Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

sperry · 2009-01-09, 12:34 AM

It's finally time to deal w/ the SVX's leaky front-end.

I figure, since I'm mopping up about a tablespoon of fresh oil off the garage floor every day, it's time to pull the front of the SVX's motor apart to replace the seals, and freshen up the rest of the stuff under the timing cover while I'm in there.

So, I ordered up some new cam seals, cam plugs (the intake cams are gear-driven by the exhaust cams inside the heads, so there's no seal, just a plug over the end of the cam), timing belt, and water pump. Plus some other odds and ends to correct a minor leak at the power-steering reservoir. I picked the bits up this afternoon, and after some careful maneuvering of the WRX into the 3rd car stall in the garage, I got the SVX up on the ramps and started pulling stuff apart.

I drained and yanked the radiator, pulled the P/S pump and alternator, and then noticed that there's a nice crank pulley sized hole worn through the front of the timing cover.

Apparently, the SVX uses a two-piece crank pulley that has a rubber damper between the two pieces. When the rubber wears out, the outer ring of the pulley can wander... either into the timing cover (like mine) or go shooting off the front of the motor and into traffic.

So, now I'm going to need a new timing cover and crank pulley. Luckily, the SVX shares pulley's with all the EJ motors, so I can just use the stock pulley off my WRX that's been sitting in a box for the last 5 years or so.

Then I got further into the motor, pulling the timing belt and checking the idlers. Well, none of the idlers are perfectly quiet, but one of them is nearly shot... so that's another piece to order. Surprisingly, the timing belt looks awesome. I assume it's either the original or second timing belt on the car, so it's got at least 100k miles on it, if not 220k... and it looks fantastic! The year-old accessory belts that were on there look 100 times worse!

And while I'm poking around, I find where all the power steering leaks are coming from (it wasn't just the reservoir like I had hoped)... basically all the lines except the high-pressure line from the pump to the rack are shot... they're actually leaking through the clamps, because the clamps have nearly cut them through! I'll be able to get away with replacing a few of the low-pressure return lines with some fuel hose I've already got I think, but there are some other bits I need to order, including some more o-rings for the HP line.

And finally, after crawling around under there, I'm coming to the conclusion that the valve covers are leaking as well, though not as bad as the cam seals... so if I'm going to do all this work, I might as well replace all the seals in there as well.

So, I just ordered up the valve cover gaskets, the power steering lines I need, an idler pulley, radiator hoses, and timing cover bits I need. Ugh... this is getting to be expensive! But it should mean the SVX is good to go for a long while longer, as long as I don't lose a ring-land or something else internal to the motor *knocks on wood*.

Now I just have to figure out if it'll be less work to pull the motor out entirely to do all this work (and cleaning... there's like a 4mm thick sludge covering *everything*), or if it's less work just to suffer through taking out all the crap like the airbox, battery, coolant reservoir, etc, just to still have cramped working conditions to get at the valve covers... I think leaving the motor in will actually be less work, simply because I can leave the A/C and fuel lines alone... but I'd really like to pull it out to really clean it top to bottom and make sure everything that needs repair is taken care of.

And I have to say... working on a car w/ 220k mile *sucks*. Nearly everything on my WRX is new (you know 'cause the motor is perpetually 6 months old)... so I'm not used to dealing with all the grit and grime of a car that's been driven w/ a slow oil leak for 2 years (even when the WRX's motor was covered in oil due to the oil breather issues it had, at least that oil was fresh, and not sludge). I got new respect for folks like Cory that have to wrench on other people's messes all the time! Plus, it seems like just about every hose on that car is hard as concrete... I'm afraid to bend anything for fear of it cracking and crumbling.

2009-01-09, 12:34 AM	#1
sperry The Doink Real Name: Scott Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 20,335 Car: '09 OBXT, '02 WRX, '96 Miata Class: PDX/TT-6 The way out is through	Next up... the SVX's motor It's finally time to deal w/ the SVX's leaky front-end. I figure, since I'm mopping up about a tablespoon of fresh oil off the garage floor every day, it's time to pull the front of the SVX's motor apart to replace the seals, and freshen up the rest of the stuff under the timing cover while I'm in there. So, I ordered up some new cam seals, cam plugs (the intake cams are gear-driven by the exhaust cams inside the heads, so there's no seal, just a plug over the end of the cam), timing belt, and water pump. Plus some other odds and ends to correct a minor leak at the power-steering reservoir. I picked the bits up this afternoon, and after some careful maneuvering of the WRX into the 3rd car stall in the garage, I got the SVX up on the ramps and started pulling stuff apart. I drained and yanked the radiator, pulled the P/S pump and alternator, and then noticed that there's a nice crank pulley sized hole worn through the front of the timing cover. Apparently, the SVX uses a two-piece crank pulley that has a rubber damper between the two pieces. When the rubber wears out, the outer ring of the pulley can wander... either into the timing cover (like mine) or go shooting off the front of the motor and into traffic. So, now I'm going to need a new timing cover and crank pulley. Luckily, the SVX shares pulley's with all the EJ motors, so I can just use the stock pulley off my WRX that's been sitting in a box for the last 5 years or so. Then I got further into the motor, pulling the timing belt and checking the idlers. Well, none of the idlers are perfectly quiet, but one of them is nearly shot... so that's another piece to order. Surprisingly, the timing belt looks awesome. I assume it's either the original or second timing belt on the car, so it's got at least 100k miles on it, if not 220k... and it looks fantastic! The year-old accessory belts that were on there look 100 times worse! And while I'm poking around, I find where all the power steering leaks are coming from (it wasn't just the reservoir like I had hoped)... basically all the lines except the high-pressure line from the pump to the rack are shot... they're actually leaking through the clamps, because the clamps have nearly cut them through! I'll be able to get away with replacing a few of the low-pressure return lines with some fuel hose I've already got I think, but there are some other bits I need to order, including some more o-rings for the HP line. And finally, after crawling around under there, I'm coming to the conclusion that the valve covers are leaking as well, though not as bad as the cam seals... so if I'm going to do all this work, I might as well replace all the seals in there as well. So, I just ordered up the valve cover gaskets, the power steering lines I need, an idler pulley, radiator hoses, and timing cover bits I need. Ugh... this is getting to be expensive! But it should mean the SVX is good to go for a long while longer, as long as I don't lose a ring-land or something else internal to the motor knocks on wood. Now I just have to figure out if it'll be less work to pull the motor out entirely to do all this work (and cleaning... there's like a 4mm thick sludge covering everything), or if it's less work just to suffer through taking out all the crap like the airbox, battery, coolant reservoir, etc, just to still have cramped working conditions to get at the valve covers... I think leaving the motor in will actually be less work, simply because I can leave the A/C and fuel lines alone... but I'd really like to pull it out to really clean it top to bottom and make sure everything that needs repair is taken care of. And I have to say... working on a car w/ 220k mile sucks. Nearly everything on my WRX is new (you know 'cause the motor is perpetually 6 months old)... so I'm not used to dealing with all the grit and grime of a car that's been driven w/ a slow oil leak for 2 years (even when the WRX's motor was covered in oil due to the oil breather issues it had, at least that oil was fresh, and not sludge). I got new respect for folks like Cory that have to wrench on other people's messes all the time! Plus, it seems like just about every hose on that car is hard as concrete... I'm afraid to bend anything for fear of it cracking and crumbling. __________________ Is you is, or is you ain't, my con-stit-u-ints?