[jbwood5]

I thought I would post a picture of the aftermarket headgaskets that only lasted 1 year. This is no fault of Subaru since they did not make the gaskets. When I bought these and put them on, I was unaware of this web page and the discussion of all the inferior gaskets that are sold in the aftermarket. As you can see, gasket material was being forced from the area around the cylinder sealing rings into the adjoining coolant passageways.
I'm posting this as a reminder to all those who need to change the headgaskets..... Do not use the cheaper aftermarket gaskets sold on E-Bay, even if they say high quality MLS. They are not. As I explained on another thread, the heads were re-surfaced, block cleaned very well, and the torque procedure followed exactly as detailed in the manual. The gaskets I just installed are the newly redesigned Fel-Pro MLS product. I'll report if I have any problems, but I suspect they will be OK.

 

[jbwood5]

I hope you like doing this job YET again.
Felpro is no good for Subaru headgaskets on the EJ series engines.
You need to use OEM from Subaru, updated 4 layer HG's

You will be doing this job again in 1-2 years with the felpros failing then.

These are the newly designed 4 layer MLS gaskets that just came out this past year (if my information is correct). Although it appears that Fel-Pro used the same part#, the upgraded ones look quite different from the ones from a few years ago. I have not heard of any failures of the re-designed product. Here is an information brochure.

<CITE>www.rockauto.com/info/Fel-Pro/Subaru%202.5L-FPO_158.pdf</CITE>
<CITE></CITE>
<CITE>Also, Here is a video that explains the technology:</CITE>
<CITE></CITE>
<CITE>http://link.brightcove.com/services...1wToBIXgOdIizb8ZlwzyC861H&bctid=1634400479001</CITE>
<CITE></CITE>
If I have to do it again in a couple of years I will. I've almost got it down to a 1 day job, but it is a lot of up and down, crouching and twisting.... and frankly the most time consuming part is cleanup and surface preparation. The 8 step torquing procedure is time consuming as well.

 

[jbwood5]

Oh dear, I had my head gaskets replaced last December and the car (2001 OBLtd 2.5)
has been running well. All of a sudden it overheated last week after I let it warm up on the driveway for just a few minutes, no longer than 5. The overheat showed up 25 minutes into my drive home and as soon as I notice the gauge rising, I pulled over to check it.
The radiator cap was not even hot and the coolant looked topped off. I did start the engine and add about 3/4 cup of coolant, and initially the gauge was at the proper setting, between 7-8 o'clock. Then, just a few minutes from home (20 minutes from when I added the coolant) the gauge began to rise again to about 11 o'clock but went back down. This time I could feel that the heat wasn't as warm as it should be, the classic sign of overheating.
Oy, I wanted to get another year out of this car

I wouldn't jump to conclusions about the HG failing just yet. It could be the T-stat, radiator cap, or just a clogged radiator. Look for bubbling in the coolant container after it is warmed up and running. Also inspect the coolant in the container for substantial discoloration, smell of exhaust, and excessive debris. Also check for cross contamination of coolant and oil. If it is an external leak, close inspection should pinpoint it.
By all means, don't let it overheat if possible. Good luck.