some back round 2002 silver wrx 165000 miles org everything ,plugs ,wires , timing belt , all filters, trans and rear end fluid. I know it severe neglect. and it was bound to happen I had a small crack in the radiator that leaked when she was running , I had to put a half gallon of water in it every other week or two . I was driving up Pleasant Hill Rd. a few weeks ago and something hit the underside of the car I turned around but didn’t see anything and went home. The next day I was driving to Greenville Sc. and she started to lose power, turned down the radio and herd (sp) ding ding ding , so I pulled over on to a off ramp and rolled to a stop the engine died . I cycled the key and the temp gauge spiked ( It wasn’t working on the Highway ) she would turn over but not start. Towed it back to Snellville and has not moved . there doesn’t look there is water in the oil , I can turn in over with a wrench Oh and holding water in the radiator ,,,,,,I looking what to do next , I don’t much money but I time and tools
For one, how did you pass your English class? It wasn't a smart move on your part to attempt a long road trip in a car that's barely able to drive around town. You obviously know that now and sounds like you have a long weekend a head of you. You can either rebuild what you have (with the hopes that the heads are salvagable) or find another motor. Either way, you'll be digging into your pockets.
Yep cant spell for shit ... But I was looking for helpful info on some trouble shooting before I pulled the engine . Like is it worth fixing it or should I sell the car ?
That all depends on your financial situation which from what you've mentioned, you don't have the money to spend on it to have repaired. The car doesn't sound like it was taken very good care of, if at all, which means you probably wouldn't get much for it. Start saving those pennies or start working the corner and just fix the motor.
thanks slowwrx ! I'm going to find out what wrong and how much money it will cost. I would like to do a 2.5 swap or hybrid . I've put 130000 miles on the car in four years and she has never failed me until now . Dose any one have a idea of what it would cost for a full swap or hybrid?
If you overheated it that badly then you will need new heads along with that block. Your first mistake was driving with a broken temp gauge.
yeah heads are more than likely warped. however you can get 02 heads cheap. seen them for sale on here for as low as $250. but once everything is said and done with a hybrid, including proper tuning, etc. you are probably in the neighborhood of $5000 if its done right and completely by yourself. I know in my old car, the new owner spent ~$3000 in parts and labor for fixing stuff he missed, then tuning and maintenence on top of that. usually when you do stuff yourself, it's not as cheap as everyone says it is. if i had to do it again, i'd recommend having it done by a local shop.
you can probably do it yourself for less thank $3k, but with the neglect you've shown you're probably going to have to replace more than just the motor...like the tranny, that has 160k miles on original fluid and is already built like glass. from what little i've gathered reading your posts, it doesn't sound like you're going to be able to do this in your garage...I would sell it and hope to get $3-4k for the shell
That's going to depend on what all you'll need in terms of parts (whether you buy the parts new or used) and whom is going to perform the labor. You can pick up a brand new EJ257 short block for ~$1,500-2000 plus the cost of either rebuilding the heads or buying replacements (again, new or used will impact the price).
Sounds like you FUBARed your entire car. Quite while you can,save any money you would use to do the swap, sell the car, get something different, do the preventative maintenance and this wont happen again
Ill go ahead and assume your heads are toast, if they have to have new valves and a valve job you are looking at $750.00 ish. $750 for heads $2000 for Block $300 Gasket Kit $150 Oil Pump $150 Water Pump $150 Timing Belt Tensioner $150 Timing Belt $300 For the rest of the pulleys on the motor So about $3950 in parts and machine work. You will need all this stuff, none of it is optional in your case. If you have a shop do it you can add about 20 hours of labor.
Big question is, if you decide to spend the money to fix it...will it be neglected again? If you decide to sell it...I'll bid on it.
Thanks everyone ! you all have given me allot to think about ! But keep it coming I’m a glutton for punishment , and the temp gauge had worked correctly every day before . I had seen the temp gauge fail on an 04 WRX . I picked up the driver and his friend from 985 north after he smoked his engine .
Most likely the temp gauge didn't fail, there probably wasn't enough water in the system for it to read. Temp gauges rarely fail, its one of the most reliable sensors on the car.