Well, after a few days off the road, No.2 Junior has his car back running again.
The engine was due to come out on Thursday night, however an intermittent electrical gremlin in the fuel pump put stop to that. Could not take out engine if we were not sure it would run when we put it back in?
Engine came out on Friday afternoon.
Plan was to replace the oil leaking head gaskets, replace the clutch while we had the engine out and also do the full timing belt, water pump and idler bearing tensioner service.
Go here to read about the problematic head gaskets used in the EJ25 NA engines. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=31384
The engine came out and we confirmed it was a Flex Flywheel.
Checked the friction plate and we were down to 0.45mm off the rivet heads. Service limit is 0.3mm. Okay, right time to replace the clutch.
Exedy kit FJK-7626 required.
Off came the heads and the top end cleaned up.
The valve heads were surprisingly free from deposits. Maybe the E85 goodness had scoured the combustion chambers clean?
The gaskets were replaced with MLS had gaskets from the 2.5 Turbo engines. No problems here, used them before on No.1 Junior's MY02 Outback.
Stopped the damned EJ25 NA head gasket leak good'n'propper.
Heads back on and follow the precise Subaru head bolt tightening sequence.
Fit the new water pump, timing belt and all the new idler pulleys.
The engine went back in last night and was finished off this morning, then fired back into life once more!
Bill so far?
Clucth kit $450.00
Flywheel Machining $50.00
MLS Head Gaskets for 2.5T (ebay special) $55.00 the pair
Timing Belt and Tensioner and Water Pump Kit $250.00
Sundry inlet/Exhaust/Rocker Cover/Spark Plug Tube Gaskets $140.00
So, really, the head gaskets only really contributed $160.00 on top of what would have been routine maintenance requirements?