Heironymous Josch

Well, guys. Not your fault but you didn't respond fast enough. I had to work on the car last night as I noted in the initial post. I waited an hour for a response, didn't get one and thought that was a good sign. I didn't think I needed sealant either but the gd effing FSM said to use one and that's what got me thinking about it. I have fel-pro perma-torques. Also, no where in the perma torque box is anything about sealant or no sealant mentioned. So, last night, the head gaskets went on with a thin coat of Indian Head Gasket Shellac. I hope, as you stated GD, that it doesn't cause another blown head gasket. Josh

Well, I found a Permatex product, Indian Head Gasket Shellac Compound, that seems to fit the bill. If I'm barking up the wrong tree, someone better tell me fast 'cause mantling is going down in T minus 9. Thanks! Josh

I am putting newly machined heads onto my EA-81 and the FSM says to apply three bond 1201 to both sides of the head gasket. Is this a must? I'd prefer not to use the stuff if not necessary. What's the cons of going without. Sorry, first head job on a subie, I've rebuilt Honda Cycle motors and never used any sealant on the head gaskets.

Excellent! I found a local shop that will do them for $60 and have them to me this afternoon! The place is called Ridge Reamer, they actually do all of the machining for CCR. I talked with Pete, he seems like a great guy and I've heard nothing but good things about the shop. Once I get them back, it's time for the big re-install. Josh

Well, the heads are warped. .003 at the middle. Now I've got to find a machine shop with good prices and quick turnaround time. Thanks for all your help everyone. This little $200 car is getting plenty of love. It's lucky I see the potential!

I've been trying to source a 5 spd MT, haven't found one locally at a good price yet. I've never heard an AT clunk as loud as this one does going into reverse. I've been told that they all did that. I need a new center dash console any way, if I swapped to manual before replacing the console for an AT, that could work out well. How tough is a tranny swap in comparison to this head job I'm doing right now? Also, I got the heads out last night. Both gaskets were in bad shape, especially drivers side. I cleaned up the mating surfaces and threw a straight edge on them and saw no visible warping. I'm going to have them tested w/ a feeler gauge just to be sure. Any tips for the re-install?

According to the FSM, it turns out there were at least two different radiators for the EA81's. One with a 23" core and one with a 25" core. See below. now, do you suppose I'll be okay w/ a 23" replacement? Because I can't find a 25".

Excellent! Thanks!

That would make sense and that would mean that a prior radiator failed as well. I'm getting a bit more worried; it's sounding more and more like this car was driven hot. I'm almost done pulling the heads; once I am, I'll do a thorough inspection and throw a feeler gauge on 'em. Today, I'm going to need the torque specs and tightening pattern and I was unable to find a parts dealer that has the book for this car in stock. I've got a friend who's dad runs a subie shop, I'll try calling him.

I'm not arguing that not any EA-81 radiator will work but that it does appear that I have a factory installed radiator that's wider than most of them out there. I found a junk dealer with an 83 GL that slapped his tape on the radiator while he was on the phone with me. I said, "now, I'm sure you already know, but measure between the inner part of the seem ballasts, the inner-most points of the tanks." He did and came up with the exact measurement of 24 13/16." So, at least one other person out there had an EA-81 with a different radiator.

Have you ever had to replace the radiator on an 83 GL Auto w/ AC? radiator.com stocks two different core lengths for a reason. If ALL EA81's used the same radiator, there would be big problems for everyone else in the world with a 23" core length radiator that wanted to install AC. My ATF line is already being rubbed by the compressor pulley with an added 2" lateral space, there is no legitimate way someone with a 23" core could avoid the problem based on the angle of the tube exiting the radiator. Every EA-81 having a three-grooved crank pulley isn't indicative of every EA-81 factory installed radiator being the same. Even if there were to be only a very small fraction of "AC ready" cars planned to roll of the line in 83, having the same crank pulley for every car would make good manufacturing sense. Because of the width constraints, the only item that would need to be one off for an "AC ready" car is the radiator. Why radiator.com has the wrong height for the AC-specific 83 GL baffles me, but they at least recognize that there were two types. You, I will acquiesce, know more about subies than I. I have areas of "expertise" and they aren't in subaru radiators. I just see what I've got in front of me here. If there was only one size radiator for all EA-81's then the radiator in my car now was from another vehicle. Are there other mid-year subies with a wider core, the same mounting pattern and the exact same height? Because the bottom support grommets on my car nestle up inside the base if this radiator like a finger in a butthole. You can't sum it up to "measuring differences," no matter where you stick your tape, you won't end up with a 2" margin of error. If all EA-81's had the exact same radiator (the cap size aside) than why does the nation's largest radiator distributor have two different core lengths listed for it? If every EA-81 had the exact same radiator (we'll assume this radiator to be the 23" core length as I've found this unit to be overly abundant and cheap), how could a bloke expect to install AC without his belts eating a hole in his ATF lines? And, lastly, I found what I'm assuming is the original center dash console in the trunk and it has a big black sticker that says, "This car was factory equipped for the addition of Air Conditioning." How many EA-81 drivers out there have this sticker? I haven't been around many EA-81's, so I don't know the answer to this question. I'm curious if this is a rare factory setup that included a wider radiator. Unless you worked in the factory throughout 82 - 83, you don't know that all EA-81's had the same radiator. Perhaps Subaru toyed with a wider core radiator before realizing that it was cheaper and more practical to output the same size radiator with more suitably angled ATF pipes to avoid the compressor's belt. I'm not trying to square off with you here but as a physics major, personal "matter-o-fact-ness" doesn't bode well with me. I'm more attracted to logic and logic, reason and burden of evidence seems to indicate that indeed two factory radiator sizes were produced for EA-81's and the one in my car was the rarer of the two. That's why radiator manufacturers don't make it and you've never heard of it. I could be wrong and would whole-heartedly admit to it if you could show me why but "I know more than the dealership parts guys" isn't gonna do it.

Thanks for all the input guys! I purchased the fel-pro headset from NAPA which came with head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, valve seals and intake gaskets. While I was there, I picked up a new water pump, thermostat & gasket, and a radiator cap. I installed the above listed components, minus the headset and found some surprises!!! After removing the t-stat housing I found serious white deposits on the bottom and sure enough the gasket was ripped to shreds at the same point. Apparently the compression from the motor found another escape route. Since the rad only takes 5 minutes to remove, I figured I'd pull it to have a quick shot at the water pump. During the process I found a pretty serious cut in the AT feed hose coming from the radiator. Turns out the cut was rubbed there by the compressor pulley. So, after some research I found out that the car wasn't equipped with factory AC but a factory upgrade that allowed the later installation of AC. This upgrade must have included a radiator with in/out's for ATF and a loop to cool it and was wider to accommodate the extra belt, pulley and tensioner. So, when some wiseguy got the AC installed, the feed line to the radiator wasn't routed well, was too short and rubbed on the pulley. Solution: Remove AC compressor and tensioner, pick up uber cheap used radiator with 23" core, replace damaged ATF line, remove heads, check for warping, machine as necessary, re-install and enjoy my car for the winter!

GD, thanks, all great info. Unfortunately, I do have a freak radiator and there doesn't seem to be a radiator manufacturer that has caught on to it. radiators.com was the closest having one that was the correct core length (25") but only 12" tall (1 3/4" short). Every auto part data system shows the correct radiator for an 83 GL Sedan FWD AT Non-Turbo 1.8 as having a 23" core. Why radiator.com does have a 25" core that isn't tall enough, I'll never know. Today, I did manage to find a used parts dealer in Utah that was nice enough to measure the one he had and it came up a match but he's awful proud of it ($100 + shipping). Hell, a new one should be around $100 - $150 if I could find the right size. Perhaps someone down the line replaced the rad with one from another model or year. :-\ But it doesn't seem that a radiator any smaller would mount without the in/out's getting in the serpentine system. The other catch is my car has factory AC which doesn't even show up as an indicator in parts searches and accounts for the added width of the serpentine system and the thus the radiator. I suppose an alternative would be to remove the Compressor and tensioner for the AC and install a 23" rad which are abundant. Any who. You don't have to make me your biatch, I'm confident I can do the job and I have tweezers, a butter knife and all the other tools necessary for the job. You made me laugh. Thanks for taking the stress off my friend. Josh

Thanks [HTi]Johnson! Any good resources for those parts? Also, I've been researching threads and found some nightmare stories about the freeze plugs "popping." Should I replace them as well while I'm in there? Also, I have a new t-stat but the bolts on the housing were REALLY DAMN TIGHT and I really didn't want to snap a bolt, being that the housing is in a bad spot to get a tap in if I did. Also, what's strange to me is the color of the water/coolant in the cooling system - perfectly clear. When the car runs, it pumps coolant out of the overflow. I'm assuming this is from engine compression leached from a head gasket forcing coolant out the radiator. Shouldn't the coolant be grimy somewhere in the system? I've drained the system at least a few times throughout this whole process and it seems to run clean. I have yet to drain the oil and look at it. I'm hoping it's not too milky; I would like to hope I don't have to worry about the bearings. Also, the hose your referring to, is it some sort of one-off part I'm going to need to order or is it an autozone pick-up? And, is driving the car in the meantime going to cause any more damage? If I keep topping off the coolant, the car stays at normal operating temperature in about town driving. Thanks for your help. I can't begin to explain how helpful you've been.

UPDATE: So, during the late hours of the night, I finished the head job on my 83 GL Sedan. In retrospect, it was pretty easy, although it didn't seem that way during. The car had its first grueling road test today - the daily life of an outside salesman, which usually includes 100 miles of about town driving. I put it through its paces with a mixture of stop and go, in-city & highway driving. I've made sure to check the fluid levels throughout the day. Everything is holding steady: oil, ATF & Coolant. The tally of work includes a new thermostat, water pump, radiator and head/intake/exhaust/valve cover gaskets. I have a few questions, though, for you gurus and subie lovers alike: 1. Is the second line on the temp gauge (slightly less than halfway) the marker for normal operating temperature? My needle stays glued just slightly above that line but still below halfway up the gauge. It varies slightly but not much at all and never gets at or below that second line. Is this okay or am I running a tad hot? 2. Is it typical for the oil pressure to bottom out at idle. At long lights, the OP, drops way down. Obviously, pressure is lost at lower rpm's but the needle dips down just above the red. Is this normal? 3. Would it be a good idea to recheck the valve adjustment? I check the valves on my SOHC Honda motorcycle every 3 months or so. Having had the heads machined, installed new gaskets and adjusted the valves about 100 miles ago is it a good idea to check it again? 4. Is there anything else I should keep an eye on for the next several hundred or few thousand miles? It's going to be a long time before I can drive without looking down at the temp gauge every 10 seconds but I'm sure my faith will build with every mile of service this little beater gives me. Thank you, everyone, for your help! Josh ORIGINAL POST: DAMN IT!!! Note to self: never take a person on their word in a business deal. I bought an 83 GL FWD AT w/ a tantalizingly low odometer reading of 109k. Got it dirt cheap because it needed a radiator. "Yeah, I never rode it hard or had any problems with it overheating. One day I just started losing fluid from the radiator." So, after zero success sourcing a replacement radiator (you try finding a rad with a 25" x 13 3/4" core & AT in/out for these cars, doesn't exist) I choked it up and paid close to what I did for the car to have the radiator repaired and pressure tested. This was the first muttering of the term, "pot committed." Tested well, installed the unit, it ran well but was still losing coolant from somewhere. The green goo was coming out of the overflow, so I figured maybe the cap was bad. One special order at the parts store, $10 and a week later the cap was installed. No change. While the rad cap was on order, I found a CV axle at a junkyard and fit it with new boots. I decided to pay to have it installed because I was feeling lazy and figured they could peek at the cooling system while they were at it. With the car off and the system pressurized, it was holding pretty well, losing about 2 psi over 5 minutes, not enough to cause an overheat. Under a vacuum, all went to hell. Rapid loss of vacuum pressure from 25 psi to 0 in about 6 seconds. Not a good sign. So now, we topped off the radiator with coolant, pressured the system and started the car. Billows of white smoke out the tailpipe. Best case scenario - blown head gasket(s). Worst case scenario - warped/cracked head(s). Questions for the gurus: 1. Given it's a solid EA-81 w/ 109k miles, is it worth fixing? I have $700 in the car now. 2. Given the "pot committed" mentality, I'd be willing to dump another $700 into it for the fix. Do you think it's realistic that I'd find a mechanic willing to do it for that? 3. I've never replaced a head gasket on a car but have rebuilt the top-ends of several SOHC Honda motorcycle engines. I'm by no means a professional but am an accomplished amateur mechanic. Is this a job I can do myself? 4. Being a "boxer" design, can the heads be removed without pulling the motor? 5. Is there anyway to test which head the problem is coming from? It may be both but If there's a test and it's only one, I can save some time and money. I was thinking about removing the exhaust header and repeating the pressurized running test to see which cylinder the white smoke comes from. Would this work? 6. If I tackled this on my own, what's the best manual to work with? Any input would be awesome guys. I'm a tight spot. I can afford $700 or so to repair the car if I have to pay someone to do it but I want to consider if I can find a better car for that $700. The fact that it only has 109K miles on it is a huge factor for me. I've heard these little EA-81's will go 300k. Any input would be great. Thanks for reading.

This is my first old school subie, an 83 GL Sedan, and occasionally an "ECS" light comes up below the tach. My best guess is that this is an acronym for Engine Control System but don't know. I noticed a black box next to the fuse panel that appears to be some archaic pseudo-OBD system. Will this light fail me on emissions like a CEL? If so, how can I correct the problem or easily clip the wire that lights it up?

I'm going to need a radiator source if my repaired unit fails. I have an '83 GL Sedan FWD AT w/ AC. The core measures 25" x 13 3/4". I tried every site listed on this thread and no one has a match for it. radiator.com had the closest match at 25" x 12". What gives???? I imagine I can retrofit the radiator.com 25" core length to work but the damn thing's $200! Every other site pulls up a 23" core length for my car. BTW, my GL has straight in/out pipes.