XHighOctanex Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Hey everyone, so after a round trip of around 140 miles to sf and back for a subiewerks meet my car might have a blown headgasket. Ea82 with about 182k miles only ever got hot before when going up steep roads into the hills and would pull over before it ever hit the red to let it cool down. So drove through sf no issues drove through mill Valley no issued but in the traffic almost home car got. Real hot about what it gets in the hills near home not the red but hot. Panicking I got off the freeway and it cooled down while driving. Every stoplight though or would climb. Made it to my girlfriends house without it getting to where it was on the freeway, checked the oil looked fine, low but above the middle of the add and full line. Checked coolant pretty pressurized but not too much came out when I took the cap off, I filled it up and it was over a half gallon low. After that didn't get hot driving home stayed pretty cool actually, drove it to my dad's shop today and it stayed cool again. Block checked it and after a few pumps it filled the pump and turned yellow. So my question is originally I went straight to head gasket, but as the car runs pretty normal despite the check engine light on a little more than normal always turned off and in but now it's on more than off. Could it be an intake gasket? Still haven't seen anything in the oil haven't checked the coolant yet but tomorrow I'm gonna drain the oil and check it a little more thorough. I read intake gaskets seem to be prone and definitely easier. If u do headgaskets it's either A pull the motor and full rebuild, or B thrown some stop leak into it and drive it until I've gathered the parts and money for an ej swap. If it could be just an intake gasket I'll definitely do those ASAP. Ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naked Buell Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 If you don't have any milkshake look on the dipstick and any leaking, or smoking issues, it doesn't seem like the head gaskets. I would check the thermostat. It sounds like it is stuck closed not allowing coolant to flow or you have a blockage in your radiator. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XHighOctanex Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 If you don't have any milkshake look on the dipstick and any leaking, or smoking issues, it doesn't seem like the head gaskets. I would check the thermostat. It sounds like it is stuck closed not allowing coolant to flow or you have a blockage in your radiator. I have to have fumes coming into my coolant from somewhere, the block tests failed meaning somewhere it's mixing. I'm just wondering if the intake leak shows on a block test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 It is common for the headgaskets to fail if the engine is run above normal temperature (or worse) while low on coolant. If the test you mention checks for exhaust in the coolant, and is saying that there is, then they are toasted. It's also common for them to be in the early stages of failure and pass those tests. The intake gaskets leaking may have been the origin of the coolant loss, that led to the overheating, I have had that happen. While you are at it, check the radiator and heater core flow and radiator condition. New thermostat and all 7 hoses. Check the water pump also. These engines will run just fine with these mild blown headgaskets, except for the problem of the exhaust causing coolant loss and then repeating the overheat. It's not common to blow them bad enough to get the coolant in the oil symptom but I did it once, and even that one ran great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 +1 There is no other place for exhaust to enter the coolant. The block check says bad, it's bad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naked Buell Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 +1, Yep, it is looking like time for a rebuild. Not that hard to do either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XHighOctanex Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 +1, Yep, it is looking like time for a rebuild. Not that hard to do either. So what exactly is it like to pull one of these motors? I've pulled newer subaru motors a few times at work, but never this old, nor have I been inside a flat engine. If I'm doing headgaskets I'm going to go through everything and refresh the entire engine as I want to know it's not going to blow something else in a few weeks. I did the timing belts once already but didn't do the tensioners so I'll get a whole kit this time, and I know i need a clutch, bearings, rings, gaskets, hone the cylinders, might do lifters since I did get a lifter knock a while back from low oil but they aren't too expensive might as well while it's out. Basically I just want to save the crank pistons and rods and I'll just clean everything up. Anyways the original question lol how hard is it to pull these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I pull them. So much easier to get at everything. Flip the ac compressor out of the way, no need to disconnect the lines. Pull radiator and battery. Sometimes the 2 pins that align the bellhousing to the transmission are sticky. Use a jack to raise the transmission a little. Getting them apart and together, it's all in the lining up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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