2003 Subaru Baja Bent Valves

Tiny
RHINOCULIPS
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 SUBARU BAJA
Engine Mechanical problem
2003 Subaru Baja 4 cyl All Wheel Drive 73,000 miles

I am looking to buy a complete EJ25 2.5L Subaru Engine for installation into my '89 VW Vanagon. The shop I am thinking of buying from has one that is already pulled from the donor car and ready to be installed in its new home.

They said that only one head gasket was replaced because two valves were bent on one side of the engine and one sprocket was broken as well. Over all damage was said to be minor. All repairs have been done and a leak down test was performed. Since it is out of the vehicle a compression test was not performed.

Can an engine that suffered bent valves be repaired back to a reliable engine?

Can a leak down test give sufficient information on the state of the engine after valve replacement?

Will I be opening a can of worms with this thing?
Friday, April 25th, 2008 AT 12:20 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Hi there,

Thank you for the donation.

The bent valves will not be an issue if the repairs were completed in a professional manner, Piston damage is very un common, and a leak down test will give a true indication as to the overall engine condition. The leak down test is a variant on the comp test, rather than using the piston to create the compression, compressed air is fed into the engine and leakage past the rings and valves are checked. It is always nice to have the natural Comp test done, but a leak down done correctly will be ok.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, April 25th, 2008 AT 1:07 AM

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