My Suby i'm afraid may be on its last legs. It's starting to burn large amounts of coolent (white smoke, smells like coolent)... mainly on startup after sitting, but lately its been doing it for longer until the engine fully warms up. There isn't any coolent in oil or the other way around, but I can't think of what else it could be besides one of the headgaskets.

Couldn't it be one of the intake gaskets?

That's a possibility, but i'm so sick of working on this car. Its so hard to get at stuff on the engine, and its the middle of winter and I have no place to work on it. I'll probably keep driving it because its my only car.

Take a serious look at the intake manifold gaskets. These are often problematic, and fail often if non-OEM gaskets are used. You might try tightening the bolts a little bit and seeing if it changes anything.

 

Are you getting bubbles in the coolant while running or anything else indicative of HG failure?

No.. no bubbles in coolent or anything that would suggest a headgasket, so its probably the intake gasket. I need to find someone with a heated garage so I can work on this thing.

Have you checked the transmission fluid levels?? I had similar symptoms on my 87gl and it was the transmmission modulator. The modulator only costs about 15 bucks(cnd)

Parts are still readily avalible for the EA82 engines. Its the other small things like body parts, interior parts etc...that are either only in JAPAN at this point, or "obsolete/inactive" which means its gone forever.

 

The only thing with the engine parts that I have found to be O-I are the actual service tools.

 

I can get you any part you need for the car. New, OE, stright from SUBARU.

Just a quick question... what would the transmission fluid levels have to do with the engine burning coolent?

 

 

Matt

the radiator fluid is going into the auto oil cooler on rad?, bit of a longshot tho

I think the suggestion of tranny modulator was presented as a possible explaination of the appearance of smoke, not necessarily produced by burning coolant.

When the trans. modulator diaphram(?) rupures or breaks, tranny fluid is sucked up the vacuum line and into the cumbustion chamber, which then shoots out copios amounts of white smoke.

 

BUT, if you're smelling something like coolant in the smoke it is definetly not the mod.

When I originaly read you're post I missed the part where you mentioned smelling coolant burning,