ccrinc

If you overheated it "significantly", the head gaskets are, with out a doubt, at the very least compromised. They are exceptionally sturdy, but are definitely on their way out. Each time you get it hot, the gaskets and the heads get more damaged. Eventually, coolant WILL get into the oil and damage the bearings as well. Driving it at all at this point is taking a huge risk of damaging the engine beyond repair. You can not limit the damage except by not driving it. Coolant is not just "an expensive liquid" and it has its limitations. Since the cars normal operating temperature is over at or near the normal boiling point of water, coolant helps keep the fluid in your engine from literally boiling. BUT, it also inhibits rust in places like your water pump and radiator. Once the pressurization of the system is breached, coolant will not help except by its rust inhibiting properties. CN: it got too hot, don't drive it, fix it.

Oh, puh-leeeeze! A fine wire valve guide brush will solve that "hang up" problem in about 15 seconds. Valve guides are brass, they're easy. And they had to take the valve out to put valve stem seals on anyway. If there's a hangup, it's very likely goop on the valve itself, which can be wire brushed off, again in seconds. (This crap is why we bought our own milling machine: waiting for heads to be surfaced for days is just not acceptable.) Emily

The one main thing to match on the block is the way your PCV valve mounts. There are 3 styles: a pressed in plain tube, a threaded tube and a sort of J-shaped mounting (California spec). Matching that will make your life easier. Other than that, I don't believe there are any major block differences. Emily

Biggest question with this engine: were the oil changes done faithfully? Also a pressure test for the head gaskets. Emily

What ^^ he ^^ said.

Ah, with that kind of mileage, yes, the blowby can cause the fuel wash. BTW, put a new Subaru PCV valve on your new engine too.

You probably also need a coolant temperature sensor (the one which goes on the coolant crossover pipe). It can cause a "run rich" situation which thins the oil causing the blow by. Just to be "correct", blow by is the result, not the cause of fuel washed oil. Emily

That's not normal. It looks like somebody put some kind of coolant "additive" in it at some time. I've torn down and cleaned up many engines and I've never seen chunks like that before. Definitely need to flush that junk out! Emily

If the engine has been run low on oil, replace those internal tensioners too: they're lubricated by the engine oil. One has to be careful about how much is taken off the heads of EZ30 engines. Take too much and the chains won't line up properly. SOA claims that you can't take any off, but that's BS. We build these engines and always surface the heads, just not too much. Emily

Gary, thanks, and an update. Our warranty is now 3 years/50,000 miles for N/A engines. 12/12 for turbos, for obvious reasons. Emily

What brand of plugs did you buy? Subarus really only like NGK or NDC plugs. Champions, Bosch, etc. will often cause problems.

15 amp is the recommended. What is does is make the car front wheel drive while the fuse is in.

Question: why would you even want to do any of this?

I'm thinking your intake won't fit.

Craigslist is your friend.

When the rebuild was done, did you replace the lifters, or bleed down the old ones and reuse them? Either way, it's going to take at least 30 mins. of idling for them to pump up again. Until you put a manual pressure gauge on it, you aren't going to know for sure what your pressure is, but even with good pressure the lifters take awhile to pump up. (the only engine which I remember having a metal/rubber o-ring on the cam towers is the ER27...are you positive you got the correct ones?) Emily

You guys who are talking about the sweeping turns are thinking of the SPFI engine which wasn't made in 1985. Start with the PCV and hoses, and go from there. There are so many possible culprits that I'm not even going to speculate. Emily

To be honest, I'm not sure. I haven't torn down an engine in a few years and I rarely get into the shop either since my spine surgeries. I can ask Jason and Rick to elaborate.

13208AA181 (supercede # is 230) is the OE number for a '99 Forester.

The fitment matching of the crank sprocket and the left cam sprocket began in 2000. FYI. As builders, we also have to match the EGR, manual vs. auto oil pump and mounting for the PCV valve.

Actually, the pistons and block on a PZEV vehicle are slightly different. It was a car made for the California market. This won't make any difference (AFAIK) on mods, but as Fairtax said/implied, mods on that car are basically a waste of time and money.

Subaru dealers have never admitted to the DOHC engine head gasket problems. They were ordered not to by SOA. Those prices are outrageous. Definitely take it to a reputable independent shop! Valve cover gaskets for $470? Holy crap! And reboot an axle for $393? A really good reman'd axle runs about $120 plus 1 hour labor (max.) At that price, it should be a new axle, not a "fix". I will also add to the comment that your daughter needs to learn and be conscientious about keeping an eye on fluids, getting the oil changed at proper intervals, etc. Daddy can't be there to do it for her forever.

Skip does not have to take it to either shop which I suggested. I just happen to know and have respect for both of them. There are a lot of Subaru shops around the Seattle area, some with good reviews and some with very bad reviews. We're leaning toward fuel system as well, as in charcoal canister, purge solenoid, etc. Unfortunately, we cannot diagnose this from this distance. IF the issue does turn out to be our fault, we will indeed pay for the diagnostic time. The dollar amount of labor we pay per hour is clearly stated on our warranty paperwork.

This isn't my thread. Mr. Allen started it because he is on a self-stated mission to tell every Subaru forum that we don't stand behind our work as per his emails which is why I offered to reply. He may never check back here again. Briefly: Has P0303 and P0304 misfires (opposite sides: I believe this is what is causing the "imbalance") Runs "ok" cold and with full gas tank. The misfire doesn't start until the engine is hot, and gets worse with lower fuel. Dealer checked cyls. 1 and 3, not 3 and 4. 160lbs compression on both. Dealer says "may be a valve sticks open when hot". It would far more likely to stick when cold than hot. Sorry, I don't have much faith in the diagnostic abilities of most dealer techs. That's not how they're trained. He has replaced all kinds of stuff, some of it (like the coil) with aftermarket. It is worthy noting that the dealer replicated the problem using an OE test coil, AFTER the engine warmed up. BUT, he never contacted us about any kind of problem for 6 months even though he said the problems started after 100 miles. When he did finally contact us, it was to demand a new engine. And no, I don't see any way we could test the problem after shipping the engine back to us (1,000 miles away). It would need to be in the vehicle for us to diagnose it. This is a complex issue. I suggested 2 good shops to take it to who are extremely capable of diagnosing complicated issues. (The internet reference was to a similar anomalous situation involving other, older vehicles, not his specifically.) What we do is purely mechanical. Something outside of the engine is causing the problem. This is our sincere belief. As I told him, an engine can be on the verge of throwing a rod, or the timing belt tensioner will break with no CEL beforehand because those are mechanical issues, not electrical. So, there are a lot of good minds on here. FairTax, Gary, anybody with real experience care to comment? Not to be too rude, but no half-assed guessing if you don't have experience. So far, there's been too much of that already. Emily

Shall I post my email response here as well? Emily