So I have the opportunity for financial gain by repairing someone's '99 Forester with an unknown problem that has been sitting for over a year and selling it myself. They just need the car gone, as in they would sign over the title to me for what they could get out of it at the scrap yard ($100) and I can sell it for whatever I can get out of it once repaired. At this point though, it doesn't run and they cannot remember why it was parked in the first place, but it wouldn't move... What I do know is that it is a 2.5L F4, 5spd manual, awd wagon... I don't even know the mileage...

I'm not sure I really want the headache of another project even to turn a quick buck, but at the same time, I'd be helping them out seeing as how the town is now on them for having an unregistered vehicle in their driveway for over a year.

I haven't even gone to see it yet, but will likely be going over there either tonight or Saturday.

Anyone know what one of these is worth? A quick browse through CL shows anywhere from $1200 to $4500...

 

With the info you provided, I'm calling $2,000.

 

It might be worth it then... LOL

The only Subaru I have ever worked on was my cousin's Impreza and that was only to remove, repair, and reinstall the oil pan which he bashed on a rock! Same motor as this one though.

*2AM EDIT*
Ok... So it has over 100k miles, but that's all they could tell me. It had no battery so the digital odometer was inoperative. The owners are Ukrainian and do not speak very good English so I really do not know any more about what happened to it than I did before.

Here are a few pictures from my phone:


The oil looked fresh so I'm not going to learn much there. I'm planning on grabbing the flat bed and getting it into my garage to properly go over it. I'll probably drain the tank and put a new fuel filter on it then see if it'll turn over, leaving the coil wire disconnected. Run a compression test, maybe pull the oil pan to check the condition of the rod & main bearings.

The only real rust on the entire car is around the rear driver side wheel arch and just ahead of that on the rocker behind the lower cladding.

 

If you email me the year,make,model,vin#,miles,and options I will try to run a Galves and Autocheck on it for you at work tomorrow.

 

After talking with the owners, I decided that I would work on it with the husband, Sam, as he was very interested in what was wrong with it, but doesn't really know a lot about engines/vehicles.

We pulled the drain plug and what came out was the consistency of honey... About the same color too... Pulled the oil filter and... NOTHING. Bone dry! Oh boy... The crank still turned by hand though so the engine wasn't seized.

The oil pump is driven directly off the crank so there is no way to pre-lube the engine. I ended up rigging up a hose onto the output side of the oil filter connection and then poured half a quart into the hose and applied ~10 psi to it which pushed that oil up into the motor. We did this 4 times before even attempting to turn the motor over then filled the engine with fresh oil.

Fuel pressure tested within spec. Coolant was at the proper level.

So with everything checked and a fresh battery installed, we gave it a go. After a bit of struggling, it started. Diagnosis... Oil starvation caused a rod bearing to let go. It's running, but it knocks BAD. Really bad!

So after convincing Sam that the noise was internal to the engine, I told him that I would see if I could still find a buyer for it and let him/them know. After working with him today, I came to understand that they aren't really doing well financially and decided that whatever I could stand to gain from fixing the car I would give back to them.

DKSDAD, I'll PM you the VIN. It is pretty spartan though. I think it has just an AM/FM radio. It is a 1999 Subaru Forrester L AWD with a 5spd manual trans. If nothing else, the Autocheck could help in a sale.

 

How hard or difficult would be to remove the pan and install a new rod bearing. Worst case is that the knock is still present and best case a new bearing resolved the knock. I did this on a 318 I had and I had some success as the knock was greatly reduced. I know that this is not the optimal way to fix it but you might get lucky.

 

To pull the pan, the motor needs to be lifted about 1" off the motor mounts. The front cross member runs under the back half of the pan. I may look into it a bit more next weekend, but you can't even inspect the main bearings on this type of engine (flat 4 boxer) without splitting the block in half. With the lack of oil in the filter and how much I expect that the owner had already tried to "fix" it, the damage is likely to be pretty extensive. It knocked BAD right now.

 

I PMed you some info. Tony

 

Yep. Got it. Thanks Tony! Funny that the car had a reported accident before it was even sold. The second accident was what caused the damage to the passenger rear quarter panel just ahead of the tail light.

It's $50 for a good set of aftermarket rod bearings. I'm tempted to crack the oil pan off and see what I can replace from the bottom. Just do them all. The way it is knocking though, I doubt that it hasn't already damaged the crank journal.

BTW, I nominated you for ROTM.

 

My bad, 1st accident was 10/22/1999 and reported sold 3/22/1999. Sorry, and accepted thank you.