I hope I can get some help with this since I am a notorious EA82 basher. I have an 87 gl Wagon that has a bad engine. I have another EA82 in a parts car that I am going to transplant, but before I do I want to do a reseal on it among other things.

 

I have heard that after replacing the head gaskets on an EA82 they will need to be retorqued after the motor has been run for a certain amount of time( not sure what the certain amount of time actually is though). Does anyone know if this is true? If it is what is the recommended amount of time or miles?

 

Before I drop this engine in I will replace the head gaskest, intake, oil pan, valve covers, front and rear main seals, water pump, timing belts, tensioners, clutch, pressure plate, and throw out bearing. Am I missing anything?

 

I had thought about doing a complete rebuild but the parts car engine only has 180,000 miles on it and the compression is still real good.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on a good gasket kit? I already have the timing belts, tensioners, water pump, and clutch kit.

 

this isn't my daily driver any more, it is more of a hobby car now. I want to lift it in the near future, but I do want it to be a solid driver before I get into that.

 

Help will be greatly appreciated,Dave.

Go with 1stsubaruparts.com or email the person that's selling discount subaru parts in the marketplace forum for the gasket kit. I don't think you forgot anything else.

 

 

The head bolts are supposed to be retorqued after the initial startup. A board member recommended that you leave the sealant off of the cam towers until after the retorque (you must remove them to access all the head bolts).

Yes retorque. Just after run in. Normally this only takes about 30 mins with NO coolant. You dont have to drive it anywhere. verify this with any manual.

 

Also a VERY VERY GOOD parts site is www.rockauto.com This is where I bought my gasket set and just about every thing else. They usually have a very large selection of any part you need.

While you have the heads/cam tower off, you can look to see if you have a 17mm socket that will allow you do the re-torque without removing the cam tower. This should save some time from removing the timing belts, cam tower, etc.

 

If you find you don't have/can't make a socket that will work, then do like snowman mentioned and don't add the sealant to the cam tower the first time.

good advice. Thanks

is that ea82 only, and can you get to all the head bolts?

You might be able to get to all the bolts with the cam towers on. It requires a special/modified socket though.

You might be able to get to all the bolts with the cam towers on. It requires a special/modified socket though.

 

In my case on an EA82, it looked like a shortened 17mm socket would work. However, I'm not sure if you'd have clearance with a 3" extension between the head bolt and the body of the car.

 

Maybe something you would want to check out while taking everything apart?

does anyone have a part # for that special socket. Considering the reputation these engines have with head gaskets. I'm sure it would be something that would get used more than once.

From my 89 FSM:

 

SOCKET WRENCH (17) For retightening cylinder head.

 

499987200 I assume this is the SOA part number

 

L1-103 This is probably the Kent-Moore part number or something like that.

 

 

Let me know if you have luck finding this. If it's not too expensive, I should get one myself.

Thanks Snowman. I will call the idiots at my local dealership. I will of course have to mess with them first.

 

" I need the special tool for removing head bolts on an 87 EA82 spfi."

Just give those morons an engine code and listen to the sound of confusion that follows. Dave

I checked my spare engine to see if the heads could be retorqued with the cam towers in place. Looks like the only bolts that might be hard to get at are the bottom two next to the exhaust port. But if you get Craftman socket #43548 and grind 5mm off of the end it should fit fine. Now this is a 3/8 drive socket so if your torque wrench is 1/2" then you will need a 1/2 to 3/8 reducer but with the right extension there should be clearance between the wrench and the frame.

does anyone have a part # for that special socket. Considering the reputation these engines have with head gaskets. I'm sure it would be something that would get used more than once.

 

Brand new to this forum, first post. My son just bought an 86 with an EA-82. It has 84000 miles on it - a garage find. I'm looking around to see if there are any vulnerabilites to this car.

1) Am I to take it that the head gaskets are an issue?

2) Where can I get a shop manual for the engine?

3) Timing belt gets changed when?

4) Is this an interference engine?

5) What else should I know?

Everything ruber under the hood (hoses and belts) were changed out by the PO.

 

Thanks in advance

Brand new to this forum, first post. My son just bought an 86 with an EA-82. It has 84000 miles on it - a garage find. I'm looking around to see if there are any vulnerabilites to this car.

1) Am I to take it that the head gaskets are an issue?

2) Where can I get a shop manual for the engine?

3) Timing belt gets changed when?

4) Is this an interference engine?

5) What else should I know?

 

1. Head gaskets are only an issue on overheated or overboosted TURBO motors.

2. Here: http://68.178.49.203/jon/SubaruEA82-ServiceManualPart1.pdf and http://68.178.49.203/jon/SubaruEA82-ServiceManualPart2.pdf

3. Recommended every 60k miles. OEM belts last longer, but they should definitely be re-tensioned at regular intervals. See #4.

4. NOT an interference engine. If a belt breaks the engine won't run. No internal damage.

Hello all,

 

New to the forum.

 

My Aunt has a 92 svx. Well maintained 100k miles. She has been informed by the service dept. that she needs a head gasket replacement. Some coolant leaking, no compression loss.

 

My question is this. Would a retorque instead be enough? At $3,500 dollars for a replacement head gasket it just seems prohibitive. The tech is suggesting its a 300k motor, but if you need a head gasket every 100k she might want to just trade it in?

 

Is re torque of cyl. head a part of normal maintenance on a boxer motor?

 

Thanks in advance.

Thanks,

 

This is some real good info.

 

Eric Ford

Felpro permatorque gasket over tightened by 5 ft lbs.

What i just stated applies to ea and er engines. Not the svx I don't know enough about them to say.

Zukiru is correct and GD and I have discussed this. All of the EA82's I've done, I've used the Fel Pro gaskets and added 5lbs to the end torque spec. Never had a leak or failure.

Thanks,

 

This is some real good info.

 

Eric Ford

use the fel pro headgaskets he mentioned in the last post and there's no need to retorque.  save yourself the time.