Any ever pull one of these? I need to change the head gaskets. I Searched for a previous posting but found (A - A Gazillion Hits (B - Nothing really useful

 

I've got the shop manual, but if anyone had any Real World Experience tips & advice would be appreciated! I do have a "Helper", and an engine hoist / stand and a semi-heated garage! (I leave the house door opened!)

There is a dogbone mount at the front of the underside of the ngine. remove that, the upper pitch bar, drop the header, undo the motor mount nuts, and place a jack under the diff of the trans to raise it up. this makes getting to the lower bellhousing nuts easier.

 

 

I have a whole xt6 motor with new head gaskets and seals 135,000 mi. If you want to make a trip to milwaukee, you can have it for almost free.

 

The intake is a little weird to take off, as it comes off in 2 pieces. Beware of rusty intake bots that will snap if you torque them too quickly.

Any ever pull one of these?

i don't even know how many i've pulled. not much to it, pretty much like any other engine pull on a subaru.

 

if it's an automatic make certain you know how to seat the torque converter - it has 2 or 3 stop points before it's fully seated. not having it fully seated will trash the trans.

 

a/c can swing out the way to the drivers side/battery area, no need to disconnect it.

 

The intake is a little weird to take off, as it comes off in 2 pieces. Beware of rusty intake bots that will snap if you torque them too quickly.

you can unbolt them from the heads and remove the entire intake manifold as an assembly, you don't have to disassemble the intake runners.

 

they're also easy to do in the vehicle as well if you don't want to go through the trouble of pulling it. you'll want a 10mm ratcheting wrench for the lower rear valve cover bolts, after that there's plenty of room to work. particularly if you have air tools to zip all the headbolts out with. but don't bother if you have a bad back, too much leaning over. both ways have their advantages and disadvantages so neither is "easier" or faster in every situation. for me - it's usually faster to do them in the car so that's what i do on these. but i've done a bunch and it is really annoying to work bending over the engine bay so there's plenty of hate to be had that way too.

 

i prefer subaru intake manifold gaskets and Fel Pro headgaskets (for this motor, not all subarus)

 

subaruxt.com is an XT6 specific forum if you ever need parts, etc.

What I did was after the intake piping is removed, I unbolt the intake from the heads while leaving most of the plumbing alone (like the fuel lines) and swing it upside down and rest it on the driver side fender. I have a picture of it that I will upload when I get home.

 

I also did something similar with the A/C compressor but the lines are very short and an extra person to hold it up while pulling the engine helps.

 

Underneath, drop the exhaust off of the heads and unbolt the engine mounts from the subframe. I also removed the radiator fans, drain the coolant, you will have to remove the alternator and the belt and I also removed the timing belt covers and belts for a bit more clearance, remove the radiator hoses, heater hoses, and bell housing bolts and nuts. There's going to be more small stuff but you will come across that when you get into it.

Edited February 28, 201214 yr by Caboobaroo

yep their a piece of cake to pull/re-install. make sure you reseal the cover on the back of the engine with rtv. the rear mains are usually fine, but that separator cover is prone to leaking. i would pull the engine (for me about 2 1/2 hours in an xt6) and do it on the stand like your thinking.