Engine Overheated

[Davezj]

a good quick degreaser/deoiler is carb cleaner in a spray can.

it is highly flamable and hurts like hell if you get splash back and it goes in you eye but it works great for blasting off oil and grim in a hurry, and because it is so solvent based it drys in seconds. to leave a clean shiny engine.

whoever it about £7 a can, so it can be a bit expensive for the job. but it is quick, very quick.

one reason you engine could be very oily is because the gasket you were talking about were missing. i know if my rocker cover gasket were missing it would p*ss out oil.

[The Vee]

one reason you engine could be very oily is because the gasket you were talking about were missing. i know if my rocker cover gasket were missing it would p*ss out oil.

err yes certainly does.You do mention low oil in your first post - think this is where it went.

[scott.mohekey]

I'm at a loss to why the seals were missing. There was some sort of liquid gasket in their place, but that would have resulted in about 5mm difference in height, surely?

I'm having a bit of trouble cracking the crankshaft pulley bolt, but am going to try the starter motor method tonight.

[The Vee]

Would alter the height slightly but of course the leakage would be more the problem. Probably they broke when somebody has previously removed the covers, but the rubber seal channel just does not lend itself to sealent type fixes. On the starter method, make sure you are well clear or at least eye protecteted just incase your breaker bar or whatever breaks.

[scott.mohekey]

It would be a little ironic if the breaker bar broke, wouldn't it?

The rubber seal channel on the SOHC 6a13 is quite different to the DOHC. From memory it doesn't have a channel per se, just a flat area on both head and cover that the seal buts up against.

[The Vee]

Ah OK

[Subaru ETA]

It would be a little ironic if the breaker bar broke, wouldn't it?

and trust me, when they do break you end up on your arse in a hurry...done that enough times!

[scott.mohekey]

Well, we got the bolt undone (broke a socket extension in the process), the heads off, the water pump off etc. The silicon seal on the water pump was in a horrible state, and the head gaskets, while not visibly blown, were a right mess. There was oily gunk in between the heads, and the piston crowns were a nasty black burned colour.

I'm getting a mechanic friend to give things a look over tonight, then its clean and reassemble with the new parts.

How should I go about cleaning the heads and piston crowns etc. I don't want to take anything further apart.

[Physician]

Well, we got the bolt undone (broke a socket extension in the process), the heads off, the water pump off etc. The silicon seal on the water pump was in a horrible state, and the head gaskets, while not visibly blown, were a right mess. There was oily gunk in between the heads, and the piston crowns were a nasty black burned colour.

I'm getting a mechanic friend to give things a look over tonight, then its clean and reassemble with the new parts.

How should I go about cleaning the heads and piston crowns etc. I don't want to take anything further apart.

If you have time, some photos of the damage etc would be really helpful.

Good luck with refitting etc

[Subaru ETA]

just block up the coolant galleries and use a scrapper

[scott.mohekey]

I'll try and get some photos tonight. Currently the plan is to clean up the muck left from the gaskets with a scraper, take off the sump, blast air through the galleries and steam clean the various parts. Then reassemble, and put fresh oil in etc.

[scott.mohekey]

How do I go about removing the starter motor? I can't find it anywhere in the service manual?

[Subaru ETA]

ummm undo the power cable and take out the 2 or 3 bolts....

[scott.mohekey]

Ok, thanks. My mate thats helping me on this was under the car doing that while I was cleaning the heads. He made it sound impossible. I should have just looked myself.

[scott.mohekey]

So it turns out there WAS gaskets on the cam covers. They were just embedded into the channel so well I didn't see them. Getting them out has proven tricky, they're stuck in there very tight, as if glued.

In any case, we have the heads back on, and the front cam cover. It looks like it'll be plain sailing from here.

[Physician]

........It looks like it'll be plain sailing from here.

Heck! You shouldn't have said that!

(But good luck! )

[scott.mohekey]

Call me the eternal optimist! Looking back I was expecting to have all this done in the first weekend.

[dickytim]

did you have the heads checked for cracking etc ?

I am not sure if these ones are prone to it or not, it would be a shame to get it all back together only to find it needs to all be done again

[scott.mohekey]

We did a visual check for cracks, and they looked ok. There was no visible warping or cracking at all.

What would be an expected symptom of cracked heads?

[dickytim]

as per a blown head gasket.