How to kill a Subaru boxer engine. Pros and cons of a Subaru boxer engine. Everything you need to know about it. Types of boxer engines

Not everything is far there is true, but from negative points the opposite is:

Now let's go through weak points Subar motors:

The geometry of the cylinders is subject to a curious feature - when the hone mesh is in order, and the cylinder has already turned into an ellipse. However, aluminum cylinder blocks with cast iron sleeves having different expansion ratios have never been ideal.

Oil consumption damages engines regardless of age - old cars from the first wave of foreign cars and people from car dealerships still smelling of fresh plastic stand in one queue to the doctor. Here, the very horizontal position of the cylinders contributes to the burnout, in case the turbine does not give up its share of the snack, and, of course, the ring sticking disease is standard (and for the new EJ205 this is not even a disease, but a kind of maintenance component). And try to unambiguously measure the level on a separate unfamiliar Subaru engine oil... Happened? What's on the back of the probe? And if the car is rolled back three meters to the side? Yes, it's a Subaru!
Well, what did not burn out, it ran away: leaks of oil seals and "sweating" of covers are a generic feature of boxer engines.

The MAF sensor gets dirty or fails on any manufacturer's machine. Alas, the good old MAP sensors are a thing of the past.

Unification. It is unclear why a company, which had only four main mass models, should produce so many versions, updating them almost every year. For example, who will remember how many engines installed on the Impreza? Three four five? In fact, there were nine of them, in more than forty modifications. "Come on, fix it" ...

The timing belt is conveniently located on the opposite, but "the elbow is close, but you won't bite" - it runs around a lot of pulleys and rollers. If the SOHC option at a minimum attachments does not represent any particular problems, then it is quite possible to miss a tooth or two when installing a belt on a DOHC engine, especially on a fresh engine with AVCS (phase change system). Everything would be fine, but the valves ... When the timing belt breaks, they meet with the piston (or with each other) and bend on almost all motors.

Crankshaft necks. It is easy to guess that the 4-cylinder opposed organically implied three crankshaft supports, but that was in the past ... skins, miracles did not happen. The necks are still narrow here, so the specific load and wear are higher than on in-line fours, and their repair is too difficult - you can't grind them on any equipment anymore.

Hydraulic lifters were previously (until about the mid-90s) used by the Subaru in great honor, but then common sense prevailed. So the pleasure of pumping a half dozen "mushrooms" in a bowl of kerosene is now not available to everyone ...

Crankcase ventilation. It is difficult to remember engines where clogging of it just as "quickly and efficiently" led to service. If a conventional motor even tries to puff, spit oil into air filter, knocking out the probe - then the Subarovsky opposite with gloomy samurai persistence will immediately begin to squeeze out the oil seals ...

Assembling a gutted opposite is an epic picture. Correctly clamp the crankshaft between the half-blocks - it is not for you to tighten the crankshaft caps. Well, to combine the hole in the piston with the hole in the connecting rod and with a special hole in the block, then put the piston pin in there and "polish" everything with a retaining ring - this is a song (for a six-cylinder opoposita EZ30 it's a poem)! Okay, if it was a racing monster of three or five hundred forces, then such refinements could be forgiven. But when the same work is required by a hundred-strength buzzbox of some kind of Impreza, the sanity of Japanese engineers is a big question.
You do not need to remind that for a little more serious work on the mechanics, the engine must be removed from the car (and the DOHC engine is mandatory). The argument about the ease of removal of the Subarov engine in comparison with any inline rower is fair - but only in most cases this rower would not have to be dismantled at all.

Radiators are leaking en masse from any Asian car manufacturer. There is a feeling that plastic radiator tanks for Japanese and Korean cars they are driven by the same bunglers, with the same violations of the technical process or design. But ... If Toyota has a different probability of radiator failure (for example, with motors of the S series, unfortunately, this happens more often than with the A series on the same models), then the entire small range of Subaru cars irrigates the ground with antifreeze evenly ...

That's what we can't but praise the Subarov SOHC engines for - the accessibility of the intake tract and fuel system... A fuel filter? Not a Toyota one, with forever soured nuts and hidden somewhere deep in the bowels of the engine compartment, but easily accessible, on hoses and clamps.

"Engine - millionaire"

The fantastic resource of Subarovskih motors is nothing more than a beautiful legend. In addition, they are very, very different ...

"Normal"
Engines of small displacement (EJ15 #, EJ16 #, EJ18 #) are far from "millionaires", although they are quite efficient and reliable - normal motors for C-class cars. From the point of view of the manufacturer, the unification with the big brothers is understandable, that's just ... Well, why would a normal person need a modest engine of such a wild layout? Even one and a half liter comes with two block heads and "features" of servicing opposites.

The best and optimal Subaru engines are the two-liter SOHC (EJ20E, EJ20J, EJ201, EJ202 ..). Here, some problematicity is at least compensated for by the return, and the resource and power are in a reasonable balance - in terms of reliability, they are not inferior to in-line Toyota fours of the same volume. Designed for 92nd gasoline, they have a moderate appetite, and although they will deliver a lot of "pleasant" minutes during repairs, they are very simple to maintain. On a segment of 200-250 thousand mileage, they require a standard bulkhead with replacement rings (without boring), after which they get a "second life" for a while.

"Average"
Two-liter atmospheric engines DOHC EJ20D, EJ204 ... are actually the last engines with a real margin of safety, but four camshafts for four cylinders is already too much. The matter with maintenance becomes difficult: changing the candles is a problem, when installing the timing belt, the probability of an error is several times greater, all work on the mechanical part - only after removing the engine, gasoline - 95th ...

"Trash"
First of all, these are turbo engines. Although why trash ... They carry out their task - to give all the best with the maximum voltage for several thousand kilometers and "run out". If the operation like "fix - drive - for repair" is chosen deliberately, then there are no questions. But for a "civilian", and even more so for an everyday car, they are not suitable, therefore, the hopes of some to get at the same time a powerful and tenacious engine are naive.
EJ20G, EJ205 - basic turbo engines with a resource of 100-150 thousand. Here are just a "bulkhead revival", similar to normal or at least atmospheric Subarov engines, does not always work. Turbines usually end their days with write-offs - after a connecting rod breaks, pistons are destroyed, emergency wear ...
EJ20K, EJ206, EJ207, EJ208 are turbo monsters ... and non-residents, for whom 100 thousand will be an excellent result. Often these cars are killed by the first owner - of course, the Japanese scumbag did not pay twenty or thirty thousand for his mad stool to gather dust in the garage, waiting for its buyer from cold Russia.

In the second place, the DOHC EJ254 engine is certainly remembered, the most problematic aspirated (along with the EJ22) - due to inevitable overheating. In stock for this engine, it would be nice to have a box of gaskets, a rack of heads and a surface grinding machine for regular straightening of warped surfaces. After it was discovered that the EJ254 could not be actively released on the foreign market (they would be sued), its deformed brother SOHC EJ252 also appeared. But in any case, Subarov's 2.5 traditionally turn out to be much more capricious than their 2-liter colleagues.

The bottom line? If Subaru's engines were really as great as they sometimes say, then they would not have problems typical for others and would not have specific ones, but alas ... Yes, subars are usually equipped with more powerful engines than other Japanese cars of the same class - this is the only real advantage machines with opposites. Otherwise, they not only do not surpass, but are often inferior in reliability and survivability to other Japanese brands.

Eleven years later, Fuji Heavy, which develops engines for Subaru models, introduced the third generation of the branded boxer. The Japanese plan to equip the entire the lineup stamps. Subaru's boxer engine is equipped with four cylinders and is still gasoline.

There is also a more powerful turbocharged version and a classic naturally aspirated engine, to the taste and finances of the client. The new version of Subaru's horizontally opposed engine was endowed with all the advantages of previous generations, but weak sides boxer.

Advantages of opposites

On close inspection, it turns out that the Subarov engine is not compact, but simply relatively symmetrical and flat - it seems to have been "smeared" over the engine compartment. It is clear that no matter how hard the engineers try, the dimensions of a 4-cylinder internal combustion engine cannot be less than a certain volume. The motor plate is really short and flat, but very wide.

The motors of the layout B6, R6, R8, V12 are completely balanced. The boxer B4 is, alas, not on this list. However, the B4 unit has an advantage in terms of vibration load, but there is no serious difference with the traditional in-line four.

As Subaru's ad says, the cars have a low center of gravity, which contributes to outstanding stability and handling at high speeds. Of course, on a race or rally track, this is an obvious plus. But with daily traffic in the city, the low center is not always a plus. When shaking on hatches, potholes and speed bumps, while hobbling on a broken dirt road - are these opposing advantages necessary for a civilian car? Suspension, road surface and tire condition play a significant role in speed exercise. Unfortunately, the quality of our coverage is difficult to boast of, and other factors depend on the owner.

The boxer itself and the box installed longitudinally do not create a symmetrical weight distribution, however rear wheels get a slightly larger share of the load. And here the disadvantages come out. The longitudinal layout of the engine on a front-wheel drive machine must ensure that the engine is in front of the axle, fully in the part of the front overhang. Therefore, Subaru cars get a long overhang, sometimes not inferior to Audi with an in-line engine and a similar layout.

Disadvantages of Subaru motors

There is a curious feature in the geometry of the engine cylinders - when the hone mesh is in a normal state, and the cylinder begins to turn into an ellipse. True, aluminum cylinder blocks with cast iron liners and different expansion ratios were never considered ideal.

Engines are worn out by excessive oil consumption, and regardless of age - older cars from the first wave of foreign cars and people from Subaru dealerships, still smelling of fresh plastics, can stand in line to the master. The horizontal arrangement of the cylinders itself contributes to fumes; in the case of turbines, they do not give up their share of oil, and, of course, this leads to the standard disease of ring stuck. The air flow sensor quickly and willingly gets covered with dirt on models of all manufacturers. Unfortunately, good quality MAP sensors are a thing of the past.

At the moment, Subaru's boxer engine has many modifications. It is unclear why a company with only four mass-produced cars should produce so many versions, almost annually updating them. For example, there are nine motors for one Impreza. And the number of modifications reaches forty.

In principle, the Subaru engine is similar to a standard in-line engine. However, outwardly, it differs in a specific opposed arrangement of cylinders and pistons. Opposite pistons are opposite each other.

Subaru powertrain design features

The Subaru engine is installed in a horizontal plane. Regardless of the model, these engines always have an even number of cylinders. Each piston pair is equipped with two camshafts. 4- and 6-cylinder engines are most commonly used.

Visually, the Subaru boxer engines seem to be more compact in comparison with other engines of similar volume and power. This effect is created by their flat shape. In this form power unit evenly fills the space in the engine compartment. Structurally, it consists of a head and semi-blocks with cylinders.

The main advantages and disadvantages of boxer motors

The positive characteristics of the Subaru power unit favorably distinguish it in the lineup of other internal combustion engines:

The symmetrical weight distribution of the boxer motor at the axle, the low center of gravity, and the lower likelihood of misalignment, creates minimal loads on the rear wheels.
Long service life (1,000,000 kilometers) allows overhaul engine much later than analogues.
The absence of vibrations, due to which Subaru motors are very comfortable for passengers and drivers.

Owners sports cars appreciated the counterweight and balance of the pistons for increased stability this engine and the car as a whole.

Subaru engine repairs are extremely rare. This is due high quality these motors and the absence of vibrations (especially in six-cylinder models).

Disadvantages:

high cost of service activities;
spare parts price;
the need to look for highly professional craftsmen specializing in motors of this type;
increased consumption of lubricants.

It is categorically not recommended to repair Subaru boxer engines on your own.

Here it is necessary to use specialized tools and equipment. Many parts, located horizontally and non-standard, cannot be freely accessed without a qualified approach.

When conducting renovation works only need to be used original spare parts... The quality of a professionally refurbished Subaru engine with branded parts and assemblies must match the new power unit.

What oil is better to use for Subaru

Many car owners are interested in the question of what kind of oil to pour into the crankcase of a Subaru car. In the production of cars, specific recommendations are given on the choice of lubricant products for each car. When deviating from the requirements of automakers, malfunctions of power units appear.

The car service book contains detailed information on the recommended brand of engine oil. For a Subaru motor, this is 5W-30.

If the owner floods this oil in the engine of your car, there will be no problems with the stability of operation and with starting (at an ambient temperature of minus 30 ° C to plus 30 ° C). These results are based on oil testing.

Subaru 5W-30 engine oil belongs to the class of multigrade synthetic materials. Experienced car enthusiasts have long been familiar with this product and its characteristics. Especially nice results gives its use at the stage of the initial running-in of the machine. With a sufficiently low oil viscosity, the engine develops maximum speed and minimizes fuel consumption.

A distinctive feature of the energy efficient lubricant Subaru 5W-30 is its ability to significantly cool the working elements of the engine when the vehicle is operating in extreme conditions. If there is a turbocharger in Subaru engines, this lubricant is the most preferable.

Main advantages lubricating fluid Subaru 5W-30: