SuBrat84 Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 :cool: So I got this 92 Loyale... for free ... and they said it had a blown headgasket.. and they had taken off the radiator and stuff. Anyway, I have all the parts.. and I was looking at it.. and the timing belt covers were looking kind of odd to me. So, I pop those bad boys off there. And sure enough.. looks to me like it's a tooth off. Slide it one tooth over and stick a battery in it. test fire. (no water in the oil or anything).. Well it fired right up! I only ran it like this for about 30 seconds (to get some of the cobwebs out, so to speak) and then I shut it off. It sounds exactly like an EA82 is supposed to sound IMO.. Do people commonly mistake that as a bad headgasket? Tomarrow I'm going to put everything back together and see how it runs w/ coolant and everything.. maybe take it for a test drive. Without knowing a history on this car except "it has a bad head gasket" and being unable to afford a tune-up; what should I look out for before I take it around the block? Thanks for the wealth of knowledge everybody. I don't know what I would do without you guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Fill it with coolant and run it to operating temp in your driveway - check for leaks (check other fluids too of course, and lights and stuff). If you don't find any leaks or other weirdness, take it for a test drive. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just-Y Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 2 things - ask your self how it is that it got to be one tooth off , not really sure if thats an interference motor or not , but if thats the original belt and it somehow slid a tooth I would replace it and inspect the tensioner really well , 2nd if there isnt oil in the coolant and its not shooting steam when you start it chances are your ok on the head gasket , most people dont have any clue whats wrong with their cars . so never trust any one , even if the head gaskets where toast you got a free car so what if you have to drop a few dimes into it but like I said take a close look at that belt if there is the tinyiest twinge of doubt in your mind that belt id 90 % good dont use it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Thanks for the input guys. I can tell the belts are not original as they are a really new looking Goodyear belts. I think the guy tried to do a timing belt job on it.. got it one tooth off and decided it had a blown head gasket? It definately did not look like there was any kind of slippage though. Here's a good question: Can the tension of your timing belts affect how your engine runs.. or does it just have to be on the right teeth and "tight enough" ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Eli... run the motor with coolant and fresh oil if you can. Let the motor reach operating temps and shut the motor off. Carefully remove the radiator cap, then restart the motor. Check to see if the coolant is bubbling, and if there is any exhaust fumes comming from the radiator. That there would be an indication that the head gasket has failed. That and a compression test are 2 ways to tell. -Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 In answer to your question, yes, that's a mistake that's not too uncommon. I bought a Subaru for $100 that an "import specialists" shop thought needed a new engine because it had no compression. When I towed it home and put the new timing belts they had put in it on correctly, it fired right up and ran for many, many miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 change the oil (coolant would be nice too if you can), before starting it again. advanced autoparts allows you to mix coolant and oil when you bring it in for recylcing. drive it until it shows signs of problems. do a compression test if you like. any coolant loss will show itself pretty soon, either in a day or a couple hundred miles if it's a slow leak. but there's certainly no way to gaurantee anything without looking into it a little further. easiest just to drive it around for awhile or let it idle in your driveway (keep an eye on the temp). it's probably fine, some minimal driving will tell for sure. my guess is if they are willing to give the car away they are more than likely to make the car sound as bad as possible, they just want it gone and not deal with it anymore. they'd rather not deal with thinking it's okay and having someone complain about it later, they just want it gone. i've picked up at least 4 free subarus that i can think of....they usually just want them gone by that point. "yeah it's a bad engine, just take it". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Well... the best I could do was add one quart of 10w40 to top it off and use water as coolant. I got it going.. had to use a different radiator and alternator. Both were bad. Rad had several core holes. Alt no charge. But I got it idling and let idle for a while.. though rather poorly @ 200-300 rpms. With the idle that low I had to very carefully feather the gas to get it to pick up without dying. But once it goes above 1000 rpms it is sweet. It seemed to be where I wanted it to test drive it. So we took it around the block twice. Well it got a little hotter than I thought it should be (about 1/2 way up gauge) so we came home and parked it. After driving it the idle stayed above 1500 rpms no matter what I did. It also SLOWLY was getting hotter. I shut it off when it was about 3/4 of the way up the gauge. Input everybody? Thanks. Brian- I had it up at operating temp and took the cap off to check for bubbles... but when I started it up all it did was start chugging mass amounts of water out of the radiator. Is that bad? Oh yeah.. Power Steering needs some serious work on this one.. :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOOBOUTLAW Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Look out for the cops if you don't have tabs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Tabs? Do you mean Tags? Hell.. I live in Tucson man.. I could be driving around in a cloud of smoke and not get pulled over. This place is almost Mexico! Plus, in my quiet little neighborhood there is never any cops. I'm not driving it on any major streets or anything.. just around a normal neighborhood block where the streets are like 1/8 or 1/10 of a mile apart. Of course once it gets running I will have no problem spending the 12 dollars for emission and the 17 dollars or whatever it will cost to register and license it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Sounds like you have a slow leak in your coolant system somewhere. Could definately be a HG on the way out, but intake manifold gaskets, and throttle body base gaskets also will leak coolant (and cooling system pressure) into the intake where it will be burnt. A new set of manifold gaskets are about $6 from the dealer (only get them from the dealer - others are extremely inferior). And the SPFI base gasket shouldn't be much - could always make one from a sheet of gasket material if it is. I would replace both of those before going all out with a HG job. Might be an easy fix GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Okay. After it cooled down I started it back up and it was idling okay for about 10 minutes. The hotter it got the higher the idle got until it hit about 1200 rpms then it seemed to level off. Obviously it gets hotter from driving it, as after I drove it was idling at 1500rpms. I was spraying the car off.. and when I went to spray the engine bay it choked and died. I think it sucked water somewhere? I was able to start it back up and let it continue idling. The electric fan was not turning even with the AC on. I need to test the circuit/fan etc. Will the elec fan always come on with the AC in the Loyale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 In addition, the oil pressure was real low at idle (~15 psi) but would increase with the rpms up to ~45 around 4500rpms. and throttle body base gaskets also will leak coolant (and cooling system pressure) into the intake where it will be burnt. I'm guessing this being the problem. Should I do the intake manifold gasket as a part of this job? I think maybe I would like to do the cam cover gaskets as well as the pcv valve. and a good tune up.. replacing bad hoses etc also. INPUT!!!!!! (Thanks!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Cam covers can be made to not leak with a little RTV - at least that has been my experience with the EA82. Just make sure you remove the gasket from the cover, and clean it real well - use some alcohol to make sure there is no residual oil on the gasket and mating surfaces. Use some Ultra Grey on it. Less is more here - a 1/8" bead is plenty. If you do it right it will never leak again (till you have to remove it). I would NOT do the cam covers till you know for sure it's not a HG or you will ruin your carefully applied RTV. And for the intake - definately worth doing both the intake manifold gaskets and the SPFI base gasket at the same time. Good thing here is that if you have to do a HG later the intake manifold gaskets will still be reusable. The dealer ones will anyway - aftermarket carboard ones suck. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Cam covers can be made to not leak with a little RTV - at least that has been my experience with the EA82. Just make sure you remove the gasket from the cover, and clean it real well - use some alcohol to make sure there is no residual oil on the gasket and mating surfaces. Use some Ultra Grey on it. Less is more here - a 1/8" bead is plenty. If you do it right it will never leak again (till you have to remove it). Am I allowed to do that with cam TOWERS too? Or do I need to get the gaskets for those bad boys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Am I allowed to do that with cam TOWERS too? Or do I need to get the gaskets for those bad boys? Well - if you take the towers off (shouldn't have to unless you are doing a HG job) then you'll find there is no gasket there - only a small groove (about 1/16" wide) that you are supposed to fill with either anerobic sealant, or a lot of us just use RTV. RTV has come a long way in 20 years and has served me well for the cam tower seal as well. Anerobic is nice too if you already have some. There was someone a while back the used o-ring cord on that slot - apparenly worked well. I'm not sure where you would get such a thing tho. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Oh man. I should have asked that question along time ago. I have the cam towers off of the RX because I seized one. I have since purchased new to me cam tower assemblies.. and have not put them in yet because I was going to order the whole gasket kit and do the headgaskets and everything because I am putting td04 into it... ANYWAY... I didn't know I could just seal it all up with Ultra Grey like that!!! I don't think the HGs are bad in the rx... mmmmmmm rx....... i can just put it back together stock and see how it runs... mmm ultra grey.... mmmmm rx.... loyale.. what loyale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Dont use ultra grey. I've had all the "ultra" colors leak. The stuff to use is the black can of Great Stuff. its resistant to ATF, coolant and oil so it will work just about anywhere on these cars. it comes in a can like easy cheese so all you have to do is press the trigger and it comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 There was someone a while back the used o-ring cord on that slot - apparenly worked well. I'm not sure where you would get such a thing tho. GD I thought of doing that a few years ago!! I got the o-ring cord from: MSCdirect.com I just haven't had to re-assemble the engine yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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