PICS! Subaru 204K miles under valve covers...

[Solo2driver]

My Legacy will not die, but the intermittant CEL and recent engine stumbling finally forced me to work on it. I know the spark plug wires were original, and the plugs I had done about 20K miles ago. Decided to do the valve cover gaskets and tube seals at the same time, as it was cheap and pretty easy to do....and the spark plugs were soaked in oil, and the #4 plug wire came apart in a gooey oily mess.

Passenger bank-

Driver bank-

Has had a diet of HDEO 15w-40 and MaxLife 10w-40, a recent switch away from that may have contributed to some oil weeping here and there. Otherwise, I think the innards look pretty darn good.

 

[Scienceman]

Want to sell it?

 

[Solo2driver]

Passenger valve cover-

Driver valve cover-(upside down, sorry)

Oil fills through a tube on the driver's side. It actually looks MUCH worse in the pictures, there was just a very light glazing of varnish on the metal, which wiped right off with a rag with no effort.

 

[bluesubie]

Nice. I'm running Maxlife 10W-30 in a '99 Outback and an '00 RS.

-Dennis

 

[SLCraig]

Seems good to me!

One of my favorite generations of Legacy. I almost got one a little while ago, a 2000 GT.

 

[sven98]

Whoa, looks great. Have the head gasket ever been done, or is that all original?

 

[Panzerman]

15W40 diesel oil has Great cleaning ability. That is the cleanest engine after 204,000 miles I ever saw. Thats amazing.

 

[DieselTech]

That HDEO and maxy works well for you. Keep it away from T_B or it will gone in a hurry

 

[Zedhed]

Do Subarus still have head gasket issues?

 

[Scienceman]

*just hoping he may sell*



I love Ford but this is a nice auto!

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: Panzerman
15W40 diesel oil has Great cleaning ability. That is the cleanest engine after 204,000 miles I ever saw. Thats amazing.


Agreed!

 

[stenerson]

That's very close to factory clean! Tell us about the Cat converter. Did using HDEO them?

 

[Johnny248]

I could be wrong, but I would assume the boxer style engine keeps the valve train free of varnish and stuff like that because the oil is not always sitting on top of them, but instead running down. Any truth to this?

 

[Johnny]

Clean as a whistle. When you were using 15W-40, which one were you using and what was your OCI.

 

[Solo2driver]

3-4K mile OCI on the HDEO (Delo I think) with OEM Subaru filter. Similar OCI's with the MaxLife.

Head gaskets never done, still original. This is the first year of the Phase II EJ25 2.5L SOHC engine, which had EXTERNAL head gasket weepage but no internal issues like the '98-'99 DOHC engines. Mine did weep a bit of coolant externally but the Subaru Coolant Conditioner (read: stop-leak) was used at every coolant change.

Yes, the oil does not pool up in these boxer motors but even on the horizontal portions there is still no buildup, which is nice! It does not burn any oil, but may drip a bit (hopefully the valve cover gaskets help with this) when parked "downhill".

Transmission is great (5-speed manual), original clutch. When I got the car the PCV valve was caked a bit but not terribly, and I actually have not replaced it in about 20K miles. Due for a fuel filter also...3 parts I use dealer-only/OEM parts: 1. PCV valve, 2. Fuel filter, 3. Oil filter (when I can).


Drove from Houston to San Diego and back (3200 miles) and Houston to Georgia and back (like 2200 miles, I don't remember) and multiple trips to Austin and back, gets 30mpg even though it's a Wagon.

 

[Solo2driver]

PS-- those white blotches on the cam/valve hardware is factory paint marks...it would scratch off with a fingernail, but I left it on there...obviously not hurting anything.

 

[steve20]

I'd put that engine in your will. It will be running for generations.


Steve

 

[Hermann]

Originally Posted By: stenerson
That's very close to factory clean!


No need for Pennzoil Ultra in this baby!

 

[daves87rs]

Looks great!

 

[qship1996]

I would add some auto rx and run nothing but pen. Ultra in it!!!!!