Wanted: Opinions on fixing EA82

[buru]

So I'm new to the subaru family. I recently purchased a 1992 Loyale 2WD in above average condition with 104,000 k original. Girl was sick of it and timing belt broke in Walmart parking lot, so she dumped it for $250. I said ok . Now all you soob experts have been awesome so far, so I want your votes on what to do next.

 

Last week I replaced the cam/crank seal(s), water pump, oil pump seals and o-rings, idler pulley, timing belts and tensioners, plugs. Started right up and runs smooth as silk (w/freezing A/C too). Seems to be a little ticking on the passenger side (cyl 1,3) with the screwdriver to ear test, but nothing hardly noticeable.

 

But, since it was not running when I bought it, I didn't know if there was any other problems. So now I see it is leaking oil from around the valve covers and a couple of places where the cam housing meets the heads. The oil pan gasket leaks a little too, but I retighten all the bolts I could get to. Now when I say leaking oil, were talking about a couple of 1-2 inch spots on a piece of cardboard in 24 hr.

 

So, the options I'm looking at are:

 

 

1) Pull the motor, put in new gaskets. Since I bought this just to drive and cut down on the petro guzzling use of my truck since the oil nazis are trying to f......... us, I'm not limited by time, only work space (I would be doing it in my machinist friends small shop) and the continual loss of gas $.

 

 

2) Drive the subaru for awhile, hope no more damage occurs, and grab one of the EA82's I saw at the salvage yard today (one was in an 84 GL 4WD wagon that had a great body and int. with surprisingly no parts taken yet) and rebuild it. Then swap engines. They wanted $150 for the engine.

 

 

3) Just drive it and let it leak. But I want the car to last as long as possible.

 

 

So my question is what would all you experienced buru owners do?

 

Sorry it's so much to read, but I really appreciate the help!

[Humble Nuto 53]

at 104k your motor has years left in it...

 

i would do gaskets, since youre nearly finished sealing it anyway...

 

104 k is nothing for these things...

[Snowman]

Definitely fix this engine if it runs good otherwise. It will take a weekend to pull the engine and do the stuff you mentioned. Use anaerobic sealant on the cam towers and genuine Subaru gaskets and it shouldn't leak for a while. It would be a good idea to do the rear main seal while you're at it.

 

Since the leaks aren't that bad by subaru standards, you can drive the car for quite some time (i.e. until it's convenient to work on it) as long as you keep it topped off and the leaks don't get really bad.

[idosubaru]

first - replace the valve cover gaskets and see how the leaks do. if they just about go away then you just saved yourself alot of time. most of your leaks colud be the valve covers - they leak all the time on older soobs and they tend to drain towards the cam housings/motor mounts so much of what you see there could just be the valve covers.

 

you will not hurt the motor by driving it with oil leaks. most 15 year old cars are leaking oil, no big deal. once you get to more than one quart every 1,000 miles that is significant in my oppinion, but i've had soobs leak more than that before and still drive them. the only bad part is keeping lots of extra oil on hand. if it's a gasket, in my experience it will never "blow" in terms of letting loose massive amounts of oil. if it's a seal (crank/cam), then it could blow and release lots (all) of your oil...but you've replaced all the seals so there's no or little chance you'll spring a leak large enought o blow the motor.

 

i have seen a valve cover crack and leak profusely on start up but that was after i reinstalled a 100,000 plus miles valve cover gasket.

 

i would replace the cam carrier sealant and valve covers with the motor in the car. that's an easy enough job that i couldn't imagine pulling the motor for it. you will need thick/quality grease to get the rocker arms to stay on the lifters when you reinstall the cam carriers. little tricky but compared to pulling a motor it's nothing. there's one reinforced o-ring at the bottom corner of the cam carriers that you will need to replace as well. subaru OEM part or get it at www.thepartsbin.com, that's the only place i've seen that carries it. it's like 2.13 from subaru (you'll need two, one for each side). and use anaerobic sealant on the cam carriers.

 

if you do pull the motor, resealing cam and valve covers and oil pan won't take long at all. the oil pan will be the biggest pain as the old gasket is hard to remove and the pan will likely be uneven and not good for seating on the new gasket. i'd use sealant on both sides of the gasket or look around here for ideas. some people pound the oil pan flat again.

 

i'd definitely work on this motor before putting in another unknown engine from the yard, these EA82's are very durable. cam carriers/valve covers are easy to do if you work on cars.

 

good luck and have fun,

[Bucky92]

1-2 inch drips in a 24 hour period????Geesh my 92 Loyale drips that within 10 minutes after parking it:grin: . I would fix it..sounds like an awesome car. I love mine and wouldnt part with it for anything!

[stephenw22]

I'd replace the valve cover gaskets and valve cover bolt grommets for sure. Cost is small, and it's a quick job to do.

 

My guideline is that if I leak more than a quart every 1000 miles, I start thinking about MAYBE doing a re-seal. If it leaks a quart every 500 miles, then I start planning for it.

 

If you have the space and the desire to see the guts of an engine, it might not be a bad idea to pick up a used engine, re-seal that one, and then swap them. You can pick your pace then. You won't have to rush and try to get the car back up and running the same day.

[dave valiant]

I would set it on fire and get an ea81

[Syonyk]

1-2 inch drips in a 24 hour period????Geesh my 92 Loyale drips that within 10 minutes after parking it:grin: . I would fix it..sounds like an awesome car. I love mine and wouldnt part with it for anything!

 

^

 

Think of it as an external dipstick. If you don't see a big enough puddle, add oil.

 

I don't have much to add, but I wouldn't worry about that leak unless your wife/landlord is pissed about the marks in the driveway.

 

Also, you'll probably want to replace the O2 sensor. They get lazy, and I went from 22 to 28mpg just by replacing the O2 sensor with a $20 replacement.

 

-=Russ=-

[jeffast]

************ i put 1-2 quarts a month in my 6 what are you complaining about see i should be buying a new engine

back on topic i say listen to gary gross this guy knows a ton about these cars

you da man gary

[Numbchux]

another vote for valve cover gaskets and bolt grommets...no need to pull the motor for these, just get yourself a 10 mm ratchet wrench, genuine subaru gaskets, and make sure you don't overtighten 'em, like me

[buru]

Thanks for all the advice guys, you all are very helpful. I'm going to try and replace the valve cover gaskets and grommets first, and see how that does. Unfortunately, another small leak has started from the oil pump that I just put new seals in. I think I must not have got the mickey mouse gasket to seat properly when I reinstalled it. But it's a very small leak.

 

 

So I think I'll just drive it awhile and then when I find the time, I'll replace the valve covers and pull the oil pump again. Then I'll try and tackle the oil pan gasket. Do you have to jack up the motor to get the pan off, or how do you'll do it?

 

Thanks

[Snowman]

I'm pretty sure you need to raise the engine to get the oil pan off. Haven't done it in the car myself, but it looks that way.

[sregor13]

IN case it wasn't metioned, dont forget the rear main seal if you pull the engine. If you get so far along and need to raise the engine to get the Oil pan, I would go ahead and pull it and do all the seals. Maybe even the clutch if it has one. As far as the Mickey Mouse Seal goes, I think I was able to get it to hold in there with a little RTV Sealant. Good Luck.

[canajun2eh]

As far as the Mickey Mouse Seal goes, I think I was able to get it to hold in there with a little RTV Sealant.

 

DO NOT use RTV sealant to stick that oil pump gasket in place. If you get sealant anywhere else in the pump, you're screwed. Instead, use Vaseline or other grease.

 

The reason for using grease or Vaseline is that this stuff will dissolve in the engine oil if you get any inside the oil pump. You won't end up with clogged oil passages as you would if you used RTV. That's also the reason for using grease/vaseline to stick the valve actuators in place when you work on the heads or cam carriers while the engine is in the car.

 

BTW: Subaru has designed the engine compartment so that you CAN remove/replace the heads while the engine is in the car. The side rails have holes so that the middle row of head bolts can be removed easily. Been there, done that, on 5 EA82 engined cars, including an XT. The only time you'd need to pull the engine is if you need to work on the rear oil seal or if you need to do major work on the flywheel or clutch.

[sregor13]

True Story. I got away with it but it might not be a good idea if you can control the amount of RTV you apply. I simply used that for lack of a better idea. I have heard the same thing about the Water Pump Gasket. To much RTVcan lock up the thing. Good advice

[Subarian]

104,000 miles? What do you plan to do to finish breaking it in?

 

As for the 4wd in the junkyard, let them keep the motor, and take the trans, rear, and driveshaft. There's a good project for you.

[MilesFox]

i would vote to pul the motor. change all the gaskets and seals.

 

remove all the timing belt covers inner and outer, but leave the piece in back around the idler pulley

 

change the oil pump seal definately. change the water pump now, but if you want to hold out you can change it with ease withthe absence of the timing belt covers. makes future maintenence much easier

[hatchsub]

So I think I'll just drive it awhile and then when I find the time, I'll replace the valve covers and pull the oil pump again. Then I'll try and tackle the oil pan gasket. Do you have to jack up the motor to get the pan off, or how do you'll do it?

 

Thanks

 

Ive done the oil pan gasket on an EA81 and Subaru has drilled holes in the crossmember that line up with the oil pan bolts so that you do not have to jack the motor up to take the pan off. Im not sure about EA82's but I have no reason to believe that subaru would switch it up. Any EA82 owners want to pipe in?

[Hank Roberts]

Watch for a hairline crack in the metal of a valve cover gasket.

 

My very used '88 had started losing a quart of oil in 300 miles, and -- after the nearsighted mechanic I took it to wasted much money replacing gaskets, his boss spotted a crack in the metal valve cover. Apparently it was all but invisible when cold, but when the engine was hot, it was leaking badly.

 

They both said they'd never seen a valve cover crack before.

 

Well, with age there come new problems.