Corvid

I would double check the advice on here about EA81 rear main seals, since I haven't owned one... But with all the other Subaru engines I've worked on, the rule has been that you never touch the factory rear main seal, because they almost never fail, and the replacement will always leak after install.

For anyone that missed it in the first post, I drilled all the way thru the headbolt. There isn't a coolant passage that I am aware of in jeopardy. What's even better, is that the intake bolt hole is slightly offset to the headbolt through-passage, which means I didn't cross drill the headbolt in the middle, but just barely wiped out one edge of it. What are the odds getting THAT out without snapping it off? If I hadn't ruined the headbolt, this would be a triumphant day. By making a drilling jig to core out the center of the broken intake bolts with a 1/4" drill, I was able to leave just the bolt threads hanging out in the block threads. I twisted a few coils out with a pick and needle nose pliers, and than carefully ran a M8x1.25 BOTTOM tap down the holes. If you do this, use thread cutting fluid and a real High Speed Steel tap, not some grey carbon-steel trash from Ace Hardware. Saved both the holes, pretty as a daisy, no Time Serts.

Oh, I know. This was supposed to be a Weber Swap, and its ending up more like the beach scene in Saving Private Ryan. It's not my first rodeo, but some jobs just have the curse. I'd love someone to explain to me why I haven't compromised the holding strength of the headbolt, and that I should leave it there.

Well kids, let this be a lesson to you. Don't indulge your insomnia by performing critical repairs at 3am, you might forget something small, like resetting your depth marker for drilling out your intake bolts. So, I had the rear intake bolt on each side of an EA82 snap off during careful removal. The stubs are completely chem-welded into the block, and multiple days of point blank heat gun, penetrating oil, left hand drill bits, cold chisel, etc failed. I cut the first one off flat , and noticed that the smaller drill hole was not center enough to keep drilling it out and Time Sert it. I used transfer punches in the manifold and checked their center locations against a factory gasket, and made a drill jig out of a 1 inch block of cold rolled steel on my mill. I bolted it up and it looked perfect. Thats when I failed to remark the depth stop, and plunged through the bottom of the intake bolt. If you are working on the head on a bench, this doesnt matter, because you will drop into air when you hit the passage for the headbolt. On the car however, you can cross drill a 1/4' hole allllllllll the way through the headbolt itself. Then you get to feel very smart. So, my inclination is to pull the engine, pop off the cam carrier, and replace that one damaged headbolt. Anyone with more engine experience see a reason this wont work? Or a reason why I shouldn't have to?

Let this be a lesson to you kids, energy drinks are no substitute for sleep. Surgeons forget tools and sponges inside people all the time, and they are getting paid well, not laying on the concrete in the driveway at night, and doing something else for money all day. Always triple check.

While a gauge may be good protocol, i dont think i need further data on this one. Look what was inside the oil pump.

Hahahaha, its easier to check if i didn't JUST pull the radiator. -sigh- I'll throw it back on and refill, because with my luck, I'd R&R the oil pump again, only to have it be a hose on the snorkus. Thanks.

Well, yes, my concern isnt for the longterm health of the oil pump. My concern is that it seems to not be working correctly and being such a simple object, I'm confused as to what could be wrong. When I fired up the engine after reseal, I primed the oil pump with cranking and the HLAs got quiet, which seems to indicate some oil pressure. Then the OPS started coming on intermitently, so I began looking into things.

Okay, today I resealed the oil pan, pickup tube, and PCV seal at back of oil pan. I also replaced the Oil Pressure Switch. Unplugged coil, cranking never puts out oil pressure light. No identifiable difference, but I'm knocking out options. I got a cheap oil gauge today, but the fitting is wrong, so no data from that. I'd love to hear some ideas about why oil pumps don't do their jobs after a reseal. I'm going to hack into it tomorrow anyway, but really appreciate things to look for or consider. Thanks.

The wiring looks good, no wear spots or contact spots. Tube looks good, no cracks or visual clues of a problem. Not even a spec of RTV in the screen.

I did the typical, cams, crank, oil pump, water pump, seperator plate, access hole, timing kit, valve covers routine. Did not pull the rocker assemblies. Heading out the driveway in a moment to triple check the wire path and the pickup tube.

Yes, I used a factory o-ring. I did not use RTV on the pump, I used Permatex Anaerobic. I haven't check the tube for cracks with a critical eye, I pullled it and wiped it off. Where do the cracks usually form?

I did pull the oil pump, clean it, check the screws (all tight), and reseal it. I haven't gotten a gauge yet, but the loudly clacking HLAs seemed to indicate that its not just the wiring. I also thought it was strange to have the lifters getting oil, change oil and filter, and then hear the lifters starve out and GET loud. I got a new OPS to try when the lifters were quiet, but the parts store kid grabbed me the wrong one, so I just changed the oil and filter first. I don't have a second car, and didn't want to drive back on dry cams so I moved on to pulling the pan and hoped to find an obstruction. I pulled the brand new filter as well, and it was full of brand new clean oil, in case that's usefull to anyone. It seems like the 2 main options left are clogged journals or something wrong with the pump? Something I'm not seeing? Is there anything I could have done wrong R&Ring the pump? I've done a few of these and don't think I did anything out of step, but I always except that I am capable of mistakes. I've been burning the candle pretty hard at both ends, so my mental clarity and creative problem solving are suffering from overwork and undersleep. I'm hoping to crowd source some insight here. Thanks everyone.

Victim is a 1991 legacy, 195K on the ej22, automatic transmission that just got replaced. I resealed the engine while I had it out, except the oil pan since it wasnt leaking. Plugged everything back in, drivers side HLA's got quiet fast, passenger side stayed loud for a while, oil light flickered and acted weird. Next morning, all lifters were quiet, sounded beautiful, still weird on and off oil pressure light, mostly on at low RPMs. I read that a bad oil filter can produce those symptoms, so I got a nice Bosch unit, changed the oil, installed the nice oil filter, and fired up the engine again. Now, with the high quality oil filter on, the oil pressure light was on solidly, and the lifters that had been quiet started ticking. I checked on here, and most people said to check the pickup screen, so I removed the oil pan, and the pickup is perfectly clear. So now I'm feeling tired and stuck. I'd love to hear your ideas.

If you already have the intake off, you've done most of the work already. You will want (2) O-Rings #8069-33010 from the dealership, to install your donor water pipe. While you're in there, I'd look at the black bypass pipe on the drivers side of the engine too, since that other piece of your cooling system rotted off. Of course, for myself, I tend to replace the whole cooling system at the same time if the history isn't known to me. But thats me. And, for the record, there is no listing for that brass nipple in my parts catalog, so I assume its just part of the water pipe.