Hi,
we are looking at buying a 02 subaru. I know they are known for Head Gasket issues. This one had a rebuilt engine and Tranny put in it last year and has since only been driven 8k miles. at the same time, the following things were done to it.
New Timing Belt
New Water Pump
New Brakes
New Front Axles
New Head Gasket.
so we are thinking we should be good to go and are basically getting a clean car with a fresh start that should last us a good long while. Receipts in hand for work done totally around 5K. asking price is 6500. any thoughts out there as to if we have any concerns moving forward with this car? thanks for the feedback!
You really need to pick that word “rebuilt” apart because many people consider installing a used salvage yard unit, partial fixes, and so on as meeting that definition.
I’d take that word “rebuilt” with a grain of salt unless a complete and verifiable breakdown of all parts, machine shop services, and labor is available.
The 5 grand you mention sounds cheap for all of that and trust me, the word rebuilt is used incorrectly a lot…
Ok thnks, what should I be looking for to confirm a true
rebuild. He has receipt and I was thinking of going to speak with shop that did the work I just don’t even know what to be asking them?
A used engine is simply pulled from the donor car and installed in another car. Whatever miles are on it and how it was treated (lots or few oil changes) is unknown.
A rebuilt motor has 2 categories. The best is the motor was rebuilt in a factory and sold as a short or long block. A short block means pistons, crankshaft, and camshaft are new. Cylinder heads, manifolds, and fuel injection are taken off the old motor and put on the short block when it is installed in the car. A long block is better because it will have new cylinder heads and valves and it is basically as good as a completely new motor. Things like AC and power steering come from the old car, but most of the critical engine parts are like new.
A rebuild can be done at a local garage, but they don’t have the tools and clean work space that are available in a factory. A local rebuild is only as good as the shop and the mechanic that does the work. It should involve new piston rings, new bearings, but the crankshaft and camshaft are not touched unless they show excessive wear or damage.
hi uncle turbo, that does help a lot. It gets me going in the right direction,… so when i stop in the local shop that did the work at least I can sound somewhat knowledgeable!
The crankshaft should be serviced on a Subaru during a proper overhaul. The only way to access the crankshaft is by splitting the engine cases and it would be insanity to not do it rather than risk having to tear it all apart again in a few months.
Besides, the wear limit on crank journal taper and concentricity is usually around .0005 of an inch and the odds of a worn crank meeting and exceeding that standard are very high.
There’s also the issue of cylinder bore standards which are usually right in line with crank journal standards.
If someone is rebuilding an engine and does not do those measurements or even care about them then it’s an engine best avoided.
Regarding the transmission, that brings up whether the converter was replaced along with solenoid packs and whether or not a soft rebuild kit or a master kit was used.
Point being still that the word “rebuilt” is widely misused and at a Subaru dealer where i once worked a violent confrontation almost happened at the service counter when a guy’s interpretation of “rebuilt” was different from my view on it. He insisted the engine was rebuilt because the salesman said so and my position was that since i was the one who worked on it a head gasket job did not meet the definition of rebuilt by any stretch of the imagination.
When the guy stuck his finger in my face and threatened me that was the last straw.
hey ok, thanks for all the feedback. srry to hear a salesman put you in that situation! i’m glad to have more info to talk to the mechanic about when i go see it tomorrow.
Take it to a mechanic and ask for an opinion. I find Subarus very reliable. My old 2001 is about to turn 248000 miles and the kids just put 60000 mile tires on it. We took it to the dealer who looked at it for headgasket issues and performed the headgasket recall update. We also changed the timing belt every 80000 miles. The 1998 got a new full head gasket replacement at about 90000 miles and the 2007 just needed a new airbag (strange that it failed without an accident) and a water pump at 148000.