salle071 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have 06' Legacy 2.5, with 175,000km. Recently it was in for some minor service and dealer had declared that it needs head gasket(s). I Noticed a bit of burned oil smell. Decided to look at it myself, the only thing I can see is a bit of wetness on driver side valve cover, and it does seep near the exaust port where it likely burns a bit. No oil in coolant and no coolant in oil. Runs smooth when warmed up (~3 min.) Not sure what to think. Is it possible to replace valve cover gasket without removing the engine? How about valve lash adjust? I know, timing belt is due, just don't want the cost of pulling the engine out. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Timing belt and valve cover gaskets can be done without pulling the engine, yes. I believe that year would have shim style lash adjusters, which if it's like the earlier shim styles, can be adjusted with a special tool without removing the engine. Maybe you can press them for more details about the HG's. The HG issues were pretty much fixed up by around 04 MY though of course depending on conditions it is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 valve cover gaskets are easy to do in the car, not a big deal at all. replace them first and see what happens. timing belt, easily done in the car, these are a cinch to do as far as timing belts go. best bet is to replace all pulleys and tensioner too, not just the belt as pulleys/tensioners do fail sometimes. HG's - they do fail even on later models - seen a few 08's. they do not mix oil and coolant, won't fail compression tests, and they won't fail an exhaust gas test either. they leak externally, which is what hte mechanic was referring too. but if the valve covers are leaking, replace those first, clean up the oil spots, and let it roll. if the HG's start leaking these motors can be essentially driven indefinitely even with externally leaking headgaskets - it basically comes down to how much oil (or coolant - they can leak either externally) you want to add and if it starts dripping on your driveway or exhaust - how annoyed you'll get at that. my friend had a 2003 with leaky HG's and the car was so beat up and high miles i just told him to keep adding oil and not think about HG replacement. i don't know how long but for a couple years and probably 100,000 miles he drove it with leaking headgaskets. that is typical for this generation engine - they leak externally - starts really slow and gradually gets worse but very very rarely fail catastrophically and wont' leave you stranded if you keep it full of oil and coolant. they wont' ever overheat until they're low on coolant. requires Subaru Coolant Conditioner in the engine so if the oil compromised the head gasket might be a good idea to change the coolant and add one or two bottles of Subaru coolant conditioner to be on the safe side, that's what I'd do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salle071 Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 How would you determine if it is head gasket or valve cover that is leaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 they are in different locations so you visually inspect. take a picture of the wet/oil area and post it here and we'll help. 1. if it's leaking at the valve cover - it's the valve cover gasket. 2. if it's leaking at the headgasket then it's the headgasket. valve cover mating surface and headgasket mating surface are in different locations so it's not too difficult to tell usually, particularly when it first starts happening which sounds like the case here. if oil gets everywhere under the engine and it's all wet from previous oil leaks...then it gets muddled...but doubt that's happening here. valve cover gasket leaks tend to drift/seap/blow towards the back of the engine and inwards towards the engine so they can make the head gasket mating surface look wet/oily and confuse people. the opposite can't happen - headgasket leaks don't make the valve cover areas wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Since its an '06 it does have the AVCS system in it which makes the rocker assembly a bit more complicated to remove and install if you decide to do the headgaskets yourself. I've seen headgaskets get to the point where coolant is literally dripping from the bottom of the head. The other thing is it seems that the '05 and newer EJ253 (I think that's the right engine code) will blow a headgasket quicker then the EJ251. Both of which blow externally unless its been heated up to the point of warping the heads, then they can blow internally. Seen a couple like that as well. The first generation EJ25Ds blow internally so there's different ways to figure out if its blown. If yours is leaking both oil and coolant, then get it serviced. There will be a gray liquid on the bottom of the heads in between the exhaust ports and the oil pan. If its just oil, then you'll be fine for now but once the coolant starts to leak, I would highly advise you to get it replaced. Too many customers of mine have let it go too long and end up blowing an engine or costing them more money in repairs where if they did it around the time it starts to leak a bit of coolant, it would have been cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 The old style HG leak is different for the 05+ most do not leak coolant at the headgasket. Most only leak oil..... and it is external... just wanted that fact to be out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 The old style HG leak is different for the 05+ most do not leak coolant at the headgasket. Most only leak oil..... and it is external... just wanted that fact to be out there. Uhhhh no, I've currently got a '07 Forester sitting on my rack right now thats leaking both oil and coolant. They typically start leaking sooner then the '00-'04 EJ251s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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