Well....I think I have squeezed about as much out of this engine as I can without a major overhaul. I have a 2.5 SOHC with 205K miles. I have a 5 speed Forester and am a fairly aggressive driver. The car had 155K miles when I bought it.

At the very least the car needs a complete valve job. Probably needs new Piston rings.....and at that point would only make sense to replace all the crank bearings. Not sure if it would make sense to replace or regrind the CAMS and Crank.

Parts alone are in the $ 700.00 range...and much of this work would have to be performed by a top notch machine shop.

I am thinking of buying a low mileage Jap import or getting a low mileage junkyard pull. Looks like I have options at below $ 2,000...and that is delivered.

Then I will either part out the current engine....or slowly build it back up and sell rebuilt or find a car for sale that needs this engine.

does it have massive blow-by???

knock??

valve-tick???


???????

what are the compression and leakdown numbers/percentages???

does it have massive blow-by???

knock??

valve-tick???


???????

what are the compression and leakdown numbers/percentages???

I believe I was getting valve tick. I took it up to 4,500 RPM and the TICK got very loud and the engine stalled. Was able to turn the engine over but ran very rough.

I pulled the engine and have removed the head that I believe the ticking sound was coming from. I inspected the valves (Which are brand new...I just installed new Intake valves about 3 months ago). I of the valves is not seating and there is significant clearance between the edge of the valve and the valve seat when the valve is in the closed position. Also, the same valve already has quite a bit of carbon build up on it's backside.

So I believe that the guides and the seals are in need of replacement...and the seats need to be reground.

Machine shops are closed in Austin today due to the weather (When we get Ice in central Texas we shut down :lol: ) I will call around for quotes once the weather clears later this week.

But if the price for parts and labor breaks the $ 1,000 range...for valves...then I may look into getting a used or rebuilt.