Help please? (Car died driving home, $400 later and it just barely starts up)
 

https://youtu.be/5DcIb0eJUiM

Replaced MAF and some fluids. But this thing won’t make it down the street in this condition. Any and all advice is appy


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Appreciated**


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Just spit-balling here, but do you know if it had the valve spring recall done?

I don’t know for sure. Is there a place I could check that?


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Carfax?

By the way, do all the belts look ok?

motor is toast. guessing the guy had the recall done then unloaded it on you. 7k ish to fix.

I feel really bad for you. Your 86 experience should have been a good one. I've been there on this

Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but your coolant reservoir looks like it's really over-filled and isn't using the normal blue coolant.

Yup. Goner. Hopefully, you can make a decent score on a salvaged long block. Really sorry about that.

Belts are all solid. Mechanic came out and said I’ll probably end up needing to replace the entire short block


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Get a new one. The shop will also redo the heads and valves. Don't get anything used.

Well, that's too bad - :(

What puzzles me is that you said the car was running fine then you did some routine maintenance, now it hardly runs. You may try putting the old MAF back in the car to see if it makes a difference - :iono:

That engine sounds like an old flathead V-8 that has a distributor half full of water - :eyebulge:

OK, so you don't have a distributor. - ;)

You mentioned that you have had to charge the battery several times. What kind of voltage to you get at the battery without the car running? The battery sounded weak.

What trouble codes are being thrown at you? If you don't know, I suggest you invest in a code reader.

Since the engine hasn't "blown up", I reckon there is a massive fuel delivery or massive spark malfunction.

Let us know what you find out.

Waiting for the holiday weekend to be over so I can hear back from the lot I bought it from on if/when the recall work got done.


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The routine maintenance happened as a result of the failure. The guy that sold me the thing assured me up down left and right (but not in writing) that the car had been meticulously cared for. Only invested in the new MAF after getting P0102. And as far as the battery goes after the failure it was seen to be bleeding. Not sure if this was a cause or result of the failure. Thank you for your comments, will keep you updated


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**update** I’ve resigned myself to getting a salvaged short block after a second mechanic has told me that the problem is a thrown rod. so as I scour pull-a-part and other salvage yards, I ask for your advice on getting through this step as quickly as possible. This thing is my daily driver and getting it road worthy again ASAP is my top priority.


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Thank you ! I was told by a friend that a used block would be fine but even just thinking about that out loud it sounds silly. The only thing that worries me is the price but I’m already in the “getting it financed” realm of things so I might as well get it done right lol


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OK.

Are you sure the new MAF is correctly installed and getting power?

The battery started "bleeding"? Do you mean leaking or running down easily?

A weak battery can cause the ECU to do all kinds of weird things.

I'm going to ring up ol @steve99 for you. He is pretty smart with these engines. Maybe he can help.

I hope you get it sorted out soon. Keep us posted.

STORY TIME

The last time I heard an engine run like that was a flathead V-8 Ford engine on a trailer. The painter was using it to spray paint our barn back on the farm. He had removed 4 spark plugs and screwed in pipe fittings that led to his air powered spray gun.

Yep, them old flatheads were tough - :thumbsup:

Readi g thread seem the maintenwnce was done after is started making bad noises but maybe im reading it wrong.


Video doesnt sound good does sound mechanical


Could try unplugging maf sensor completly and starting car with maf disconnected it will run vasic limp mode but should run.

the price is slightly higher however you’ll have a new motor and there is a lot of comfort in that. I can not stress enough how important it is to use a qualified Subaru shop that has A LOT of experience building the FA 20. If the timing cover isn’t installed properly and sealant isn’t applied correctly you could be back in the same boat again.

Is it really only slightly higher? That's a ton more work in labor than just swapping an engine.

imo, i don't consider used parts a value-added option unless they're no more than 1/2 the cost of the new option, though i prefer to spend no more than 1/3 the cost of the new option. that way, if the first doesn't work out, i've saved enough to justify a second try.

Depends if you’re talking shortblocks however used I’m sure that would be a longblock which would be less expensive. I’ll tell you what IS expensive is swapping a used engine and then finding out it was bad after a short time and then going with a new shortblock after all. I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago.

Point taken.. im sure its in the back of everyone's mind who has to buy a used engine.

Are you getting any code? It did sound pretty bad and first thing came to mind was the valves too. Also a bad ignition module would make it run really bad too but probably would t sound like that…

Find out where the valve job was done at. You wouldn’t be able to register car in California if it’s not done. Not certain about other states

When my motor went there were no code so I thought that maybe it was an exhaust gasket or something.

btw, did you rebuild with the 2017+ shortblock or the 2013-2016 one? I'm kinda curious if the new shortblock with stronger pistons can be use for rebuilt with 2013 heads

I used the IAG shortblock. They upgrade the oiling, use slotted King’s rod bearings and forged internals among other niceties. The motor is designed to handle 500 hp and I’m NA so not worried about it having issues at the track again.

+1 on that being a blown engine. No need to keep trying to diagnose it.

Fastest solution will be to find the newest, lowest mileage engine you can and do the harness/sensor changes needed to bolt it into the older car.

Well boys. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...32e065279a.jpg
$7,119.25.
Is it worth it?
The dealership won’t give me anything for it since it starts but technically doesn’t run.
Thank you to everyone who’s been in this thread. You guys are the best


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The recall was done in Texas and I bought/ registered the car in Georgia. Had it towed into a Toyota dealership where I bought the rav4 I owned before the frs. The news has been... yeah not great


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that’s about right however I’d use a Subaru dealer.

for $4k in labor, it'd be worthwhile to me to give it a shot myself. but that's still $3k in parts...

it really boils down to the fact that it's going to cost you something. it's $7k to get back to 'running status' where it would be worth what you started with, or you could sell/donate the car.. scrap is something like $300 for complete vehicles, or depending on your finances, something like 'cars for kids' could also allow you to claim a higher tax deduction for a higher year-end-net gain, but i'm no tax guy, so i don't know all the nuances with it.

Was my first thought seeing that labor charge. For four grand, given a garage in which to work, I could buy all the tools and books I needed to start from scratch.

I would do a engine swap would work out cheaper

I was trying to add up what it would cost to actually get all the tools and an engine hoist starting from nothing. I think $1,000 would buy all that's absolutely needed to perform the job. And I'd sure learn a lot along the way!

Experience gained is priceless! I say shit or get off the pot. Less talk - more do! :D

lol, my list starts off with 'buy shed', and 'find time'. main component i can't get right now is an engine hoist, as the garage is entirely out of storage space at the moment.
but i desperately could use an engine hoist...

Having a decent space for the tear-down is key. It's def not a shade tree job. Engine hoist was one of the last pieces of the puzzle for me. Took me MANY years to get into a decent work space.

i figure i can use it for deep fried turkey as well for thankgiving!

it would also help some loading scrap into the truck...

I talked to Bubba about this and he says is all you need is a piece of chain, a log and two 6 packs of beer, (to lure 3 neighbors over) - :iono: