May 19, 200520 yr NEW_____________________ Ok so the head stud size is 11x1.25 cant find any time to work on it though till monday! OLD____________________ Well its summer and it has come time to replace the head gaskets in the Subaru. :cool: I just replaced the oil pan gasket and the oil pump got new seals in hopes that this was my leak but no such luck. Its the head Gasket I can see the leak now that i have spent a few days crawling under there... OK question time? Im pulling the engine to make this as easy as possible. I will get a new seal kit for the valve covers along with the head gaskets. The dealer wants $80+- for all that, is there a cheaper way to get them? Any other gaskets or seals In this area that im unaware of that i may need to replace? Are there any tools I should be looking for now before I tear the engine down and need something specific to put the sucker back together? Any thing else I may be fogetting and any help you can give me would be great. Subaru fun for me....... THANKS (in advance)
May 19, 200520 yr You can get aftermarket gaskets, although oem ones may be better. The only special tool i can think of is the socket for tightening the head nuts with the rocker shaft in place (you have to re-torque the nuts once you warm the engine up). You can make one of these you'll need a welder though: Just buy a crap socket, and chop it in half so that your left with the twin hex bit and the square drive socket bit. Then you just need some bar (12mm or so and about 30mm long), which you weld between the two bits of the socket. This gives you a long socket with a small side clearance. If you don't want to do this, i'm sure there are other ways around it...?
May 19, 200520 yr Author You can get aftermarket gaskets, although oem ones may be better. The only special tool i can think of is the socket for tightening the head nuts with the rocker shaft in place (you have to re-torque the nuts once you warm the engine up). You can make one of these you'll need a welder though: Just buy a crap socket, and chop it in half so that your left with the twin hex bit and the square drive socket bit. Then you just need some bar (12mm or so and about 30mm long), which you weld between the two bits of the socket. This gives you a long socket with a small side clearance. If you don't want to do this, i'm sure there are other ways around it...? So a deep socket isn't going to cut it? What size socket is this your talking about? Maybe I could borrow one:brow: from someone?
May 20, 200520 yr Author OK I got the engine out...... I need to do a rear main seal any tips? I know there must be another way around this tricky 17mm socket! Find out soon
May 20, 200520 yr I know there must be another way around this tricky 17mm socket! Find out soon I presume you could just warm the engine up, remove the rocker shaft again, re torque the head nuts, attach the rockershaft. Bit of a PIA though.
May 20, 200520 yr Author take the rocker assembly off so its not in your way. SOOOOO I can just take off the rockers what all does that involve time to go look at the fsm. thanks
May 20, 200520 yr Author After reading the fsm I have found out the rocker arm assembly has to come off since two of the bolts that hold the head on, hold the assembly on as well. Funny what you can learn from words instead of pictures. Now this means that my push rods are gonna fall into the oil pan right? And its important to put each rod back where it came from! I have been told I can stuff a rag in there and they wont fall out. I have to look further into this. Ross What your saying about warming the engine up and retightening the heads I just dont see any thing about this? It would be a huge ordeal without the socket which i cant seem to find even from subaru. I did talk to a mechanic who just did this exact thing and he said just to make sure it was 47lbs in the right sequence. Upon looking at the sequence I would need the socket cause you tighten the rocker assembly in the first four steps...... By the way I discovered I need a new rear main seal. Any one have any input? I got a seal puller today for kicks but haven't decided how it all works yet! Thanks for your advice so far!
May 21, 200520 yr After reading the fsm I have found out the rocker arm assembly has to come off since two of the bolts that hold the head on, hold the assembly on as well. Funny what you can learn from words instead of pictures. Now this means that my push rods are gonna fall into the oil pan right? And its important to put each rod back where it came from! I have been told I can stuff a rag in there and they wont fall out. I have to look further into this. Ross What your saying about warming the engine up and retightening the heads I just dont see any thing about this? It would be a huge ordeal without the socket which i cant seem to find even from subaru. I did talk to a mechanic who just did this exact thing and he said just to make sure it was 47lbs in the right sequence. Upon looking at the sequence I would need the socket cause you tighten the rocker assembly in the first four steps...... By the way I discovered I need a new rear main seal. Any one have any input? I got a seal puller today for kicks but haven't decided how it all works yet! Thanks for your advice so far! your pushrods wont run away, they cant fall into the oil pan. you should be able to just pull them out whern you have romoved the rockers. I'm 95% sure that your supposed to re-torque the heads after you have warmed up the engine. I may be thinking of another engine, ill check in my manual later.
May 21, 200520 yr Author AhA the mysteries of the push rods has been solved! Your right ross they cant just fall into the oil pan but the lifters can! So the engine is now on its back... Thanks Milesfox for the five gallon bucket idea its perfect! Really a very easy process to pull the heads the special socket isnt needed in the removal. For the reinstall Im just going to do all the nuts on the heads and then do the bolts for the rocker arm assembly. By the way ross you may be thinking of the fact that the FSM suggests a tighten sequence of increasing levels up to the 47lbs. OK so now Im looking into the pistons and the under side of the valves... I got all kinds of build up.... there is hard crusty stuff on the tops of the pistons as well as the valves and alot of soft black stuff all over the rocker arms and push rods. What is a good way to clean these surfaces? Any suggestions on cleaners for the engine in general? It would be nice to maybe shine her up since I have a week before gaskets get here.
May 21, 200520 yr It would be nice to maybe shine her up since I have a week before gaskets get here. Gee Dave, what are you gonna drive in the meantime? Oh yeah, my car.
May 21, 200520 yr By the way ross you may be thinking of the fact that the FSM suggests a tighten sequence of increasing levels up to the 47lbs. I'm just getting confused with other engines. I just checked the FSM and you're right, you don't need to re torque the heads after warm up.
May 21, 200520 yr Author Gee Dave, what are you gonna drive in the meantime? Oh yeah, my car. YEs now I have the proof I need no excuses.
May 26, 200520 yr The EA82s are 11x1.25 I would venture a guess that the EA81 is the same. Its a really oddball size.
May 26, 200520 yr Author That sounds about right the stud is larger than the 10. Too bad I didnt look closer before I bought the wrong kit. Now to dig that coil out of the engine! THANKS for the insight into the larger stud size I was too blinded by rage to realize! I think your on to something but the thing is.... DoH! Im wondering............... Edits the first post
May 27, 200520 yr So you truly have a screw loose. I can't believe their was blind rage goin' on in the driveway and I missed it.
May 27, 200520 yr Author So you truly have a screw loose. I can't believe their was blind rage goin' on in the driveway and I missed it. My screws been loose for awhile now, i just found out myself yesterday though. I can't believe no one knows the size of these studs. I thought this was the ULITMATE SUBARU MESSAGE BOARD!
May 28, 200520 yr Hi, I just re-read the section in the fsm about installing heads. You DO need to re-torque the heads after warming the engine up and letting it cool again. The manual says this at the start of the section, not in sequence so i missed it last time i looked. The only way you can get around this is with an aftermarket head gasket - most of these are "monotorque" types nowdays. The oem ones are not as far as i know.
May 28, 200520 yr Author Hi, I just re-read the section in the fsm about installing heads. You DO need to re-torque the heads after warming the engine up and letting it cool again. The manual says this at the start of the section, not in sequence so i missed it last time i looked. The only way you can get around this is with an aftermarket head gasket - most of these are "monotorque" types nowdays. The oem ones are not as far as i know. HMMM I cant recall reading anything like this in the FSM. That doesnt mean its not there I will reread the book again and figure this out. By the way what manual are you looking at I have a 1984 1600 1800 FSM?
May 28, 200520 yr HMMM I cant recall reading anything like this in the FSM.That doesnt mean its not there I will reread the book again and figure this out. By the way what manual are you looking at I have a 1984 1600 1800 FSM? Its the '84 fsm, heres a pic of the bit im talking about. Its certainly not obvious.
May 28, 200520 yr You should always retorque a head after its reached operating temp in my opinion,whether the book says so or not (my opinion after 40 years screwing with engines) .If you are having problems with stripped threads,I have plenty head bolts to spare and some crankcase halves I will not be using plus a whole bunch of ea 81 engine stuff mainly everything to do with clutches,carbs and anything that attaches to the intake manifold plus some spare complete engines . Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Jude
May 29, 200520 yr Author You should always retorque a head after its reached operating temp in my opinion,whether the book says so or not (my opinion after 40 years screwing with engines) .If you are having problems with stripped threads,I have plenty head bolts to spare and some crankcase halves I will not be using plus a whole bunch of ea 81 engine stuff mainly everything to do with clutches,carbs and anything that attaches to the intake manifold plus some spare complete engines .Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Jude The real question?? Do you have the special 17mm socket to tighten the head down, without removing the rocker arm assembly, that could be lent out or better yet one for sale? I will most likely just take off the rocker arm assembly like Shawn suggested, now that I am faced with this FSM recommendation, and your and Ross's, which I consider to be more valuable. Its good to know that you have extra studs laying around since I was basically laughed at when inquiring where I could find a 11x1.25 stud in town. Fortune is on my side and I don't need one at this time, the crank case is getting a helicoil whether it likes it or not, but the engine is still sitting on the five gallon bucket..... Im thinking that Monday things will go very smoothly with building the engine back up, after all I will be wrenching on my birthday.... what else could be better. ooh need to get cold beer too! Thank YOU
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