Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

I have purchased a Subaru Legacy Auto donor vehicle with 49K on the clock...

I want to create a full documented record of this journey seeing as its going to be fairly monumental...
I've read that the head gaskets can be suspect, so just wondering if I need to consider a head gasket replacement as part of the build ?

Thanks, Richard

I did mine while the engine was out.

My EJ25 is a SOHC & there were the 1st signs of headgasket failure showing as slight oil leak on the bottom edge of the head to block joint.

I also replaced the timing belt & a couple of the toothed pulleys that were a bit rough.

My engine had only done 55k.

As I was planning a trip round Europe as soon as the conversion was done I did not want to take any chances.

Check out my thread, if you haven't already read it.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=140429" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck.

Tony

The EJ251 head gaskets were revised in Feb 02, supposedly after that date they are better. Mine is a 2000MY, and had 53k on when I fitted it in 2009, within a year or so there were the signs mentioned by Tony. The failure is typically 'safe' eg. to the outside of the crankcase not the cylinder bore.

So, anything up to Feb 02, yes definitely do the gaskets, after that, use your judgement, you may just want the peace of mind. Note the torquing sequence changed for the redesigned gasket so make sure you're using the correct one. I used a 'Stone' gasket set, be picky what you buy, there are cheap ones which personally I would avoid. When I did mine, I replaced the three idlers, and re-used the tensioner, water and oil pumps. I also checked the lifters, which are solid on this engine and quite easy to do, so long as you're confident with the feeler gauges. It might worth having a fresh set of exhaust studs and nuts handy too, these are very specific M10 fine.

My build thread.

It's actually quite an easy swap as they go, unless you're fabricating all your own parts, if you buy all the right bits its a bolt-together job that can be done in a few days. E D I T. ah I see you have a 1.9 so a bit more to do with the fuel system than a 2.1. You may want to change to a 2.1 rad too.. Make that a week or two..

,, All ej25 have gasket issues really and should be changed for quality items asap to eliminate any future worries as Subaru didn't do a great job with any of there gaskets even on the new subarus lol,,, if it's a turbo ej25 then the other main issue that would need addressing is the piston ring lands as they tend to fail quite easy and cause major issues , once you increase power (turbo ones) you then have to worry about bore movement and heads lifting so it gets expensive lol ,,iv not had much experience with the NA engine as iv only really worked on turbo ones but in the Subaru world we refer to the ej25 as a chocolate engine as it melts very easy lol ,,, hopefully the NA engine doesn't suffer from the same issues as the turbo version


Anyone looking for any Subaru related parts please feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to help as I run my own Subaru club and work on them alot

I have just installed a EJ25 Quad cam, I bought it already out of the car with the wiring loom modified, I was told that the mileage was around 100k but had no paper work to verify this, I have read a lot of online things about the Subaru issues with Head gaskets especially with the quad cam, so was contemplating changes the HG's.
I had a good look at the engine and couldnt see any signs of a leak, I understand that it is more complicated to take the heads of as the cams have to be removed, so decided not to do change them at this time, obviously I will keep an eye and replace in future if required . I did replace the cambelt, pulleys, exhaust studs and injector seals and sump .

I only do around 3k miles a year, so figured that if I have to pull the engine in a few years time its not a real biggie . I was running out of time ( and money ) so was happy to take the gamble, If you have sufficient of both then I can see that it might make sense to do them now, but at 49k you could well have at least 50k problem free miles .

Dear All,

Thanks so much for the links and advice, going to get a Haynes manual and do the heads at the same time, should pick car up on Thursday
Not planning on rushing it, I am a bit of a plodder tbh - slow and methodical but will document it all....

Just need to source the flywheel, clutch kit etc as donor is auto, not manual...as well as the other RJES bits...
Next question is the sump...theres a local chap who reckons he can modify the Subaru existing sump as my van is lowered and to keep capacity..

What did you guys do ? ?

Cheers, Richard

Mines a lardy arsed Westy Hitop, and lowered 50mm so I needed a modified sump, I did a fair bit of research and eventually found this one, I am very impressed with the build quality... its a work of art really It works with the RJES engine support bar . The oil capacity is the same as stock, and the dipstick is exactly correct as well . Trust me you will need a shorter sump

Nice nice nice....

Who did it and how muc ?

If you have facebook ? This is a great group to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/507683625970018/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; VW Subaru Hybrid Club,

There is a member called Ian Hugan , he is a guru when it comes to Subaru engines in VW's , he has them made . Lots of people are using them . It was £205 including the shortened pick up pipe. He wont get involved with posting out though, as he does it more to help people than make money, so you will have to go collect or arrange someone close by to collect for you.

I am seriously impressed with the quality, the lowest point is now the exhaust , which was custom made to be as high as possible. still very close to the ground though and I am either going to fit a bash plate or raise suspension back up maybe 30mm .

Hi,

Looks good, and a good price as well tbh.

Will join the group and take it from there....thanks for all your help.

Cheers, Richard

boardmonkey wrote:Hi,

Looks good, and a good price as well tbh.

Will join the group and take it from there....thanks for all your help.

Cheers, Richard

You are very welcome, any questions feel free to ask , The RJES bits are top notch, the instructions can be a little confusing but if you take your time you will be fine. I would recommend getting the VSS ( vehicle speed sensor ) Richard sells everything apart from the sump and the exhaust .

The cars arrived..picked it up yesterday...
Have also got the flywheel, clutch plate etc...

Will note the VSS and get that as well...