nillvurt

I finally got to it after having to work on other things and I found the problem. I removed the intake body and EGR valve. The passageway from the EGR to the intake has a tight turn that was clogged even though it looked clean from inside the intake manifold. I was able to shove a short section of speedometer cable down through the hole of the temperature sensor (right next to the EGR valve). I had to double back the front 2" of the speedo cable, spin it and pull it back and forth. All sorts of black gunk started falling out of the EGR passageway and get stuck on the cable, which I had to wipe off every 10 seconds or so. I tried to blow as much as possible of the gunk out, and when I finally was able to blow air from the EGR to intake manifold, I vacuumed up the loose gunk to not have it go into the engine. When I reassembled everything, I was able to push the EGR diaphragm in and the engine instantly stuttered and eventually died, which is what the California smog tech looks for to make sure that the EGR system works. Finally ready for a re-test! Thanks so much for your help, Dave!

great! I'll check it out tomorrow, since it seemed like there was back pressure when I blew air into the upper port. Maybe I'll have to dig down into the intake manifold and see what it looks like…

I didn't know where the air would come out at the intake, would I have to take apart the manifold to check that, or would I be able to tell with just the rubber manifold detached? Yeah, the car drives fine and emission readings are good. The tech just needs the car to stumble when the EGR valve is manually pushed in in order to pass the car. Seems silly, since the car runs clean. I think I found the 2 wire sensor. Is it the one that is mounted right by the upper (intake?) passage right by the EGR valve.

Hello, I need to pass emissions in California with my 1994 Loyale. When I took it in to get tested it passed everything except for the visual of the EGR system. The tech said that when he pushed the diaphragm on the EGR valve, the car should stumble and/or die, but it didn't, which he said was a symptom of clogged EGR passages. I took the EGR valve off, cleaned it, the stem moves well, even when on the car and I increase throttle to 2500 rpms. The carbon deposits didn't look too bad. I tried to clean the passages with a speedometer cable and some carb cleaner. I found that I couldn't get it around some of the bends in the passages. I knocked some carbon loose and vacuumed it up and tried blowing air down the passages. When I reinstalled the valve again, the car still wouldn't change its idle when I pushed the diaphragm in to open the valve. In fact the car ran fine without the EGR valve on (it was louder since it was blowing exhaust gases out of the lower hole). The EGR valve moves when applying vacuum and holds it when I keep the vaccum applied, so it doesn't leak when it is closed and is not seized. Also, the vacuum hoses don't seem to have a leak, since it opens at higher RPMs. I also have a 35ohm resistor mounted on the purge valve solenoid instead of the old stuck solenoid in order to clear the CE light. Would this effect the car and keep it from dying when pushing the EGR valve diaphragm? Or is it a completely different system? The EGR solenoid is brand new. What do you recommend that I do? Is the tech right? Are the EGR passages clogged? How do I get at them? I unscrewed the flare nuts that hold the 90º EGR pipe in place, but seemingly couldn't remove it without taking the intake manifold off. Also, I remember cleaning that pipe 10K miles ago when I did the head gaskets, so I imagine it is other passages? Does anyone have a diagram of how the passages run? Any other tests I can do? Many thanks!

All good! No leak! I just set it flush with the front, and I'm pretty sure I didn't press the camshaft seals in all the way either now that I think about it…

Dang, I've always pressed the camshaft seals in all the way into the housing, but I seem to remember them not really going deeper than flush. Haven't had a problem with them... I'll try to put the crankshaft seal flush and no deeper, it seems more right

They are new rotors and I doubt they have runout from the box...I could do an on car turning, but I'll wait and see how my shims work out...

Got some 0.001" shim washers on Amazon and the clamping dial indicator from HF. Got the runout within 0.002" so hopefully that will keep my rotor from developing judder again. Ultimately, I would like to find the cause of the hub having runout, but for now this will have to do! Thanks for the help!

Nah, pulled the whole engine out, it seems like it would be a nightmare doing it with the engine in… Turns out it was the front seal. Somehow it was seated crooked, even though I am sure it was straight after I replaced it. I put a new one in, it went in straight, but right at the end when it went deeper it seemed to get crooked again (which seems impossible with how tight fit it is) Now I'm waiting on a new seal from the parts store and thinking I just won't seat it as deep, probably just past flush with the front of the engine block seal housing. Anyone know if it is supposed to be driven in all the way? I read that somewhere, but there also seems to be openings for oil to flow down at the bottom, which would be blocked if I drove it in all the way…

Any good way to measure the runout? Or do I need specialized tools? I imagine it has to be pretty exact…basically no runout at all once I put the shims in…

Hi guys! Got it all back together, started up on first go after I ran the starter with the ignition coil disconnected for a bit to move some oil around....noisy valves that quieted down after a bit of driving. Thanks for all the help, couldn't have done it without you! Now I still have an oil leak that is coming out of the oil pump. Same as before that caused the oil to spray all over the inside of the hood. My theory is that the oil pump shaft is grooved since I did all the oil pump seals and the shaft seal, but forgot to inspect the shaft. It seems to be coming off with speed and rotation since it sprays a fine mist off a pulley, and I think it is the oil pump pulley. But I run open timing belt covers and changing that will be super fast now that I have done something as involved as the head gaskets! I think it was also running back along the oil pan and making it look like the oil pan gasket was leaking. Now I have GDs RTV coated cork gasket in there and I have a hard time seeing that leak… On the good side, no exhaust in coolant anymore, exhaust smell in cab is fixed after replacing front exhaust assembly and catalytic converter. New axle assembly after a broken boot and it giving out after 275K. New struts and rubber mounts, replaced stabilizer bar rubber at the ends that had disintegrated. New wheel bearings and seals and all new seals everywhere in the engine. Now the only thing I have to figure out is why a new rotor on passenger side has about 0.5-1mm runout when strapping it down to the hub. My theory is that the hub is somehow bent, and I'm inclined to pick another one up at the pick'n'pull… Anyway, I can't quite believe that it all went together! Thanks again!

So I imagine I would put the shims between the hub and rotor where they bolt on? I may also buy a new cone washer since I keep reusing the same one, but it doesn't look bad. It's just crazy to imagine that the hub is not flat. I guess when hitting a rock, or a curb or something it can bend it…. I was also thinking of pulling a hub from a pick and pull, but I already did that once and didn't change it, but maybe I pulled a bad hub.

I haven't got him back on the road yet, but when I put on new rotors and tightened down the axle nut, installed new brake pads and spin the rotor on the car, the rotor is already out of line. I can tell by it getting harder and easier against the brake pad, and also by putting a stationary object against the front surface and when spinning the rotor will get closer and further. Not a lot, but noticeable. I don't know if I have messed up splines or what. I cleaned the surface of the hub where the rotor mounts to make sure it is all in line. My conical washer looks good…but maybe I should change that? Or maybe I'll go get the rotors matched and machined on the car, as that seems the most reliable option…

So I got the heads back from the machine shop and they made some nice flat surfaces as I was messing up with the sandpaper. Somehow I was rocking the head when sanding it back and forth over the glass with sandpaper and rounded it toward the edge. They also got the bolt out with a sweet trick: where I had drilled out the hole they filled it with weld and then stuck a bolt in with a washer on top to protect the head surface. Then they welded the new bolt to the stuck head bolt and went back and forth with the impact on low. The combination of the intense heat from welding and the impact managed to shake it loose from the rusty stuckness! I will definitely try that next time… Now I am just going to lap the valves and stick it all back together. You guys use RTV on the water pump gasket? Thanks again for all your input. This forum has been an amazing resource and wealth of good information!

Cool. I may have the machine shop do the drilling…or try a extractor screw. How flat should I get the deck of the block. It seems like it should be resurfaced like the head, but maybe it isn't as critical? Do you just scrape it with a gasket scraper?

So, when I was taking off one of the headbolts it snapped. Any tips on how to get it out? And who carries them, or do I have to wait for the dealer? Do they get a bunch of oil on them when they go in or anti-seize copper stuff? I was going to chase the threads with a tap and tie. Also, it seems like the heads are slightly warped in the concave direction (high in the middle) when they came off and I measured with a glass sheet after it was cleaned, so I'll take them in to get machined. I tried to get it out with the sandpaper and glass method, but no luck.

I think I found the problem. It seems like the passenger side caliper slide was binding at the bottom and when I tried to move the lock pin sleeve inside the rubber boot, it was pretty stuck. I tried re-lubing with Permatex Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube, but it seemed to make it just as sticky and even more bindy. After a bit of research, it seems like that grease makes the rubber swell and the lock pin sleeve bind, which causes it to stick at the bottom of the caliper slide while moving freely up top, which leads to uneven brake pad wear and rotor warp. I cleaned the old grease out as well as I could and replaced it with a silicone based caliper grease (Sil-glyde). Now it slides like butter! Apparently by trying to make it better with the Permatex stuff, I made it worse…we'll see how it goes a few thousand miles down the road!

I know this is an old thread, but I am still curious how it all went. I am currently in the middle of doing the same thing, and had the same issues (coolant loss and exhaust gasses in the coolant, but nothing in the oil) I have also been scouring the forum and finding all the awesome knowledge. My conclusion has been to take a pretty low key approach. I have not seen my heads yet, but I don't have a fancy straight edge to get that accurate anyway. So I will use the good old post apocalypse machining, thick glass and sandpaper. I am planning on scraping off the gasket from the block and possibly sanding that too (with glass). I want to lap the valves, change all the valve seals, check the lifters (or Hydraulic Lash Adjusters (HLAs)), change the cam tower o-ring, and put it all together. I will use hylomar universal blue on all the gaskets, since I have read good things about it. And Universal Grey RTV on the cam tower housing to head surface. According to my hero miles fox, it seems like these heads don't tend to warp (except turbo), and they don't really need to be machined. I think he actually said that the only one that leaked was one that was re-machined. Other people seem to swear by getting them resurfaced, and no one I have found has had bad experiences with the glass sandpaper method. The main thing seems to be to not nick the surfaces at all. And clean everything before putting it together, cover all the holes etc. You've probably already found this thread, but it is good: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/126445-ea82-head-gasket-replacement-how-to/ I am real curious as to how it all went! I love my old gutless ea82 with 275K miles on it! It has always been weak and trusty and has not getting any weaker the 10 years I have owned it.

Yup, got two new OEM oil channel o-rings from the dealer. And I figure some Ultra Grey on the cam tower mating surface and groove like Miles Fox does? Thanks for the heads up on the cracks, that helps to know what is up. I read more about it and will keep me from freaking out if I see them, which it seems like I will. Right now I'm leaning towards just resurfacing the heads with glass and sandpaper if they aren't warped. I'd rather save myself the $150 it would cost at the machine shop. It seems like most people here are having good results with simple methods. I got some lapping compound and blue dye for the valves. I also got new valve seals.

I pulled my engine out and in the middle of doing everything…doing the clutch and rear main seal since it is accessible and also leaking oil. I found the exhaust leak in the catalytic converter assembly, and still have no idea why the oil ends up under the hood, but doing all my seals, so it should take care of that. Should I install the Subaru dealer head gaskets dry, or could I put some hylomar Universal blue on those too? I have read all sorts of varying opinions… I am taking the heads in to get machined and checked for cracks, anything special about the heads I need to tell the machine shop? Also going to hand lap the valves, since that seems worth it. Also, if I take the cam tower off, I should make sure the distributor doesn't move, right? Can that camshaft be spun or will that mess things up? Thanks again for all your help!

Thanks for all your suggestions! I finally got time to deal with it and the front right brake pads were worn really unevenly, so it seems like the caliper bracket is being caught on the bottom pin. I'll take that apart and check and lube the crap out of the pins and hopefully that will help them slide better!

I checked the glass and sandpaper method for resurfacing the heads. looks pretty simple if that is the method you mean. When I do the valve seals, do I need a spring compressor tool to get the old ones off? Thanks again!

cool. So I most probably need to resurface the heads? Hopefully I won't have to do anything to the valves…anything to check for on the valves? It seems pretty fussy and difficult if i need to put in new seats or other valve parts…

Getting all the parts bought, should be able to get to it in about a month…I have noticed a bit of froth in the coolant right after I drive, and some bubbles on the oil dipstick when I pull it out. I imagine it is early signs, since it is not yet full blown milky mayonnaise. Luckily I don't have to drive much for the next month. I will also be doing the cv axle (original d/s is starting to click), catalytic converter (rusted out and leaks), all the front seals, oil pump seals, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, timing belts and pulleys, belts, water pump, rear main seal, oil pan gasket, PCV valve. I got most gaskets from the dealer and the axle, since when I've put on aftermarket ones, they die in a few thousand miles. On the p/s i replaced it 5 times before i got an actual subaru one, which worked. Anyway, getting off topic here. Is there a list of resources for doing the head gasket and pulling the engine, or should I just keep searching this forum and youtube? Thanks again!

Actually, I do feel it mostly in the steering wheel Kind of a shudder/shake. But can also feel vibration in the brake pedal. I think it is the front, since when I change the rotors initially there is no pulsation or shudder until a few thousand miles later…