86GLScooby

Yeah, I'll keep a close eye on the coolant since I didn't get a new radiator nor got the other one cleaned. As for the pistons, I've always felt my subaru doesn't have much kick and wonder what the problem is... I don't know, thought I would take some extra steps in cleaning what I can.

Ran the engine at 1500 rpm for 20 min with the hood closed and fan came on. Gauge didn't go past half way mark so I decided to drive it around, went to town and back... 20 min at 45 mph to 60 mph. Seems to be good, fan wasn't running when I parked the car. Fuse is still good. It sounds good, I need new belts though, so there's extra noise. I'll change them out soon. I guess I wasn't sure when the fan should come on and didn't run it long enough, the smoke freaked me out to be honest. It's a sweet smelling smoke. But that seems to be gone now. Success? Perhaps. Thanks for the help, I feel more confident driving my subaru again and look forward to doing some more work on her. First time head gasket job and it took me about 6 weeks to complete all in all. Do you recommend that seafoam stuff to clean the engine with? How do you clean the pistons?

Yeah, I meant 75 F, not celcius... So you think I should run the engine longer to see if the fans come on? It was pretty hot, the top radiator hose was hot. I'll give it a try with the hood closed later today after it heats up a little, I'm in FL. But I might suspect something wrong due to the blown fuse, would a faulty coolant temp. sensor or sender cause the fuse to blow? Also, the ac fan doesn't come on when I turn it on, but this could be because it's not charged? Thanks

Yes, I'm trying to get the fan to come on while idling. When tested with the hood open at 75 celsius the fans do not come on. I ran it till the engine heat gauge reached half way, some smoke appears in the area of the bottom valve cover bolts and I turn it off. I would assume the fans should come on before that happens and the smoke was some off-gassing and overheating... Would the wire repair I did cause the fans not to come on even though they work electronicly? I haven't soldered the wire. Thanks

I finally had a chance to get to my car and connected the green test connectors. The radiator and ac fan comes on in a sequence and it ran for maybe 8 cycles and I decided to turn it off. Check engine light flashes. Please help, thanks.

Sounds good, I'll only have time to get to the car on Monday... will post when I do. Thanks

The AC fan does not come on when I run the AC... allthough the system was discharged for the HG job. Not sure if that would cause it not to come on though. Thanks.

The wire is black and it was one of the top wires looking down into the engine. I do have access to a volt meter, but haven't had a reason to really learn how to use it. I'll do some research so I know what you are talking about if would like to discuss how to check it. I do have the Haynes manual and did see instructions that included using a volt meter... Thanks

Well, truth be told and I was hesitant that this could be the problem, but a critter got to the wires that runs along the bottom of the radiator. Only one wire was bare, close to where the fan plugs in. As a test, I mended the wire with another wire to see if that changes anything and still no fan. How should I join the wire back, get the proper wiring and solder? Do the fans have fuses in them? Thanks

I'm still trying to get my '97 Legacy GT to run properly after a Head Gasket job... The radiator fans would not come on, so I checked the fuse and it is blown. Replaced and still they don't come on and the fuse seems to be getting hot. Is it commen for a relay to blow? Not sure where to go from here. Does anyone have any idea what it could be. I'll have to check the coolant temp. sensor perhaps? Thanks

No, I didn't flush the radiator... looking to buy another. It would be worth the money.

Yeah, it didn't sound that great at first, but it's better now... I was wondering if I should get a new radiator, but I think I'll just keep an eye out to see if it overheats first. A new radiator is allways good I suppose and the gunk that I saw when I pulled the heads is also in the radiator... we'll see.

I finally finished the head gasket job on my 97' Legacy GT and while I'm running the engine to fill the coolant it starts lightly smoking from the bottom of the cam caps. After I filled the coolant and tried to burp it, the driver's side no longer smokes which leads me to believe it's cooling system related. How do you properly get coolant thoughout the whole engine? Other than that the car has been sitting for a while and when I drove it to park it around the corner it made a lot of noises, propably need to look at the brakes and power steering. Thanks.

Thanks, that's what I ended up doing... sanded it with 220 then 400 wet or dry and surfaced it myself. Checked it with a straight edge. I don't understand why it's not ligning up right, but taking the front exhaust off and redoing this part right will most likely fix the problem. More rusty exhuast bolts to deal with, fun. Was it correct to face the flat part of the gasket towards the head? Thanks.

When I installed the new exhaust gaskets, the exhaust didn't really line up well, but I got it there with some force. I still can't get the other side lined up and will have to take off the front pipe and redo this. I'm going out of town for a couple weeks, so this will have to wait. At least I got the rest of it back on. Is there a sealant I can fill the pitted area with or just try redoing it and see if it works? Wish I had a lift, sucks working under the car without one.

Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like I want to change out the head gasket again... That's the job I did, but the new exhaust manifold gasket is leaking... The reason for taking if off again would be to get this (the pic) surfaced... Here's a pic of the problem, I took this when the head was off knowing it might cause a problem. Think I posted it somewhere to ask about it, but no repsonse. Might have been a different forum. I cleaned it up and installed. My guess is the gasket isn't lining up well with the flat areas on the head. It's pretty pitted. The flat side of the gasket goes towards the head with the dougnutted side down right? It was so rusted I couldn't tell, someone told me to install it with the flat side towards the head. Thanks.

I completed the head gasket job and engine runs great. YAY! The only problem I have (that I know of so far) is an exhaust leak under the driver's side head. I didn't have it surfaced and now I'm kicking myself in the butt for not getting that done. Is there perhaps a fix for this, like a sealant I can use or do I need to take it all off again and have it surfaces... pic in post below? Thanks.

Got the timing belt back on and lined up perfectly. The sound I was hearing before isn't there anymore. Looking better... lets hope for the best.

I'm new to this, sorry... I guess I thought the face of the valve was the part you see when you take the head off. That's called the head of the valve though.

Sorry, where's my head at... it's on a 97 Legacy GT 2.5 interference engine... I don't know if I'm just being paranoid, I tend to do that. Doesn't feel smooth like on the pass side though and it did turn to the left, so that could be the case.

When I turn my crank shaft with the timing belt on everything is smooth on the passenger side, but when it gets to the driver's side I can hear a slight scrape sound and feel some resistance. Took the head off and they seat flush, but I most likely have a slightly bent valve right? Didn't see any evadence on the face of the valves though. Not sure, any idea... I don't have the tool to take the valves out, just wondering if that's a tell sign? When I took the crank pulley off my tool holding it moved some and turned the crank about 15 degrees to the left. Timing marks were lined up at the time, so that would make sense. Thanks

Good news, tried the "bolt-out" on the stripped heads and they came right out. I addition to that all the other bolts came out easy with the new craftsman 10mm socket. I guess my socket was not good enough, had some play in it where the craftsman one sat in all the way with no play. Amazing what a difference good tools make. Thanks for your help. I ordered extra bolts to replace the 2 that I stripped. Here's some part numbers if anyone needs to order these... from 1stsubaruparts On my '97 Subaru Legacy GT -inner cam cap bolts - 10993AA000 - $1.25 each -outer cam cap bolts - 808106180 - $0.76 each also the exhaust studs and nuts -stud - 800910550 - $1.18 -nut - 902370029 - $0.88 When I put in the new studs, what product should I use to lock it in place if any? Blue thread lock okay?

Yeah, i need to move it 6 feet... it's an AT with engine in car. I really don't want the crank to rotate any... I'll see what I can do around it. Thanks

Hi, I'm replacing the head gaskets on my legacy GT and I have everything removed to where I can access the head. Timing belt off and intake manifold off. Can I push the car back like this and then pull it up again to continue work once the parts get here? Need to use that part of my shop... It's in neutral, so I don't see why not, but they say not to move the car while working on it. Thanks.

Why would they thread lock those and not the front ones? Is this factory spec or are we thinking someone else did this? Thanks