What's inside?

Ever wonder what the inside of your Subaru motor looks like?
Following up from my thread "That funny rattle" https://permies.com/t/371523/funny-rattle-noise.
For years now, when I needed a Subaru motor, I purchased a Japanese "take-out" motor.
Due to stringent pollution standards, cars are taken out of service around 50,000 miles, and their engines and transmissions are sold to countries with less stringent standards.
And most of those engines arrive right here in the USA... it doesn't say much about our concern for environmental damage.

My own personal favorite years are the "second generation" Outbacks built from 2000 to 2004.
With a little care, I consider them to be bulletproof, the best of the best!
Seeing as that was 22 years ago, these take-out engines have been rising in price and becoming harder to locate.
Due to their design, using a split case to hold the crankshaft and pistons.
Normal machine shops can not reliably bore cylinders or crankshaft journals to rebuild these engines.
There is a small shop in Medical Lake, WA, just outside Spokane, that specializes in rebuilding only Subaru and Toyota engines.
Specialty equipment is used to properly hold these blocks to get a perfect alignment between case halves.
I was able to purchase a rebuilt "short block" (no cylinder heads) for a few hundred less than a take out motor would have cost me.

The following is a picture heavy documentation of the internal parts and pieces that make up a 2003 2.5 Subaru engine.



 

While we can get "what appears to be high quality service" on our aircraft motors we do so at such a ridiculous cost, that it is hard to believe.  I bring this up as we have flat 4's and 6's.  with 1950 technology in mfg and research involved.   Volumes of info on these on how to rebuild, but not so much on how to incorporate new NON EXisting parts.

So crazy that often we hear and see rebuild cost of $35-45K per engine.

Granted the volume of Subie engines is far beyond any aircraft engine catergory, but still.

Enjoyed your engine breakdown photos Tom, looks like your well on your way for a good to go car again.

Scott

How much does that engine weigh?

That is a beautiful piece of equipment ...

What you see in the final photo is called a long block, and it weighs apx #200

Welcome to the second engine Subaru club! Guess we have that in common too. Our 2003 Forester is on engine #2. Much cheaper than buying a whole new car these days.

Good choice, Matt!
From 2005 on, they are not the same 400,000-mile car.
Repair whatever goes out next (rear wheel bearings) and keep that car for another twenty years.
Do you try to do your own repairs?
Know how to change the timing belt at home yet?

thomas rubino wrote:
Do you try to do your own repairs?
Know how to change the timing belt at home yet?

I used to do most repairs. Then I had a bad experience replacing a half axle. New one just WOULD NOT quite fit. Turns out I'd pulled it apart inside the rubber boot. But that took so long to figure out I got a bit jaded and now I pick and choose the suspension repairs I want to fool with!

The new mystery is a popping noise deep down inside whenever there is a momentum shift. Possibly a motor mount. I can't find it, my wife is tired of hearing it, and it's going to the shop soon.

Also can't figure out why the gas gauge is stuck at 3/4. I tested the sending units at the wire harnesses on top of the two sides of the tank and they seem to be working (they change resistance when rocking the car back and forth.) So it might be the cluster itself.