User Panel
If that were the case, wouldn't any V-configuration or otherwise canted engine also experience asymmetric wear?
|
|
Quoted: I used to be a mechanic and love subaru boxer engines. I drive an older 2001 but have had an older impreza 1.8l as well. I first got turned on to them when working on them at an independent shop. If you have mechanical ability they are so easy to work on. So easy to pull the motor, replace an alternator, water pump,radiator, its all just easy. Iv had to do head gaskets on mine multiple times but still running the original engine and has over 200k miles on it. I cannot say its the right vehicle for someone who doesnt work on their own stuff if you do its easy work. I did have a somewhat catastrophic failure almost two years ago with it. Lost compression on #3 cylinder. Pulled motor down and found one of the exhaust valves was bent and made contact with the piston 3 times. 3 different marks as the piston bent the valve each time it hit. I was really scratching my head as to why one of two valves would hit. Pulled valve springs off and found the issue right away. Both valve guides for exhaust valves on that cylinder were migrating further and further down till one got far enough to keep one of the valves from closing. The force of impact on the 3rd smack broke the tip of the guide off and then the valve was able to move back enough to stop hitting the piston. I bought two new exhaust valves and one new guide and new valve stem seals, hammered new guide in and hammered one old guide in. Installed the springs threw the the heads on installed engine and been daily driving it for almost 2 years now and just did new spark plugs which is the first time iv done anything besides change oil. A boxer engine has its drawbacks but has its benefits too. For me living in the rockys the four wheel drive subaru's have make for an ideal daily driver. If id didnt have to deal with snow and ice 6 months out of the year a honda or toyota are better options for daily driver. Boxer engine vehicles will never get as good of mileage as a transverse mounted engines out there due to the friction losses inherent in longitudinal mounted engines. But they are naturally balanced smooth running engines with a lower center of gravity. There are things to hate and things to love. View Quote You have just scared the sh*t out of anyone here who had been considering a Subaru. I doubt anyone here would consider it reasonable to replace head gaskets three times within a 200K range. |
|
|
If you keep them stock and daily drive them they are great.
If you mod them and track them they will blow up. Open deck design (like most modern open deck aluminum blocks) doesn't lends itself well to excessive boost. The issue for people who actually track day their subaru is oil starvation. Subaru low oil level light only comes on at around 2-4 PSI. I don't know why or how but if you corner hard even with baffles Subaru engines tend to have oil starvation issues, they will blow up sooner rather than later. Any one who is serious about tracking the car and longevity puts in a dry sump system. Average Subaru modder is a 22 year old fucktard with mommys and daddys credit card who will start bolting on and replacing parts on a subaru without a second thought untill the engine blows. And when it does "LOL SUBAR BLOW HEADGASKETS LOL". No the only gasket issue is the gasket between the drivers seat and the steering wheel. |
|
Quoted: FLAT FOUR. Stop buying into their marketing bullshit to make a fucking motor seem more amazing than sliced bread. View Quote This seems like a really weird thing to get cranked up about. Anywho… I’ve owned five Subarus over the years and have been very happy. Currently driving a ‘17 Forester XT (turbo). No issues really… ever with the Boxer engines. |
|
Quoted: I used to be a mechanic and love subaru boxer engines. I drive an older 2001 but have had an older impreza 1.8l as well. I first got turned on to them when working on them at an independent shop. If you have mechanical ability they are so easy to work on. So easy to pull the motor, replace an alternator, water pump,radiator, its all just easy. Iv had to do head gaskets on mine multiple times but still running the original engine and has over 200k miles on it. I cannot say its the right vehicle for someone who doesnt work on their own stuff if you do its easy work. I did have a somewhat catastrophic failure almost two years ago with it. Lost compression on #3 cylinder. Pulled motor down and found one of the exhaust valves was bent and made contact with the piston 3 times. 3 different marks as the piston bent the valve each time it hit. I was really scratching my head as to why one of two valves would hit. Pulled valve springs off and found the issue right away. Both valve guides for exhaust valves on that cylinder were migrating further and further down till one got far enough to keep one of the valves from closing. The force of impact on the 3rd smack broke the tip of the guide off and then the valve was able to move back enough to stop hitting the piston. I bought two new exhaust valves and one new guide and new valve stem seals, hammered new guide in and hammered one old guide in. Installed the springs threw the the heads on installed engine and been daily driving it for almost 2 years now and just did new spark plugs which is the first time iv done anything besides change oil. A boxer engine has its drawbacks but has its benefits too. For me living in the rockys the four wheel drive subaru's have make for an ideal daily driver. If id didnt have to deal with snow and ice 6 months out of the year a honda or toyota are better options for daily driver. Boxer engine vehicles will never get as good of mileage as a transverse mounted engines out there due to the friction losses inherent in longitudinal mounted engines. But they are naturally balanced smooth running engines with a lower center of gravity. There are things to hate and things to love. View Quote You probably have some one misdiagnose a warped cylinder block as a blown headgasket. Happens a lot to used subarus. Usualy some one mods a subaru and pushes it beyond limit, blows a head gasket and warps the block because open deck. Proper solution is to pull the engine machine it and rebuild it. So what do people do? Replace the head gasket and sell the car to an unsuspecting sucker. |
|
Quoted: If you keep them stock and daily drive them they are great. If you mod them and track them they will blow up. Open deck design (like most modern open deck aluminum blocks) doesn't lends itself well to excessive boost. The issue for people who actually track day their subaru is oil starvation. Subaru low oil level light only comes on at around 2-4 PSI. I don't know why or how but if you corner hard even with baffles Subaru engines tend to have oil starvation issues, they will blow up sooner rather than later. Any one who is serious about tracking the car and longevity puts in a dry sump system. Average Subaru modder is a 22 year old fucktard with mommys and daddys credit card who will start bolting on and replacing parts on a subaru without a second thought untill the engine blows. And when it does "LOL SUBAR BLOW HEADGASKETS LOL". No the only gasket issue is the gasket between the drivers seat and the steering wheel. View Quote Don’t go spouting truth to those that just blindly shit on them regurging everything they’ve heard. Basically Subarus need maintenance to be performed according to the factory schedule. You see this pattern emerge yet? Those people that performed the routine maintenance when it was supposed to be performed, generally have problem free vehicles. Those that don’t religiously change the oil, WILL have kabooms eventually. Also, any used Impreza has had the ever loving shit beat out of them by every past owner. |
|
Quoted: You probably have some one misdiagnose a warped cylinder block as a blown headgasket. Happens a lot to used subarus. Usualy some one mods a subaru and pushes it beyond limit, blows a head gasket and warps the block because open deck. Proper solution is to pull the engine machine it and rebuild it. So what do people do? Replace the head gasket and sell the car to an unsuspecting sucker. View Quote Yuuuuuuuup |
|
My boxer is old. :-) Attached File
|
|
The Subaru head gasket thing is blown way out of proportion after Subaru transitioned to phase 2 ej motors. They leak a little coolant externally and that’s it. I’ve done probably close to a thousand sets of them and each and everyone was leaking externally that was a stock motor. Besides the point I could hand a blind monkey the tools to do them and he could manage no problem.
When I was doing a fair bit of them I would schedule two of them a day and have both done before quitting time. |
|
Quoted: Boxer engines belong in the air, not on the ground. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Seems like a good idea. They reportedly had head gasket problems but that was solved years ago. Boxer engines belong in the air, not on the ground. Since you are an SME for a company currently being sued on all fronts for generally shit engines I’m going to classify your opinion accordingly ?? |
|
The 2.5 natural engines will have head gaskets eventually. The pre-cvt Transmissions are great.
|
|
My mother had an outback that lasted forever in the upstate NYS winters and her lack of maintenance.
|
|
View Quote Where do I get that x,y accelerometer display? |
|
Quoted: The Subaru head gasket thing is blown way out of proportion after Subaru transitioned to phase 2 ej motors. They leak a little coolant externally and that’s it. I’ve done probably close to a thousand sets of them and each and everyone was leaking externally that was a stock motor. Besides the point I could hand a blind monkey the tools to do them and he could manage no problem. When I was doing a fair bit of them I would schedule two of them a day and have both done before quitting time. View Quote What is the cause of the leaking coolant? Not changing coolant often enough, or something else? I've considered getting a Subaru but some of the stories have made me reconsider. I like to keep my vehicles maintained though so if most of these issues are from people not doing regular maintenance then I guess I shouldn't worry. |
|
Quoted: The Subaru head gasket thing is blown way out of proportion after Subaru transitioned to phase 2 ej motors. They leak a little coolant externally and that’s it. I’ve done probably close to a thousand sets of them and each and everyone was leaking externally that was a stock motor. Besides the point I could hand a blind monkey the tools to do them and he could manage no problem. When I was doing a fair bit of them I would schedule two of them a day and have both done before quitting time. View Quote What's the secret to getting the passenger side valve cover to stay sealed on a turbo EJ? |
|
Quoted: What is the cause of the leaking coolant? Not changing coolant often enough, or something else? I've considered getting a Subaru but some of the stories have made me reconsider. I like to keep my vehicles maintained though so if most of these issues are from people not doing regular maintenance then I guess I shouldn't worry. View Quote The cause was the EJ25 engine design, it doesn't apply to anything else. The FA engines they use now don't have this problem. |
|
My 2019 Forrester was a fun car, last of the stick shifts….bought it new, dealer was great, bought it off the truck, but since the truck was late, the dealer gave me a loaner free until the car was ready.
It did burn oil, that’s the only complaint, a new car burning a quart every 5000 miles. Buy the Subaru, I would still have it, but my new wife kept getting hit on….by lesbians?? |
|
2012 3.6 Legacy, bought it at 120k miles currently 160k miles.
I need to top off the oil maybe a half quart between 3k mile oil changes. Takes 6.9 quarts of oil. 18-22mpg in heavy NoVA traffic, 27mpg highway Replaced the transmission body valve (5eat transmission) I need to replace the sparkplugs soon but their location is a PITA |
|
View Quote The turbos sound like those squirrel calls that you shake |
|
Quoted: What is the cause of the leaking coolant? Not changing coolant often enough, or something else? I've considered getting a Subaru but some of the stories have made me reconsider. I like to keep my vehicles maintained though so if most of these issues are from people not doing regular maintenance then I guess I shouldn't worry. View Quote Open deck design is the problem, the cylinders have coolant flowing around them. It’s an inherent design flaw with the engine but like I said it’s really not that big of a deal. The phase 1 dohc Subarus would leak into the combustion chamber so they’re more of a problem than the later ones. |
|
|
Problem with the Subaru head gaskets is they used a cheap head gasket. Yes, the water passages are close to the outside wall of the block and that was changed with the next engine design, but the real problem was the cheap head gaskets. The turbo version of the same engine do NOT have head gasket problems because they used an excellent multi-layer stainless steel (MLS) head gasket from the factory, it was the normally aspirated engines that used a much cheaper composite gasket that would eventually leak. Replace the head gasket with the good turbo gasket and you don't have to worry about the engine leaking afterwards; all the head gaskets for that engine from Subaru part dept at the dealerships are now the good MLS gasket.
|
|
Quoted: I may be weird, but I don’t consider an engine that needs head gaskets at 30k reliable. View Quote Early models had a bad HG design, much like the old FWD Mopar 2.2/2.5L did(Ma Mpoar never solved the problem, but WE did. Slap a turbo HG on that bitch, and stay away from FailPro Gaskets). It was grandma's grocery getter, and spent more time in the garage than on the road. They weren't leaking when I got it, and doing the work was just cheap insurance. I bend my own wrenches, so it gave me a chance to pull the engine and check all the wiring under the hood. Local Subie shop(not dealer) said the gaskets I used(Six Star) should get me to the 200k mark, maybe past it. |
|
|
|
Put over 100k on an '85 wagon, gave it to daughter who put another 75k on it. Only problems were a water pump and carb float. I loved that wagon, wish they still made them.
Now in 4th year of a '18 Forester w/manual transmission, the last of a breed. Only real objection is the "entertainment" system. It's an ergonomic nightmare. |
|
Quoted: Had 2 Subarus. Not a fan of the engines. They sound nice I suppose. Though I fail to see why you couldn't make an inline 4 sound like that if sound was you goal. Otherwise, you have double the cylinder banks. That's double the heads, double the timing components, double the camshafts, double the headgaskets, and more weight. All to end up with an engine that's harder to work on because most of the stuff that you're likely to have to mess with on an engine is now crammed up against the side of the engine bay. Ever try changing spark plugs on a Subaru? "But muh lower center of gravity." Meh, so what? Handling? Subaru don't handle any noticeably better than any other car in their weight class. "But the lower hood line." Again, their hoods aren't really any lower than a car with an inline 4. Old wedge-nose Corollas and Accords have hood lines about as low as you could practically make them. All with a simpler, lighter inline 4. So what's the actual point? Whatever small benefits a flat 4 offers, Subaru doesn't really take advantage of anyway. Subarus have their cool points. The engines aren't really one of them. Edit: The brap brap sound typically associated with Subarus really has less to do with the engine and more to do with the unequal length headers. Which are also less efficient and make less power. If you want sound, you use those. If you want power, you use equal length headers. Which now make your boxer sound like pretty much any other 4 banger. View Quote |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.