submat Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Getting ready to pull engine and replace head gaskets on my ea82. Got all the stuff on top disconnected and moved out of the way. Just need to unbolt exhaust and separate bell housing and should be able to get this engine in the air! I've seen some head gasket kits that range from very reasonably priced to very expensive. Some I have seen are DNJ, Ichino, ITM, felpro... Anyone have luck/suggestion of any of the kits out there? Don't want to spend a ton on a 25 year old car but then again, no sense replacing with something that will fail right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Buy individual gaskets from the dealer. The aftermarket gaskets are generally junk. GD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceageg Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I had the commercial counter at Advanced Auto source me a set of Fuii Heavy gaskets. Not sure what the front counter would have given me but we order a fair amount of stuff through them and the commercial guys in the back of the store have always done a good job of seeking out the parts we needed or telling us strait that they can't source it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Dawg Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Here's what a fel-pro looks like after a couple years, the mechanic either did a crappy job and or it's just that ... fel-pro. I got my last set from the dealer and when I compared the sets it would appear the dealer set has a metal tab the covers the area where the fel-pro failed. I'm with General Disorder.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Mate...go genuine...every time I have used genuine and gone in to retension after run in - never taken a cracker more- so essentially dont need the pesky retension. Sube dealer told me their staff never do retensions on genuine gaskets. That is worth paying the extra. Currently 38 US at subarupartsdepot.com part number 11044AA013 need two ! cant get any better help than that!! except for gethelp@vwsubaru.com I think is their help desk or you could try buy them from an Australian Subaru dealer A$120 each 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 If you wanna follow my advice and put your order in, I also have part numbers for seals and O rings and prices- all you gotta do is ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submat Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 That's what I was thinking, but just wanted to check if others had good luck with after market. So I would need head gasket, valve cover gasket, and intake manifold gasket? Oh and there is that o-ring in the cam tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 The intake gaskets and the oring. Dealer oem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I KNEW I forgot something in my order !! cam box O ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submat Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 ok Jono, I'll ask, how much for gaskets and orings? Shipping must be really expensive though from AUS to US? How long would something like that even take to ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 (edited) buying complete kits is sort of pointless as a rule or go-to approach, i do it plenty of times but it's just one option of many. you need: headgaskets and intake manifold gaskets and cam tower metal reinforced orings. that's it. i'd get them from Subaru. the rest just comes down to finances and how you value your time and flexibility: i would do the cam seals and cam cap orings now - but you can do them later with the engine in the car, they're not hard and not going to cause any major issues. those older seals just tend to suck so i like to get new ones in there. and the orings are brittle if they've never been replaced. i would also reseal the oil pump and replace the crank seal. but again - they can be done later with a timing belt or other front end maintenance in the car. not a big deal. i've had fel pro crank/cam seals leak on EA/ER engines and be notably poor fitting (too big). that was a long time ago, i'm sure they're supplier has changed but whatever. valve cover gaskets are easy to do later if you want to wait or just wait until they leak, not a big deal. i would do them now, but it's not a big deal if pricing is a concern. if you weren't doing the head job - would you be replacing them now? you can wait and see how they feel or fare after the job and decide later, not a big deal. HLA's - mizpah reconditions yours for like $5 each. that's like less than $50 for reconditioned HLA's. not necessary but cheap while you're in there and have the cam towers off. that's far more annoying to do in the vehicle than timing belts, seals, and valve covers. Edited April 6, 2018 by idosubaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submat Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 Cool, thanks for the response idosubaru! I did a search, is HLA = "hydraulic lash adjustment"? What is mizpah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Hla is hydraulic lash adjuster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Mizpah is a place that reconditions them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submat Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 Ah ok, that makes sense!. Thanks everyone for all your advice! Now I have enough info to continue with this project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Cool, thanks for the response idosubaru! I did a search, is HLA = "hydraulic lash adjustment"? What is mizpah? HLA = "Hydraulic Lash Adjuster". rather than "adjustment". it's a thing, a part, not an adjustment just for clarity. It's what you have instead of "adjustable valves" so to speak. These are what allows you to have an engine with no valve adjustment. They can stick and click. I'm not sure how to describe when this might be a good idea or not but if the thing is black and cruddy and has questionable history/overheating in the past then it's worth considering. https://mizpahprecision.com/pricing.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I have no idea but aren’t some diesels operating range like 3,000 rpm or less, half that of a Subaru? And is this suitable for large tractor engines? Higher rpms and maintaining sealing over a larger surface area...? If you’re game for trying just do it and see what happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I just measured a new Fel Pro head gasket, it's .075" thick, measured where the fire rings are. 2 things I'd want to know more about re the copper idea - What is going to go on with aluminum & copper with water - as in electrolysis. For copper to be a good gasket, it has to be a soft, not hardened. I would expect the block and head would also have to be very flat and accurately machined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I Made a set of copper head gaskets when i was doing my testing for my custom intake and exhaust and head work porting and polishing and shaved heads and block all my other gaskets are copper my copper head gaskets failed though v2 is in the works v2 will be ringed for my next build but i have other things going on and my ea82m is on the back burner till summer mine leaked water out the bottom i only took the heads off 10-15 times with the sam3 gaskets while i worked all the bugs out of my ea82m build the last 18k was on felpro gaskets and the rod bearings failed before the head gaskets but all the other copper gaskets are holding even after going on and off 10-15 times i just coat them with copper gasket dressing each time i reuse them been there did that too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Again with the foolishness. Copper isn't needed and will not be of any additional benefit to the EA81. The factory gaskets typically last 300k+ and are cheap. Copper has problems with weeping coolant and without o-ringing the block it's essentially pointless as you only have half the equation for holding serious boost. GD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 someone tell GD to change his password, someone is using a garbage writing style in his name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) I Anealed every gasket then coat with copper head gasket conditioner made for copper gaskets the anealing dose 2 things softens the copper making it pliable like you sead but it also cleans the gasket for the next dressing like home boy says the water jackets leaked v2 will be copper ringed it was .30 thousath.thick and i never tested my comprestion with them one side lasted longer than the other after the 3 or 4th install the comp ring wouldent seal the problem with ringing the gaskets is the ring eats in to the aluminum and can ruin a set of heads and the block i was trying to save my stock of heads and blocks but the next run will be a even higher comprestion and ill toss the whole motor when im done with it some people actualy cut a grove and use rubber orings but i only exspect that to last till the rubber hardens up and cracks but on a race motor it would never get to that point as it would be changed out regulerly when serviced there are alot of utube vids that are great resorces although copper gaskets are not needed on a ea sieries engine i like to make my own parts i get copper sheets for free and there reusable just replace the copper rings and a but load of machine work on the heads to get the old ring land out so it made sence to do it now that i have my formula down ill build another one using good parts and my v2 gaskets Edited April 9, 2018 by ferp420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 joined april 2nd 2018, hated by all on april 10th 2018, you sir have accomplished something that many find difficult to accomplish on purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 And Im not hated by all a few seem to like my personal brand of crazy. Well you have multiple posts one after the other as if you've just finished one thought/message, post it then start another one straight after as you have another thought/message. Please take this as constructive criticism. And GD, you've changed. You used to give good advice and seem to be a bit of an advocate for the EA81. Now it seems that you'd rather spend a bit of your expensive time to grill others rather than not say anything at all... Back on topic, years ago when I did something "crazy" with an EA82 MPFI conversion into a DL L series (before I knew of forums etc) I purchased a full engine gasket kit that was aftermarket. Initially I found this confusing as it had just about every gasket for every variation of the EA82 - many that I didn't need. Now the disappointing thing is that I can't comment on how well they went as the engine died from overheating when the radiator end tank let go. That freshly built engine was a throw away. Learnt a lot about EFI systems etc and now have an EJ22 - having an idea of how these systems work certainly helped with that conversion. Now I buy my gaskets as needed from Subaru or partsouq. Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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