winginit

j lucky the pitting is not near the fire ring part. thanks

I have the heads and block cleaned up. the engine mounts loose and lifted , head bolts wire wheeled clean. going to put the heads on in the morning . Thanks

i will check it. I forgot to ask before. i oil the head bolts . is it ok if some oil gets on the head gasket area during assembly ? Oh and the gasket i got from the dealer have what looks like a narrow bead of sealant ONLY on ONE side. What side does the bead go on ? thanks

Got the heads cleaned up, 004 gauge wont slide under a straight edge.. there is some slight pitting on one but its not in the same lace as the flaking gasket. local sooby specialist told me that ej2.2 heads and gaskets are very forgiving if they are not warped scrape with a razer blade . i did sand them on a flat surface. i am going to ick up the gaskets now.

I will look close paying attention to the fire ring. im gong to get the HG from the dealer i need manifold gaskets,valve cover gaskets and valve cover washers. i want to call a couple of machine shops and see how much and ask if they do it by hand . years ago i built a perfectly flat 30in by 8ft bench with cement footings on top of that is 9ft 1/2in glass so i am covered there. I also have good sttraight edge. but i may feel bette if i have it done, if the machine shop uses a machine i may let them do it. if they do it by hand i can do that. I used the table to build airplane wings. if any one lives close and needs to use the table they can come here and use it. with 2 lazer levels it is perfect, well last time i checked it it was! lol

Do I resurface the heads myself on a flat surface with sand paper or should I bring the heads to a machine shop ? What about all the pictures , the driver side gasket looks blown out on the inside by the 3 water wholes. I know I have to put it back together but I am hoping someone will say it does look blown . If u look at all the picks you will see one piston has a shiny part that's the same piston that the gasket is chipped away on . I also think the tiny particals I seen in the overflow coolant was gasket material. Thanks

Fair. So to you it looks like the gasket let loose it that spot? Thanks for your help !

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1996 leagacy ej2.2 115k miles. the story of this car is in another thread . But we suspect HG failure . I pulled the heads this morning. Can i get some help as to what i am looking at please. it does look like the drivers side HG is kind of flaked away at the water jacket area and the same piston has a clean spot on it. could this be the culprit ? Overheating loosing cabin heat no oil / coolant mixing or tail pipe white smoke, overflow is boiling over. Do these Gaskets look original ? Should i get subaru gaskets? Also it was a bith getting the driver head out. what is the trick ? i pulled the valve cover should i lift the engine a little? what am i doing wrong. i dont think i could get the new HG in without screwing them up. that one bolt closest to the firewall in each side is a pain !

well before i pull the heads i wanted to see what it would be like to get the exhaust nuts off the heads, and they all came off easy. i guess i will pull the heads, one of the heads looks bright and clean and bright bolts i wonder if they tried to change it, who knows.

i knew what i was getting into, for $350 i took a chance, its a project, if i do the HG i will still be ahead. , this car is not a daily driver. i actually have a friend that will paint my house for it when its fixed. i hate to paint !

it looses coolant because it blows over and out the over flow bottle, i do not see a leak anywhere.. thanks

Thanks great advise. I pulled out the nappa stat i put in a dealer stat. pulled the hoses off the heater core and back filled i also put the car on ramps all trying to get air out. car still overheats. the shop i asked did not see the car they just said keep trying to bleed the coolant because HG are rare on this engine.. previous owner stated car ran great just had a oil seal leak so the boyfriend took it apart to fix. and the car never was the same. it would not start when i got it. it was the cam censor , then all the timing belt parts were changed i took it apart and fixed everything. it was overheating on her after he put it back together ME knowing they are a bitch to bleed firgured they didnt give it enough time bleeding the coolant. Maybe she drove the car overheated and ruined the gaskets even the ej 2.2 will blow if it gets hot .yes or no ? thanks

thanks for the help, i just pressure washed the engine, started the car i see NO air bubbles in the overflow tank with the radiator cap on, only bubbles from the radiator with cap off. the thermostat is new from nappa and rad cap looks original , should i go to the dealer and get a thermostat and cap and try it ? i ran the car around the street till temp gauge goes high , coolant escapes but the cap is on and the overflow cap is on, where is it coming from ? i can see its wet from around the drivers front area. Maybe the lower radiator hose is not tight.. i looked real close top and bottom of both head gaskets and i see nothing that looks like they are leaking, no oil / coolant mixing no white smoke. i have great heat out the vent then when the gauge overheats the heat goes cold . Is this a clue to anything.? i talked to a sooby only repair shop and he said unlikely its a HG witch we al know and i would like to believe. i have a trailer i am tempted to pay him to diagnose and then i will now ! thanks

Thanks for the advise. this engine only has 115k miles i think i would rather change the HG, i know its not common for HG to blow on a 2.2 . thats why i want to be positive thats the problem . i can see oil puddle on the right side top of block behind power steering reservoir. i am going to pressure wash the engine and see if it comes back when the temp gauge goes hot when driven the overflow fills but does not leak coolant on the ground when car cools the coolant returns to the radiator

​the overflow fills with coolant. If i turn the car over with the cap off coolant blow out. with the raid cap off and car running i an see coolant bubbling out i thought it was normal to see bubbles during bleeding the system. i called 2 places they want 1,500 and 2k to do the job. its has 115k and car overall is in good shape. i left the car alone for a day to think. not sure what to do. sell car for $500 , fix myself or just let a pro do it. , can i reused the head bolts? do i have to put them back in the same place ? sooby gaskets are the best ? can a simple straight edge tell me if the heads are warped ? can someone post a lit of what other parts i will need? In the middle of writing this post i called the suby dealer 1. HG 2. VALVE COVER GASKET ​3. INTAKE EXHAUST GASKETS 4. VALVE COVER BOLT WASHERS ​5. THERMOSTAT 6. WATER PIPE CROSS OVER 0-RINGS 7.OIL - FILLER NECK O-RINGS TOTAL $229 ​THIS IS WHAT THE DEALER SAY IS RECOMMENDED TO DO A HG JOB. DO THE GUYS HERE CONCUR ? OR NEED ANYTHING ELSE OF WHAT DO I NOT NEED ? i am a pretty good fix guy ,only did 1 head gasket tho on a 75 chevy years ago i am trying to build the confidence to do this myself. rednecks had the car lucky only 2 months before that a little old lady owned from new. with 115k miles what kind of abuse to blow the gasket?

thanks men, i believe i have a head gasket job ! thanks

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I picked up this car and needed work. i thought i got all the air out of the cooling system. But i registered the car and after a few miles the temp gauge goes hot and the heat goes cold. No white smoke. No oil in the coolant No coolant in the oil. i have been letting it idle with the cap off and keep topping it off. the heat came back i put the cap on and down the road a few miles. temp goes hot i pull over open the cap and let pressure out.NOW the strange thing the temp gauge dropped like a rock heat comes back. start driving home and the temp creeps up again. ANY ADVISE ? IS there still air in the system or are the head gasket blown ? What tools do i need to test a bad head gasket ? How much does it cost to have a shop do the gaskets in CT ? THANKS

yes the car is auto. no lights flashing,i added fliud and the steering got better it looks like it is leaking from the shaft and the pulley is a little wobbly can the pump be rebuilt or replace ? thanks

is it common for them to go bad ? car has 115k, steering is fine going straight but in reverse and turning feels weird, and maybe some dead spots, i have not pin pointed the problem. Anyone else have these symptoms ? what was the fix ? Thanks

why would do this to pull the pump off,? i have oven cleaner allready, i have used it in the past ,if you leave it on to will screw everything up.

ok i wil keep trying.

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I pulled the 7 bolts for the oil pump, i got the o-ring and seal. whats the trick to get the oil pump off? its on there good !! thanks