[JbNc]

1999 OBW, 2.5L, 95,000 miles. Owned since new, North California car, always garaged. I'd say interior is a 9, exterior is a 9. No rust or leaks or body rattles, no accidents, everything is stock and everything works - this car was babied, and it shows.

Subie specialist shop replaced head gaskets, timing belt, and clutch at 90K, and I'd hoped to get a few more years out of it. But now the engine rattles when started from cold, and mechanic says it's a bad bearing(s).

I'm not interested in putting in a new motor. Any thoughts on what it's worth? Should I just sell it as a Mechanic's Special, as-is?

Thanks!

 

[subnz]

Yep DIY / mechanics special otherwise car is only worth the value if it had no engine or what ever someone is prepared to pay for it considering repair history.
Some where btwn $500 - $ 1000
Unfortunately you can't add cost of repairs onto the value of an older car - you have suck up those costs. The Car only has a certain value for age, miles condition.
Some one here recently bought an 01 H6 minus the engine in good condition for $700

 

[eagleeye]

$700

and this is not the only Ej25D car that I have read about here that someone dumped $$$$ into head gaskets. and the main bearing goes bad right after.

as it was weakened by the head gasket condition.....and SHOULD have been fixed while the engine was apart during the head gasket work.

________

if you could find the correct $250 eJ22 to drop it in would be nice. (not all are drop ins though).... so you got to pick accordingly.
(or if not you the next owner).

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...248329-ej22-swap-into-ej25d-dohc-vehicle.html

 

[JbNc]

Unfortunately, that's kinda what I figured. Too bad, because it's in such great condition otherwise. But I'm too old to fool around with engine swapping.

Besides, the 2018's are looking pretty sweet...

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

maybe get another opinion on the noise or get an oil analysis?

piston slap and weak timing belt tensioners can mimic rod knock sometimes.

look for youtube videos of subarus with rodknock and those other issues I mentioned and compare to your car.

I don't think rod knock is gonna get better as an engine warms-up.

 

[JbNc]

Perhaps I'm wrong calling it rod knock - I can't find the mechanic's report right now, but it did mention the noise was from cylinder #2. It's a loud clattering for the first minute after starting, on cold (<60F) mornings only, then goes away (or at least it becomes inaudible beneath regular road noise) for the rest of the day.

We replaced the timing belt tensioner, it made no difference.

Is piston slap also fatal? It would be nice to get another year from the car. I'll spend some time reading further, thanks for your suggestions.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

maybe a gummed-up valve lifter? (if hydraulic lifters)

 

[Richard Pare]

Bad rod bearing noise will not go away once the engine warms up. I would guess that you have a sticky or failed lifter.


You might try this motor flushing method this guy is doing:

If it indeed is a bad rod bearing, you could verify it easily enough by removing the oil pan and see if there are flakes of bearing material in the oil and/or the filter.

Having fun today changing rod bearings on a friends '01 Toyota. Thankfully, the crank journals are still perfect.

 

[idosubaru]

a bad lower end bearing noise doesn't typically (i'm close to saying "never" but i'm not a lower end expert) go away, this seems unlikely.

piston slap goes away or reduces as the engine warms up, this is benign and you can drive it indefinitely like this.

this thing is ripe for an EJ22 swap. $500 engine, $500 install and you've got a great car for $1,000 or can then flip it for something resaonable, a 95,000 mile Subaru without rust should easily sell for something.

there's engines out your way for $350 and up:
Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market