i'm a complete novice when it comes to subarus,my 99forester is giving me an education in suby repair i was wondering how difficult it is to repair leaky valve covers

Not bad at all.

 

Personally I don't care I usually just get FelPro kit. Most things I get at the dealer.

 

Don't overtighten the bolts. When you have them out you'll see they are shoulder bolts. SO they go from easy to tight pretty quick. I use the ratchet in the palm of my hald and ge tthem as tight as I can that way because I'm not anal enough to fing the torgue spec and then use a torgue wrench.

 

When you have it apart it'll be pretty obvious how they work and you'll see why over tightening isn't necessary.

 

Actually a very easy job on a SOHC.

 

Good luck.

you can remove the wahsher fluid bottle and the airbox cover for easier access. You can do the whole job with basically a 10mm socket and 1/4 driver.

Exactly. I prefer a 1/4" rotohead ratchet and a 10mm deepwell myself.

thanks for the info. i should be doing this today some time the engine has been keaving drips of oil on the garage floor and my mechanic said that they was leaking i found oil on one of the spark plug wires i pulled out.is this also a sign of leaking v.c.g.

Yes - you'll get 4 large Oring gasket that are for the spark plug holes.

 

While you have the plug wires undone you may want to consider a spark plug change.

Oil on the spark plugs on that engine is the spark plug tube seals. You do have to remove the valve covers to get at them.

 

How close are you to needing a timing belt replacement? I believe that engine has the set screw type valve clearance adjustment, and the valve covers have to come off to do that anyway.

 

I think '99 Forester had the phase II 2.5L SOHC?

 

 

i just replaced the timing belt components and after igot it back from the shop it had a rough idle that problem has been fixed but the the valves seem to be louder than before any info on the adjustment procedure yes it is a s.o.h.c. 2.5 ej25

Use OEM parts. You'll thank yourself later for that. Also make sure that if the spark plug tube seals are leaking and have oil soaked the wires, to replace those too.

 

As for the valve adjustment. Make sure the came are in a relaxed state (can make on driver side pointing down and passenger side pointing up). You will need a set of feeler gauges , a 10mm wrench and a flat head screwdriver. Upper valves (intake) get a .008" and bottom valves (exhaust) get a .010"