Hi everyone,
I've been a long time (nonregistered) lurker ever since I decided 2 years ago that I wanted a Subaru. Dollars are tight as a student but I've been diligently saving and trolling Craigslist until last week when a '96 automatic outback went up for $800. Stoked, I jumped on it and bought it the next day and rented a garage for my new project.
Given my resources I planned on having to do an HG job, as anything in tip top shape is generally not going to be in my price range. I was still hyped I could find something so cheap (I was expecting $1-$1.5k even with questionable gasket status). I'm aware I probably won't be saving any money, and if I could've saved up longer I probably could have got something in better shape. But there's half as much fun in that, and I figure I can do the gaskets and timing belt for a
comparable end price.
Anyway my new beauty comes with a busted headlamp and bumper, 180k miles, a 100k old t-belt, and blown HG. But otherwise the car seemed in pretty good shape, a recent alignment, new radiator when the guy started having overheating issues, recent spark plugs, recent CV's, no weird noises, previous owner says tranny is good, and leather seats! The car runs, it made it through a Baltimore city test drive and the two miles from his apartment to the garage without issue or overheating. And now my work begins.
--------Above is back story, skip to here if you want ---------
Although the previous owner never confirmed with a shop that it's only an HG issue, even with my lack of Subaru experience I feel pretty certain it's bad head gaskets. Looking underneath, you can see plenty of sad oil weeping from in between the block and heads. The overflow tank looked nasty and low. The previous owner was having overheating problems. And when I started draining the coolant Sunday, it smelled like I'd just opened a go-kart track in my garage. At 180k miles, I'm not surprised, that's what I planned on getting myself into.
I plan on making space and jacking up the engine, as per
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull...5-head-gaskets-without-removing-engine-57335/. Also, I plan to get the heads machined/checked out since there were definitely some miles on the dying gaskets and some overheating episodes. And while I'm in the neighborhood all the timing belt stuff
I'm not too worried about the actual procedure of replacing the gaskets, I feel I've read enough that I have a decent handle on that. I do have a couple questions related to my particular model though.
First is, what compatibility do I have as far as a whole gasket kit goes? For example what I want is something like the Ishino kit listed first on this page
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2000/subaru/outback/engine_mechanical/head_gasket.html
Now that is for a 2000, and I have a '96, so DOHC and the HLA's. I feel less confident about what I'm finding for that year.
96 1996 Subaru Legacy Head Gasket - Engine Mechanical - APEX, Beck Arnley, Felpro, Ishino, Nippon Reinz, VR Gaskets - PartsGeek
The second Ishino link looks like what I want, but it mentions it doesn't include a couple things, most important for me the valve cover gaskets. I figure since I'll be there I definitely want to do the valve cover gaskets. One obvious answer would be just get that kit and also the things it says it doesn't include. But because of the year, I just don't feel that confident on picking parts a la carte.
So, does anyone know of an encompassing kit for the '96 EJ25 with at least head gaskets, valve gaskets, valve seals, and any other essentials? Or for those who think buying the OEM Subaru 610 Head Gaskets and other bits individually, could you lay out a precise list of specifically what I should get? Keep in mind it's got 180k miles on it so things are probably ripe for replacing.
Second, is what should I do regarding maintaining the HLA's? From what I understand, on other later models it's a prime time to do a valve job and make sure the lifters (bucket lifters I think) are shimmed properly. But the 1996 has the hydraulic doo-dads! What do I do with these? Just not care, or what's the recommended plan of action here?
Third, is I think I might as well replace all the timing belt stuff for good measure. I plan on getting a kit like this
96 97 Subaru Legacy Outback 2 5 DOHC Timing Belt Tensioner Kit Aisin Water Pump | eBay with the belt, pulleys, the idler tensioner, and waterpump et al. Does that seem like the way to go? I know we're not talking top notch here off ebay, but from my research GMB pulleys seem fine and so do Aisin water pumps.
--------TL;DR-------------
What head gasket/valve gasket stuff set should I get for a 1996 outback?
What do I do about the HLA's?
Does the above timing belt kit seem alright?
Sorry about the long gigantic post, but I just wanted to put as much information as I had out there so I can get the best help. Thanks for bearing with me and for any help.