how often do these blow? I don't think its a coolant leak but the gasket looks soaked with oil. what could this be? I'm also think I'm getting air in the coolant system could this be it?

bump, anybody know anything about this?

Can't say as to how often the EA-81's will lose a HG, but any HG is subject to blowing. Are you losing coolant, oil? Have you done a compression test? Bubbles, or oil, in the coolant, is a good sign of bad HG. Also steam out of the exhaust pipe, is a major sign of bad HG. Should see if a local repair shop will do a sniffer test on your coolant system. This will show if you have combustion by-products in there. If so, HG is toast......

EA81 head gaskets dont blow so often, compared to EA82 or EJ25... but they still can go! other possibilities could be cracked heads, or block... not likely, but possible...

 

luckly, they are easy to change

 

2 indicators that are very obvious that will tell you if you have a blown headgasket

 

-bubbles in the antifreeze (with car running, before it warms up)

 

-water (brown foam) in the oil

 

good luck!

I have bubbles in my rad. I will try and do a comp. test soon