This was super informative and definitely well documented. So helpful for those of us who are scared to get into a big project like this. You made it seem super easy! I look forward to seeing more videos!
Stashly Thanks for the positive feedback! This was the first documentation video ive made but it was my first engine rebuild so i had to film it the best i could haha. I have a few big videos coming on each of my cars so stay tuned!
BKG COLT Haha yeah these engines dont seem to be too reliable 😂. This was the first engine rebuild ive ever done and it wasnt hard. Just follow the torque specs and use new gaskets and you should be fine. My engine ran strong for 6 months before i sold the car!
Terrific content! I appreciate anyone taking the time to create these instructionals. I have done a few myself and they are more time-consuming than they look. Don’t worry about the nomenclature: If you are pointing at the part I know what you’re talking about. BTW, did I fall asleep when you put on the big-end bearing caps? I only ask because I wanted to show someone why on older Subaru motors you have to put the rods on the crankshaft first and then put the pistons in the cylinders and feed the wrist pins through the access holes but this motor allows you to do things the usual way (big-end bearing caps last).
With most older subaru’s you would have to slide the wrist pins through the access holes but on this engine you have to assemble the pistons onto the rods and slide them in like most other engines are built. You can access the rod caps and bolts through the bottom of the block but you dont get much room to tighten the cap bolts. I dont remember the cap bolt socket size but i mentioned it in the video for you guys because the information isnt available online. If you have anymore questions let me know 👍
Wow, awesome video!! I appreciate you taking the time to film this. I have a 2011 Forester FB25 motor that is leaking oil from the drivers side camshaft cap. I came across your video, while searching for info on this repair. I am not looking forward to pulling the timing cover, chain, etc. I am trying to do this with the engine still in the vehicle if possible. Its going to be a huge PITA!!
Haha these boxer engines are tricky and give you no room to work on them! If its just leaking from the camshaft caps you may be able to just take the caps off without removing the timing chains. It could also be the valve cover, it should run around the cams and they have rtv sealant on them. You may have to just clean them and reseal it?
I'm going to rebuild my motor soon. I've watched so many videos and I have most of the parts, Honestly I'm Just stalling at this point It's my first rebuild and I'm super nervous. Please wish me luck!
@@namelast4606 took longer than expected since im inexperienced, but eventually got some help and its been pretty good, especially the first few weeks of quarantine with empty highways was fun
Bro you crack me up with your comments. “It says let it set for an hour, but I’ll probably just wait 15 mins... I got shit to do”. 😂 And then, “it’s what the RU-vid professionals use”. 🤣. Great video man. I will be boosting my 86 in the near future and plan to do the forged internals rebuild myself, this will help!! Thanks! Any issues upon start up?
ChingonTac89 Thanks for the positive feedback man! No issues at all on first startup. Just prime the fuel rail a few times and it should start right up!
Informative video! Thanks man. What kind of RTV did you use to seal the crankcase? To prime the oil system just hold the gas pedal all the way down when you crank it, it won't start but will get oil to the bearings and or oil filter when you do an oil change.
Oh nice i didnt know they had that type of fuel cutoff. My old rx8 was the same way for deflooding the engine. The rtv i used was permatex ultra gray. It works great and is pretty cheap. This engine has alot of surface area, compared to other 4 cylinder engines, that needs rtv so buy the bigger tube if its available 👍
Great job! I have plans to build my FRS engine in a near future and this video motivates me. Also is going to be my first engine rebuilt. So I hope it ends good like yours!
John Its not hard but its time consuming. Its alot of fun seeing what all your engine components look like. Make sure to check bearing clearances and tighten the bolts to the right torque and youll be fine! Its super easy!
Hey man I was wondering if I can get some info on what motors are compatible with. 2014 brz manual I had rod knock today motor is done idk if I should look for another motor but I read on a forum newer motor fa20 won’t work with 2014 so if that’s case can I rebuild ? What would I need ?
Drrizzy Dreww Brz and frs engines are the same fa20 engines but the fa20 engine from other subarus like the wrx and i the forester are different in design. There are alot of brz/frs engines out there for parts if you need them. You need to figure out what part of your engine broke and then i can give you more solutions on rebuild ideas
Sean Haight rod knocked when driving pretty sure everything is toast inside lost all power won’t start last time it did have it gas had no effect (talking only fa20 out of brz/frs/86) I jus wanna make sure when I buy a motor if it’s newer like a 2016 for example that it’d be plug an play for my ecu or what would it need or does it have to be a 2014 motor
Drrizzy Dreww That im not sure of because they make improvements over the years to the engine and pcm’s. I know the ‘13 and ‘14 models are the same for sure so see if you can pick one of those up or see if you can find a shop that can assemble you an engine with new parts.
Charles Strain If i decide to keep this car for a while then I probably will. I haven’t driven it much because it isn’t finished but once the paint and bodywork is done ill be driving it more and installing more mods on it! 🤘
m s Thanks for the positive feedback man! The service manual is linked in the description box below the video so you can get access to all the torque specs and info you need 👍
Not a professional build or filming procedure but it gives some insight on the engine internals and how to do most of the engine build. There’s not many fa20 engine videos out there so hopefully my video helps people lol
Great video Sean, I’m currently rebuilding mine and was wondering if you need to put any loctite on any of the bolts as you put it back together or if you just used oil? Thanks!
When i was reading the manual i didnt see anything about loctite on any bolts but i did use a small amount on the rod cap bolts just in case haha. For everything else i just used assembly lube and thicker engine oil on the block bolts.
same issue here... except i got a 2016 wrx... its salvaged, it broke off the right cylinder head and timing cover got cracked. question, does the timing from the fa20 and fa20dit differ? in other words, does the brz and wrx have the same timing? if anyone knows please shine a light my way. ALSO HELPFUL VIDEO, WILL BE MY MAIN GUIDE FOR THE BUILD. thank you!
DarkChainZ_FlowC The timing for most engines now a days have colored chain links and markings on the cams and crank gear/sprocket. Just make sure the links are on the markings, release the tensioners, and it should be good. You can spin the engine over a few times and see if the colored chains go back to the proper markings on the cam and crank. Good luck!
james duong The engine had low mileage so i didnt adjust the clearance but i did clean and reseat the valves. If you have a high mileage engine thats being rebuilt or your putting in upgraded cams then yeah i would make sure to check valve clearances so you dont have any problems
not sure if i missed it, but where do you put RTV for the valve cover? is it in between valve cover and gasket? or by the cylinder head (where the VC gasket sits)?
Even if you buy all new parts you should still do a clearance check because if they arent within spec, youll mess up all your new parts. That would be an expensive mistake lol
Barrington Jarrett For the first start up I used a cheaper brand valvoline 5w20 synthetic oil because i will have to change it after a few hundred miles when the engine is broken in. After its broken in I will use 0w20 oil like subaru recommends
@@barringtonjarrett153 Don't use conventional oil in the FA20, it calls for synthetic only. You can also just use 5w30 instead of 0w20, the latter seems to only be a North American spec whereas the rest of the world uses 5w30.
I got a lot of questions regarding all this.. So my goal is to keep my car forever. Eventually at around 200k miles I'll need a rebuild from it being blown or whatever right? I have a stage 2 FRS rn. Looking to go edelbrock supercharger after my rebuild.
S K The most common engine failure for these cars is the bearings. If that’s the case then you can reuse the internals but if it has high mileage and the piston rings go bad or the head gasket blows, youll have to get the block cleaned, the cylinders honed, have someone inspect your internals, and also have your new bearings and piston rings clearanced. Depending on how much power you want out of your engine, you’d have to upgrade the internals so that they can handle the extra power. Your local performance shop can help you with what stuff to buy.
Hi Sean. Awesome video! Will be doing a rebuild on my engine soon and this will definitely help. Just a quick question, did you replace any bolts? Only concerned about them being the one-time or strech bolts.
Aslam Ameeroedien Thanks for the positive feedback! So with this rebuild i reused all the bolts for the engine. Your supposed to replace the head bolts when you separate an engine but I have been following a subaru mechanic and he said that he never replaces them on subaru’s. If you dont mind paying the extra money then you should buy new head bolts just to be safe.
@@seanhaight3939 thanks for the speedy reply! Okay cool. So I can reuse the block and rod bolts? I'll price the head bolts and take it from there. Thanks!
Aslam Ameeroedien Yeah you can reuse every bolt. The head bolts stretch when hot and act like a spring to hold the head onto the block and therefore should be replaced. Good luck with your engine build!
Nice Video Sean. Im doing the same kind of work with my FA20 right now. Question 1: Did you check valve clearances with a feeler? I saw you just put random shims and rockers on the valves. Question 2: I noticed Rocket pivots on the RH are different on the RH side and the LH side. Do yout know if the bigger ones go on RH or LH ? Question 3: How is the engine running as of now ? (2019) Great work !
Fernando Quintana I took the rockers out and made a mental note on the order in which to put them back in. I think the rockers are the same size on both sides because i didnt notice a difference. I lapped my valves so they sit flush. My engine had only 52k miles on it so i reused the old bearings so they were still mated to their original parts. This way the clearances would still be within spec. I reused all my old parts and put them back in the position they came from. If you have to replace parts, its a good idea to check clearances thoroughly so you dont cause engine failure. But as of now my engine is still running strong!
@@seanhaight3939 rockers are equal , I meant the rocker arm pivots. Those cilindrical with a spherical head. The oil holes in the pivots, are bigger on the LH side. Don't know why
I dont know why they are different. Maybe because of the way the oil flows or maybe oil pressure. Just make sure they all go back on the correct sides haha
Sean Haight at 25min Mark there are supposed to be 2 orings on the head under the cam carrier. They are carrying oil pressure to the cams and AVCS. there is no gasket maker applied in that area either.
Chris Elek Yeah i see what your talking about. I must have forgot to put them on that side. I used rtv and it must have sealed it good enough because i put 5k miles on it and the guy who bought my brz hasnt had any problems yet and its been on the road for 15k miles now. Idk if i took the cover back off and installed them off camera if i realized i forgot to install them. Thanks for letting me know man! Ill talk to the guy who bought my brz and let him know!
philistineau Thanks for the positive feedback man! I was using the service manual. I have it linked in the description box if you want to use it yourself. 👍
Greg Polkinghorne It took me about 4 hours to reassemble because im not a professional but it wasnt too hard. The most time consuming part was cleaning and prepping the parts to be reassembled lol
@@seanhaight3939 that's good to hear. A mechanic quoted me au$13,000 for an 86 engine rebuild the other day. Was thinking of giving it a go myself with a more mechanically minded friend. Your video is very helpful. Wife's got a new car coming soon and we haven't sold her old one yet so seemed a good time to have my engine in bits.
Greg Polkinghorne Yeah man depending on how the old engine broke, you can just buy the new parts and rebuild it yourself. Just make sure you check clearances on everything that is using new bearings to make sure the gaping is good and use liquid gasket and locktite on parts that need it. Besides that itll be kindof fun!
I dont think they are the same. The clearances could be slightly different and i dont think the blocks are made from the same material. The wrx puts out more power and heat so im guessing they are made differently. But idk? Ive heard they are very similar
Sean Haight oh I see thx for letting me know and do you know what could be wrong with my engine I drove it a mile from my house and I didn’t have my intake or air box so the turbo was exposed and I drove it a mile from my house and it shut off and there was a fire inside my exhaust and the engine won’t turn over
I couldnt say for sure. Maybe the car was reading false air/fuel ratios while the intake was off because the maf sensor wasn't reading proper air flow and it dumped a ton of fuel in your cylinders until they seized and the excess fuel that didnt combust in the cylinders was dumped into the exhaust and caught fire.
Harrison Chou I dont think it matters but i put everything back in the same place just to be sure. The intake and exhaust rocker arms might be different
Miriam Vivo I learned by watching videos on youtube of wrx engine rebuilds. They are different engines but are similar in alot of ways. I downloaded the online service manual for torque specs and assembled the engine the opposite way i took it apart. It was the first time I rebuilt an engine and it wasn’t that hard, just time consuming. The EJ engines are easier to rebuild than the FA’s so you shouldn’t have any problems
I blew my block in a stock brz, would this be the video to watch to put a new block in? I still have to take everything out however. Any idea on how to do that?
Colby Toner Yeah you can watch this video to help you assemble the engine. Just take the engine out and disassemble everything neatly on a table and then put it back together the same way you took it apart. I have the service manual in the description box so you can use that for all your torque specs and instructions. If your crank bearings are bad then youll have to get new ones and clearance them. I didnt have to because i was just swapping out the block because it cracked. Hopefully this video helps you. Good luck!
Sean Haight okay awesome, my block has a huge hole it in about the size of a golf ball lol. You think if I replace just the block I should be good? I see engine assemblies for 3k and then blocks for like 2k why is everything else only 1k?
Colby Toner If your engine will still turn over and spin ok then your crank and bearings should still be good. If you can find just a block on ebay or facebook marketplace for like $100-200 bucks then you can just swap everything over with a new gasket kit. If you have the money, i would just find and buy a cheap new/used complete engine and just put it in the car because rebuilding an engine takes alot of time and you have to make sure you resurface the cylinder heads, apply liquid rtv gray gasket maker where needed, and tighten all of the bolts to the proper torque number and in the right pattern. If you havent rebuilt an engine before it can be a rough process but if you have the time and patience, go for it! Its not that hard to do! I go over everything in the video 👍
Colby Toner Yeah then i wouldnt trust the crank in that engine because it could be bent or warped. Take your engine out and remove the heads and see if they are good. If they are then you can just buy a short block somewhere or if they are bad, then youll have to buy a full longblock engine
I have no clue about building engines, but putting bolts in oil to make the torque wrench more accurate seems not logical to me. if you torque a bolt down to xx NM you have bolted it down xx NM, does not matter if there was any friction. That is just physics to me. Newtonmeters are Newtonmeters
marino4691 The reason why you have to put oil on the head bolts is because the manufacturer’s recommended torque numbers are based on oiled bolts. If you don’t put oil on them, the friction from raw metal on metal contact will give you an inaccurate torque number and the bolts need to have a specific clamping force to hold the head onto the block.
Your right, Newton meters are newton meters. But that torque value is a value of the fasteners(bolts) resistance to being tightened, not the total clamping load being produced by the fastener (bolt). A lubricated thread with 45 n/m of torque will have a much higher clamping load than a non lubricated thread because of the friction of the threads on each other. Like how when using locktite on a bolt torqued to 45 n/m, it takes much more than 45 n/m to loosen the bolt. The locktite is filling the gaps in the thread, causing much more friction, making the bolt more difficult to remove. But im not sure about these specific bolts, but often times bolts within the engine that are already going to be bathed in oil during use, will have oil added at install. This is because there is a high chance oil would make it into the thread due to capillary action during use, effectively lowering the torque value, making that bolt easier to vibrate loose. That being said, the torque values from the manufacturer will have that compensated for. Adding any sort of liquid to the threads changes the effective load on the fastener (bolt in this case) at any torque value of a bolt. That goes for locktite as well, so when you add locktite to a bolt that isnt recommended to have it by the manufacturer, keep the torque values lower to mitigate risk of destroying threads or snapping bolts.
Picasso Impaler Yeah that makes sense. You seem to know alot about engineering specifications. I wish i knew more haha. I just went by what the repair manual said to do lol
@@seanhaight3939 yeah man for sure. It's cool for me to know why it's the case, so I like to pass on the knowledge. Most people who work on engines tend to feel the same lol
Saul Espino I forgot to put it in this video but there is a brief part of cleaning and seating the valves in the video i uploaded before this one. Thanks for letting me know 👍
William Ramsay The link you sent me is for the older subaru engines where all the rocker arms are connected to each other and there’s a pin that allows them rock up and down. This fa20 engine uses individual rocker arms that float on top of the oil spouts.
@@seanhaight3939 Thanks for the clarification! I can rest easier now that I got the letter for the valve spring recall. Have you noticed anything that needed replacement when you removed the engines out of your cars?
Craig Franklin I bought the genuine kit on ebay from a company who had them on sale. If you find the subaru/scion part number and search it on ebay, you can find stuff super cheap. Thats where i buy basically everything for my cars
Its a common failure the fa20 engine break rods bearings? Bc im reading tons of forums and owners whit broken engines,replace it and in few miles break again...
as a subaru tech this video is very misleading. You must use 3M bond for sealing or your engine will 100% leak. You're cam carriers are missing the 2 plastic o rings and the fuel filter gasket, To prevent engine failure the valve rockers, valve bucket and oil sender should never be mixed, If so valve adjustment must be performed.
Its not misleading, you just have a difference of opinion because subaru techs are probably trained to use 3M products and they do procedures by the book. The engine was assembled in my garage and never leaked with permatex sealant. I ran it at redline and had alot of fun with that engine after i rebuilt it. If i forgot to put orings and gaskets in it on camera then i did it off camera. I put all the rockers back on their previously assigned valves so the cam lobe clearances were the same or 1/1000 off factory spec range. I appreciate your feedback for other people to read and make decisions on how they decide to rebuild their engines. I hope people decide to give it a try and post it online for others to see. I was the first person to make a youtube video on the fa20 engine assembly years ago and it gives some insight for people who are curious on the process. -Side note, boxer engines are alot more complicated to rebuild for first timers compared to inline 4’s. I have spoken!
Hello friend, I greet you from Peru, I am about to build a fb20 engine, I wanted to know, please, the valve clearance that this engine has or how is the calibration method, thank you in advance
Gabriel Bolaños Im not sure off the top of my head. I used the online service manual for all clearance and torque specs so maybe try and find a service manual online for your fb20 engine and it should have almost all the info in it you need to rebuild the engine. Good luck!
SALIBAMAN Yeah still running good. I sold the car a few months back to buy my fd rx7 but the guy i sold the car too modified the brz and still daily drives it.
R o n n o c The engine was running strong for 6 months while I still owned it. I sold the car like 2 months ago and bought a series 2 rx8. I plan on buying another brz in a year ir so once my fd rx7 is finished!
Hey Sean so I’m not a car guy I was woundering if I could pay a auto body shop or somthing like that to do it for me because I don’t know what I’m doing or what should I do like idk if I need new things or anything
Best bet to save money is to buy another engine and put it in yourself. If you dont know how, then you should have an engine shop rebuild yours or have them put in a used engine
Who taught you how to install bearings in the bottom end of an engine you have a top and a bottom and in your video you put bottom and bottom together and top and top together what I mean is 1 slotted and one is smooth they are supposed to have one smooth and one grooved permane Maine it's to allow oil to get in the bearing surface
John Hill Thanks for the concern john! The FA20 engine bearings are set in sequence to where the grooves are supposed to line up with each other, like the way I installed them in this engine rebuild video. It doesn’t seem to make sense why it would be that way but thats what the manual says to do. The engine has been running extremely healthy for a few months now and would have spun a bearing if it wasn’t installed properly! 🤘 #Win
Hey man I been stuck for 3 months with my motor torn apart. I can’t get the torque specs on the the specs you provided in your description. Scrolled through all pages and can quite find or understand it can I message you on instagram or something to help me torque them down?
james duong Sorry man i havent approved alot of requests on ig or facebook but Ill go through them this week and accept it. Yeah almost all the torque specs are in the link. Which one are you looking for?
@@seanhaight3939 I'm going forged if its saveable or just buying built short block. Has there been any research in how the engine starves itself? If it makes it any easier I was hanging in high rpms for a bit while sliding it. I heard the oil pools in the heads or something of that sort
@@namelast4606 Honestly I havent done any research on why it happens but it seems like alot of people i know and follow on youtube have had it happen to them. Maybe the oil return holes in the head need to be drilled out a little to prevent build up. You should talk to a shop and see what they recommend. Im interested in finding out
Were you part of the valve spring recall? The work Toyota did on my car caused my subsequent engine failure. Rod knock, spun crank bearing due to excessive sealant blocking oil passages. My car had less than 68k miles and I don’t drive hard.
@@Spriter66 yes I was & upon further inspection I actually jumped time because the toyota techs didn't wtf they were doing they jammed my keyway in & it gave out. It was angled a bit up & it got shredded off. Now have to see if my valves were affected in any way. This is apparently an interference engine.
I drove the brz for a while and ran it hard at redline and it drove great. I sold it a few months after fixing it because i wanted an rx8. Ive seen it driving around town a few times so its still running good
i believe you are a mechanic and you can rebuild a good engine but i watched the whole video and in this video when you were rebuilding the engine, but at 25:10 when you were installing cam housing you did not install oil pressure O ring. how do i believe that you can rebuild a good engine, i saw a few faults but the main fault that i am telling is this one.
agreed.. just noticed that too.. went straight to comments to see if anyone else noticed.. 2 main orings for the cam plate were not on.. they are missing.. I rebuilt 86/brz engines professionally for work.. so them all the time
@@seanhaight3939 i was watching best motoring and they have a revolution 86 and i think they use in that stock engine some mods and gain +15 hp. Others uses a stroker kit maybe toda racing? And up the size engine to 2.3 and others uses supercharger. In my opinion a good setup/weight reduction and +15hp mods its enought.
Not everything in life is handed to you. Put in a little effort and youll be able to find all the info you need online 👌 Btw.... i put the subaru service and spec sheets in the description box below the video 😘
Turn on the car without headers on is a such dumb ass move. Read what happens when you turn on a car without headers. Guys don't follow this steps. Before put on the pistons assembly you need the calibrate all. This is not a take and put procedure. This guy going to have some problems in the future.
joelhendz Thanks for the comment. If you watch the entire video it shows that I used parts from two separate engines that were already mated to their assembly housings to build one good engine. The parts that have specific clearances were not changed and will hold clearance +/- .002 as long as the bolts are torqued down properly. This is a low mileage tear down and reassembly, not a higher mileage engine rebuild. The engine was ran without exhaust headers for less than 30 seconds and will not effect the car in any way besides giving you a false o2 sensor reading that will make the air/fuel ratio fluctuate slightly to make sure the engine doesnt run lean. The engine ran great and I hit redline alot with no issues. Anyone who is actually going to rebuild an engine knows you have to check clearances, get a valve job done, and resurface the head/block. Thanks for your concern but please keep the comments section positive and give informative advise to others rather than calling me a dumb ass for doing something “wrong” in the video that i gave an explanation for. Thanks
Sean Haight you’re building this thing on the floor, that’s a negative. you’re even using the wrong silicone. Then you smother the cam carrier in silicone and in the wrong places. And it looks like you missed a few o rings.
Michael Salinas Im not a professional engine builder but i cleaned all the parts thoroughly and made sure no dirt got inside when reassembling. Theres no guide to putting gasket maker on anything so I applied it on all surfaces without letting it seep in on the cams and oil passages. If your a professional builder them youll probably see things that could have been done better but I built this engine in my garage for $150 and wanted to show people the process because there were no assembly videos online at that time. Its been running great even when we push it to redline so it seems like I did the job right
