Low Compression/miss

[rjundi]

Our mechanic(subie expert) has deemed our Subaru(2005 Legacy turbo wagon) needs a valve job. It was misfiring and running a tad rough(esp cold) below 2000RPM finally throwing a check engine light. The compression test had the air blow out the exhaust pipe.

Based on a current non-turbo engine mechanic has in shop it has cost about $2000 for similar work(remove engine/reinstall/head work) without peeking at pistons etc. Mechanic is $65/hour and Subaru expert.

I have 9yrs/167,000 miles on this car running original turbo and vast majority original except starter and alternator. All maintenance done. The car is only booked at $4000-$5000 but apparently a rare car that can fetch more due odd combo of manual transmission and turbo Legacy wagon(only 1000 manual turbo wagons ever made)

Right now I am less than 50% of book and looking at more. Curious on your opinions on what do with this car facing at least $2000 in engine work.

 

[Trav]

This is a really easy DIY if your so inclined.

 

[spk2000]

For that money I would consider finding a low mileage junkyard engine. Probably less money and like having a newer engine. Have someone good look at it before buying it.

 

[Vikas]

I know nothing about either the Subaru or the general valve jobs. But that has never stopped me form giving unsolicited and useless advice before

If you do top end job at this mileage, you really need to look at the bottom end too.

I generally do not buy in to what is the car worth argument. The real question to ask is what would it cost to you to get something else to satisfy your needs. Are you realistically going to purchase another > 10 year old Subaru with 150K miles? Not, if you are sensible! You are going to buy a brand new car to replace this. So the question is, "Right now, do you want to buy a new car to replace this?" Then you assign reasonable monthly payment cost to that exercise even if your are going to pay the cash to purchase it. Or you can live with this car for few more years and you have a good confidence in the mechanic, the cost is about 3 months of eqvt new car payments, then fixing this makes sense. Generally even though we might keep or new car for decade or more, for the payment calculations I like to use 4 year amortization schedule.

Bottom line:- You can either think this as "yippi, I get to buy a new car!" or "Fixing this is only few months of new car payments".

Personally, if rest of the vehicle is in good condition, I have paid that kind of money to keep the old cars on the road. I know that financially it is a no brainer but it also is the time to reflect and see if one wants to replace it.

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: Trav
This is a really easy DIY if your so inclined.
I did a similar job on a CRV I replaced 2 burnt exhaust valves. I lapped them in and put the head back on. It would have been much easier with the engine out. When you have the head off . Put the plugs in, invert the head. Fill the combustion chambers with gas . If it leaks out, a valve is bad. Intakes don't usually burn. You want to do as little as you can parts wise. 400$ of parts. Replacing the valves was fun. Whereas a professional such as Trav could do this job during lunch, You will take much longer because you are feeling your way. At least I did. You want to keep the engine as intact as possible. The less you disturb, the better. You should set the valve lash on the off side to prevent this happening over there. The CRV has soldiered on 80K so far. So the time I spent wasn't wasted

 

[eljefino]

http://maine.craigslist.org/ctd/4376379923.html

See if there's a "subie guy" around that does these in his sleep.

I have no idea if this dude is a hack or genius, BTW.

 

[Trav]

On these getting the timing belt off is the difficult part if you want to call it that the rest is easy as it gets.

Some of these old one you don't even need to pull the valve cover to get the head off.
Once the 2 exhaust pipes are down, a few nuts and bolts for the intake and your 30 min away from having the heads in your hand working slow.

The bottom end on these engines is pretty sturdy, not a big concern.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

I have no idea if this dude is a hack or genius, BTW.


BITOG has the same concerns about you.... 8)

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
http://maine.craigslist.org/ctd/4376379923.html

See if there's a "subie guy" around that does these in his sleep.

I have no idea if this dude is a hack or genius, BTW.


I believe I have the right guy as he did a throw out bearing for $400 and timing belt in 1.5 hrs on my car. All the local dealers send Subie his way to farm out work.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: eljefino
http://maine.craigslist.org/ctd/4376379923.html

See if there's a "subie guy" around that does these in his sleep.

I have no idea if this dude is a hack or genius, BTW.


I believe I have the right guy as he did a throw out bearing for $400 and timing belt in 1.5 hrs on my car. All the local dealers send Subie his way to farm out work.


Guy is in Fitchburg right?