Never trust what you "think" you are reading!!
Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:31 pm
Ok, so I had been limping out pulling the motor in the wife's '98 2.5GT and taking issue to the head gaskets causing an over heating issue. Well, I finally pulled the motor out late last week and started to tear into it. I put the engine on the stand and began basic removal of parts to make my way to removing the heads.
Done. Time to remove the head bolts and the heads. Ok, WTF... My good quality IR impact gun won't budge the bolts... I try a breaker bar, and still nothing. So a have a chat with my buddy who works at a local Subaru only repair shop. He informs me it's going to be a real bitch and I likely need to place a length of pipe on the end of the breaker bar. I try it and sucess! The bolts came loose. *sigh of relief*
I pull the heads and see that indeed I had a head gasket issue. Well, while I had everything apart I cleaned all the carbon & other crap off the valves and the tops of the pistons (I tend to neat freak about stuff like that). So, onward to reinstallation of the heads & head bolts. I pull out my Haynes manual and check the torque specs and the tightening pattern. First dip the bolt threads in oil and then torque in pattern 22 ft/lbs, then 51 ft/lbs, back them off, 1&2 25 ft/lbs, 3-6 132. <-------- Right there is the absolute folly in this whole sequence!!! F*CKING HAYNES DECIDED TO PLACE THE LAST SET OF NUMBERS IN F*CKING IN/LBS!!!!!! W T F??????????
As you are already begining to suspect, I indeed when for such a high number. Only under the belief that the bolts came out hard and this was the correct "ft/lbs" rating. NOT aware that for some dumb-ass reason they decided it was worth while to place a number in print at "132 in/lbs" instead of the equivalent "11 ft/lbs"... Does ANYONE have remotely a clue as to why these freakin' idiots that wrote this book would even go such a route?? If you do, please relay this to me. Because of such a difference in torque ratings, I of course snapped a head bolt in the block of my wife's car.
FFFFFFFF**********CCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!
After screaming loudly, being VERY enraged, and throwing many loose objects within my close grasp, I stormed into the house to cool down and forget I even knew how to repair cars. I lock up my garage and put the idea of going back out to work on the motor to sleep. I head back out the next day with hopes that the Craftsman EZ-Out I purchased many months ago could now pay for the space & time it rented inside the crowed drawers of my tool box. It comes with 3 different size extractors. I tried the largest first, only to have it start off center and come very close to/if not actually score the threads in the block for the head bolt. So, I use a punch and a hammer to hopefully create a spot for the smallest extractor to grab onto which is closer to the center point of the broken bolt. VICTORY! Using my drill I slowly work the #1 size bit into the bolt, then swapping out to the #2 size bit, and finally the #3 size bit which some how manages to grab onto the bolt and draw it out (even past the threads I thought I chewed into). Other than a few choice points in my life, I've rarely been THIS happy to remove a threaded piece of metal from an engine block. After confirming with my buddy Chris as to what proper Subaru specific settings are for installing the head bolts, I got everything put back together and will be reinstalling the newly regasketed EJ25 motor back into it's well deserved and missed home.
Needless to say, I'm extremely close to soaking my Haynes manual in gas and setting it a blaze in the hopes of having something to enjoy (the death and destruction of a poorly constructed/written piece of hell). So the moral of the story, you're better off calling your local shop and asking questions before you EVER open the pages of a Haynes manual. I know I will likely never do such again.
My neighbor Matt (legacy92ej22t) has been privy to this entire hell-on-earth happening. I'm sure he's had quite a chuckle at my expense, and so he should. It's paybacks for the amount of times he's had bad luck fall upon him only to have me tell him I had the tool to do the job easily or properly sitting in my garage only 150 yards away...
Done. Time to remove the head bolts and the heads. Ok, WTF... My good quality IR impact gun won't budge the bolts... I try a breaker bar, and still nothing. So a have a chat with my buddy who works at a local Subaru only repair shop. He informs me it's going to be a real bitch and I likely need to place a length of pipe on the end of the breaker bar. I try it and sucess! The bolts came loose. *sigh of relief*
I pull the heads and see that indeed I had a head gasket issue. Well, while I had everything apart I cleaned all the carbon & other crap off the valves and the tops of the pistons (I tend to neat freak about stuff like that). So, onward to reinstallation of the heads & head bolts. I pull out my Haynes manual and check the torque specs and the tightening pattern. First dip the bolt threads in oil and then torque in pattern 22 ft/lbs, then 51 ft/lbs, back them off, 1&2 25 ft/lbs, 3-6 132. <-------- Right there is the absolute folly in this whole sequence!!! F*CKING HAYNES DECIDED TO PLACE THE LAST SET OF NUMBERS IN F*CKING IN/LBS!!!!!! W T F??????????
As you are already begining to suspect, I indeed when for such a high number. Only under the belief that the bolts came out hard and this was the correct "ft/lbs" rating. NOT aware that for some dumb-ass reason they decided it was worth while to place a number in print at "132 in/lbs" instead of the equivalent "11 ft/lbs"... Does ANYONE have remotely a clue as to why these freakin' idiots that wrote this book would even go such a route?? If you do, please relay this to me. Because of such a difference in torque ratings, I of course snapped a head bolt in the block of my wife's car.
FFFFFFFF**********CCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!
After screaming loudly, being VERY enraged, and throwing many loose objects within my close grasp, I stormed into the house to cool down and forget I even knew how to repair cars. I lock up my garage and put the idea of going back out to work on the motor to sleep. I head back out the next day with hopes that the Craftsman EZ-Out I purchased many months ago could now pay for the space & time it rented inside the crowed drawers of my tool box. It comes with 3 different size extractors. I tried the largest first, only to have it start off center and come very close to/if not actually score the threads in the block for the head bolt. So, I use a punch and a hammer to hopefully create a spot for the smallest extractor to grab onto which is closer to the center point of the broken bolt. VICTORY! Using my drill I slowly work the #1 size bit into the bolt, then swapping out to the #2 size bit, and finally the #3 size bit which some how manages to grab onto the bolt and draw it out (even past the threads I thought I chewed into). Other than a few choice points in my life, I've rarely been THIS happy to remove a threaded piece of metal from an engine block. After confirming with my buddy Chris as to what proper Subaru specific settings are for installing the head bolts, I got everything put back together and will be reinstalling the newly regasketed EJ25 motor back into it's well deserved and missed home.
Needless to say, I'm extremely close to soaking my Haynes manual in gas and setting it a blaze in the hopes of having something to enjoy (the death and destruction of a poorly constructed/written piece of hell). So the moral of the story, you're better off calling your local shop and asking questions before you EVER open the pages of a Haynes manual. I know I will likely never do such again.
My neighbor Matt (legacy92ej22t) has been privy to this entire hell-on-earth happening. I'm sure he's had quite a chuckle at my expense, and so he should. It's paybacks for the amount of times he's had bad luck fall upon him only to have me tell him I had the tool to do the job easily or properly sitting in my garage only 150 yards away...
I did that with the oil pump 
)