possible blown head gasket :/ help!!!

[b00staholic]

hey guys im in deep you know what... i have had some cooling problems this last week, well i finally took it into a ford dealership (my mother works there and i get nice discounts) they pressure tested my cooling system and say no leaks but think that i might have a blwon head gasket.

i called and go into the subaru dealership tomorrow, i got a quote over the phone and will cost me about 2k for repairs i have a lil over 95k/miles on my 03 impreza. my friend got a ej25 for $2,600 if i get the same deal i might go with it i know itsw 90 dollars for labor an hour.

so i guess i just want to know how many hours is it to do a swap & what else will be needed to drop in the ej25 motor...


thanks guy

[SubyPsycho]

I'm kind of curious why they think you have a blown head gasket. If it's truely "blown," your oil and coolant will look like frothy coffee. It could be just slightly leaky, in which case you'll either notice your coolant disappearing pretty quickly, or some brownish scum in the overflow tank.

What kind of coolant problems are you having? Just running hot?

[Trainrex]

Tell them to do a hydrocarbon test.

[rcasTX28]

I'd be curious to know exactly what the symptoms are of a blown head gasket (aside from the coolant/oil appearance as mentioned above.) Also, where are they located on the boxer?? Not to hijack, but I know my crankcase breather tube is jacked and today after further inspection, there are some major oil issues in the turbo region. Looking under the car, there appears to be oil spurting out from what looks like a large gasket between two portions of the block. I figure it'd be better to post on this thread than starting another one.

Also, pics would be nice. I'm sure they could help me as well as the O.P. Thanks!

[rcasTX28]

Anyone?? Jesus, I swear I try to be as thorough and well-spoken and succinct as possible, but I never get a response. It seems like the only people who get replies are the ones who type to the point where it's damn near impossible to understand them. So lemme try that:


Yo guyzz, wut up i wana kno if id means mah headgaskit iz blown cuz da other day i loked in the cool ant tank and theres wuz oil dark stuff up in thurre. iz mah headgaskit blowd or wut?/

[SubyPsycho]

Relax...

Can you post a pic of the area where it's spurting out? The block is one solid piece, so you're probably talking about either a head gasket or a valve cover gasket. There really isn't an incredible about of pressure in the valve cover, so if it's squirting, I would guess head gasket.

The block and heads have ports, galleys, and channels in them that coolant and oil are pumped through. When a hole in the block meets a hole in the head, there obviously needs to be a corresponding hole in the gasket to allow the oil or coolant to pass through. There are basically three different ways a head gasket can spring a leak.

1. Between a coolant hole and an oil hole. This is when you start seeing scum in the overflow tank, froth in the oil, and other signs of oil/coolant mixing.

2. Between an oil or coolant hole and a cylinder. You'll start to see either coolant or oil disappearing with no mixing. In severe cases, your coolant will start blowing out the tail pipe in white smoke. Oil is blueish smoke. The coolant/cylinder holes are more likely to blow than the oil/cylinder holes in most engines. You'll also start seeing gunked up spark plugs if it's an oil hole.

3. Between an oil or coolant hole and the outside of the gasket. This would result in oil or coolant squiting out of the engine and getting on the block, head, etc. From what you're describing, this is what it sounds like you have.

Some symptoms other than those above that can occur in any of those situations are unstable engine temp (enging temp going up and down while driving), rising engine temp when car isn't moving, difficulty starting after doing short hops (because engine is heating and beginning to seize up), and other heating/cooling issues.

I've been the victim of one blown head gasket in a Chevy, but I've seen and worked on a lot of other cars with head gasket issues. Basically, all cars' head gaskets serve the same function. I hope this helps.

[Not-EWRX]

How difficult is somthing like this to fix yourself

If I ever had somthing like this happen in the past I would have taken it strait to the stealership and emptyed my pockets. But since moding I have become alot more confedent in my mechanical skills. Is there more than tourqe specs that need to be followed? I would assume the engine would need to be pulled for this operation.

[SubyPsycho]

I'm not really sure with a Subaru. I think you're right...The engine would probably need to be pulled. With an inline 4 or even V type, it can be done with hand tools with the engine still in the car. There are definitely complications, and you should read up on it before tackling it, especially since you need to remove the cams and get the timing set correctly again on any OHC engine.

When my Chevy went, it took my father and I one weekend to get both heads off and put everything back together. That was a push-rod motor too, so the pushrods and valve lash had to be adjusted carefully.

[Not-EWRX]

I have been watching way too much Power Block on Spike .

I love the shows where they build those engines from the ground up and get insane horsepower and torque gains out of them.

Also i'll be a mech engineer when school is done

[subarutech]

well first off ive been a subaru tech for 8 years ..i strongly recomend you do not do it yourself if your not a skilled tech.... it can be done while the engine is still in the car..but if your gonna go ahead and do it yourself id take the motor right out..and a few tips..your going to need a special tool to remove the cam gears..also need a special tool for the crank pully..youll need a 12 point 14mm to remove the head bolts also..make sure you follow a book on it..torque is EXTREMELY important on these heads ..esspecially on the plain bearings that hold the cams in.also when you remove the cams there are shims over the buckets..you MUST make sure they go back where they came from..with 95 k on it id recomend you shim the buckets all over again..other then that good luck getting the timing belt on correctly with the 9 timing marks it has..also the cams love to spring out of position because were the marks have to line up..i suggest you get a dealer or someone who has experiance with these motors.what state are you from?

[trev0006]

Dealer charged my brother $2400 for this repair, independent was quoting $1800. tires sports cars