tgrandahl

Actually this could have indeed been a part of my solution. I Think i also had a kink in my fuel line between the filter and the manifold. When I inserted a inline fuel pressure gauge the car started right up and has been running fine! I have been driving the car for about a hundred miles now and everything feels solid. The car runs and drives great, and i have to say the transmission shifts really will for an Auto with 146,000 Mi on it. The whole rebuild went really well i think. I spend $200 to get the both heads planed checked and cleaned by a reputable machine shop. A dry leak down test after this was down to about 5% every cylinder (im assuming blowby) and I couldn't hear anything through the valves. The engine rebuild seal kit cost me $220, and i did not use all the seals in it however I suppose it cant hurt having them around. I made a seal driver for the cam oil seals out of a 1" pvc end cap from lowes. had to turn down the id on a lathe fist put besides that worked great. I did notice that my fuel pressure when running is only around 25psi vs the 36psi that the STI manual specs out for the fuel pump. When the ignition is first turned the pressure will kick up to 36 for about a second and then drop and remain at 25. The car runs fine so im assuming this is normal. I also noticed the fuel gauge takes a looooog time to change when you fill the tank. Normal? And on a slightly sad end note I hit a huge rut on a dirt road last night and think i cracked my oil pan. Im trying to see if I can take it off without lifting the engine. If not I may try to tig or JB weld it on the car if the crack is not that bad. Need to investigate more first.

Thanks for the tip. I actually ran into that hose earlier today, it runs from the idle air control solenoid valve on the manifold to the intake pipe just after the MAF on the passenger side. Unfortunately I haven't noticed much of a difference after I connected it. Still sputters and dies :-(

Its on there never got disconnected during the procedure. Im assuming there is only one and its on the right side fuel rail? Are there any test points on the rail to check pressure?

So I got the engine back in! however it seems there is a lack of fuel. The engine will fire and buck for a few revolutions and die. Every few starts it will run well for a second or two. If i even tap the gas pedal it will instantly die. I feel that this is definitely a fuel problem or lack of it specifically. At first I thought it could just be air in the fuel rails but after about 25+ false starts over the last two days I feel I am missing something else. I did not remove any fuel components from the intake manifold when rebuilding the engine, only disconnected the lines from the fuel filter, return, and evap. I checked the whole intake, maf, and vac lines and all sensors, they look solid. I dont have the headers or either O2 sensor connected, didnt think it mattered. I took a video of a few attempts to start it.

I did a quick compression test as i was pulling the engine. Note the engine was cold and the battery dies toward the end so i assumed the lower cranking rpm attributed to some of the fluctuation in readings. The test was done dry and in the order listed here. From looking at the heads it looks like the front right and left cylinders were leaking? Front Right : 132, 140, 145 Rear Right : 190, 185 Front Left : 175, 140 Rear Left : 158, 150 Left head, Right head Left block, Right block There are no visible cracks in the cylinder walls, there are a few of what looks to be "burn" marks here and there. As well as two rings at the top of each cylinder, im assuming this is where the piston rings shift when the piston reverses? I cant feel any disturbances in the surface around these marks though. Front Right, Front Left Rear Left, Rear Right As far as machine shop labor goes it looks like i should expect to pay in around $200 - $250 for the head planed and a valve job?

So i spent/wasted a good amount of time messing around with leak-down testing with the engine out of the car. All i had access to locally was a harbor freight tester, what a piece of trash even for a harbor freight tool. After my second exchange I found out that it is actually a low pressure tester and the directions for it are just written wrong and it has a 100psi regulator gauge just to mislead you? Anyways it appears that there is around 15% loss on all cylinders with this thing stone cold (its under 60 degrees here), sounds acceptable. It sound like the bulk of the air is escaping as blow by, there is also some high pitched whistling coming from the intake and exhaust valves on the left side, and slightly louder high pitched hissing coming from only the intake on the right side. With the heads off it looks like the HG was leaking at the bottom of the front right cylinder, see attached picture. Although I must say everything looked much better than I was anticipating. I will try to find a machine shop to do the head work on monday. How do you determine if you need a valve job done or not? Besides a valve job would I just need the bottoms of the heads planed for a clean surface? Would i deliver the head to a shop with the all the valves installed?

It Works!!! I think Subaru should include one of these sockets with every car they sell. Bought it today at sears even though I didnt think it was going to work, It looked like there was enough bolt sticking out that I needed a deep socket. They only had shallow swivel so I bought it and used an extension and breaker bar, done. I had to drill out the passenger side engine mount, I guess things were just going to well. But I got the engine out and on a stand now. I tried to do a quick compression test before I pulled the motor but I dont think its valid as the engine has been sitting cold for days now and the battery started to give out in the end.

So yesterday I finally got enough time to try and pull the engine. I got everything off the engine and the torque converter unbolted but cant get this one bolt off the transmission. Its right in front of the half shaft, but above the cross member on the drivers side of the car. I was able to break the one on the passenger side because there was enough room to send a breaker bar up through the engine bay. But on the drivers side is much more cramped. I have ujoint socket adapter but i cant see how it will help. I feel like im going to have to pull the half shaft out :-( Any tips on getting this out?

Wow thanks for all the advice, I am gearing up for pulling the engine. Even though I don't have to get this back together before thanks giving I want to get the engine out now. See what the damage is and what I break taking it apart :-) Thanks for the tip about flushing the radiator too. I have noticed what looks to be some carbon buildup at the top of the coolant tank. Getting the heads machined regardless does sound like a good idea. Do the heads just need to be ground? What RA is needed? Anybody know of a good shop in the Rochester NY area? Though I have to ask how should I prep the block and why doesn't need machining? I did get a subscription to the STI site and i am in the process of downloading all the pdf's. Although its quite an exhaustive process.

Wow thanks for the quick reply Is it common to have this on just one or two cylinders? When i scope the heads with a screwdriver its a lot lot louder or the driver side. Could it be an indication of a warped head if this is where the HG blew? Is an subscription Subaru shop manual worth it? It looks like the price is up to $35 for 72 hours now. Are the site features aside from the pdf manual that useful?

Hi All, I just bought my first Subaru! An auto 98 Forester S with 146k Mi that is in great shape, aside from the blown head gasket and valve ticking.... The PO informed me that he encountered the head gasket issue when driving back from work, it over heated and coolant was bubbling into the expansion tank. So i currently have the vehicle parked in my garage for a thanks giving break project. I read through this HG guide that gave me a good feel for the procedure. I was surprised that it did not mention new head bolts in the parts list on this page, is it common to re-use these or did he possibly just not mention it? I am also a little concerned about the ticking / knocking that the engine exhibits. The PO told me that once the engine gets up to temp the sound stops. Does this indicate that there is just some lash in the lifters that can be fixed with shims? The noise also gets a lot worse when the engine is put under load, I took two videos of this. You can hear it get dramatically louder toward the end of the first video when i put the car in reverse. The second video is a close up of the engine with the car in reverse and the e-brake on.