sgt_mayhem Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hey all. Just got back from the mechanic after my '90 Legacy wagon was burning oil on a long road trip. He says he thinks it's a busted piston/ring, but that the car's not worth digging into to fix it. I love this car. And I have no money right now, so my question for the experienced is, how difficult is it to tear down the engine and replace these parts myself? I figured Legacy people were more likely to be able to tell me whether or not the process is going to be feasible. Many thanks for any help y'all can give. ~Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poonhandler Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Well if you have a book and some time I'm sure you could do it. Pulling the motor would be pretty easy. I've never actually replace a piston ring other then the school I graduated from. I think you need a few special tools but the book would tell you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqc151 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 your better off finding a complete engine, faster and cheaper than what you want to achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_mayhem Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 your better off finding a complete engine, faster and cheaper than what you want to achieve. I was thinking that might be the case....what kinds of places would I start looking to find a complete engine? I'm in the Portland, Oregon area, if that makes any difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Check any of the 4 pick n pulls around the area. They now offer a 1 year warranty for cheap. -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Well the thing is if it's messed up the cylinder wall at all you'll spend a freakin ton. If those are fine it can probably be polished and a new ring installed...a lot of work though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_mayhem Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Annoying...took it to my regular mechanic and he says it's a rod bearing. still wants to rebuild the engine for around 2,000. I've never had to replace an engine, obviously...does what he's saying make sense? why not just fix the issue rather than total rebuild? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_mayhem Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Annoying...took it to my regular mechanic and he says it's a rod bearing. still wants to rebuild the engine for around 2,000. I've never had to replace an engine, obviously...does what he's saying make sense? why not just fix the issue rather than total rebuild? What I mean is, he wants to put in another used engine, not rebuild mine. I guess what I'm really asking is, would it be better to rebuild mine? He'd be swapping half of my engine components over anyway, the ones that are still good. Just stressin' a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Rebuilding a motor is expensive, but it does give piece of mind of knowing how long it will last. Just swapping a motor it way quicker and more cost effective, most of the time about half the cost. The EJ22's are hard to break, swap in a low mileage junk yard motor and drive it till it dies. -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I guess he wants to rebuild the whole thing to maintain the balance. To get to the crankshaft you have to tear apart the entire engine block anyway. Literally to the point where the block is in half. It's a pain and it would be best to replace everything while you're in there. And it's a lot of parts that aren't exactly cheap. Then you look at labor on top of that and yeah, I could see it adding up to $2,000 pretty quick. On that note I side with the junk engine. Sometimes you can find ones that are still in the car and have them run it for you. Rev it up to 5 grand and look for smoke. Listen for knocking, crank bearings...well, anything weird. They're cheap, effective and a lot easier to change out than doing something with the crank or pistons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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