edrach Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think I know some of the answers here, but I'm looking for the best way to salvage this engine. My son's '83 wagon, EA81 engine (solid lifter type I think). The car went into our garage last November and hasn't moved since. It had an electrical problem which we finally got around to fixing this evening. When we tried to start it, the crank pulley would turn about 1/4 revolution and then come backwards to where it started. Luckily, we didn't try too hard to start it. I thought a piston might have seized or there was water in one of the cylinders. Turns out I was right. I pulled all the plugs and noticed moisture on #3. I turned the engine over by hand to see if it would go; it did. I tried the starter and blew a fair amount of water out that side of the engine. I suspect a bad head gasket and it just leaked coolent into the cylinder in all this time sitting. The question is how to preserve what we still have without making it worse. I would guess a head gasket job is in order but I don't want it to be ruined by not doing the right preventative things now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Check the oil to see if theres coolant in it. If not, I think its just condensation. Give it a oil change and new plugs and see how it runs for a while ( a few hours). Did you drive it and park it in the garage when you moved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 Yes we did drive it and park it in the garage last year; been there ever since trying to track down an electrical problem. Check the oil to see if theres coolant in it. If not, I think its just condensation. Give it a oil change and new plugs and see how it runs for a while ( a few hours). Did you drive it and park it in the garage when you moved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Sorry to hear about the leak. It does sound like a HG job is in order with that amount of water found inside. Have you done a compression check on all the cylinders to check their status? You may need to do both sides. Recommend you only use genuine Subaru gaskets. I would also change out the oil and water pumps, along with the timing belts if they have over 30k miles on them. If the radiator is original you may want to replace it also. Out of curiosity, what kind of electrical problem did you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajavwnsoobnut Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Sorry to hear about the leak. It does sound like a HG job is in order with that amount of water found inside. Have you done a compression check on all the cylinders to check their status? You may need to do both sides. Recommend you only use genuine Subaru gaskets. I would also change out the oil and water pumps, along with the timing belts if they have over 30k miles on them. If the radiator is original you may want to replace it also. Out of curiosity, what kind of electrical problem did you have? I didn't know that EA-81's had Timing belts lol. So Ed might want to do that compression check and possibly a leakdown test to see if it is the HG if not I would think that it could be the intake manifold gasket is leaking. Either that or if you have weberized it it could be one of the carb gaskets is leaking. Oh yeah don't worry about the waterpump and oil pump unless they are leaking also considering we have the "phantom" timing belts lol. Hmmmm makes me want to check on the clutch belt also....... and oh yeah also the blinker fluid too........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 The car had a short after hitting a chuck hole which caused the fuse controlling the dash lights and parking/directional lights. As soon as we turned on the key and turned on the lights, the fuse blew. After removing all the lights in question and checking wiring at all four corners of the car, we sort of lost interest in it. We finally got back to it last night and found the short was in the wiring behind the radio which was installed about a month before the chuck hole. Don't worry about the timing belt issue; almost everyone suggests that. I will hold up on the water pump since it's easily accessible from the outside on the EA81 engine. If we do head gaskets, we'll likely re-seal and do the oil pump also. Out of curiosity, what kind of electrical problem did you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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