc479ab6928b379db

Once it is quartered those grooves I cut made it real easy to walk it out with the chisel and hammer.

 

The TiC FU cam bolts arrived

 

10626774_10202859713122897_2243441809497806470_n.jpg?oh=b80fe8e135ddefd9cebdce55b82dd349&oe=54AE43F4

 

New exhaust cam sprockets

10670106_10202864669406801_2159483357900265681_n.jpg?oh=028c51436e3ab7221d411e0467d4c18f&oe=54F27153

 

With all camshaft sprockets off i was able to get the cylinder heads off, real easy. The camshafts need to come out, mark all camshaft caps with i for intake and then cylinder # with a mark identifying direction and an E for exhaust with cylinder number and arrow for direction. once the cams are off, you can get to all 6 cylinder head bolts. 14mm 12 point socket in 1/2' drive is needed, along with breaker bar 1/2" with some length and possibly a cheater bar. at work my 1/2" impact breaks them free no problem, at home, not so much.

 

cylinders 1 & 3

10703800_10202836338938557_7770806742977885589_n.jpg?oh=1e3d63281a2dbad1c4c9caa6c4ac4489&oe=54B1714C&__gda__=1422183416_b45b12a8888767bf8f245db7ded90ed2

 

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Cylinders 2 & 4

 

7088_10202836338338542_4170853820515258170_n.jpg?oh=f03df57a5c5e731747f34eaca792a1a7&oe=54BEE755

 

1656158_10202836338658550_8746065483970884459_n.jpg?oh=7057032090e6b521ac15999ce1d25157&oe=54B0A86A&__gda__=1420568064_839fd96918be3e1d71c8678e6f94d600

 

Cylinder 4 has burned exhaust valves. This cylinder was also consuming quite a bit of oil, enough to leave about a 1/8' ring of carbon along the ring ridge in that cylinder. Also has some slight scoring which makes me feel better, I was worried what I saw in the boroscope wasnt actually there. .

 

The heads were dropped off at the machine shop on Monday, so now I wait.

 

Oh yeah, this happened this weekend as well.

10711091_10202864781609606_16736944042283478_n.jpg?oh=c84ad4b62dd6b860cbd495a124647c80&oe=54BE0EE4&__gda__=1425121877_faf153c149b8f1aeefab303c0b2ec69c

 

Used V2 from a member of a local subie club.

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Good Luck. My click here link in my sig has some good info.

 

Remember to clean all the grounds while the engine is out.

 

I removed the intake with the TGV's still attached, as a unit.

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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It's explained about 3 or 4 pages back in my thread.

 

It has something to do with the number of times they had to fit things to meet the Spec.

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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Honda Civic tranny mount bolts, are more then long enough, I have a set of them for my engine stand. I think I even had to use washers and some of the bolts.

 

See my click here link there may be a picture there.

 

Also I posted a link, a few days ago, to metric bolts in JmP's sticky at the top of the 4th gen forum.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/idea-web-links-saved-various-parts-219238.html

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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I have B5 pistons in my new block. Nothing to worry about.

 

I assume by "drove all over picking things up" you mean you drove to the Springs and went to Heuberger? If so, good job!

 

Did your stand not come with bolts? Mine had bolts that, while they threaded OK, weren't exactly the right bolts for the engine. I didn't use the trans studs at the bottom.

 

Subscribed (and excited!) to see your progress! Thanks for using my list and referencing my build-- This is one of the reasons why I made it!

 

Just a word of encouragement -- You're starting out really well. I don't think you're going to have any major issues as long as you take your time and don't cut corners.

 

You can do this, and it's gonna be awesome.

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I have B5 pistons in my new block. Nothing to worry about.

 

I assume by "drove all over picking things up" you mean you drove to the Springs and went to Heuberger? If so, good job!

 

Did your stand not come with bolts? Mine had bolts that, while they threaded OK, weren't exactly the right bolts for the engine. I didn't use the trans studs at the bottom.

 

Subscribed (and excited!) to see your progress! Thanks for using my list and referencing my build-- This is one of the reasons why I made it!

 

Just a word of encouragement -- You're starting out really well. I don't

think you're going to have any major issues as long as you take your time and don't cut corners.

 

You can do this, and it's gonna be awesome.

 

Yesser, wife and I drove down to the springs and picked it up. Its only about 70 miles round trip for us.

 

My stand- i am not sure where it comes from. got it about 10 years back with a 67 chevy c10 with a 454 on the stand. If its big block specific that would explain the large ears/flanges. It did come with bolts, just old standard sizes. I found what i was looking for yesterday at a small hardware shop by where i work, place called AAA Metric, what a selection of bolts..

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Ive already ran into my first 'issue'.. I was able to get the intake cam bolts loose, however, bank 1 exhaust rounded, i was well over 600-700 ft/lbs trying to break it. 3 feet of cheater and my 215lbs at full bore... Did you run into any problems removing those two? Im really not looking forward to cutting them off, im hoping once i do that i will be able to remove the rest of it out of the camshaft by hand..

 

Just a little bit of head banging going on, i really wanted to have the heads off and at the machine shop yesterday...

 

Im not too worried about this, 10+ years as a master auto tech, ive pulled countless engines. Thanks for subscribing Tris, and thank you, and max for your writeups.

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Yesser, wife and I drove down to the springs and picked it up. Its only about 70 miles round trip for us.

 

My stand- i am not sure where it comes from. got it about 10 years back with a 67 chevy c10 with a 454 on the stand. If its big block specific that would explain the large ears/flanges. It did come with bolts, just old standard sizes. I found what i was looking for yesterday at a small hardware shop by where i work, place called AAA Metric, what a selection of bolts..

10665153_10202800660126609_3576365554259614648_n.jpg?oh=5ba2677107e486cedd3993f269891f79&oe=54BAD4A5&__gda__=1421167344_7bd8b5cc38aa53949506280ca4d9b400

 

Ive already ran into my first 'issue'.. I was unable to get the intake cam bolts loose, however, bank 1 exhaust rounded, i was well over 600-700 ft/lbs trying to break it. 3 feet of cheater and my 215lbs at full bore... Did you run into any problems removing those two? Im really not looking forward to cutting them off, im hoping once i do that i will be able to remove the rest of it out of the camshaft by hand..

 

Just a little bit of head banging going on, i really wanted to have the heads off and at the machine shop yesterday...

 

Im not too worried about this, 10+ years as a master auto tech, ive pulled countless engines. Thanks for subscribing Tris, and thank you, and max for your writeups.

 

Yeah. . . those damn cam bolts! Order your TIC bolts now! (Link in my thread during the discussion of same)

 

As far as having mine taken off, I hauled the engine (whole thing!) in the back of the Plymouth Sundance (trying to crane an engine into a "fastback" isn't easy, lemme tell ya!) and drove it to my shop, where they used the Company23 tools to hold the cam gears. It took me probably a couple hours to get the engine in and out, hauled back and forth for what was probably . . 3 or 4 minutes of work with those tools. I did I mention I even paid them $100 for saving my ass?

 

Those bolts are probably the hardest part of the teardown. Shit, you still need the tools to put them back on, too. I suggest finding a local shop who you can either take the engine to, or who will let you borrow them for an afternoon -- It doesn't take long. Maybe ask in your local forum?

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I've ordered the tic fu bolts yesterday and they already shipped! I bought the company 23 tools and they held the cams well, just the inner hex bolts rounded on me. I was using my Mac tools 10mm hex 1/2" drive socket.

Picked up two more from snapon yesterday.

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Max. I've read your click me. I've also read Mr. Tris'. Hoping to avoid a WASPY build (no offense).

 

I ended up pulling the intake and tgvs as one.

 

He's not here anymore, and don't worry about offending him. This whole place offends him. :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
Spoke with the machine shop this morning. Would need to replace all exhaust valves and mill the heads. Deciding to go with a complete rebuild, new valves, springs, and retainers, will cut new seats and put new valve guides in. No eta at the moment as he is working me in. Have some other small things I want to take care of while there is some downtime.
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