Genuine EA82 head gaskets V's others.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:25 pm

Finally, after seven months of sitting in disgrace on my shed floor I removed the heads from my EA82T. My engine watchdog indicated a warm condition to find water down 500 - 750ml, so not got hot. Alarm came on at 86 degrees when it normally had been 79 , 81

Found both head gaskets blown at the edges front and back. 25,000km earlier I fitted good gaskets and retensioned them some 5000km later, not after initial warm up > BOO BOO #1.
My machine shop guy of 25 years tells me BOO BOO #2 was to loosen the head bolts off in order to retension , despite the fuji manual telling me to do so. OK maybe it was 20,000km later now I come to think of it.

MSG does not like the punched metal waffle sandwich between the paper of the gasket as it then perforates one side of the gasket as it is torqued up leaving the flower patern exposing the punctures. He recjkons this may lead to early gasket failure. He took the issue up in Taiwan with a gasket manufacturer when he did a factory visit. The gist got lost n translation and they never understood his concern.

Wondering if the genuine gasket has the punctured waffle metal between the paper layers of flat metal layer. Hoping it is stainles steel too. Best bet is to try genuine, retension after initial warm up using his no undo tension method and see how we go this time

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:21 am

I used ACL monotorques. They dont need to be retorqued like the OEM ones

masterjohnson · Post by **masterjohnson** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:18 pm

Suparoo wrote:I used ACL monotorques. They dont need to be retorqued like the OEM ones

holy molly bump, is this acl monotorues that i've found on ebay really better than fel pro gasket? just wanna ask first before buying. if you could provide me some auto parts sites that sells lower set gasket it will be a big help! thanks in advance sorry for bumping.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:41 pm

I've only ever used monotorque gaskets and not had a problem with them until something like a blown radiator let me down...

And even though the manual says to re-torque after initial warm up I never bothered a) because its a pain in the arse with the EA82 and b) the instructions on the label said not to.

Give them ago, they're not that expensive from memory. That item pictured is not for a subaru - incase you didn't already know

Cheers

Bennie

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:05 am

We ordered genuine head gaskets ex Japan for my L's 87 Spider Vortex engine . This cost more than the local ones but I had the idea that headgaskets were a potential issue so I think OE would be good .

I think the best line of defence with an EA82T is to replace every rubber water hose and suspect every steel water pipe of being rotted out .
This is the only way to guarantee that some 25 yr old brittle "rubber" $5 hose or steel pipe won't fail and cook you engine .

By pure luck I had save after save after save with my RX's original engine and I shudder to think what could have happened when I bought Ellie and drove it home from Melbourne to Sydney .
Its ALL the little fiddly hoses that fall to bits unless new and I generally replaced them with high pressure EFI fuel hose where possible because its hardier than water hose .

I still growl about that water outlet hose from the turbo to the return in the head . PROMISE me if you use a std turbo you will pinch this return steel pipe and banjo of an early IHI EJ's turbo ie VF10 or 12 . The mongrel f&^%$g counts at Fuji have a short steel piupe with a horizontal hose a shield underneath the turbo and trust me you cannot get at it and its clamps without removing the turbo . These pricks place the turbo so close to the engine case that you can't unscrew the banjo bolt without it fouling on the engine case . Grrrrrr turbo off PITA job . Using the EJ pipe here extends the steel tube far enough out from under the turbo that you can see it and make up a suitable rubber return hose and replace easily if need be .

Never ever EVER run an EA82T engine without coolant in its cooling water , thats just asking for trouble end of story .

Also if your engine starts to mysteriously empty its coolant return bottle over a period of a few days and you CANNOT find any external leaks it probably has a cracked exhaust port .
No problem , simply waltz into Ripco or Superheap and buy a bottle of Cargo Metalic Seal Up . Flush the cooling system fully with clean water drop a bit out and pour the shaken contents in the radiator . Run it around for a few days or a week and flush the system again and add coolant concentrate .
This is a fantastic fix and for 10 odd dollars a WHOLE lot simpler than ripping heads off etc etc . It basically reacts with exhaust gas and seals up any cracks in the water jackets . I've seen this stuff start to work in as little as an hour .

The Americans at USMB used to reckon that if they bought a car with an unknown EA82T engine they'd pull the engine out and replace every rubber hose on it . They'd also do the front and rear crank seals and if keen the belts tensioners water pump and cam seals as well .
They know overheating damages these engines so they make every effort to prevent water loss .

A .