Well I have finally come to the point where I have to do something about the motor in my 2001 RS. I started to change the clutch this last weekend and noticed that there was oil dripping from between the block and head. I have been smelling burning oil for a while now, but could never locate the leak. I guess it was dripping onto the headers and burning off. The radiator was also very low and coolant that came out of it was very dark and burnt smelling. There is no water in the coolant. I have never seen a head gasket fail this way, but either way, something needs to be done.

Now comes the question, what do I do? Since I am asking this in the conversion forum, rather than the NA forum, one could guess I was interested in swapping something else into the car. I have about $2000 total for this project. Would it better to swap in a WRX motor, or just replace the shortblock and build an "aftermarket" turbo kit? I know most people will say that I will have a hard time finding a swap for $2000, but if I go that route I could possibly sell my EJ251 and increase my budget a bit.

I have a lead on a 2000 JDM WRX motor for a pretty good price. I could get a full front clip for pretty close to my budget. Its not an STI motor or anything fancy, but it should work for a starting place. Can anyone tell me for sure that the 2000 JDM motors will pass OBD2 testing? My county only does testing by plugging in the OBD2 scanner, so as long as it doesnt report codes I should be fine. Are there any opinions on this idea?

The other idea is to swap in a new shortblock from a WRX or USDM STI and then build a turbo kit around it. This way would be easier in some ways as I wouldnt have to do any wiring, however the RS-T has been unreliable in some cases.

The thrid option could be to just replace the headgaskets and use my budget to swap in come cams and maybe even higher compression pistons. I have seen at least one NA subaru that looked very fun to drive.

To qualify this situation, I do not need a race car. I want this car to be a daily driven "touring" car. Something that is fun to drive on my 50 mile commute, and will survive a road trip without me going grey from worry.

So if anyone has any feedback on my situation I would gladly be open to discussion. Thanks in advance.

J

Jeff,

I was in the exact same spot you are in last summer, except my problem was spun rod bearings. Please have a look over my swap page (http://www.powerlabs.org/jdmsubaru.htm) to see how I went on about it.
I posted a LOT on the forum, visited a ton of shops, and gave each and every possibility very serious though. I had very little money and I took the car to various places. No one would repair the engine. Replacing the shortblock would cost 4grand at the dealership. A remanufactured engine costs 3 grand, then I found a used engine for $600 and a turbo kit on ebay for $1000, but no engine management... Then I started thinking about used engine + cams + cometic head gasket (not a good idea BTW) + maybe a P&P...
In the end, I went the engine swap route, and haven't looked back ever since. Last month I drove 2300 miles to Kentucky and back, and this Sunday I just came back from Chicago; 700 miles round trip. I'm on a 1999 JDM engine and it hasn't missed a beat yet. For you, because of emissions, a JDM engine may not be the way to go, but for me, it was well worth it:

http://www.powerlabs.org/images/8krmp.jpg
http://www.powerlabs.org/images/0-100.jpg
http://www.powerlabs.org/images/14mile.jpg

the only thing that will come close to passing emmissions is a engine from a GD/GG (2001+) of some flavor .. its still not confirmed to work in all states ..

in all reality a usdm clip is the way to go for emmissions (or buy property in another county) it would also make it resaleable

i don't think 2k will do it unless you can find a wrecked usdm for 1700 or so


if you do decide that you want a race car you can always upgrade it there are lots of parts .. but you really should have the swap done and stable before you go crazy


oh yeah and turbo kits alwasy explode and only occasionaly pass emmissions

well if thats the case, there is no way I can afford a USDM WRX swap. People want stupid money for them and I would need an entire clip in order to get all the wiring harnesses and stuff I would need. That just isnt going to happen.

So if there are no JDM engines that are OBD2 compatable, then its a rebuilt NA motor for me. Emissions are retarded. Guess I can stay out of the conversions forum then.

J

I wouldn't walk away from the USDM WRX swap so fast. How long can your current car go? Perhaps you can save a bit more while looking for a good deal here on the forums. Many people need to sell their EJ205s when they swap in EJ207s and they have to go somewhere. Keep looking and talk to some of the vendors and see if they have any customer swapping in a 207.

The challenge is that I need much more than just the motor. Very few people are going to scrap their bulkhead wiring harness when they upgrade motors. I really dont want to try and build one from scratch, so I need a wrecked car, and even then I pretty much need the whole front clip because very few salvage yards are going to know what all needs removed for the swap.

J

jeff, if you read my thread about wiring it's not as hard as you are thinking it is. In all honesty i would venture to say it's easier then stripping the stock WRX dash harness of all the useless wiring/connectors. I will say that getting a clip is going to guarantee that you get all the engine pieces you need but you will need to get ahold of a fuel pump controller.

btw: my RS dropped a valve, i tried to save time/money putting it back together cheaply and replacing the head and head gaskets...when i cranked it up i was left with a rod knock.....if you are strapped for cash i would replace the head gaskets and drive the car...save money for the project. As for the cash portion....you are going to need more then $2gs to make a USDM swap happen. JDM swaps really aren't ever going to meet emissions standards(if you have to take emissions that is) so i would venture to say that'd i'd steer clear of a JDM swap.

Good luck...Jeremy

jeffg...I'm not familiar with your car. Have you done a lot of modifications to the engine/drivetrain? If not...you may be covered. If it is a headgasket failure...with that TSB they had for that coolant additive...I believe it extended the headgasket warranty to like 100K, didn't it? Or was it 80K? If your car is still in that range...perhaps Subaru might warranty this issue?

I'm afraid I'm not certain on this...and I'm too tired to search for the information right now...but it was just a thought I had. Even if you wanted to do the swap...if you could get them to repair/replace the block first...it'd give you something to sell to recover some of your money, and also help you have the car running sooner while you accumulated parts for a swap, in case of a complete failure.

jeffg...I'm not familiar with your car. Have you done a lot of modifications to the engine/drivetrain?


yes he has

Engine and drivetrain mods:
header, cobb intake, full pulley set, light flywheel, groupN motor mounts. Thats all of the engine stuff I have done. The engine has never been apart, the intake has never been off. Think I am too far?

The car has a lot of cosmetic mods, and suspension mods, so it looks heavily modified, but as far as the drivetrain goes, thats it.

J

if you fall under that recall i'd say no, you haven't done anything that would advance the deterioration of the head gaskets.

Engine and drivetrain mods:
header, cobb intake, full pulley set, light flywheel, groupN motor mounts. Thats all of the engine stuff I have done. The engine has never been apart, the intake has never been off. Think I am too far?

The car has a lot of cosmetic mods, and suspension mods, so it looks heavily modified, but as far as the drivetrain goes, thats it.

J

Here's my thought...maybe. I'd talk to your dealer. Try and go there when the service department's open and tell them upfront about the mods, but that you don't think they'd affect it(so they don't try and charge you a diagnostic fee later and say it's not covered). See if they'll at least inspect it. I bet...if they just need to replace the headgasket, and there's nothing else wrong...they might do it. If more serious damage has occurred...you might be pushing your luck at that point.

I just wouldn't be surprised if the dealer said "no" at first, out of fear that Subaru wouldn't want to cover it. Might have to get a regional rep involved or something. I think it'd be worth a trip to the dealership, at least.

Jeff,
Where the hell have you been? Oh, probably on the Nissan boards... :lol:

I think you know what I would suggest. Rebuild it with some Web cams. You won't be disappointed. My car is pushing closed to 225chp and is a lot of fun to drive. It throws the dreaded 0420 code, but if I pull the headers off, it goes away, and I pass emissions with no problems.

Buy better car.

same thing I tell all of the emissions/obd-II testing people...get a U.S. motor because they are easier to get to pass testing...because we all know the tricks...but JDM STi (especially RA) is worth it in my opinion

and for reliability/daily driver use do an engine swap, as bad ass a built turbo'd engines are

look hard for a ej205. if you get lucky you can get one for dirt. then do the footwork and build harness from scratch. then u be roxoring, and emissions legal

well the dealer physically laughed when I asked about head gasket warrenty. I was not pleased. I will be placing a call to SOA to discuss both my car and their behavior. I hate this dealership.

Looks like I will be driving my S13 for the winter while I hoard parts for a WRX swap.

in all honesty it really seems like most subaru dealers are just terrible so don't feel too bad. Unless you have someone on the inside it's almost impossible to use the warranty the car came with.

Well,
The dealers don't have ultimate say on warranty issues, the regional rep does. I would get his/her name and number and contact them directly...

s13 vs rnn14?

s13 and RNN!4 FTW!