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Poor Mans Gasket Kit (whats needed?)


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What do I need for a Poor mans gasket kit to seal up a leaky motor and to help the HVLA Tick? (EA82 SPFI) This is what I was thinking of. Basically everything easy to get to without pulling the motor.

 

Oil Pan Gasket:

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Valve Cover Gaskets:

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Valve Cover Gromets:

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Oil Pump Gaskets and Front Main:

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Camshaft Carrier Seal Set:

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Oil Drain Plug Gasket:

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Oil Fill Tube gasket and Dipstick Tube o-ring:

{Couldn't find a picture of them}

 

Is there a seal for the cam tower? I think thats what its called. The piece above the head but under the valve cover...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should I add this one to the list?

Timing Cover Gasket Set:

49824.jpg

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You don't need the oil pan gasket. The seal between the head and the cam carrier is made from a bead of high-temperature silicone sealant. You'd be wise to replace the O-ring that fits on the end of the water tube from the water pump to the upper rad hose. You should also replace the small bent hose from the top of the water pump to the heater inlet tube.

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Yeah, I second the oil pump replacement. It really is worth your money, and they can be had from 1stsubaruparts.com for around $130 if I remember correctly. Even if you get an oil pump shaft seal, the shaft is likely worn and will never seal properly. I even used the shallower seal that relocates the sealing surface and it still leaked.

 

Cam towers have no gasket. Use Permatex Ultra Gray or Permatex Anaerobic Sealant there. DO NOT use RTV on that joint. The oil passage in each one seals with an O-ring.

 

I think you've got everything covered there. I wouldn't worry too much about the timing belt cover sealing, as all that does is keep dust and stuff off the belts. Is your rear main seal leaking? It may be time for that by now too if you're doing the other stuff.

 

One final thought: I would recommend aviation gasket maker to coat that oil pan gasket with. This is mostly a personal preference, as RTV works fine too, I just find that the aviation stuff if easier to clean off and less prone to leakage in my limited experience.

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Don't use those little o-rings that come with the that camshaft carrier seal set. You will be sorry, they will fail. Those are standard o-rings. This is not the same type of seal that you will get from SOA. If you get them from Subaru they will will have a metal strengthening ring in the center. That is the only seal used on the camshaft carrier, it is for the main oil passage. Use Permatex Ultra Grey on the rest of the mating/sealing surface.

 

Regards,

toybuilder

 

 

You don't need the oil pan gasket. The seal between the head and the cam carrier is made from a bead of high-temperature silicone sealant. You'd be wise to replace the O-ring that fits on the end of the water tube from the water pump to the upper rad hose. You should also replace the small bent hose from the top of the water pump to the heater inlet tube.
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unless i missed it, i didn't see a front crank seal in the list.

 

if you pull the cam carrier there are a couple clip-on orings for oil ports on each side (i think there are 2 on each side for the 4 cylinders) that you may want to replace. and you will DEFINITELY want to replace the cam-carrier to head reinforced oring (one on each side). it's at the bottom corner of the cam carrier where it meets the head. this oring can be purchased from subaru or www.thepartsbin.com. i've ordered a number of them from thepartsbin. the actual mating surface of the head and cam carrier is sealed with a tube of sealant as mentioned in another post. and if you pull the cam carrier you can also clean all the HLA's.

 

there's also a small spring under the bolt that retains the oil rail on the cam...just pulling the valve covers will give you access to that. clean that out while you're in there.

 

oil pump has a spring in it as well, just clean them out, no need to replace.

 

when you reseal the oil pump be sure to apply a very tiny bit of sealant behind the oil pump (do not let it touch the gasket) where the 2 halves of the block come together. get some good light and run your finger across the block, you'll see a zig zag pattern behind the oil pump where the two halves of the block come together. apply a small amount of sealant to that area.

 

i'd check the cost and compare it to a complete head gasket kit. a good head gasket kit will come with all of that stuff and more (for the XT6, corteco kits come with the timing cover seals as well - fel pro does not) and might be cheaper if you can find a good supplier or somewhere on-line.

 

i've had 5 XT6's and resealed one XT4 and each time i've replaced the oil pump seals it's cleared up all lifter nosie. clean everything up good and torque it down properly. installing a new oil pump is overkill....kind of like: "hey, installing a new engine will take care of that tapping noise".

 

there's also a way to construct a very small metal tube so to speak and insert out of muffler tape or something....insert it in the 2 oil ports to prevent the mickey mouse gasket o rings from getting sucked into the oil ports. but i've never actually done it. if you have deformation problems with your gasket or like getting it done while you're in there, that's what you would want to consider.

 

probably a good time to replace the PCV valve.

 

not sure about your surging problem. how's your water temp sensor and assocaited wiring harness connections? if it doesn't accelerate that could be your HLA's not functioning up to spec's.

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If you have lifter noise get and oil pump.

I'm planning on to inspecting the oil pump before I buy a new one.......

 

You don't need the oil pan gasket.

I really think I do since mine is LEAKING!

 

.... Is your rear main seal leaking? .....

I don't think it is, but your point is dually noted...... I just don't feel like pulling the engine since I don't have a cheery picker or engine stand at my house but I know people I can borrow them from if I change my mind.

 

Don't use those little o-rings that come with the that camshaft carrier seal set. You will be sorry, they will fail. Those are standard o-rings. This is not the same type of seal that you will get from SOA. ......

What does SOA stand for?

 

GrossGary - Thanks for the detailed assembly info!

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Here is what I suggest:

 

Front / Rear main seal

Cam tower o-rings (often hard and leaky)

Oil Pan Gasket

Oil Pump gasket / seal (a round one and a mickey mouse shaped one)

Cam seals

valve cover gaskets

valve cover grommets

 

With all that you will probably solve most leaks. (other than head gasket ones which I have encountered on my 86)

 

I wouldnt worry about replacing the timing cover gaskets unless they come with the kit.

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Here is what I suggest:

 

Front / Rear main seal

Cam tower o-rings (often hard and leaky)

Oil Pan Gasket

Oil Pump gasket / seal (a round one and a mickey mouse shaped one)

Cam seals

valve cover gaskets

valve cover grommets

Cool, thanks. Now how long would you expect a project like that to take for say a good mechanic that never dealt with subies before (eg. Me)? Day project or weekend project or more......? Oh not including the rear main so the engine stays in the car.

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Cool, thanks. Now how long would you expect a project like that to take for say a good mechanic that never dealt with subies before (eg. Me)? Day project or weekend project or more......? Oh not including the rear main so the engine stays in the car.

oh i would say you should be able to get it done in a day, but if your luck is anything like mine you will mess something up or forget some little part that will stop you from finishing so probbly a weakend profect cuz you are still learning the engine

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i resealed (head gaskets and up) an EA82 this summer and them things are super easy to do. i've owned 5 XT6's so i'm used to the 6 cylinder, more work, more parts, bigger parts, less space. the 4 cylinders are AWESOME. so much so that i wouldn't mind having one now because they are so freaking easy and better gas mileage. you could easily crank that job out in a day, i do without air tools. the headgasket could easily be done in a day as well. (a long day, but a day)

 

are you planning on cleaning the lifters out while you're in there? it's time consuming but a really good idea once you're in there. if a lifter gets dirty, stuck or noisey there's no way to address it externally. i'd seriously consider doing this if you plan on keeping the car for any length of time.

 

now...getting it done without encountering problems is nice. i'll address the common problems i encounter.

 

rust - bolts get rusty, they shear or become stuck. and many EA82's are older than my ER27's, the ones i worked on are always more rusty than my XT6's. have a bottle of liquid wrench. don't use WD-40. go the day before and spray down every rusty bolt you can see that you think you'll touch. spray it down 2 or 3 times before you actually start the job if you can. timing belt cover bolts are notoriously rusty and tricky. cam pulley bolts, radiator fan bolts, timing cover bolts....all suspect to rust.

 

timing cover bolts - you will turn the bolt and the insert that the bolt it's threaded into will turn...so the bolt never backs out. you can play with it and sometimes get it to break loose - but it's tricky. often i'll punch the insert out from the back and just slide the insert back into it's spot when i reassemble. so i never actually remove the bolt, i just leave the insert attaced to the bolt when i remove the cover. as you can tell, some don't even leave the covers on anyway so maybe that won't matter. but you can keep your covers in tact by punch or pushing the insert out from the back. i drive off road and through snow alot - in my experience the covers will keep the cam sprockets from rusting. leave the covers in place and mine stay nice and clean. i have the covers off now because of something i've been meaning to get to for months and they are rusty. but it's just rust.

 

have some grease available to hang the rocker arms from the valve springs.

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