Taza's Blowing Black Smoke

if you are stripping it down, i would replace everything at once and if you want to make her a bit lumpy it onlt stands to reason to do it while its stripped :lildevil:

be a good time to slip in a turbo too ;)
 
It will only be a minor rebuild. I cannot afford a full rebuild. If I had a spare 5k I would just go and buy a JDM SF Forester STI half cut which is a direct swap into my car, even the wiring swaps over and doesn't need splicing.
But since I don't have that kind of money that won't be happening :( Unless I win the lotto. lol
 
normally you get ported and polished heads not or. porting involves making the ports from the intake manifold to the valve seat larger. on exh side from the valve seat to the manifold is also made larger.

Polishing is where the surface of the ports is polished smooth to make the gases flow faster across the surface. usually only exhaust ports are polished on modern engines.

you can also get larger valves, the valve seat needs to be reground. this allows more air in more exhaust gas out.

also consider shaving the heads to increase the compression ratio. will give more power and fuel econ.
 
i did notice abit better fuel econ when i had the head on my falcon shaved.
 
Well now the car is having hesitation all through the rev range. At 80km/hr there is a horrible vibration through the body of the car but I'm not sure if it's the motor playing up or I bent another rim last time I was offroad again.

Plus the check engine light comes on for 2/3 of the time I drive the car now, but when I check there are no codes stored in the computer :shrug:
 
just had a read of this thread then, and i'm sorry to hear you are having problems again. :cry:

firstly the oily spark plug would not make your car burn that much oil, mine had the same issue and didn't burn a drop.

if i was in your position i see two options. 1. rebuild or replace the engine with a $1500 unit with complete service history, low ks, and compression test- don't cheap out.

2. give up with the car and start again with the xt auto. take out the spacers and sell it. there is only so much money you can invest in one car before giving up- if it were me that would have been a few thousand ago :lol:
 
^ I am thinking maybe just turbo this car. Most Japanese import turbo half cuts have hunder 100,000km on them. Might just take some saving to get one. A Forester STI SF5 half cut would be nice, not major wiring needs to be done as it's all plug and play being from a Foz.
 
just be carefull from Japanese half cuts, as generally the japanese dont service there cars very regularly (a few of my mates have been caught out:cry:) so just make sure it has a service history as you might be wasting your time.. again:shake:
 
rings..

I'll put money on bad piston rings or broken ringlands..!

valve stem seal would only be at start up and or shifting hard ..

white smoke is definitely head gaskets..
 
scooby said:
I'll put money on bad piston rings or broken ringlands..!
Click to expand...

I put my money in it too.. It does blow smoke at start up too.. :(

A turbo conversion(EJ20T 99 Forester) or EJ25 conversion is possibly in sites otherwise it's a rebuild. Just weighing up $$.
 
Hey Taza, check out eBay, there is a few gt's with body damage with no reserve. One of them is an import with apparently a very nice motor, currently at $810. You never know you might get a bargain :biggrin:
 
compression test

taza said:
I put my money in it too.. It does blow smoke at start up too.. :(

A turbo conversion(EJ20T 99 Forester) or EJ25 conversion is possibly in sites otherwise it's a rebuild. Just weighing up $$.
Click to expand...

A quick compression test will tell you for sure
I went through all this on my hatchie with an ej22(mind you it had about 190k on it
 
I will be doing a compression test and leak down test.

I checked for codes and my Forester is poping quite a few :(
Explains why it is running like a dog and struggling to get upto speed everywhere. Good thing I can steel some sensors off my old motor :biggrin: :iconwink:

EDIT: Cleaned and replaced the sensors from the error codes. Car hasn't popped a check engine light in the trip round the block and the hesitation when you accelerate is gone :iconwink: :raspberry:
 
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I've come to the conclusion of what I want to do with my car and it's motor/s.

After speaking to some smart people and people who know Subarus (Subarino & RSR555) I am going to go EJ25. It's my cheapest option while gaining 30% more power and torque. Now if I can source a 2.5l SOHC block it will bolt up directly to everything in my car. My sensors and manifold will bolt straight onto it aswell :) All I will need is a ECU piggy back to supply enough fuel to the block as my ECU and manifold are from a 2.0l.
I want a block with under 200,000km and I will be giving it a minor rebuild while it is out of the car. It can then be swapped (over a weekend) and I should have my car fully functional with adequate performance and economy.
I don't need a turbo even though I'd love one. But at $5000+ for a turbo conversion, plus it would probably break my gearbox it just isn't worth justifying. My car isn't a sports car either and I don't want it to be, so the 2.5 should be a good choice in my opinion.

Anyone know where I can get a decent condition used EJ25? Interstate is alright..
 
I don't need one this this car, I reckon it would just be too much power and wreck the car. The 2.5l motor has more low end torque than a 2.0l turbo of any sorts anyway, which is what I want. In a fully road spec car though it's a different story ;)
 
Gidday Taza

Sounds like good thinking to me, mate ... :)

[EDIT]

The 2.5L N/A has about 27% more torque at much lower revs (and with a much flatter torque curve from around 1800 to 6000 rpm), in a body that's about 6.5% heavier than yours. Also significantly higher power, but that's largely irrelevant for real world motoring ...

Don't forget that your gearing is all very different from the SG Foresters too.

Your first and second are just a tad lower than the SG; third and fourth are identical; fifth is much lower in your car than in the SGs, as is the FD ratio. LR is much lower in your car also.
Your stock tyre size is as near as damnit in rolling circumference to the 215/60x16 on the SG.

All this translates into being more careful of your accelerator foot when in LR first and second with the 2.5L, otherwise you might break something ...

I reckon that I would break something serious in mine if I were to pop the clutch at (say) 4000 rpm on a hard/resistant surface in LR first. This will go double for you with your lower gearing.

I don't know, but I am guessing that your CV joints and shafts are probably bigger, heavier and stronger than those in my SG. I know that the ones in my '93 Impreza were! All to keep the weight down in the later models.

[end edit]
 
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