Impreza Engine Replacement - Part 1
Part 1 of an N part series where I attempt to revive a car that has already survived longer than it should have
At the end of 2018, my beloved '12 Subaru Impreza started showing signs of being unwell in the form of an extremely loud and worrying rod knock. After going back and forth with the dealer and Subaru of America over the warranty status, I made the decision that I would handle the situation myself. I bought a '99 Jeep Cherokee with 200k miles on it from a friend to replace my daily driver. It needed a lot of work, but served as a great car to learn some more advanced wrenching. The ultimate goal was to drive the Jeep while bringing the Subaru back to its former glory.
The Subaru being the first car that I ever bought, and having owned it for 6 years there was a lot of sentimental value built up. I learned how to drive stick (in more than an emergency capacity) in this car. I'd taken myself and friends on countless road trips. After 6 years I had logged an impressive 150k miles. It was reliable day in and day out needing not much more than fluids, tires, and brakes. I could not bring myself to just scrap the car or part it out, plus I liked the idea of challenging myself to attempt what has been called "not a dinky project." Thus the idea was birthed and the project began!
Replacing the engine
With the decision made to replace the engine in the Subaru, I did what any proper engineer would do and kicked starting the actual work of the project down the road. I drove the car to my parents at the beginning of the 2019 summer with the intention of beginning the project shortly after. However, life gets in the way. I was planning my wedding, attending 7 other weddings, and also wrestling the Jeep which was needing constant love and attention. Finally, this past weekend I set aside some time and started to strip down the engine to prep for removal. My parents were kind enough to let me borrow their garage for a few weekends.
I wanted to attempt to do this watching the least amount of YouTube videos possible. I've heard "like and subscribe" too many times during repairs to keep any sanity if I heard it again. So I began the journey with the easiest things I could find to bolster some confidence. I removed the air box and intake ducts, the plastic timing cover, and then I remembered I should have started with the battery, so I took that out next.
And that was it, I was on my way. I next let the oil completely drain, then drained the coolant through a wonderfully designed radiator drain plug. It drains directly down with no obstruction and has a deep Philips drive which is almost impossible to strip despite being made of plastic. Subaru really does put a lot of thought into placement of components for service which I was extremely thankful for all day.
Next up was the air intake and accessories. The intake came off fairly easily, held on by 4 bolts and two metal shields that protect the fuel injectors. I had to remove the throttle body from the back of the intake to have the space to pull the intake over the EGR pipe. The alternator and A/C compressor also came off easily after removing a few bolts. I was able to move the A/C compressor over to the side and have not had to disconnect it yet and hopefully won't have to disconnect it as it still runs great.
Last step was to remove the wiring harness, exhaust, engine mounts, and disconnect the engine from the bell housing. I had been spraying every bolt on the engine with WD-40 Penetrant Spray from when I first pushed the car into the garage so the exhaust bolts came off with surprisingly little hassle. Two connectors on the fuel injectors had tabs broken off by the dealer and were slightly annoying but a flathead screwdriver helped separate them. Bell housing bolts removed along with the starter and hydraulic clutch and the engine is ready to be removed.
I've put in an order for some parts that will need to be replaced and put in a deposit on a used engine that comes with a lifetime warranty. We'll dive into that in the next post. So far so good, but taking things apart has always been my specialty. Getting them back together is a completely different beast. Will the project proceed smoothly? Only one way to find out!
See part 2 here