How possible is it to replace your own head gasket on an ea82?i just drive my car to a restaurant, was running fine when I went there. Sat in the cold for an hour or two, and then when I drove it away it was stumbling and misfiring, smelled like burnt rubber, white pasty looking stuff on the inside of the oil cap, oil was much lower than it was before.

How possible is it to replace your own head gasket on an ea82?i just drive my car to a restaurant, was running fine when I went there. Sat in the cold for an hour or two, and then when I drove it away it was stumbling and misfiring, smelled like burnt rubber, white pasty looking stuff on the inside of the oil cap, oil was much lower than it was before.

 

The white pasty stuff is just because you only drive short distances and don't get the engine up to operating temp for extended periods of time.  It's emulsified oil and can just be wiped off.  I would check your distributor rotor and cap and if those check out, then check the timing belts since you smelled burnt rubber.  So far nothing you have described would indicate a blown head gasket, but it sounds like the engine is not firing correctly.

^+1

 

Would help a little to know the year and whether carbureted or fuel injected.

1988 subaru gl, fuel injected , 5-speed dual-range.

1988 subaru gl, fuel injected , 5-speed dual-range.

there are plastic covers over your timing belts, they have rubber plugs in them. you can feel in there for tension on the belts. you can also remove the distributor cap and make sure the rotor set screw hasnt backed out. its happened to lots of us. after youve done that make sure the rotor spins when the engine is cranked.

 

 

If your coolant doesnt smell like exhaust (check the overflow tank) and you arent seeing billowing clouds of white, probably not hgs

Thanks, it could very well be the rotor set screw. I replaced the cap and rotor quite recently and may not have tightened it as much as I should have. The engine runs very rough, constantly misfiring, and dies as soon as I take my foot off the gas for a couple seconds. I'll get a good look at the exhaust in the light of day today and really give it thorough once over. I was pretty tired and frustrated when it broke down last night, saw the white stuff on the oil cap, and jumped to conclusions.

pretty sure you have a broken passenger side timing belt. 

I just ordered a timing belt kit off ebay, hopefully it's of acceptable quality, dramatically cheaper than getting the parts from NAPA. Taking the car apart tonight to confirm that the belts are the problem, but even if they aren't they definitely need to be done. I've never changed them and I have my doubts about the previous owner either.

those kits are awesome. run it!

The Subaru lives!!! It turned out, after all my panic, that Ferox was right. The screw on the rotor had come completely loose and was causing the bad running condition. On the bright side, I now have a timing belt kit ready to install at some point and I've removed the timing belt covers for easy access.

I have installed 3 of the ebay kits.   No problems with any of them. 

  Better get the timing belts replaced before it gets 'cold' up there.  Sounds like a good project for the weekend.