Somerowl

:brow: :brow: :brow: Anyone????

Good day all, OK, Got the beastie running finally, but it struggled for power and then ran hot again............. was able to manage the temperature with speed and throttle enough to limp it home, but is definitely NOT running well. If we have a new radiator, newly refinished and pressure tested heads, gaskets etc, new water pump within a year, I'm thinking there may be a block crack, but I have zero evidence of that from either water in the oil or steam out the back end. New catalytic converter within a couple of years also.............ideas anyone?? Thanks very much to date, awesome help!!! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Thanks VERY much Tom, ordering now.................

Hey all, getting LOTS of mixed messages about the "right" head gaskets. I just need to get the correct set and put the beastie back together. Got the heads back and they're ready to go. Had the "typical" between the valves surface crack on one head, but was within specs on the Subaru Tech Guide. I need to get these on order and I'm not sure if this Fel Pro set is correct? HS8818PT. It's a 1986 EA81 OHV Carbureted model. Please help!!! :banghead: :banghead:

Sweet, thanks all.

All, Time to purchase the Head Gaskets. We're only getting/needing the Intake/Exhaust/Head gaskets, everything else remains unchanged. The question I have is which brand do you recommend for this application. I'd normally go for the Fel Pro Set if I was doing a Gen 2, but this is old school and I'm unfamiliar with the configuration. The choices are as follows................ Ishino Stone - PN#WO133-1634114 for $18.23/ea DNJ - PN#340-05312142 for $14.98/ea FEL PRO - PN#340-07021892 for $20.38/ea VR Gasket - PN#340-05125814 for $23.98/ea :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: Please advise................ thanks!!! Nick

That makes sense in a purely engineering sort of way, but if the tiny spot of hot coolant is limited to that one carb location I think the second reason you suggest is more likely and something I won't have to worry about in this neck of the woods. Thanks very much. Went to Subaru to get the gaskets for the carb to intake location. 1) Good news - they were still available (although a week away) 2) Bad news - there was a missing "spacer" to the system that was $28 and the two tiny paper gaskets were $4/ea. Subaru is proud of their stuff eh? The head gaskets will come next week anyway, ought to be fun to put it all back together and see how it goes! Thanks everyone for all your help.

Thanks y'all, OK, so here's the update. Got the heads to the shop, they showed me a small bridge crack, but Subaru TB says the size is OK if there is no pressure leakage. Both heads passed pressure test, vacuum test as well. I didn't ask about the freeze plugs, but I noticed them too, thought it was curious. I'm assuming they would have showed failure during the pressure/vacuum testing. The heads were warped .007 so we had just enough to resurface flat and remain in spec. Heads are now surfaced and ready to reinstall. My questions that remain are two.......... 1) What brand gasket do you recommend? 2) Since the steam was coming up through the valve cover ports into the intake, is there anything else I should be working to fix while I'm in it? Since the carb has the gasket that keeps the coolant from getting into the intake I'm going to replace it as well. To me, the system where the coolant comes up under the carb is not a good system, it's overkill if you have a good choke system. Since we live in California I'm tempted to plug off the small pipe into the carb and then remove the fixture on the cross over pipe where the small hose connects to it. Since the car has already passed smog I'm also going to plug the drivers side EGR piping and remove it. I believe that the car will be junkyard bound before two years passes, but I'm going to keep all the smog stuff just in case. Please advise if there are any other items I should be looking for prior to completing this process. BTW, if any of you are in Northern California (Placerville Area) I highly recommend Kellys Automotive and Machine Shop in Shingle Springs. They're quite knowledgeable, very honest and have reasonable rates. Say Hi to Eric when you're there. Peace, Nick

OK, thanks all, that's what I was getting to, intake is out, onto the heads. Keep your fingers crossed they're OK with a resurface and leak check. Will advise results. Thanks very much for all of this!!!! Nick

OK, awesome help all, now I'm not sure which way to proceed. I got the bolts out with great patience and a week long soaking in PB Blaster. I thought I was going to snap the bottom short bolt, but it came out!! Cleaned up the holes, the bolts, cleaned off the unbelievably hard as a rock green gasket and installed new Tstat and gasket. Fired her up, she came to temp slowly and normally, then went up quickly with steam coming out of the valve cover vent tubes into the air filter housing, still completely even. Pulled the dipstick to reveal the all telling milk chocolate "oil" and decided it was the head gaskets and removed the intake in preparation of pulling the heads and getting them checked, planed and re installed. It still bothers me that both heads would go at the same time, but I'm not sure that's the case? Something just doesn't add up, perhaps the water in the oil makes the steam blow by into the valve covers and then into the air filter housing? I don't want to pull apart this motor if I don't have to, but I'm running out of things that it could be other than the gaskets or cracked heads? I have until the weekend to get some more brilliant input from y'all, what 'cha say? Can I have the intake tested all by itself? Thanks, Nick

Good day all, So, I was set to pull the thermostat and replace it, but was torqueing the bolt and it felt like too much torque required to remove it so I stopped. We're supposed to get a nasty storm up here in NoCal tomorrow and the Subie is driveable worst case so I didn't want to snap the bolt and have no way or time to replace it. Will get on it Saturday most likely. I did go to the Subaru Dealership here in Shingle Springs and they felt like there was no place where coolant could leak into the intake through the carb base gasket. I was hoping to get some diagrams etc showing the ports and passages, but could not find any. If you have any available or could point me in the right direction I'd be appreciative. I've also capped off the under-the-carb coolant port as it did not seem to make any sense and was one more place for potential leakage. From what I can see with the coolant running through the majority of the intake anyway there's more than enough opportunity for the air to be warmed up prior to combustion. Thanks for the help.

Thanks tom, will give it a shot tonight and let y'all know how it goes.

Thanks, cheap fix to try, I'll get that done. Why would the Carb gasket cause coolant usage? Thanks again all, very much appreciated feedback and input.

No overflow bottle (replaced by a larger battery), but there is nothing coming out of the overflow tubing from the radiator cap. It's getting hot, but we haven't pushed it past the red on the gage and have shut it down. It's "burning" quite a bit of coolant and the plugs are evenly being effected leading me back to the intake, but it could be a cracked head or blown gaskets as well, I'm just not convinced of those due to the evenness of the spark plug result. Will pull the cap and run it for a while watching for bubbles. Thanks

Thanks, you think they'd both go at the same time? I'll check for bubbles tonight.

Good day all, I'm helping keep alive a 1986 DL with an EA81 Hitachi motor, standard shift. the car had recent overheating problems, had it's radiator replaced, then the water pump and came to me with all the new parts, little coolant in it and running, but burning coolant. We checked the oil, no water, pulled the plugs, all evenly and normally wearing and burning leading me to believe there is an intake gasket problem. Pulled the manifold and there was a couple of suspect spots, but nothing "blown" to the point I would expect with this large volume of white smoke. Replaced the gaskets, put it back together and it runs faster (sure sign of at least a small vacuum leak fixed somewhere in the replacement) and smooth, but still blowing white smoke and running hot. Looking for you Subie Guru's for some experience as I'm leaning toward a crack in the intake or some magical soft spot in the system that could be leaking coolant into the intake system somewhere else I'm not aware of. Either that or it had overheated enough previously to simultaneously crack both heads equally.......not likely.......... Suggestions??? :banghead: Thanks much, Nick