xdeadeye1

im in middle of doing my heads. I just put in the fel pro rear main seal,, It was leaking so I replaced it. Got me worried now.

no , they didn't do the seals, I had put new seals in it last fall when I did the timing belt. I got a rear o ring for the back of the passenger side I don't know what they charged me the other day, but im sure it was 20x what the thing cost to make.

Alternator/Ac belts yes. The radiator is held in by two bolts, two wire plugs for the fans, and two tranny hoses on the side.. that's it.. pull it off. Makes much more room to see what you are doing.

Picked up the heads today, finally. They look nice. End price was 155 dollars. Included the new valve seals and repair of the one valve guid he said had fallen down against valve. Hes going to send me pics to my email. So stop back and ill post em at some point.

yeah that one cost me 16 dollars.

yeah im an idiot.

Thanks for your input folks. They got the heads Thursday the 4th. Its Tuesday they still apparently don't have it done. They didn't call. I didn't call back after I spoke with them this morning and they told me about the guide. He said all tolled, it will be about 175 dollars for the work. Apparently my valve seals are also hard, and he is putting in those too. Worse was the trip the local Subaru dealership. Ordered some parts. 1. Intake manifold bolt (1) 2. cam o- ring for the rear of the cam shaft. (1) 3. Head pin/ guide for the Head. (1) 4. Thermostat bypass hose (1) 5. O ring inside the oil pan "sealer" I believe this is going up into the pcv valve from the pan. (1) total = $41. Oil pan o-ring alone was $16. I asked how much the hose was , they told me $14. I told them to keep it. I could have bought this stuff from online dealers. Why they want to bend over potential customers, Ill never understand.

Ok the heads have been at the shop for over a week. Waiting to have them re milled. I call today and tell them I need my heads back. The guy proceeds to tell me that one of my valve guids is scored and the valve is hanging up and wont wont seat properly. The car ran fine other than needing the head gasket replaced. I don't know if this is some money grab or what. Your thoughts please.

2001 Silverado 5.3 v8, No engine problems ever,, 175k miles. (knock on wood)

what the heck is that stuff? did you drop it before taking picture?

where is this sensor? got a pic?

I agree with ol nick. all your front pulleys, If you don't replace these you will regret it, and belt. If your water pump hasn't been replaced,, do that too. Take off oil pump and replace o rings and tighten the screws inside it. I would replace my cam seals and crank seal,, (which is in the oil pump.)

no I haven't checked the block ,, I don't have one of thos e machinist straight edge. Im also afraid of what I might find.. then have to have the block fixed too somehow. I watched a guy do it on you tube one time,, I would need to get the feeler gauge and a straight edge rule. Other thing,, the grey I have is not anaerobic.. its this

use this post please,, Sorry about double post.

96 legacy wagon, 2.2, Automatic. Ok so im in middle of head gasket replacement. Engine is out and on stand, heads have been removed and sent to machine shop, 1. Oil pan gasket. I got a felpro gasket from RA. Everyone says to use the RTV. I have grey RTV, non anaerobic. Should I use the RTV really? no biggie,, just feel dumb for buying the cork gasket from felpro. a. There is a return or pick up tube inside the oil pan someone told me to replace the grommet/o ring inside but haven't seen it for sale ,, is this a Subaru only part? 2. Block Preparation I shop vac'd the engine off and used a razor blade to scrape remnants of the old gasket off, I also took a scotch pad with some carb cleaner tryin to get them real clean, but they seem stained. I also used some gasoline wiping down the face of it. a. The block has 2 circular guid/plugs on each side to help the head stay on or something. Two of the head bolts go though these things. One came out and stuck on the head.. I pulled it off with some pliers. I didn't crush it or oblong it. Not sure about if I should reuse this,,? Do I need them? what if it don't want to go back into the block. b. am I hurting my motor by having the engine on the engine stand and turning it so my oil pan is sticking out side ways instead of down? c. The block surface is for the most part clean,, no debris,, seems smooth. Anything else I should do? I also have wiped out the cylinders (the pistons are pretty black on top.) Thanks.

the reason I thought it was bad,, was when I removed the spindle,, I had to undo the ball joint from the arm. I started moving it around and it seems stiff,, moves in short spurts,, doesn't have fluid movement.

did you have the dash apart? did you reconnect the Flasher button connection? (guessing)

hadn't thought of swapping sides on them. THis is good common practice?

UNG, they are original Subaru. They aren't making noise. Youre right,, why spend the 85 bucks for both sides right now., ill just reboot,

1. On Rock auto, Moog ball joints are $23.79 There are a variety of off brand "cheaper" models between $5 - $9 Any of you used the cheaper ones? I know the consensus is to buy the Moog. However,, the price difference is $47.40 to $10.60,, or a savings of $36.80 Im all about saving some money. but I don't want my wheel to fall off either. 180k on 96 legacy wagon 2.2 auto. 2. I pulled my cv axle in front and I thought,, "well its 180 k and im pretty sure they haven't been swapped out. I have not had any issues. The whole boot is cut in half vertically on the driver side boot. Should I replace the cv axle.? should I do both at the same time? (im thinking I probably should do them both) Ps. if you cant tell im in the throws of doing a lot of work on this car,, thanks for your input, help, and patience. John

Yeah that's what I did.. Popped off the axle, easy peezy. My Cv boot is torn in half anyway and it seems to be very flexible / loose. So im ordering another. Question: Im here so im thinking maybe I should get lower ball joints. The one that is on there, does move / swivel,, but not fluidly. It's kind of clunky.. Meaning it moves,, but it isn't all fluid motion in it's movements. So im looking at videos etc. and wondering am I making more work..? Does it need it? I know there are 180k on the odometer,, and I KNOw they haven't been changed out before. but the rubber on the ball joint itself is/ seems to be good. lol worrying about the pinch bolt on there.

THis video shows ETCG changing the CV Axles. Looks to be the way to change the lower ball joint too.?

I tried again today. I didn't lift up the engine because the thing that's in the way from underneath is the cv axle. I have some play in the axle and the boot is torn,, so im just popping off the axle and ordering new ones while im there. From above, the tranny cooler line are in the way. Thanks for input.

So youre sayin don't go from the top,, go from bottom. And its not the cross member that's in the way its the axle. I think I will also try putting the socket on the nut first and then try jamming the extension in to IT. ** sorry if I seem over dramatic, im just frustrated.

ok gotcha,, I have the mounts undone,, so yeah I can raise the engine,, and that should help.. Ill try that tomorrow. I can see how the wobble extension SHOULD work,, but just cant get it on the nut square enough. Thanks.