idosubaru

is this a PT4WD push button 4WD trans or something else? what do you mean it's hard to get out? are you moving, in snow, off road, sitting still....

there are thousands of gas mileage threads. you should read through them. use the "search" button and search for "gas mileage" in the topic titles. a few mpg loss for a vehicle that old isn't that abnormal. i'm not saying you can't get a little more, but it might be a needle in a haystack. tune up is a good place to start - plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, PCV valve for starters. another obvious place to start is to check your brakes, mainly have the front caliper pins ever been greased? they should be, can save you some mpg and may prevent premature rotor or caliper failure. at this age, the wheel bearings could use some fresh synthetic grease, but who's going to do that for the sake of gas mileage i don't know.

i'd be interested to see some torque values of bolts that have been run for 30k, 50k, 100k too with good headgaskets. be hard to see those kinds of numbers though.

what engine is this? what are you trying to do with it? i always opt for a full valve job, mill and test the heads. then you know yo'ure golden once you get it back together and won't have to go back in there again. if the block isn't worth all of that too you, then find some used heads.

no

emily - do you have any insight on the failure of a replaced gasket? have you seen any? gah, silly we didn't think to request a response from emily. they would surely know more than anyone, and be able to talk about it, about failures of a replaced EJ25 headgasket.

be interesting to see similar EJ22 pic's since they don't blow headgaskets.

there are vent hoses on the top of 4EAT's, but they are not vacuum hoses and are not meant to connect to anything. try unplugging the shift resistor temporarily- usually on the passengers side strut tower. see what that does (i disconnect them permanently on mine, i like the way they shift better). try inserting the FWD fuse and see how it drives. these are all shots in the dark so to speak, just curious how it acts. might want to check your transmission fluid lines to the radiator. is the radiator original? if there's any blockage in the lines or radiator it could impede fluid flow. another long shot, but who knows if the system was opened up when the engine was removed. has the fluid been changed at all? how many times and how was it done? can you contact the previous owner and ask them?

good point. the one completely blown head gasket i've seen, it was an XT6 not an EJ25, it was driven while overheating, it blew at the exhaust side. the exhaust side of the head would probably heat up the most?

dude that sucks. i can't offer any input on that one. slapping on some new head gaskets and a used head and you'll know pretty quick if the engine is good. headgaskets are easy enough to do that maybe it's worth it to you to try it out? i wouldn't bother splitting the block, i'd hope it's good and if not i'd look for another used one.

well that sucks, but keep your eye out there are good soobs and good people out there and you'll have much better luck with them. good luck with it. if you can expand your search area to a couple hours away that can really open up some options. okay, most people don't drive like that, so that's the difference. but the SPFI and MPFI will get even more than the carb's if you drive like that. the 40-42 mpg i mentioned was normal highway driving at 70mph if mpg sells on you vehicles, you would thoroughly enjoy an MPFI XT driving the way you do. benebob gets mid 30's in his 6 cylinder XT6 AUTOMATIC...driving the way you do. i'd be curious to see how high an MPFI XT would get driving like that, but i don't own one that runs right now.

if you have an owners manual it should describe the transmission not shifting into 4th gear until it reaches a certain temperature. if you don't have the owners manual, then just follow along with what Manarius just said. if it only does it for the first 10-15 minutes at most and then shifts fine after that, then this is what it is doing. it may be a little rough around the edges doing it due to age but it's probably mostly normal. if you feel this isn't it, then keep it coming maybe there's something else. and it may be that you never actually drove it in weather that was cold enough to do that. if it's ever garaged, that may keep it warm enough to prevent it from doing that. did you do multiple changes of the ATF or have it flushed? one change only gets about 1/3 of the fluid out. but if it's pink, sounds good.

i'm almost positive that is not correct. most head gasket failures i've seen show this type of wear. even non-EJ25 engines show this. and in the ones that have been driven awhile i have seen significant amounts of material missing, like a crevice where the head is not re-usable....well it could be if you want to risk it and it could be welded/machined but i wouldn't do it. but the point is, for 1/8" of material to be missing, it is absolutely impossible for movement to cause this kind of wear. it is the leak, the heating, the gases, something else, but not movement. the ones with very little damage, just the maching marks missing, are the very beginnings of this process. like you just said and documented - this engine was at the very beginning stages and shows just very minor wear. if you could circle or indicate the leakage area, that would help some people. edit in a circle or something maybe to help everyone see it?

true, that is a start. correlation does not imply causation. at that mileage there's any number of issues that could have caused the HG to go. i do not know who did the work nor how it was done or what maintenance was done/neglected. just as you asked for documentation and proof, i'd want the same from people that have claims of HG failure. i have no way to verify and document that HG jobs were done correctly or their weren't other issues that cause HG failure present before hand.

to each his own should suffice here. none of this was to prove or be right or wrong, that's not my goal. we all work on cars and have differing oppinions and ways of making decisions. when i start seeing replaced head gaskets failing i'll reconsider, but until then it is of no benefit to me to consider something that isn't an issue yet. i'd like to have something more concrete to go on, but i do not.

agreed. that is certainly the first thing to look at for a head gasket that only made it to 50,000 miles. that was my/the first reply to this thread: the "PM" HG is pointless in this case.....because his only lasted 50,000. if you want to suggest PM HG replacement as part of his solution, then you'll need to change your numbers to reflect a 40,000 mile interval and i don't think he's interested in that. nipper and i are trying to persue the more obvious issues/concerns he may have.

we're just talking about different things. i'm speaking on broader terms, that headgaskets are not typical replacement items - see owners manuals of most production engines. think EJ22. all i'm saying is that headgaskets are not replacement items on the EJ2. you are correct, there are problem engines out there where PM HG replacement is a wise thing to do.

there are plenty of gas mileage threads. GD is right, 40+ mpg is hard to come by on an EA82 with typical driving. any time someone is claiming something that's above and beyond what everyone else is seeing it's hard to not question. as many details as possible would be helpful to convince someone that you're seeing something that noone else is seeing. that you live in flat country probably helps. the only legitimate 40+ mpg EA82 that i know of is a FWD MPFI 5 speed 1988-1991 XT. with some very delicate sustained 50mph driving i'd imagine a few others could come close, but few people drive like that.

for off road or bad weather the legacy will be a step down from the EA series stuff since it doesn't have any form of center diff lock. any EA series trans, PT4WD, FTWD, dual range would be much more useful for off roading and bad weather driving. but the legacy's have good engines and trans though. they would be considered new generation since they're the EJ series stuff.

by 1980's do you mean the EA82? the EA82 and EA82T headgaskets should be retorqued. install, torque, run engine to operating temperature. shut it down and tear it all back apart again to retorque the head bolts. Fel-Pro makes a permatorque gasket that is not supposed to require a retorque. they seem to hold very well for the many people on here that use them and recommend them over all others. what gaskets were used and were they retorqued? i do not know why you'd find the bolts loosing torque, that would be an interesting topic for another thread, have you ever asked, i'd be curious to see what everyone says about that? i know the turbo's tend to fail at the rear passengers side cylinder due to heat. there may be other similar contributing factors. the leak starting there and localized heat build up may possibly cause the bolt to loosen or just reduce the gasket material between the head and block, thereby making it seem loose eventhough it hasn't actually "backed out". 'ive seen a number of headgaskets that i've pulled where the headgasket was severly damaged, with much of the material missing, the missing material may put less pressure on the bolt head. it's hard to say which came first. another very important issue which is more evident on the older subaru's you speak of, is the threads. the older subaru's tend to have very corroded and dirty threads when you pull them apart. even engines in good running condition that i've disassembled with no head gasket issues will have corroded bolts. these bolts and the bolt holes need to be meticuloulsly cleaned to make sure they are actually torquing properly. the proper torque, sequence, and retorque means nothing if the bolts holes or bolt threads are not in excellent condition. i clean them and run a tap and die over each bolt and bolt hole when i do my headgasket jobs. for the sake of time, i'd suspect most mechanics do not do that. that being said, EJ engines are typically much newer and fewer miles and do not seem to have the amount of corrosion and dirty threads that i see on the older 80's EA stuff. headgaskets have to be done right to hold. the way they are done makes the difference between them lasting and not. as a side note, with cooling systems in excellent condition, the EA82 will keep it's headgaskets for the life of the vehicle. problem is, after 20 years or a quarter of a century, it's hard to keep a cooling system in excellent condition. with all those years, miles and multiple owners there's just no way to gaurantee the vehicle hasn't been run hot. heat kills gaskets and seals and headgaskets see it up close and personal when it happens. things often fail at the same point. the internal HG, the external HG, the dodge neon HG fiasco, they all fail in similar modes. they will fail at the weakest point of the system, so it makes sense that they fail in a similar fashion if there are pre-existing issues. engines that don't typically have HG failures...like the EJ22 will be more random. it will depend on things like which cylinder experienced bad ignition timing, localized heating...etc.

good point, i've never heard an exact date to look for, but i doubt it's January 01, 1995! i'd imagine there's a cutoff in there somewhere, all i can say is that most 95 2.2's are dual port.

this thread was not started to discusss whether or not the EJ25 has headgasket issues and whether they can or should be replaced as PM. his has already been replaced, he's beyond that point. he's asking about the expected life of a replaced head gasket. with the updated headgasket and properly installed it should not need to be done again.

good work kids!

10w60, what a strange weight oil. glad it's gone, now don't forget to attend to those turbo lines you mentioned might be dripping earlier. new hoses and clamps are a very good idea on those things.

what exactly happened to the engine to make it "crack the head"? if it just lost a head gasket -replacing that head and gasket should have you back in good shape. if you suspect any block issues, then buying a good used block might be the best bet. get a used block and put new head gaskets on it if you want to avoid head issues in the future.