Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Ultimate Subaru Message Board

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

The top plate of cylinder head is cracked. Fixable?

Featured Replies

Hello guys, got a vehicle with no history. Overheats after 20-25 min of driving on highway, or 10-15 in the city.

 

Subaru Legacy Sedan 2006 Automatic Non turbo. 

 

Pulled the engine, took off the heads and found the crack in two heads in "unusual place for cracks". Was wondering what you guys think, if it's a big deal or not; repairable or fixable, can I get just the top parts?

 

1A: looks like a crack, don't know if it's deep or not.

 

1B: looks like a tiny hole, don't think it's deep, also not sure how important it is..

 

Also, first of all I want to do it right without spending much money (as we all are), but.. How important is it to take the heads to machine shop overall? (adjusting the valves, checking the pressure, cleaning) In my case do I have to do it, or I can just clean them up carefully, change the valve seals and good to go?

 

I guess I would say if you can put yourself on my place, and ask other questions if there is :)

 

Any suggestions would be really appreciated! 

 

Thank you!post-52920-0-47596000-1402444952_thumb.pngpost-52920-0-23038600-1402444955_thumb.pngpost-52920-0-42613600-1402444959_thumb.png

Those are just irregularities in the castings. Nothing to worry about.

 

Overheating like that suggests the coolant level was probably low, and was probably that way for quite some time. Knowing it has been overheated multiple times, its a big gamble to put head gaskets on it. The rod bearings could be compromised.

  • Author

Wheew! Thank you!

 

Not sure what to look for when you checking the rod bearings.. So you suggest to take it to the machine shop and let them do all the work on it?

I think hes saying its a pricy gamble to throw hgs on it but if they fix it then its good. Rod bearings usually lead to a new used engine e.

  • Author

oh, I hope it's not.. and there's no way to check it, right?

 

Maybe it's a simple thermostat or water pump failure?

Rod bearings are in the block. They're in the connecting rods that make the pistons move up and down. Overheating thins out the oil and scores the bearings.

When those go bad, things go boom, and you end up sitting on the side of the road with a hole in the block.

 

There's no good way to tell of they're damaged without disassembling the block.

You can send a sample of oil for analysis to find out if there are high amounts of metal in the oil, but this may not be conclusive if the engine can not be started in order to circulate the oil before taking the sample.

  • Author

Thanks, but so far it was good. It ran great, with no knocking sound or anything like that.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in

Sign In Now

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.