Everyone tells me Subarus run forever. You can get over 300,000 miles on them. The don't break down.

Around here they are hard to find at a decent price due to their acclaimed longevity. The AWD is a big plus with our harsh winters and people buy them up like candy. I found an '05 at a decent price and in great shape so I bought it.

In less than 6 months the head gaskets went. Now I am finding out that all Subarus have bad head gaskets. Some years are worse than others but after 100k and your lucky to get 150k they will go. Sometimes its just coolant or oil leaks. Other times its compression leaks and sometimes it all the above.

Now I'm stuck with a car leaking oil down onto the head pipes and have burning oil. The car went to the shop for a brake line recall and the dealer told me $2,000 to replace gaskets. From my searching I found out that the dealers pull the engine to do the work but it may be possible to do the job with engine in the car. I called one of my best friends that talks up Subaru and he was currently doing the HG's on his girlfriends car. Last night he called me and told me he was done and was starting in on his car again to do the HG's for the 4th time. He takes his time and pulls the entire head and valves apart and replaces everything. I plan on doing just the HG's. I can't judge time frame on his work.

My question is, if anyone has done this job, how long will it take?
I travel for work and weather permitting, if I don't hit a certain time window, the car will be down until I get back. I may not be back until mid November and it will be to cold and windy to work out there and I'll have to wait until spring. The car will be down for 6 month.

These stupid things have an 8 step torquing process for each head that varies from groups of years to groups of years. The Cam holder tightening steps make my mind hurt.

 

I have done many of them TBT. They can be done in the car, but clearance is tight and things are hard to line up because everything is sideways. Pulling the engine is really easy. I can have one out in about an hour with all the shop luxuries. The heads can be removed easily and quickly, leaving the intake manifold on the block. Overall time is much less by pulling the motor. That's why we do them that way.

What year and model?
I can provide you with whatever info you need on it.

Of all the motor/head jobs I have done throughout the years, the subi is one of the easiest.

 

Its a 2005 outback wagon SOHC H-4.

The problem I have is my driveway is pitched out to the road and I barely have room for the car in the driveway so a cherry picker is out. If I had a garage I'd be done by now. Its going to rain the next couple of days so things are going to suck if I get caught out there.

I just came in from looking under the car. The exhaust flange studs are so rusted I know that they will snap off. Its from all the salt they throw down in the winter here. It eats everything up.

I think I have some EGR tube clearance issues at removal form the looks of it, on the left bank.

I also hear that there is a damn good chance of bending valves when pulling the Timing belt. That's when and IF I can get the crank pulley off. I think my friend may have bent a few valve stems on his DOHC when pulling the belt.

These is a million things to disconnect by the looks of it. It looks like I can keep flipping the AC pump back and forth several times as needed without disconnection it and recharging the system.

Thanks for the input.

p.s. My son and I were planning on taking the bikes out for a camping trip this weekend as it will be the last chance the two of us will have for that together this year. This really blows.

 

There isn't as much to disconnect as it seems. Radiator and fans come out as a unit, exhaust stuff, a few bell housing nuts and bolts, tc bolts from the top if its an auto, a few hoses and junction connectors, and 2 mount nuts and its out. If the exhaust studs break, let a machine shop worry about it.

Loosen the crank bolt before you take off the tbelt. No bent valves that way.

Once its out, everything is accessible. Leave all the intake and stuff on the motor and drop the heads out under it.

You will need to figure out where to do it....

 

I worked on Mrs SB's son's DL wagon last weekend. Had to replace the front springs and top McPherson strut bushes.

Had to disconnect the calliper brake line to do so! WTF?? Bleeding the system diagonally after reassembly 3 times and we still couldn't get a good pedal.

Had me scratching my head.

Good luck TBT.

I did have 3 new Brumby utes (BRAT in the US) in a row back when I was a field entomologist and absolutely loved them.

Cheers, SB

PS: TBT go camping with you son - and only after that worry about the car.

 

I don't understand the part about the crank bolt.

When you say the heads drop out under are you referring to the engine out.

I have to do the job in my very small pitched driveway, its really more like a big apron.

"TBT go camping with you son - and only after that worry about the car." I plan on it S.B.

 

The heads drop out the bottom, in or out of the car. The intake is in the way, so you can't go up. In the car, the head bolts stay in the head. They are too long to get out with the very little clearance.

As long as all of the timing marks line up and nothing gets turned, you shouldn't bend valves.

Fun, fun,fun.

 

HEY! That's huge and good to know. WOW! would certainly save huge chunks of time going out the bottom.

When talking with my friend, he told me he had to pull the heads back and rotate the bottoms upwards to pull the lower bolts with one hand while juggling the head in the other hand to get the heads to go up.

 

First problem is the single cam motors are dogs..
best thing to do is pull the motor out and do it properly..
Get the heads and block checked for flatness.. if they are warped you will blow gasket after gasket..

If you do the job correctly you should have a motor that last 100,000-200,000kms with no trouble at all...
Do a half *** job and just slap some new headgaskets in it and you will have the same thing happen in 5000kms...

 

You still wrestling with this POS ! - Look it's a Japanese Citroen - is what it is man !