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Hello ALL!!

 

I have a 93 legacy wagon my daughter purchased two years ago.Current mileage is 236,000 ...My Issue...The other day she said her car was smoking ALOT..

After looking closely, I discovered the radiator had about a four inch vertical crack on the front passenger side.The SMOKE she saw was obviously steam.It did have some significant oil leaks,so I did the crank and cam seals, replaced the radiator,put it back together and after I drove it around a while told her"here you go" as I thought it was running fine,just had a low idle and maybe a slight miss I had not noticed before...Sure enough,next morning I got a phone call..."My car is shaking alot"..So I drove the car home , seemed to have plenty of power.Parked it ,later that evening it would not start,changed plugs as old ones looked like original plugs..It did start,but shook terrible...finally got it running and warmed up only to notice STEAM coming from the exhaust pipe..........MY QUESTION IS ....Can I determine if the head is cracked without disassembly? I am not afraid of that, I just don't have a lot of extra time. Is there any way to determine if it is the head gasket instead?Do the "BLOCK SEALERS" work?

 

Thank you all for any response!!

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What do you mean by "steam out the pipe"? Is there a large, billowing cloud of sweetish white smoke following the car? Normal exhaust should dissipate quickly and barely be noticeable. Cold morning it'll be more pronounced, but barely. Large white clouds that have a sickly sweet smell and the "smoke" lingers, is usually coolant.

 

Chances are she overheated it (gotta teach them to be observant of the car and anything out of the ordinary like steam billowing out under the hood and the odor coolant gives off i.e. when it leaks; I can smell coolant leaks on some cars walking past them in parking spaces) and kept driving. It could have warped the head, blown the head gasket, etc. 

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THANK YOU GD !!!! I Appreciate the fact that you answered the question I asked!!Now I am going to pull the engine and do a complete re seal( ALL GASKETS) Rock Auto of course...

 

Please elaborate on your comment "Cylinder orientation and HG failure mode are to blame" if you will. I am also going to replace all timing components and water pump and radiator hoses.

 

Should I disassemble the engine before I order parts (just to be sure there are no cracks)?

 

Do you have any suggestions while I am this far in?

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What do you mean by "steam out the pipe"? Is there a large, billowing cloud of sweetish white smoke following the car? Normal exhaust should dissipate quickly and barely be noticeable. Cold morning it'll be more pronounced, but barely. Large white clouds that have a sickly sweet smell and the "smoke" lingers, is usually coolant.

 

Chances are she overheated it (gotta teach them to be observant of the car and anything out of the ordinary like steam billowing out under the hood and the odor coolant gives off i.e. when it leaks; I can smell coolant leaks on some cars walking past them in parking spaces) and kept driving. It could have warped the head, blown the head gasket, etc. 

My question was concerning whether the head gasket or the head had failed. I did not mention"steam out the pipe" and steam is created when water is heated until it changes to vapor.There is no requirement for "a large, billowing cloud of sweetish white smoke following the car" in order for steam to be present.(I did experience that with my GL EA 82 though)There also was no "steam billowing out under the hood", however ,the steam was being forced toward the FRONT of the car from the FRONT of the radiator.As far as teaching my daughter,I have two 25&21 years old as different as day from dark,one is concerned about car stuff,one is not..They are females.............Thank you..

Edited by subarusaver
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My question was concerning whether the head gasket or the head had failed. I did not mention"steam out the pipe" and steam is created when water is heated until it changes to vapor.There is no requirement for "a large, billowing cloud of sweetish white smoke following the car" in order for steam to be present.(I did experience that with my GL EA 82 though)There also was no "steam billowing out under the hood", however ,the steam was being forced toward the FRONT of the car from the FRONT of the radiator.As far as teaching my daughter,I have two 25&21 years old as different as day from dark,one is concerned about car stuff,one is not..They are females.............Thank you..

 

You actually did mention "steam out the exhaust pipe" and it's quoted below from your 1st post. If radiator cracked when it was being driven, it would have had coolant evaporating everywhere (steam, smoke, combination of both, whatever you want to call it) and been a mess. Check engine light should have been on at this point, and temp gauge would have spiked. Being "women" has no bearing on being safe in a car. If they know how to put gas in it, should know to pull over. Sorry, I'm being blunt here.

....finally got it running and warmed up only to notice STEAM coming from the exhaust pipe........

 

Was trying to get an idea if it was burning coolant or not. Since GD said what you wanted to hear, nvm.

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Be careful of the Gates timing belt kits as they have been reported as using Chinese bearings now.  If it has the 2.5L engine the preferred head gasket is the Subaru Turbo Multi-Layer Steel one 11044AA770.  Not sure if it works for the 2.2L or not.  Some have reported that FelPro Kits have had the Subaru OEM ones but your mileage may vary.

 

11044AA770%201.jpg

Edited by Mike104
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The cylinders lay on their side and fluids do not drain away from them. The head gaskets fail such that exhaust gasses will be pushed into the cooling system. This does not lend itself to repair in a bottle.

 

RockAuto has nothing worth using on a Subaru head gasket job. Get the gaskets from the dealer parts department. There is no MLS gasket for the 2.2 - they are graphite impregnated composite gaskets on that engine. Just order all the parts from Subaru. You can get timing belt and idlers from another source if you like - stick with Japanese origin parts.

 

GD

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THANK YOU for the help and advice!!

 

O.k. I called the dealer and the SUBARU head gasket is 70.14 EACH!!

   

I cant do that...The one(that mentions Graphite) I found on Rock Auto is 10.82 and MAHLE ORIGINAL/VICTOR REINZ 5905.

 

Any thoughts?

 

   



 

Edited by subarusaver
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THANK YOU for the help and advice!!

 

O.k. I called the dealer and the SUBARU head gasket is 70.14 EACH!!

   

I cant do that...The one(that mentions Graphite) I found on Rock Auto is 10.82 and MAHLE ORIGINAL/VICTOR REINZ 5905.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

   

 

If you do any other gasket, you will be doing the head gasket again. There is NO better head gasket than Subaru, or Six Star. Also, look at the engine to chassis Ground Strap. Battery connections/terminals on both ends need to be very clean.

 

https://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-head-gaskets-problems-explained-part-ii/

 

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Felpro is the OEM supplier of headgaskets for the EJ22E and can be had at many parts stores. They even have the FHI stamp on them. No need to go to dealer and pay extra markup

They are not the OEM supplier. They buy them and put them in their own box to "complete their catalog".

 

The OEM supplier is Nippon Rienz.

 

GD

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THANK YOU for the help and advice!!

 

O.k. I called the dealer and the SUBARU head gasket is 70.14 EACH!!

I cant do that...The one(that mentions Graphite) I found on Rock Auto is 10.82 and MAHLE ORIGINAL/VICTOR REINZ 5905.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

If you do any other gasket, you will be doing the head gasket again. There is NO better head gasket than Subaru, or Six Star. Also, look at the engine to chassis Ground Strap. Battery connections/terminals on both ends need to be very clean.

 

https://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-head-gaskets-problems-explained-part-ii/

 

Six Star is just rebranded Cometic. Personally I find this rebranding/markup marketing foolishness to be reprehensible. Just buy the Cometic gaskets - their the ones that put in the R&D to make a better gasket. Six Star is just a marketing name by a shop in WA.

 

GD

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Be careful of the Gates timing belt kits as they have been reported as using Chinese bearings now.  If it has the 2.5L engine the preferred head gasket is the Subaru Turbo Multi-Layer Steel one 11044AA770.  Not sure if it works for the 2.2L or not.  Some have reported that FelPro Kits have had the Subaru OEM ones but your mileage may vary.

 

11044AA770%201.jpg

 

These are on;y for 2.5 liter.  Fire ring too large for EJ22.

 

Could be used for a "frankenmotor" 2.5 block w/2.2 heads though.

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