Coolant Leak EJ25D

[danielabrams555]

I just had a new motor put in my 98 Legacy GT. I bought a used JDM EJ25 and had the local garage put in in for me. They swapped the motor, test drove it and gave it back to me. It was running when I picked it up with no problems. By the time I got the 10 miles to my house, it was leaking coolant from both sides of the engine, and a little bit of oil from somewhere. I drove it back to that same garage and had them look at it. They eventually called me back and told me the problem was a plugged PCV valve that caused the cam seals to blow out. 

 

While I am not a mechanic, and am not intimately familiar with Subaru engines, I have pretty good working knowledge of internal combustion engines in general. I can understand how too much oil pressure would push oil through the cam seals, but I can't stretch my imagination enough to figure out how that would cause coolant leaks on both side of the motor. 

 

I took my car back from that garage thinking that they were either trying to pull one over on me, or they were just incompetent. I might of overreacted, but I have a serious distrust of mechanics.

 

My first thought was that I had two blown head gaskets on my new engine, but after looking in to it,it seams that the 1st generation EJ25's with the DOHC rarely if ever blow a gasket where the coolant leeks to the exterior of the engine, and to have both of them blow in that fashion at the same time doesn't make any sense.

 

My only other guess is that the water pump is leaking and pushing the coolant out of the timing belt cover. I will put the car up on ramps later today and see if I can determine exactly where the coolant is coming out at, but I was curious to know if any of you had ever heard of an issue like this.  

Edited February 16, 2014 by danielabrams555

[MilesFox]

I had an ej25d with internal head gasket failure, (bubbles in the radiator. That would be a common failure with ej25d. the 1996 ej25d had composite head gaskets like the ej22, and 97 and up went to MLS gaskets. From what i know from reading, the external HG leaks are pertainent to ej251 engines in 200o and up models.

 

Good call on a likely water pump leak. This would drip off the timing belt covers; external leaks would come off the bottom or back of the heads, and you would see green stains along the gasket seams.

 

Ypu should be a ble to remove the outer belt covers with basic tools, after removing the alternator belt and ac belt/tensioner.

 

In the case of a failed HG with an engine with a hg problem, it is best to repair the hg as swapping another engine is prone to the same problems. Usually, a HG repair is a permanent fix if the block itself has not been overheated.

 

IF it is an external hg leak, you could probably get away with a sodium silicate type block sealer. Bypass the heater core if you go this route to administer the product.

 

Replacing the hg's will use an updated gasket that supersedes the original gaskets.

 

I am not the expert on ej25 as i have more experience with ej22. But my comments reflect common knowledge in regards to ej25d.

[danielabrams555]

Is there any way that the pcv system is related to the coolant leek?

 

I want to like this mechanic, as he seamed like a genuine and honest guy at first, and that isn't easy to find in a mechanic. I'm sure that me being the kind of customer that always wants a detailed explanation, asks too many questions, has preconceived notions of what might be wrong, and awalys seams to be second guessing them doesn't help my relationship with mechanics. I should have given the guy a chance to explain and I will call him back Monday and see if he is willing to explain.

 

I don't doubt that I may have had a plugged pcv valve that led to blown seals. It is definitely leeking oil. I just don't understand the connection with the coolant leek. When he told me that the pcv valve was the cause of all the leeking, I asked him for the keys back, thinking that I didn't want to hear whatever BS might spit out if I asked him explain how too much oil pressure would cause a coolant leek.

 

Now that I have had some time to think it over, I have the slightest of doubts that there is some connection that I don't understand. I have rebuilt engines before, but nothing anywhere near as modern as 98. I have no hands on experience with overhead cams, so I'm considering the possibility that the mechanic was telling the truth and I'm the idoit for thinking I understand what is really over my head.

Edited February 16, 2014 by danielabrams555