Ta-Da!!! Got the engine out; Next question

[211]

Kay just to recap; I'm replacing head gaskets on an 85 GL 4WD AT EA82 carbed. Thanks to you all, I've decided to pull the motor (which I'm really really glad I did now that its out ). 4hrs, by myself, first time! Sorry, not looking for a cookie, I'm just proud of myself...

 

So now I'm a bit confused. The engine is out and on the bench, I removed the valve cover and there seems to be two parts to the head assembly. I'm used to GMs so this is perplexing. There's a head just under the valve cover which the rocker arms and camshaft bolt to (for lack of proper term I'm calling this the Rocker Layer), beneath that there is another "layer" (which I'll call the Cylinder Layer).

 

The obvious assumtion is, there are two parts to the cylinder head. What I need to know is, do I need to take the "rocker layer" off? Am I going to want to change that gasket between the rocker and the cylinder layer or should I let the machine shop do it when I have them inspect the heads?

 

Also, I'm not sure this is a factory thing, but it looks like they used some sort of "goop" as a gasket between both the cylinder to block and cylinder to rocker layer. Between both of these assemblies there is a silicone-type, goop squashed-out all around the seam .

 

Kinda lost at this point, don't know how deep I need to go.

[MilesFox]

if you are going as far as head gaskets you will need to take of the cam towers

 

to do this you will have to take of the timing belt covers

 

there is an o ring in the passage between the cam tower and the head. there is no gasket but it takes anaerobic sealer "permatex ultra grey" or "import grey rtv"

scrape out the old rtv from the groove

[Mark Humble]

Right on! You're right there are two parts bolted to the cyl block. The next move is to remove the timing belt covers, timing belts, and crank shaft pully. Then remove the eight bolts holding the cam towers and remove the cam towers. The cam followers are going to fall out if the engine is sitting on the oil pan when you remove the cam towers, so mark them before you remove the tower, that way they can be reinstalled in the same place they came from. After that remove the head bolts in reverse order of the torque sequence. Oh yeah, might be a good idea to remove the intake manifold first. After the head bolts are removed, then remove the cyl head. And you are there, start cleaning gasket surfaces. Don't panic if you see cracks between the valves, they may not be a problem.

[211]

Then remove the eight bolts holding the cam towers and remove the cam towers. The cam followers are going to fall out if the engine is sitting on the oil pan when you remove the cam towers, so mark them before you remove the tower, that way they can be reinstalled in the same place they came from. After that remove the head bolts in reverse order of the torque sequence.

 

CAM TOWER that's it, now I'm learning the nomenclature!

 

Thanks for the input, and I'm not questioning you at all, but is it not possible to remove the head as a unit (head and cam tower togetehr)?

 

I was going to have the heads checked out and pressure tested? While they were there have them replace the valve stem seals and whatnot, that's why I'm thinking remove the heads as a unit. You think this is necissary or something I could do on my own? Obviously I don't have a way to pressure test them, and I don't have a valve spring compressor either.

 

What do you guys normally do at this point; do the valve seals yourself and (in my case) rent a spring compressor, then check for head-warpage with a straight edge?

 

Also, what are the cam followers? I'm used to GM so I'm thinking something equivalent to Lifters.

[MilesFox]

here are a sequence of ea82 teardown pics. dont mind the mini- and html files in the directory as they are part of a defunct gallery

http://www.economysuperstar.com/milesfox/gallery/rxbuild/

[211]

here are a sequence of ea82 teardown pics. dont mind the mini- and html files in the directory as they are part of a defunct gallery

 

Right on man, kinda blurry on some of 'em but it gives me a good clue as to what to expect.

 

How do you compress your valve springs? Do you have a compressor tool or is there some other homebrewed technique you can pass down to a newb

 

Also, I notice you have a gasket kit, yet you're RTVing most of the mating surfaces. Are you RTVing instead of gaskets or in addition to?

 

I was always told one or the other never both. But again this is living in GM's-ville.

[211]

UP

Really need some advice on this, my gasket kit is here on wednesday and by thursday I have to either take the heads to the machine shop or be ready to do them myself.

 

Sorry for being impatient, gotta have this running ASAP! Driving my Yukon to work (35mi one-way) is KILLING me on gas!

[Snowman]

Have you checked the flatness of the heads? If they're beyond the limit, or if the HG's metal ring has worn a groove into the head surface, they need to be resurfaced by a machine shop.

 

My rant on RTV: There is nowhere on an EA82 Subaru engine that you should use regular RTV sealant (edit: okay, I use in on ONE place as a backup. The pipe that goes into the water pump should have a bead of RTV on it in case the O-ring fails). HG's go on dry, intake manifold gaskets go on dry or get sprayed with that copper spray-on stuff, cam towers and block halves use no gaskets but instead get Permatex anaerobic sealant or equivalent, rocker cover gaskets are rubber so you should coat them with oil or assembly lube but no sealant, and the oil pan gasket should get either Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket or anaerobic sealant on the gasket.