Engine-out Maintinence & Mods

[Red0ktober]

I've pulled my EA81T for head gaskets, and I'm looking for other things to fix/improve while I have it out.

 

Obviously, all head gasket related seals/gaskets are getting changed. I see the oil pump is leaking, so I'll re-seal that. I'll change the rear main. I think there is some other cover back there, but I don't know what to search for to find that gasket.

 

For the longevity of the turbo'd engine, should I put in a cooler thermostat?

 

Any other maintenance items I should be looking at?

[NoahDL88]

Stick with the stock thermostat, your engine was designed to run at a certain temperature, if you have cooling issues you should fix them not band-aid them. A new OEM thermostat is not a bad idea though.

 

For your rear main, go OEM as well.

 

A full tuneup can't hurt at this point either, and make sure you adjust the valves when you get the whole thing back together, unless it has HLA's in which case you're all set. I'd also pull and re-seal the oil pan, cleaning out 25 years of sludge can't hurt.

[Red0ktober]

The covers have a "Do Not Adjust Valve Clearance" sticker on them. Assume that means they're hydraulic?

 

I bought the car non-running. I don't know it's history, other than it has coolant in the oil. Hoping it's still serviceable. Showing about 130k on the odometer if I recall correctly.

[NoahDL88]

If there is no obvious sign of a blown head gasket, (clean cylinder or deformed gasket) be sure to check the heads, they don't often fail, and small cracks between the valves are normal.

[MilesFox]

I would assume the coolant in oil to be HG related. Otherwise, it's not a bad idea to install fresh gaskets for longevity.

 

One thing to check is the freeze plugs are all intact. They can pop out from frozen coolant. Don't want to miss one on reassembly!

[NoahDL88]

One most certainly could assume, however, cracked heads do occur.