September 18, 200520 yr After taking off the intake manifold of my EA82 to look for a vacuum leak, I've developed a coolant leak into the valve chamber and flooded the cylinders with coolant. Its a damn mess. Anyone have suggestions on how clean the cylinders without removing the engine from the vehicle? I'm going to put rubber hose through the spark plug holes to drain most of the coolant, but this still leaves the cylinders moist will make it very hard to start the engine. Will I ultimately have to take the crankshafts and valves off of the engine to get to the cylinders to clean them properly? I've already decided that when I put the thing back together and start the car again, I'm going to have drained the entire cooling system and left it drained in order to get a better chance to start the engine. I imagine that if I can just get the engine running again I can continue to look for the problem that is causing my engine to die at low idle.
September 18, 200520 yr Pull the plugs and crank it over. Yeah, it's as simple as that. Make sure you use OEM gaskets when reattaching the intake manifold. (No crappy aftermarket gaskets. No sealant.)
September 18, 200520 yr Author Yeah, it's as simple as that. Make sure you use OEM gaskets when reattaching the intake manifold. (No crappy aftermarket gaskets. No sealant.) OK sweet. Thank you both for the info. But about the gaskets; is there any place online that I could buy a full gasket set for the EA82 engine, or where they sell individual gaskets? I've talked to a guy at an independent auto parts store, and he says they can order the full set for about $150 plus freight. Is there anywhere online I could get a set for a similar or better price?
September 19, 200520 yr Author www.1stsubaruparts.com These guys rock. Thanks for the lead Snowman, but I checked on it and they don't have a full gasket set for an EA82. I called the store directly and the guy who answered seemed...well a little confused. He sounded stoned but maybe he was just tired. He couldn't look up my gasket set by engine model, only by vehicle. And when he did find a set it wasn't one for my vehicle, and he couldn't match it to an engine model OR my vehicle via VIN number. So are there any other Subaru parts stores out there on the net that might be able to get what I need? Otherwise I'll have to order through a local dealer in town.
September 19, 200520 yr Schucks has them last time I checked for around $135. Once you get the gaskets, and have everything all put back together you should top off the coolant and drain and refill the oil before attempting to turn it over. If there was that much coolant in the cylinders there's a good chance quite a bit drained past the rings and into the oil pan. Since the oil will float on top of it, on start up you'll be sucking coolant and it doesn't make good lubricant. Do that and then as the others said, pull the plugs and coil wire, turn it over a few times to make sure you have most of it out of the upper cylinders. Put the plugs back in you should be back in business. Might get some vapor out the tail pipe for a few minutes.
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