Well, I had some mystery slow leak for a while now, Ive suspected the upper hose by the thermostat(there was green water marks around the hose end) which would explain why i never see water puddle, it all boils off on the cat.

 

I badly overheated sunday, and really badly last night. I decided to check my water and oil today after work, no water (I just filled last night), and milkshake in the oil.

 

Im thinking I might pull the motor for this headgasket change and do some other things that she has been needing, new crank seal, good valve adjusting, new pan gasket, and maybe grab that 5-speed from threeeyedbandit and replace my ailing auto while im at it.

 

My big trick is finding a car to use while I do all of this over the neext week, while I work and go to school. oh, and I need to find a cherrypicker so i can pull the motor (my back isnt good enough).

 

Guess I should order that valve adjuster and headbolt socket tomorrow.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Alex

Cherrypickers... I looked into that when pulling a 1.8 but when I when to our local 'true' hardware store (hardware sales in bellingham kicks rump roast!) it was three times as heavy as the engine! Who wants to load and unload that to pull a light engine? I was almost to the point of driving down town and picking up two bums with those "will work for food" signs and getting them to do it. I'm socialist, help the poor right?

If your going to replace the transmission, just drop the entire engine/trans assembly out the bottom in one peice. It really is much easier and less time consuming. Leave the enigne crossmember attached to the engine and drop that out with it (it gives you a good base for a jack).

How do you drop the crossbar without taking the suspension apart?

Are there detailed instructions?

 

 

Alex

You just need to detach the steering rack (i removed mine while doing this, but detaching it at the ball joints would probably do?) and detach the lower control arms from the crossmember (just the long bolts with a 14mm head). This allows the ssupension to be pulled outward or backwards or whatever to get it out of the way. You will already need to detach the lower control arms at one end if you plan to remove the gearbox anyway (to enable you to remove the axles).

 

Have a look, its fairly self explanatory when your under there. I also left the gearbox crossmember attached to the gearbox while lowering, as it gives another good place to put a jack. Give me a yell if you have any questions!

what time are you doing it at? i live in gold hill, if you need a hand i could see what i could do for you. im not like a great mechanic but i can follow dirrections pretty well

I am going to ask my boss at work (harley shop) if I can do the work there, and if I can take a paid holiday for saturday, and if I can have any helpers. I will know all of this tomorrow night.

 

Sadly i have no choice but to keep driving the car until I can fix it, which Is why I am rushing. It is my only transportation. Its made it just fine today as long as i added water, it still runs fine, just water in the oil.

 

Anyone know which headgasket is best to use?

 

Alex

 

Anyone know which headgasket is best to use?

 

Alex

OEM. If its been running with water in the oil you should replace all bearings and the piston rings while its out.

yikes, i cant afford that, and the last time that happened i just did headgaskets, and its been fine for three and half years.

 

Alex

Exactly what is this engine? I would be inclined to look into why the head gaskets are going so quickly!

I'm sure the enigne will probably go alright without a major rebuild, but will probaly burn some oil and may suffer from low oil pressure because of worn bearings. Have you looked into the price of rigs & bearings? They are usually quite cheap, and it isn't a huge job to do.... Just something to think about anyway.

Its an EA81, it had a full rebuild about about 70k ago.

 

It blew the head gaskets the first time cause of cooling issues, this time cause of leaking coolant that went out of control.

Oh, i wouldn't want to rebuild an engine when it had only done 70k either! Should be right, the old ea81s are a sturdy wee beasty.

It definitely seems that oem head gaskets are the way to go.

oem as in from the dealer? or oem as in from napa? I get a much better deal at napa.

 

yea, and the bottom end hardly ever makes any odd noises, something I thought was rod knock, but it only happens when you first start in the first second, then its fine. Shoot, when cold, i just have to pump the pedal a couple times, and hit the starter for a second(not even a full time around), and she starts right up.

 

So she is sturdy, and I dont want a full rebuild, at least not for another year or so. I figure when I have about 240k-250k on the motor at that point. I last rebuilt at 140k.

OEM as in subaru.

sounds spendy. I almost wish james gaskets made em, but thats a long shot dream.

 

Thanks for all the help.

 

alex

 

Sadly i have no choice but to keep driving the car until I can fix it, which Is why I am rushing. It is my only transportation. Its made it just fine today as long as i added water, it still runs fine, just water in the oil.

 

 

Alex

I hate to say this, but you're doing damage to your engine by driving it like this. Especially if you are using Anti-Freeze/water mixture to replace lost coolant.

 

A-F will remove the coating on your Main and Rod bearings, when that happens they're toast, or atleast not long for this world.

 

If you really need to drive the car, flush your cooling system out, and use plain water in there. Also, drain oil, flush out pan with some kerosene. Install drain plug, replace oil filter, (cheap one will do here), fill crankcase with 1 quart 30W oil - 3 quarts kerosene, run (cold) engine until it's warmed up, drain oil pan, flush with more kerosene. Refill with proper oil, and change filter.

 

Really don't reccomend you drive car like this, but understand that you may not have a choice.

Its definately plain water in there now, hope it doesnt freeze today or tomorrow.

 

I plan on tearing it all down tomorrow, only have about 40 miles to drive till i do that, so I am crossing my fingers that it will be ok.

 

Alex

I've drove cars thru Winter months with plain water in them, without any freeze-up problems, temps dipping into the teens. Wouldn't try it with temps going any colder though. If it's to get down right cold, I would drain the water out, and re-fill it in the AM.

 

Best to put her tail to the wind though, keeps the chance of a freeze-up to a lesser one.

i developed a horrible rod knock in my XT6 because i was adding water due to a blown headgasket this summer. i never knew this was an issue so i just put it off cause i was too busy. i would highly recommend not putting this job off, tom is correct, i wish i hadn't!

oh and these motors need to be retorqued as well right? maybe that's why the headgasket isn't lasting long? was it retorqued after the first install?

If you have to drive the car, change the oil and get that crap out of there.

 

 

It really is a dice roll whether or not the bottom end will be okay. I would be prepared to either do a rebuild or drop in another engine sometime soon just in case.

I am getting a paid day off tomorrow, and Im taking it to my work( thankfully I work at a harley shop where I have access to more equipment than whats in my trunk). I have all the tools I need, but having a parts cleaner etc handy will make it go even faster.

 

no I didnt retorque three years ago, didnt even know about it till the last summer when I joined up here.

 

What are the retorquing specifics?

 

alex