Oh....Joy...In the heart of winter here in Western Mass. I know it's nothing like what @LyndsayBowes and @hendrix22 are experiencing up in Nova Scotia...but it's still got us in a bit of a predicament...
I should probably start this by saying that my husband (Scott) and I have a 2003 Subaru Legacy Sedan. Other than the fact that it's only one of about 200 made like it, there's nothing abnormally special about it. Scott and I talked about selling it once it was paid off, but chose not to get another car payment until my car was paid off. Here I should probably mention he's a mechanic... He decided he wanted to do a transmission swap and change It from an Automatic to a 5-speed manual transmission. A friend of ours was selling a '97 Mustang for $500 so he bought that to drive to work while working on the Subaru. He got the parts and started the work. Now, as any mechanic can tell you...it's almost a guarantee...things didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. The most fun was when the shelter roof tore from a wind storm and we had to frantically get a 20 x 30 foot tarp secured over the metal structural bars. So we are here, in January...with a partially finished Subaru....not on the road...and Scott driving his rear wheel drive mustang 45 minutes to and from work....Not exactly ideal. Well he has all the parts in for the step he's on, but he hasn't been able to work on it because of the extremely cold weather conditions.
Two days ago we got a foot of snow. This obviously isn't good for a tarp roof. Scott and I clear the snow and ice off and all is well...until yesterday.
I came home from work to find that the ropes holding the tarp down had torn and now the entire roof and half of the walls are down and I can see the Subaru. Snow blowing in on all the parts inside. Smaller parts getting blown around....we had gusts up to 45 mph. My mom comes outside (she lives next door), with a 50' x 70' tarp she got to re-cover it all. But we can't do this alone, so I called some friends (who all showed up I might add!) and we were outside...in below freezing temperatures (wind chill had us at -25 degrees F) for at least 45 minutes. After much trial and error all the while fighting wind gusts, we manages to get it all covered. We ended up having to park the Mustang on one side of the tarp because we ran out of things heavy enough to hold it down. Although we're definitely going to have to figure out something else to secure it before we have to leave for work Monday morning. Now here's the biggest dilemma currently....
The engine is out of the vehicle on an engine stand...while the roof was missing, snow made it into all the open parts on the motor...there's gotta be a way to get it all out before it melts and causes a rust situation....anyone have any experience with this? Or any brainstormed ideas on how to get it out before it damages the engine?
Hopefully all of you affected by this 'Arctic Freeze' are staying warm and your properties are safe.
Ugh! What a bunch of craziness this winter has been all over!! Not a car motor, but when our boat sank we dried a lot of nooks and crannies of the motor out with a fine nozzle and air compressor. I dont know if that will work for you...wishing you luck before monday!! <3 <3
I actually just got my husband an air compressor for Christmas...I didn't even think of that. Maybe if he used that first and then we put a space heater towards it, it would evaporate any remaining moisture before it set in? We have one that looks like a tabletop oscillating fan that will direct heat, and he just got one of those ones that screws on top of a propane tank for outside use. Thanks for the advice!
It pushed the water out of tiny spots, also you can kind of "guide" or "push" the water beads around with it. Space heater is an awesome idea I think!
Awesome. I'll keep you updated!
Wowsers thats a bunch of bad luck all rolled into one. We've all been there though.
Ok, so what parts of the engine are open? And on most subarus that I've had the misfortune to work on you don't remove the engine to get the transmission out.
It's completely removed from the vehicle. He needed to do the valve cover gasket too........ It's in the intake and valves... :-/
Yep, the valve cover gaskets are a common problem. I would blow out the snow as already suggested before it can melt and cause rust or drip in further. Once thats done with all the spark plugs removed spin the engine over a few times(by hand) to make sure no water is in the cylinders. Then the last step when its all back together in the car and running do an oil change right away, and maybe even another oil change very soon.
Good luck and stay warm.
Thank you very much for your advice! I'll keep everyone posted!
Hey! I know this was like a month ago, just wondering if you're doing okay! : )
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