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DIY 2001 Subaru Cylinder Head Gasket Replacement

143929 Views 116 Replies 27 Participants Last post by  greengoblin68, 
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Hi everyone,
Yes, I'm new to posting on this forum, but trust me, I have poured over the threads and used this site on several occasions to fix my 2001 Subaru Outback, standard transmission, 2.5L SOHC 4 cylinder engine. Finally, at over 160K, my subie has developed the famous external head gasket leak. Yes, drivers side, rear. I have oil weeping from the seam, coolant in the back. Yes, I have strange odor. The coolant in my reservoir is still green but seems to be leaking more than the oil in my engine (which is not milky). I know what I need to do, the question is whether or not I can do it myself. I'm strongly inclined to try, but this would be the biggest automotive repair project I've ever tried. I've been studying these forums and reading and rereading my Haynes guide. My Haynes is going to be the step-by-step for my actions, specifically Chapter 2, Section 12 (Cylinder heads - removal and installation). Most of the instructions on this refer you to other manual sections, which I've spent the last two weekends just reading, looking and planning, and I think now is a good time to ask a couple of questions.

1) TDC vs. camshaft sprockets. Haynes instructs me to find Top Dead Center of the #1 cylinder by adjusting the camshaft pulley with a breaker bar while a compression gauge is in the sparkplug hole. I have a pretty good idea where this is already (the marks are still on the pulley from an earlier timing belt change), but I will run through the procedure anyways. I'm not really sure what to look for on the compression gauge though. Are there any play-by-plays out there for what to do exactly? Next I take off my drivebelts, then after a few other removals, Haynes recommends using a chain wrench to hold the pulley while loosening the crankshaft pulley bolt. I'm not sure about using a chain wrench here. Does anyone have any comments or alternatives? I feel like I'm going to have to wrench the heck out of the crankshaft pulley bolt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I get even ONE tick off of TDC I'm screwed here correct? Last question on this point, and I feel like I have a big knowledge gap here, but after removing the pulley and the covers and the timing belt guide, the next step is to "Turn the crankshaft and align the marks on the crankshaft sprocket, the left camshaft sprocket and the right camshaft sprocket with etc., " Won't this throw off my TDC? I'm hugely concerned about this, if you respond to nothing else, please advise on this.

2) Camshaft removal - after removing sprockets, valve covers, CMP, rocker arm assembly, tb tensioner/bracket, and dipstick Haynes says to remove the "camshaft end cap assembly" then "remove the camshaft carefully from the cylinder head so that the lobes do not nick the journal bores. Remove the camshaft oil seal and the end plug from the camshaft end cap assembly." Is this it? There are no diagrams, no photos. I'm just really vague on what to expect when I get in there, what it will look like.

3) Unforeseen difficulties - I'm planning on being methodical. In fact, I will be photographing EVERYTHING, labeling EVERYTHING with tags and I writing EVERYTHING down. When I'm done, it will be posted. Promise. I'm planning on having to buy some tools. Of course I'll need a torque wrench, spark plug remover, compressor gauge, chain wrench, and pin wrench. I have a wrench set, socket set, hammer (just kidding). I also plan on replacing the left/right valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and, of course, cylinder gaskets. I guess I'll need new cam seals too. I have some money for unforeseen expenses, I have a little time, a place to work. Is there anything else that I'll need that you can think of? Has anyone who has followed the Haynes (or Chilton. . .it's about the same) done this before and found out that something just wasn't covered properly? I want to get everything I need, then do this all at once. I want to keep this car running a while longer, I also want to learn about what is under my hood. Thanks for all your help.
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When bringing to the machine shop, do they expect you to have done ANYTHING to the heads (besides warp them good ;))? Also does the shop need anything from this big ole box of parts that came with my gasket kit?
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How to remove the EGR pipe?

I've been following the instructions to remove the cylinder heads from the bottom, got the passenger side off pretty fast. Was pulling the driver side when I noticed the head was still connected to the intake manifold by some pipe. After some research it seems this is the EGR pipe? I'm totally at a loss on how to proceed, there seems to be no way to get to the nut on this thing... I can even tell what kind of wrench I need, my 17mm is definitely too small.

Any suggestions?
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ssyberg said:
When bringing to the machine shop, do they expect you to have done ANYTHING to the heads (besides warp them good ;))? Also does the shop need anything from this big ole box of parts that came with my gasket kit?
Click to expand...
Bring your cam seals and they will install them.

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S
In case anyone else ever comes across the EGR pipe issue above, I got this figured out the other day. It was one of the toughest and most time consuming parts of the entire job (and would make me think twice about not removing the intake manifold in the future). I forgot to mention above this is on a 2003 OBW, seems like the original poster was working on a model year that didn't have this EGR pipe...

Anyways, there wasn't much of a trick to this. I started by removing the ERG valve from the intake manifold. I removed a number of other pieces on the intake manifold to clear up as much space as I could (fuel filter, any hoses or electrical connection in the way). I used a 22mm wrench and very slowly and painstakingly unscrewed the top and then bottom nut on the pipe. The bottom nut is really hard to get to and you can make almost a 1/4 turn on the wrench before having to flip it (1/4 turn, flip, 1/4 turn, flip, and so on).

I finished my HG job yesterday and the car is running (only took it for a very short test drive). Will write a fuller post on some other tips soon.
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May be removing the driver's side head on a 2003 OBW 2.5 soon. If I leave the intake manifold intact and remove the head from below, do I need to remove the radiator for clearance? Or just the fans? I'm assuming the head turns 90 degrees and fits down through the space in front of the engine?

Also, is it necessary to loosen the EGR pipe at both ends, or can I just loosen it at the head?

Paul
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eagleeye
paulsomlo said:
May be removing the driver's side head on a 2003 OBW 2.5 soon. If I leave the intake manifold intact and remove the head from below, do I need to remove the radiator for clearance? Or just the fans? I'm assuming the head turns 90 degrees and fits down through the space in front of the engine?

Also, is it necessary to loosen the EGR pipe at both ends, or can I just loosen it at the head?

Paul
Click to expand...
why are you removing one head? and not the other?

they typical easy and less time consuming way it to pull the engine with a crane.

do both sides as both HG will leak eventually

making sure everything is lined up and neat and clean,...vs. in the car, and crooked..

.although some "experts" suggest it is great to do it in the car. and have "never" reported a job boomerang

_____

if you don't have a crane, buy one at harbor freight with something to put the engine on. ( a steel milk crate, or a table, or a engine stand) and sell the things when done on craigslist. (this way you can use them till you are done, vs. playing games with rental places if they are hard to deal with).
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eagleeye said:
why are you removing one head? and not the other?

they typical easy and less time consuming way it to pull the engine with a crane.

do both sides as both HG will leak eventually

making sure everything is lined up and neat and clean,...vs. in the car, and crooked..

.although some "experts" suggest it is great to do it in the car. and have "never" reported a job boomerang
Click to expand...
Good question - this is not my car, it's a friend's. There's a substantial external oil leak on the L side, while the R side is dry. It seems like the internet consensus is about 50/50 on whether to pull the engine, or not. Not having a crane, I'm inclined to leave the engine in. And if I leave the engine in, and don't remove the intake manifold, doing one side actually makes sense. The vehicle has 197,000 miles, and allegedly is on its 2nd set of head gaskets. The owner's plan is to keep the car only a year or so, thus she would like to keep repair expenses to a minimum. I wouldn't worry about the leak, except that she's moving into a brand new cohousing community with a brand new paved parking lot.
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You definitely don't need to pull the engine, I did this with ZERO mechanical experience with no help and car is going strong 1.5 years later.

That being said, I highly recommend not going through the bottom. I did it this way and it was a huge pain in the butt. I ended up having to remove the intake manifold for something else a couple months later and it was really not difficult and made me wish I had done it that way when repairing the HGs (also see my post about access to the EGR above). The time and effort you save (and the relative ease you'll have in removing the heads and cleaning engine block) far outweighs the difficulty of removing the intake manifold. You're also way less likely to screw something up, drop a head, scratch something you don't want to scratch etc...

I also did not remove the radiator, but I did take out the fans.
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ssyberg said:
You definitely don't need to pull the engine, I did this with ZERO mechanical experience with no help and car is going strong 1.5 years later.

That being said, I highly recommend not going through the bottom. I did it this way and it was a huge pain in the butt. I ended up having to remove the intake manifold for something else a couple months later and it was really not difficult and made me wish I had done it that way when repairing the HGs (also see my post about access to the EGR above). The time and effort you save (and the relative ease you'll have in removing the heads and cleaning engine block) far outweighs the difficulty of removing the intake manifold. You're also way less likely to screw something up, drop a head, scratch something you don't want to scratch etc...

I also did not remove the radiator, but I did take out the fans.
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That changes the game a bit - if I remove the intake manifold, it might make more sense to do both sides. Except the R side is not leaking, and there's no evidence of internal leaks.

I suppose I'll need to drain the radiator, but not the coolant from the block? And how much gasoline should I expect when I pull the lines off the fuel injector rail? Will I need a rag, or a bucket? Or can I pull the fuel pump relay and run the car until it stalls?
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I did the fuel pump relay thing and had no fuel spillage (though my car never stalled oddly).

Do both sides, the bulk of the work happens whether you do 1 or both, might as well do both. I drained the radiator and the block, not sure what the implications are of doing only the radiator, but this is the right time to replace your thermostat anyways so you're gonna drain the block. (Replace your thermostat, it's a $10 part!)
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ssyberg said:
I did the fuel pump relay thing and had no fuel spillage (though my car never stalled oddly).

Do both sides, the bulk of the work happens whether you do 1 or both, might as well do both. I drained the radiator and the block, not sure what the implications are of doing only the radiator, but this is the right time to replace your thermostat anyways so you're gonna drain the block. (Replace your thermostat, it's a $10 part!)
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Already replaced the thermostat last month, along with the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, five coolant hoses, spark plugs, etc.. The car was up here for the first time, the owner didn't have another vehicle, so I was under time constraints. I did a bunch of stuff for reliability, and gave the car a good once over, to see what else needed doing. She bought it in March, took a trip to Taos with it, had two breakdowns while there - radiator leak and alternator. The alternator was her fault - she had dash lights on while in Denver, but decided to chance it and go to Taos anyway; a $350 lesson.

I've got a laundry list of stuff that I found - front rotors pulsing, rear sway bar links clunking, etc.. She's coming from a Ford Escape and complains that the Outback is "so low". I don't know that she's going to keep it for very long, so I'm hesitant to do too much with it.
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FYI just pull the radiator out with the fans on. By far the easiest (two bolts and unplug the fans) and it gives lots of extra room to work. Saves time on the reinstall as well.

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uglymoney said:
FYI just pull the radiator out with the fans on. By far the easiest (two bolts and unplug the fans) and it gives lots of extra room to work. Saves time on the reinstall as well.
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I may do that, although not looking forward to it, after draining coolant last month and replacing the hoses - wasn't that interesting the first time around.
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Well, I've got the L side head out, still need to remove the R side. I did it w/o removing the engine, took off the intake manifold. I did loosen the three motor mounts and raised the engine maybe 2" to gain better access. I left the radiator in, but removed the fans - there was more than enough clearance. The car is an automatic, and I didn't want to deal with transmission fluid from the cooler lines. In a manual, I think I would have just yanked the radiator.

Really burns me that I had to duplicate 3 hours of work, having done the timing belt and cooling system last month. I only had the car for a limited amount of time and it was a chance to do some exploratory on it. Unfortunately, one of the findings of that exploratory, was the oil leaking externally from the L head gasket. Removing the intake was no picnic, but the electrical wasn't too bad. I've done this on a 3 series BMW and undoing the electrical connections has been the downfall of many. The EGR fasteners were a challenge - the upper one was easy, as I removed the EGR valve for cleaning. The lower one really calls for a stubby 22mm open end; I use an 8 in. adjustable. I may buy a 22mm crowfoot for reassembly.

So now that I've got the head off, should I tear it apart, replace the valve stem seals and camshaft seals? It's really filthy, full of greasy oil and grit; I hate to just slap it back on that way. And there is a bit of dirt inside the head from the removal process. I don't plan on doing any machine work on it. I'm a bit anxious about removing the camshaft bearing and having to reseal it - currently, it doesn't seem to be leaking, and I'd rather not create a leak where there wasn't any.
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paulsomlo said:
Well, I've got the L side head out, still need to remove the R side. I did it w/o removing the engine, took off the intake manifold. I did loosen the three motor mounts and raised the engine maybe 2" to gain better access. I left the radiator in, but removed the fans - there was more than enough clearance. The car is an automatic, and I didn't want to deal with transmission fluid from the cooler lines. In a manual, I think I would have just yanked the radiator.

Really burns me that I had to duplicate 3 hours of work, having done the timing belt and cooling system last month. I only had the car for a limited amount of time and it was a chance to do some exploratory on it. Unfortunately, one of the findings of that exploratory, was the oil leaking externally from the L head gasket. Removing the intake was no picnic, but the electrical wasn't too bad. I've done this on a 3 series BMW and undoing the electrical connections has been the downfall of many. The EGR fasteners were a challenge - the upper one was easy, as I removed the EGR valve for cleaning. The lower one really calls for a stubby 22mm open end; I use an 8 in. adjustable. I may buy a 22mm crowfoot for reassembly.

So now that I've got the head off, should I tear it apart, replace the valve stem seals and camshaft seals? It's really filthy, full of greasy oil and grit; I hate to just slap it back on that way. And there is a bit of dirt inside the head from the removal process. I don't plan on doing any machine work on it. I'm a bit anxious about removing the camshaft bearing and having to reseal it - currently, it doesn't seem to be leaking, and I'd rather not create a leak where there wasn't any.
Click to expand...
I thought about the automatic cooling lines after I posted. Mine is a manual. Duh.

I don't know your backstory...need to go back and read it. These engines usually leak oil through the piston rings and most people leave the valves alone so I just had my heads ground flat at the machine shop and left a pair of new camshaft seals with them to install because it isn't unheard of for these seals to develop camshaft seal leaks at high mileage and it costs next to nothing to have a shop install them with a grind. At 214k with 40k on Subaru reman shortblock and turbo headgaskets I am burning a quart about 3k or so...way less than it ever did except maybe when it was brand new before it blew the headgaskets the first time but probably more than some people would want. I am tickled.

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Rear sway bar links....get Moog....they are super bomber and WAY better than the junk oem links.

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Both heads are off now. I hadn't planned on tearing them down, but I think that was naive; I can't see how to clean up the gasket surface and remove all the ensuing crud from the cooling and oil passages without at least removing the rocker arms and camshafts. I may get away with leaving the valves and springs in, although I'm leaning towards replacing the stem seals. I did order a Torx Plus IP40 bit for the camshaft cap.

What are people using for a spring compressor on these?
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eagleeye
paulsomlo said:
Both heads are off now. I hadn't planned on tearing them down, but I think that was naive; I can't see how to clean up the gasket surface and remove all the ensuing crud from the cooling and oil passages without at least removing the rocker arms and camshafts. I may get away with leaving the valves and springs in, although I'm leaning towards replacing the stem seals. I did order a Torx Plus IP40 bit for the camshaft cap.

What are people using for a spring compressor on these?
Click to expand...


heads:
if these are really cruddy and worn EJ251/EJ252 heads at 200,000 miles, where you are there you might find replacements in better shape cheap and easy.
(pick and pull, ...craigslist part out, any colorado corner lemonade stand). If they are later 2003-2004 type with the EGR hole, just get or make a cover for it.
edit: and make sure the engine airbox looks like the one you are working on, 2004 EJ259 weirdo caliifornia spec ones could be poking around.

and hand machine or pay a machine shop to resurface what you are going to use:

DIY Head Resurfacing... or "Post-apocalyptic machine shop techniques!" - Old Gen.: 80's GL/DL/XT/Loyales... - Ultimate Subaru Message Board

that link to USMB, was used in this thread, which you might like to look at backwards
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...ngine-swap-us-jdm-ej251-diy-head-gaskets.html

@idosubaru do you have any advice for this nice fellow,...
(doing the head gaskets on a 2001 era 2.5, that have been done before by others,...but sprung a new oil leak now, and he is doing it outside in Northern Colorado...)

_____


Edit: I was thinking suspension here:
spring compressors from what I see on here and locally: people rent/ borrow stuff from the local parts store, using 2 on one assembly, sometimes with large plumbers pipe band clamps if they need another 1"
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It's leaked twice (at least - that we know of) already at the headgaskets:

1. I'd want to resurface the block and heads need resurfaced because something isn't right.
or
2. prior job used inferior gaskets

You're kind of guessing what's going on here, which makes it tough...don't want to do too much or the wrong thing or miss something or waste time/money - might be best to just go with route #1 and be done with it. Call around for shops that can resurface blocks or try it yourself like the link above. get good abrasive materials and lubricate well so it doesn't just rip the abrasive paper.

I wouldn't touch the valve stem seals without compelling reasons - NA engine don't typically have many issues with them. but I can understand wanting to do them while you have a it apart, I have too.

the spring compressors i've used suck on SOHC Phase EJ25 engines, I hope you find better ones. i have two compressors that can't do them effectively due to clearance issues - it's a circus. i ran all thread through a socket, cut a notch in the side of the socket to extract the valve keepers, and then bolted a cam sprocket i had lying around to the other side of the allthread - its' about 2 feet long. I wedge the sprocket on my shoulder and just push/lean into it while i extract the keepers. you can also use PCV pipe which is easier to use for people without metal cutting equipment or sacrificial sockets. WAY faster than the spring compressors which take FOREVER to set and work for each valve - wash rinse repeat 16 times. but pressing 16 of them in by hand isn't for everyone either, some people aren't going to be able to do it.

if you want a compressor I would just find out what the subaru specialists are doing and just buy one and resell it when you're done. that's what i'd do but i so rarely want to go this route i don't need one. if i needed valve work i'd just do what EE said:

buy a set of used heads.
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eagleeye
idosubaru said:
It's leaked twice (at least - that we know of) already at the headgaskets:

1. I'd want to resurface the block and heads need resurfaced because something isn't right.
or
2. prior job used inferior gaskets

You're kind of guessing what's going on here, which makes it tough...don't want to do too much or the wrong thing or miss something or waste time/money - might be best to just go with route #1 and be done with it. Call around for shops that can resurface blocks or try it yourself like the link above. get good abrasive materials and lubricate well so it doesn't just rip the abrasive paper.

.
Click to expand...
@paulsomlo is doing this with the short block in the car,

outside, trying to "get 'er done" before it gets too cold,.

...not ideal but just doing it inexpensively for a girlfriend as they repaved the parking lot where she lives, and she has a leaker.

and from what you typed I wonder if the short block face is nice and wrinkled when warm.


@traildogck do you know of nice big cheap pick and pull parts yards north of where you are? in case he's looking for heads. ..or even a long block
(he's close to WY).
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