it would appear that I have a bad head on the drivers side of my 91 Loyale EA82 spfi wagon, the front cylinder is low on compression.

 

the car goes through a quart of oil about every 800 miles,and uses about a half gallon of coolant ebout every 2,000 miles

 

so far, in the year and a half (or so) since I had the current engine worked over and seals and head gaskets replaced, I've put about 55,000 miles on it.

 

The problem hasn't gotten any worse, it's pretty much stayed the same throughout the 55,000 miles.

 

I've had it worked on a couple of different times, and even had a compression test done and the heads looked and was told it looks like the drivers side head is bad.

 

either to badly cracked between valves, seals bad, bad valves or something.

 

my question is, can I replace just the drives side head and head gasket beins how the passanger side is ok?  I don't wan to have to pull the passenger side head if nothing is wrong with it. 

 

we went through all sorts of stuff trying to fix the problem when we first did the engine as you can read all about here-> http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122221-1991-loyale-wagon-let-the-build-begin/page-3

 

for now i'd like to find a good head, get it checked out at a machine shop, and then put it on the car.

Edited May 2, 201411 yr by Stubies Subie

Stoob, if I were you Id do both. Ive asked the same and while its fine to do only one, I found out much more about the condition of my engine and gained piece of mind by doin both. Also have found under torqued (or bolts not holding torque) head bolts on a few ea82s. its worth it imho

are both heads the same or is there a left and a right? will a left work on a right and visa-versa?

 

 

 ... never mind, answered my own question on that one, (I googled it) I can use a passenger side head on the drivers side if I plug the egr port,

 

 I'll just look for a good drivers side head

Edited May 2, 201411 yr by Stubies Subie

If the compression on the passenger side is OK, then leave it alone for now. However, you may want to recheck the cylinder head bolts to make sure that they are as tight as you can get them. There is a lot of prior knowledge required to do a cylinder head properly. So if you haven't done them, you best find a good youtube video of how it is done. The problem with the driver side cylinder head, may be the only the cylinder head bolts have loosened up. You might try just tightening them and then try is out for a bit to see whether you are still going through fluids.

this engine has had this problem since day one of the last complete head gasket/ reseal/ timing belt job that I had done to it, it's not a loose head bolt problem, General Disorder did the reseal on it, and the heads are the ones he featured in his post apocalyptic resurfacing thread, one of the heads was bad, it not something that would have shown up in a do it yourself resurfacing job, the heads should have gone to a machine shop and been pressure tested and rebuilt.

 

I have found a good head (that has already been through a machine shop and been rebuilt) and someone to do the head job, so I'm in good shape so far, just need to collect a few more parts to make the job complete.

I am currently looking for EA82 Right passenger side Cylinder Head for 1988 GL wagon with no cracks and non turbo

Wait a minute did I read that right? 55,000 miles in ONE year?

... in the year and a half (or so) since I had the current engine worked over and seals and head gaskets replaced, I've put about 55,000 miles on it ...

 

Year and a Half, and still is a huge amount, maybe he was driving all day long.

 

And I thought that the almost 20,000 yearly that I did, was exaggerated...

 

Kind Regards.

I am currently looking for EA82 Right passenger side Cylinder Head for 1988 GL wagon with no cracks and non turbo

 

Welcome Pattinla88. Since your comment is off topic on this mere thread, 

 

I kindly suggest you to check these especialized sub forums, here:

 

"Subaru Stuff for Sale" section: ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forum/8-subaru-parts-stuff-for-sale/

 

Or start your own thread at the "Subaru Stuff Wanted" section: ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forum/25-subaru-stuff-wanted/

 

Kind Regards.