Potential head gasket problem?

[Fox]

Hi.

 

I bought a very clean ea81 soob some months ago, when I purchased it the oil was the worst milkshake I had ever seen. I changed the oil and filter and waited to see how long it would take to gunk up the oil again, and it didnt. The oil had a small amount of gunk in it because there was some left in the engine.

 

Now the soob has been sitting for a lil while (driving company car) the oil seems to have gunked up again, with very little water loss (I was driving in summer, it was most likely lost vial the overflow)

 

 

My question is, would it be normal for the gunk to slowly settle into the rocker covers (covering them) over time, and not settle if the engine was being used regularly?

 

I have spare head gaskets as I was prepared to replace them last time. The soob isnt overheating but does waste a bit of water, as I am told is normal for an engine/radiator that size. (Im used to much larger cars)

 

Could it be anything else causing it, or do I just have to go through a few oil changes to get rid of the gunk in the engine?

 

~Fox

[idosubaru]

Change your oil frequently yes.

 

It might be the style of driving you're doing too. Are you doing any short trips and letting the car sit for quite some time? Not many miles? The engine might not be getting up to operating temperature, which causes this too.

 

Of course it could still be a small coolant leak too.

[Frank B]

The engine needs to get up to operating temp, 180 or so to boil off the moisture in the oil, if it does not you get the milky gunk in the pcv system, and under the oil cap, like Gary said.

But, it sounds like yours is leaking. It may only leak while sitting. After the engine heats up, and the metals expand, or gaskets soften, it my not leak. It my leak all the time and the hot engine oil can cope with the small amount of coolant. But sitting still it just adds up. Hard to say really. But, there are a few places to look before you tear into the heads. Under the carb is a coolant passage that warms the carb. The carb base gasket can fail and leak coolant directly into the intake. This will burn off while the engine is running, but sitting it can go into the cylinders then leak past the rings into the crankcase. This will also "wash away" the oil and wear down the cylinders,rings, pistons, wrist pins, etc way too fast. The intake manifold gaskets will do the same. Both are fairly easy to fix, and most members here will tell you to use OEM Subaru gaskets. The next time it sits a while, start it up then turn it off right away. Then pull the spark plugs and smell them, if they smell like coolant you may have coolant in the cylinders from the intake or base gasket leaking. Or just pay attention to the exhaust and smell it.

[Gloyale]

The soob isnt overheating but does waste a bit of water, as I am told is normal for an engine/radiator that size. (Im used to much larger cars)

 

 

Losing water regularly isn't normal. For any size engine.

 

Possibly HGs. But I'd check all hose connections, espescially the heater hoses and their clamps.

[Frank B]

If you fill the radiator all the way to the top when cold, you will loose a good amount of coolant due to expansion when it gets up to operating temp. Thats's because there is no catch can, or coolant reservoir on the older cars. Install one from any car or buy a new universal one from the parts store and any coolant that comes out will go into it. It will attach to the small hose that comes off of the rad under the cap. After a few cycles you will notice an average level. I bet some of your coolant loss is because of this. Get that in order first so you can tell just how much your losing. If you do have an internal leak, you may be able to buy some time by installing a rad cap that opens at a lower pressure, like 10 or 8 psi. This will reduce the pressure on the leak, but may cause the engine to run at a higher temp. Coolant/water boils at a higher temp when under pressure. Again, it's just to buy some time untill you can fix the problem, not just the symptom.

And check the pcv and breather system too. If the moisture in the oil can't get out, it will form at the highest spots like under the fill cap, dipstick tube, valve covers, etc.

[GeneralDisorder]

Intake manifold gaskets are often a problem on the EA's - especially if they have been tampered with previously. They seal both the intake, and the coolant cross-over in the manifold. They often leak internally into the intake runners.

 

The milkshake in the valve covers is often because your PCV system isn't flowing freely. Clean out the lines, connectors, valve, and the valve cover ports and replace the small, white PCV filter element in the airbox.

 

R&R the PCV, replace the valve cover gaskets (OEM only, 12 ft/lbs), and see where you stand. That may be all you have to do.

 

As for using coolant - that's just silly. I drive an EA81 every day right now and haven't had to add coolant since I replace the water pump 6 months ago. As mentioned - don't expect it to be full all the time. The coolant will seek it's own level and will be farthest down in the radiator when cold. Without an overflow it's natural for there to be an airspace at the top of the radiator to allow for expansion with heat.

 

GD

[Fox]

:-\:-\:-\

 

My girl bit the dust, well.. mud.

 

Here I was, doing a U-turn at the end of a road, in the mud. I stopped.. too late. The embankment collapsed and my car nosedived into the ground, not far, but far enough to crack the radiator core.

 

The resulting loss in water pressure means the equilibrium between the 2 sides of my dodgy head gasket was gone, and blew both instantly..

(As I believe)

 

I was also bogged, got towed out at cost and had a look.. no oil, no water..

 

Now, the heads are off, hell of a mess, just a touch of oil left, no water and the radiator looks like a replacement, :-\..

 

How much should I expect to pay in Australia and is there any other brand/model I can use.. 300+ on ebay is just not good enough.

 

Also, while its in pieces, is there anything else I can do? Belts are good, everything else is well maintained (engine is still in the car)

 

Thanks guys,

~Fox

[Twitch de la Brat]

:-\:-\:-\

 

My girl bit the dust, well.. mud.

 

Here I was, doing a U-turn at the end of a road, in the mud. I stopped.. too late. The embankment collapsed and my car nosedived into the ground, not far, but far enough to crack the radiator core.

 

The resulting loss in water pressure means the equilibrium between the 2 sides of my dodgy head gasket was gone, and blew both instantly..

(As I believe)

 

I was also bogged, got towed out at cost and had a look.. no oil, no water..

 

Now, the heads are off, hell of a mess, just a touch of oil left, no water and the radiator looks like a replacement, :-\..

 

How much should I expect to pay in Australia and is there any other brand/model I can use.. 300+ on ebay is just not good enough.

 

Also, while its in pieces, is there anything else I can do? Belts are good, everything else is well maintained (engine is still in the car)

 

Thanks guys,

~Fox

 

I would check into your nearest local automotive parts supplier for pricing or

your nearest junkyard for a radiator.

And that sucks hardcore that that happened to you.

Hope it all goes back together fine!

 

Twitch

[Fox]

Thanks for the wishes.

 

I had the heads off, both of the gaskets blew, straight into the water galleries and it came out through the bottom drivers side of the radiator, thankfully no water actually ended up in the engine, the rocker covers didnt even have chocolate milk in there, thankfully the pressure was enough to keep the water out.

 

I cleaned the heads up well, checked the valves all that, came up exceptionally well and the engine is in really good nick from what I have found so far.

 

Also, didnt need any special adaptor to get the heads off, took the rocker off first and the bolt in the centre came off last, I didnt have a torque wrench so will hire one for a few hrs after a few days driving and retorque it (cold) in the hire place's carpark

 

Busted a spark plug though, couldnt get one at the time I finished so will get one tomorrow, have some cheapo replacement oil to flush the engine with and will replace it with semi synthetic oil, even had a purolator oil filter spare.

 

Oh.... I found the monotorque gaskets seem to COVER a water gallery, the gasket removed was the same, but it COVERS it completely! Ill have photos in a few days! Not good, at least I know she runs cool with the gallery blocked. Still, I dont like it. (The old gasket had a slight bulge where the hole is, so I know theres pressure behind it.)

[Log1call]

I can't remember now which, but one of those old motors, might have been the sixteen hundred ones, someone will know, had a frost plug in the head under the rocker. It was small, about five-eights diameter and it was near the centre top behind the rockers. Might be worth having a look to see if it has one.

[GeneralDisorder]

All the gaskets (including OEM) block that coolant passage. I beleive (although I can't remember the specific's for certain) that when I looked at it last time I noticed that the passage stops shortly after the head-block interface on one side or the other. It's not a critical flow point obviously.

 

GD