rweddy Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 My brothers HG is in 91 wagon just blew the headgaskets at 150k. I am out of town for 2 weeks so he is going to have to have a shop fix this. The shop told him that 90-91 2.2 are notorious for blowing headgaskets. Anyone ever heard this before?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 No. Typically that engine was bullet-proof as far as head gaskets were concerned. Might be that the tendency of the EA82 turbos to wipe the head gaskets when overheated led this mechanic to that conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon38iowa Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 My brothers HG is in 91 wagon just blew the headgaskets at 150k. I am out of town for 2 weeks so he is going to have to have a shop fix this. The shop told him that 90-91 2.2 are notorious for blowing headgaskets. Anyone ever heard this before?? Usually when you hear of headgasket issues in involves the infamous early 2.5. engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 no, he's either wrong or confused. i assume this is an EA82...i think there were some EJ's in 91... EA82's blow headgaskets when they are run hot or if they're a turbo (which can mean, they run hot). keep the cooling system in check and the head gaskets will hold just fine. water pump, thermostat, radiator, hoses, clamps, radiator caps. any one of these gives out and the car will run hot and that's not a good thing on 15+ year old gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted October 24, 2006 Author Share Posted October 24, 2006 No. Typically that engine was bullet-proof as far as head gaskets were concerned. Might be that the tendency of the EA82 turbos to wipe the head gaskets when overheated led this mechanic to that conclusion. Yea that is what I thought also. Now next quesiton, should he get a new motor or can he just replace the HG and the motor be good for another 150k? He did not overheat the motor too bad, it ran close to the red, then he shut it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 guess work really, but if the motor wasn't abused and ran for a long time like this then new head gaskets should be golden. i know a number of subarus on the road that i've put new head gaskets in and they are still running fine years later just as many others have on the group here. should be good to go. i'd rather have new headgaskets than a used motor with questionable history any day. get the perma-torque fel-pro gaskets and should be golden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burtonsnowman Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Maybe it's time for an EJ22T? As long as the engine's out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 guess work really, but if the motor wasn't abused and ran for a long time like this then new head gaskets should be golden. i know a number of subarus on the road that i've put new head gaskets in and they are still running fine years later just as many others have on the group here. should be good to go. i'd rather have new headgaskets than a used motor with questionable history any day. get the perma-torque fel-pro gaskets and should be golden. Well bad news the block is cracked. He has limited funds but I am hopeing he can afford a ccr crate motor, but if not we will have to find a junk yard motor for him. I still am shocked that a 91 2.2 blew the HG like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon38iowa Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Well bad news the block is cracked. He has limited funds but I am hopeing he can afford a ccr crate motor, but if not we will have to find a junk yard motor for him. I still am shocked that a 91 2.2 blew the HG like this. We are taking about a 15 year old car, a testament to how well they are made! Where are most American made cars of this vintage? I say the bone yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Yeah, I think that blowing a HG and cracking the block was kind of a fluke. Generally, the early EJ22 is considered the LEAST likely of all the Subaru engines to have HG problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Well bad news the block is cracked. He has limited funds but I am hopeing he can afford a ccr crate motor, but if not we will have to find a junk yard motor for him. I still am shocked that a 91 2.2 blew the HG like this. It is quite unusual but certainly possible (**it happens). It's also possible the temp guage was innacurate or there was a failure in the cooling system that allowed excessive heat to damage the block/HG without indicating excessive overheating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 We are taking about a 15 year old car, a testament to how well they are made!Where are most American made cars of this vintage? I say the bone yard. Well I was compairing apples to apples. My other EA81/82 roos have gone into the 200k range with no hg issues at all. Well expect for my GL-10 turbo cars. My brothers 91 loyale he sold to get this car had 230k and had no issues at all. This has left him with quite a bad taste about newer subarus since the car for only 2 months, had the car checked out and had lots of paper work from the previous owner that it had been taken care of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I blew the headgasket(s) on mine early this year. The car was in fine shape so I had the HGs replaced( yes both ) for $1600 Can. It had about 200K on it but I felt it was worth it. It's run 100% since then and I do not regret having done itand it burns NO oil..woot and I drove it with no coolant for about 20 miles (my bad). I stopped after I could smell the motor overheating...oopsie It depends on how much the car is worth , the overall condition, the mileage and if you still enjoy driving it.I expect to see my odo go to 300K at least ! Yea that is what I thought also. Now next quesiton, should he get a new motor or can he just replace the HG and the motor be good for another 150k? He did not overheat the motor too bad, it ran close to the red, then he shut it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Just food for thought. I have my fan hardwired to the ignition on my ea81 and a switch for the fan on the dash for my ea71. In these old cars, you can't hear if the fan is kicking on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I have heard this myth of the 90-91 2.2's doing this in the upper years of life. I will also say that I have also had a 90 legacy blow its HG too but I think my issue was a little different....I lost my water pump and before i realized what was going on....poof it was over. I would say before blaming the HG's look elsewhere for other issues too. FWIW, this car also had 205k on it when it happened and when I had the t-belt done at 180k I asked them to do the WP and they didn't because it was "still good" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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