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Old 11-30-2002, 07:19 PM   #1
Tattoo Collector
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Default Craked Block or Bad Head Gaskets.....Help!!!!

Here are the pictures of my engine with the bad head gaskets and corresponding heads. Please let me know what you think about it. Is it a cracked block like Subaru said or just bad head gaskets? There is some wierd white, gooey stuff around one of the bolts where the block bolts together in the water jacket. This bolt was in the water jacket where the head gasket still looked good! I don't have pictures of the goo on the bolt in the water jacket, sorry. (camera wouldn't focus on it)

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/wannab...Subaru&.view=l
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Old 11-30-2002, 07:44 PM   #2
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yep, those looked like my headgaskets .... replace them with the new ones, that is if you are replacing them yourself.
you can find a low mileage block for cheap, I'm getting one with 7k miles on it for $400 including shipping
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Old 11-30-2002, 08:15 PM   #3
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I just PM'd ya RHDUDE!
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Old 11-30-2002, 09:06 PM   #4
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pm'ed you back...
where in PA are you located? I'm in the northernmost county in VA..
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Old 12-02-2002, 01:39 PM   #5
ciper
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You guys ever thought about sourcing a stopper or bead style head gasket? Same problem on MKIII supra and an aftermarket metal headgasket helps alot.
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Old 12-02-2002, 03:07 PM   #6
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This is a metal head gasket. It is 2 pieces of metal with some other material wedged in between them. Anyway, I still don't know what to think about the block. I am not sure if mine is safe to use or if it is cracked and I just can't see it.
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Old 12-02-2002, 03:09 PM   #7
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you need to have o-ringed head gaskets made are you running boost? The block will only usaullly crack from driving the car when it is overheated did it blow alot of smoke out of the exhaust and how long did it take to overheat? and did the heater blow cold air or hot air?
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Old 12-02-2002, 04:47 PM   #8
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The engine did not seem to smoke any more than usual. When it did overheat, I would shut it off immediately and pull over until it cooled down. It would drive around town fine and on the highway, but once I got done with some spirited driving or driving a distance on the highway and then slowed down, the temp would spike. As far as the heat in the car, it would sometimes blow out cold and sometimes blow out hot. I just went down to the local subaru dealership and the guy told me down there that it is most likely still a cracked block, even though as you can see in the pictures that the head gaskets are shot. I asked him what I could to to test if the block is still good and he told me that you can't. Is this true? Is there a way to check to see if the block is cracked?

And as far as boost, no, I am not running boost nor nitrous. I will be running an 11:1 bottom end.

Thanks.

Nathan
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Old 12-02-2002, 07:11 PM   #9
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Default Talk to your local race engine builders

about Magnaflux

http://www.magnaflux-online.com/library/faq_liq.html

They should be able to test your block for you.
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Old 12-02-2002, 10:00 PM   #10
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here is how you tell for sure if it's your head gasket take the bolt on the bottom of your oil pan loosen a turn don't take it all the way out if coolant come dripping out its a head gasket you should be able to see a cracked block or do a compression test if you add coolant and the compression go's up it's a head gasket if the compression is always low its a block!
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Old 12-02-2002, 10:05 PM   #11
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on a subaru oil almost never mixes with the oil for a cracked headgasket, I know this first hand....
He's already told us its his headgasket, and provided pics...
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Old 12-02-2002, 10:39 PM   #12
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sorry for trying to help him out a little more befor he put it back together to find out it was the block. You can't always tell by looking at the head gaskets I know this first hand I'd blow head gaskets every other week till I o-ringed my heads then it stopped, And he said the dealer told him there are no possible ways to tell the difference between the two in reality there are alot of different ways two more is if you take the plugs out coolant will come out and the plugs will be white if its a head gasket and there will be coolant in the cylinder walls sitting on the pistons if it's a head gasket. Coolant dosn't always go in to the oil depending on how long you drive it with the bad head gasket just cause yours didn't do it dosn't mean coolant won't mix because it does that with all cars there is no way to avoid it think about how the engine works befor you say subarus are different what so different about them? They are boxers yes but the whole concept of how a engine runs is the same.
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Old 12-02-2002, 10:44 PM   #13
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i drove with blown headgaskets for 2months, no coolant ever showed in the oil. No coolant ever showed on the plugs or cylinder walls. Blowing headgaskets everyweek? how the hell did you manage that? you don't have to o-ring the headgaskets, just by the new/improved '98 headgaskets...
And he posted pics of his headgaskets, and yes, they were damaged/leaking...
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Old 12-03-2002, 08:16 AM   #14
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how did I manage that you ask? about 13.5:1 compression on a daily driven car that I beat the crap out of every time I was in it. I was running 12 psi on bored and stroked 302 bored to a 347 with a 3.50" stroke and a 512 lift cam with trickflow heads. Why the hell where you driving on blown head gaskets for 2 months or did you want to ruin the crank bearings, and all the other internals? Plus I fixed my friends head gaskets in his turbocharged 240sx I've fixed a ton of head gaskets never yet in a subaru considering I've only had it for about 7 months now and havn't really moded it too much, I'm done modding the crap out of my daily driven cars too many problems come with more mods I don't care how well it is tuned. I've already had the tranny replaced and the car is pretty much stock and the tranny can't hold stock power so I don't see it holding extra h/p.
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Old 12-03-2002, 11:47 AM   #15
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sorry, I assumed you meant you blew all those h/g's on your WRX, or any other subaru.... my bad bro...

My headgaskets started with a small leak, which the dealer said not to worry about yet, so I continued to drive around... the leak got progressivly worse over the course of about 2months.... 99% of MY98 owners have this problem, and go into denial... I replaced my thermostat and radiator cap, checked all the electricals, and finnaly decided that yes, it had to be the headgaksets. I also wanted to replace the block, since I had 105k on it, and I went to a local salvage yard and picked up a motor, it was dead, got another, DEAD.... So I am going to buy a block, and either get upgraded heads or use the ones off my dead motor.

If you hate your WRX so much, why don't you sell it......


~Brian
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Old 12-04-2002, 06:46 PM   #16
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I didn't say I hate the car I just the tranny is junk I hate the trannys though. I bet those head gaskets are pain to replace on the boxer engines arn't they? I think the wrx should be able to hold stock boost fairly good they only have 7.5:1 compression I believe and 13.5lbps of boost so the wrx gaskets should be good if they last 100k miles I'll be impressed. There is a race ready 2.5 motor in the for sale ads you might want to check it out if a car lasts 100k miles with out many problems I'm happy my daily driven mustang had about 87k miles on it and I put all the upgrades on around 65k miles and it ran high 11's then I traded it for a bone stock one cause it was getting bad.
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Old 12-05-2002, 10:26 AM   #17
Chuck
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Default ok.. here's the deal

Since I just blew my 2nd set of head gaskets and was doing a little research, I stumbled across this thread. Chances are, you don't have a cracked block, BUT if you wanted to throw a Phase II block on your DOHC heads, now's the time to do it. Last time I had bad gaskets, I drove the thing aroung for about 2 months being careful not to let it overheat too long when it happened. Overheating was very intermittant. Here's what happens:

Some "air" gets blown into the water jacket from the compression stroke of the engine.

the "air" travels through the water jacket until it reaches the water pump.

the bubble of "air" gets trapped in the top of the water pump. Since air is always going to go to the top of water, it fills the top of the pump and doesn't allow water to be pumped through.

Since no water is being pumped, the engine overheats sending what water is left in the engine back trough the overflow and making a big mess.


If any of you guys/gals have the Service Manual pages for the '98 engine, could someone please send me the pages for cylinder head installation, timing belt installation and the ST part number for the front oil seal installation tool? PM me if you can! Thanks!!!
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