Subaru Valve Cover Gasket Replacement - A Complete Guide
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ม.ค. 2020
- Subaru valve cover gasket replacement performed on a 2010 Subaru Impreza with about 145k miles. Watch this video in full to familiarize yourself with the procedure. The bolts holding on the valve cover are not very strong and easily strip and/or break off. I also show how to jack the engine off its mount. This provides extra clearance to remove the valve cover from the vehicle. It's incredibly tight and there is not much working room. Also check out briansmobile1's video regarding this procedure. Doing this job yourself can save you close to $1000!
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Any attempt to repair automotive parts and/or systems carries risk of personal injury. Always adhere and follow safe practices when working on vehicles. Such as, safety glasses, jack stands, no loose clothing, etc. No guarantee or warranty is implied. Use the information in this video at your own risk. Carsntoys is a member of the Amazon Influencer Program.
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#subaruvalvecover - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Thanks for this video. I especially appreciate the heads up regarding bolts that like to break and the tips on lifting the engine just enough. I also appreciate your ego-less mention of BMOB's detailed videos.
Outstanding video with exceptional detail! Thanks for making this task a lot easier than it fist appeared! Everything went smoothly.
WOW man you are awesome! Every time before I work on my car I check if you have video on it, and I gotta say that you never ket me down!!! So thank you for all of your Impreza videos (mine is 2009 non turbo but 1500 liter, engine code EL154). Timing video, control arm, fuel filter, even the multimedia replacement - I did it all with your videos. You helped me a lot so thanks again
Nice. I went to change my plugs today on my 2010 Outback and found my spark plug tubes fouled with oil. This vid will help changing those seals and gaskets. Thanks. Car just turned 200K miles.
Update: Did this job without jacking up the engine. If you're careful, you can get the old gasket and tube seals off and put the new ones on while the cover is loose with all the bolts off on the driver's side. It still sucks, extreme caution must be used to not damage the new gasket.
I can’t figure out the drivers side yet, but I got it out so I’ll have to get it back in.
Thanks for taking the time for doing a detailed, step by step excellent video. Really appreciate it since I'm getting ready to tackle a similar job on my 2013 subaru outback.
You're very welcome!
One of the most explanatory videos I've ever seen!
I’m so glad I found your video. I was about to throw in the towel and call a mechanic because I was having trouble removing driver side valve cover. Thank you!!!!
Thank you so much for for this video. I just changed the spark plugs on my sons 2001 Legacy and and found heaps of oil (clean oil) in the spark plug tubs. We were so stressed that the engine was stuff or needed a head gasket. After some googling and watching your video, I'm confident we can do this ourselves now in the workshop.
Glad it helped!
Great. Thanks for the heads up on the clearence issue. That po447 and 448 was a defective pcm 1y50 dollars at the subaru dealer.
Excellent video sir, alway enjoy learning more about Subaru’s. My 2013 looks quite similar. Happy New Year!
One of the best presentations I've seen. Good job!
Great video as always. Very well done and great reference to Brian's Mobile. This looks like a horrendous job.
Glad I found this video, I was able to replace my valve cover gaskets on my 2011 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. I was able to get both covers off without messing with the engine mounts but it was a tight squeeze. I had to remove the metal bracket that protects the fuel rail. I used a socket set and box wrench, definitely recommend a ratcheting wrench to get the drivers side bottom back bolt on and off. Took me just under 4 hours. Be mindful of the VVT solenoid, I must’ve hit mine when removing my cover and had to replace it. Other tips would be to put towels under valve covers to catch the oil from valve covers, blow off the area with air and the plastic shielding on my wires was very fragile and may break apart. I was also able to unbolt the power steering reservoir from the fender instead of disconnecting the tubing which gave me enough room on the passenger side to get that valve cover off.
Ha, you're not joking. I tried loosening the passenger head cover bolts on a 2010 and it was a no-go. 3 of the 6 were seized in place. Using a 6point socket held super tight stripped the heads, a RocketSocket really held but it was taking way too much pressure on a 2' long breaker I was afraid the whole thing was going to shatter. I think i'm going to have to get a spare head cover because the next option is to cut the cover away with a dremel around the bolt shank. I have read that the whole shank of the bolt corrodes onto the head cover hole
Great video, straight to the point and the camara shots are just what I wanted tos see. Thanks
I'm working on an 06 Forester right now and needed this video thanks for posting it
Amazing video man you managed to show/explain every detail. I'm an apprentice of 3 months and even I could follow along
Every detail but doesn’t explain the spark plugs going back in or maybe boot grease?
@@fxdamien1206 I mean idk if someone doesn't know how to put a spark plug in then they probably shouldn't be messing with valve covers and whatnot
Wow. Truly excellent camera work guy. Very helpful.
Best video out. Just what i was looking for and no bullshit.
Super helpful, I'm just about to tackle this on my 20`0. Also being in a rusty climate, it's good to know about the engine mounting bolts and such.
I was watching this video after two others and each one has its own gems. The first video I watched, didn’t lift the engine, it removed the serpentine belt and rotated the cam shaft til the notch was visible on the top, to give the cover clearance around the lobes.
thanks for the video! I ordered the fel pro kit for my 2011 outback and will be attempting this job soon! found a bunch of oil in my spark plug wells.
Thank you for the tutorial. Very useful for me changing my gasket covers. It was still a pain the in ass due to the boxer design, but hopefully don't need to do this for at least another 5-10 years... Just a tip when jacking up the engine, when jacking at the oil pan, if the engine doesn't seem to be going up, keep jacking until it does provided you have undone the bolts to the engine mounts as per the video. I initially thought it the engine was caught on something, but I just didn't jack it high enough (I was worried I might break something. My car is a 2009 Subaru Liberty/Legacy...
Used these exact techniques on my 2010 Forester this weekend. Had to jack engine and everything. Actually needed to rock engine to the side with help from a friend when getting the passenger side. Just grab the intake manifolds and pull toward the driver’s side.
Great video! I was worried about removing the motor mounts but just loosing them makes me feel better. Nothing on hand heavy enough to line the engine up if it shifts.
Happy to help!
thanks for that vid having to put gasket covers on a subaru tribeca you helped out a lot yea that last bolt on the back is hard to get to
Thank you so much my friend I have and issue with my sparks plugs passenger side but with that description I have a better idea I was really worried about it. I'll subscribe on your channel!!! Thank you
Great video, I have an '08. These cars are a bit of a pain in the ass to work on with all the tight clearances.
hey bro i believe i have the same issue as you how much did it cost
Excellent tutorial!
Really good prefacing with the cover bolts. *Imagine having to pull an engine because of a twisted off valve cover bolt!*
You are amazingly patient!
Awsome tutorial. As always. Now subscribed !
A mechanic friend of mine showed me how to use tiny Counter clockwise to clockwise movements plus PB, to loosen tight bolts. I saw another video where the guy did that AND once broke them free, he didn’t remove them until he had broken them all free. Makes sense to me.
Nicely done! Question: I am wondering what you think about using anti-seize on fasteners to make the job easier next time? Also, how about PB blaster on all fasteners before removing?
Good stuff. Thanks for the informational video!
As always, an exceptionally well presented tutorial.
We have two Subarus (our third was recently totaled) and, despite being a fairly competent shade tree mechanic who enjoys maintaining vehicles, the boxer design is trouble-prone and often a PITA to work on.
Certainly not my favorite vehicle to work on. Appreciate the comments.
i think this is why I'm just a lil hesitant on getting a subaru. the DIY seems a lot more challenging, as compared to Hondas.
Thank you great video, I can do this job by myself.
2006 Subaru sti pain to work on. 1998 Honda prelude much easier. Same with my 98 Toyota rav4
Great video & narration. Thanks!!!
Amazing job done!
Man your videos are extremely good and very helpful. Love them 👏🙌🏽🤩🙏👍🏾👍🏾🇧🇸
Thank you for This video ,
Helped me a lot
Thanks for making this video, I’ve been having a hell of a time with my Subaru and just got blindsided by this when looking into a cylinder misfire. Going to get the stuff and crack into it this weekend
did it happen to be a cylinder 4 misfire? currently have one and replaced my plugs and wires and still have the issue. wondering if this is whats causing my issue
That s funny. I was doing the same. Cylinder 1 misfire here. Now the valve cover us leaking.
@@dickorneles704 my issue ended up being a wire and the ignition coil
@@zSomertonn damn. I got lucky with just replacing my spark plugs and the valve cover and spark plug seal/gasket.
Awesome job! Thanks for sharing.
Great video. Thanks! I've been dreading this. Now not so much. ('09 Forrester)
Happy to help!
Awesome and informative video thank you
My respect to you, amazing content.
Excellent video
great job buddy, thanks
Video is good to go. Thank you.
Great video
Great video, I had my cam carriers serviced on both sides of my 2013 outback. Is that the same valve cover that would of been removed to access the cam carriers? I have a slow oil leak on my passenger side cover. Looks like some sort of silicone type material was used to seal it instead of an actual gasket. Also my coil packs 2 and 4 are now misfiring. Do older coil packs tend to go bad after being removed?
Good vid man
Excellent video ! Did you have a chance to replace the broken boot ?
You are The man. Thank you
Would you recommend replacing the injector seals while in there for the valve covers? I have a '09 Forester, same 2.5 L engine, with 40,000 mi. No current problems with the injectors or leaking from seals but curious whether you've had to replace them on your Impreza. Thanks for this fantastic instruction in this video.
Thank you!
Awesome video much appreciated thanks a lot GOD BLESS
Great video, you are very conscious about getting a good angle for us to see. Just one quick question, I have a Forester 04, do I have more clearance or its pretty much the same thing.
Thanks
I have an 05 Forester XT. It's doable without lifting the engine. But id you have dohc motor you have to put extra silicone sealant on certain areas, this is difficult to get right without jacking the engine up lol
Thank you Great video. Is this the main cause of the dreaded Subaru oil leak in a year 2010 Subaru legacy 2.5L as an example? valve cover gasket is work out or the the cover is loose?
2008 Subaru Legacy here, the only way I was able to remove my valve covers was to remove the engine mount nut and washer on one side and jack up the motor lifting only that side. Then let it back down, replace the nut and repeat on the other side. You’ll have to repeat this same strategy when replacing them too unless you clean and then replace the gasket while you still have that side of the engine raised, which I would not recommend. Be EXTREMELY careful but it is possible. I am by no means a mechanic but was able to do this job, pay attention and make sure you trust your jack!!
Well done.
What happens if one of those motor mount bolts snaps? I couldn't get mine to budge but was nervous to really lean into it. Hitting it good with the PB blaster and I let it sit overnight. About to try it again.
Do I need to loosen both sides of engine mounts so I can jack the oil pan up enough to get a socket on the bottom back bolt? I got frustrated and didn’t want to strip it so I tightened it all back up. Also, are there replacement bolts which are harder metal? These seem soft.
have you done any 1990 ej20 rocker cover's and what if you cant get gaskets due to covid hold ups. can you use ThreeBond super sealer HIGH TEMP rtv silicon gasket maker great viedo .
I believe you said this was a 2010 Impreza. Does it have the same engine as a 2009 Forester? I believe I have a valve cover leak, and found this video useful for a step-by-step repair.
Hi there, i saw some kind of corrosion in the engine something like white dots on the compressor on the alternator also around the engine do you have any idea why is that coming also my subaru have the same thing. Is there anything to eliminate corrosion or to take it out or ti prevent it from happening
The curve on your hat is astounding
Help !
Of course I couldn’t take out the drivers side. I unbolted the two engine mounts but jacking by the oil pan is lifting the entire front end. I’ve ran out of possible solutions. Any way to release the engine from those mounts if it’s stuck to it? Would removing the fuel rail be an alternative?
well done
Wow. very well explain. thanks.
Happy to help.
Hey i have a question, If it's done poorly (also changing inner seal part number 13293) Can it cause a puff of oily smoke upon cold startups?
06 forester xt with a ej255, i didnt have to jack up the engine for this. other than that, great video
I have a 2010 Forester. Yesterday, I had one side(I assume driver side) gasket replaced. Couldn't get to the other side because of MY time constraints. I love my mechanics, been using them for 25 yrs, always thorough job so nothing ends up costing me more later. However, this morning, my car was leaking gas from driver side engine compartment. It turned out to be fuel injector seal....No charge. That leads me to believe it was their mistake, something they did or forgot to do and that's why they didn't charge for it. For one, if it had been leaking for a while, how didn't I smell it. And if it had been leaking while they had it yesterday, how did they not notice. I'm not upset that made a mistake, since they aren't charging me to fix it, just curious as to what they might have done to cause it.
Hi mate do you need to unplug any wire from ac compressor when you changing valve cover gasket?
You’re the best!!!!
Thank you very much for creating this tutorial. This helped me out tremendously. I appreciate all of the tips and tricks as well. I did have one question regarding the point of contact for jacking up the engine. Is the oil pan the best place to jack up the engine? It worries me that the soft metal on the oil pan may not hold the weight of the engine and could get damaged in the process. I saw that you used a block of wood to disperse the weight, but was just wondering if there is a better point of contact to jack up the engine? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, do you recommend replacing all valve cover bolts or is it safe to reuse the existing bolts as long as they are still in good shape? Thank you!
Happy to help. Certainly use a block of wood. You can try jacking below the cylinder head but I worry it would place too much stress on the head bolts (and head gasket). No issues with the oil pan thus far. No indentations. And the engine is not jacked up and an extraordinary height. Just high enough to remove the valve covers. I reused the valve cover fasteners (after cleaning the threads). Cheers.
$1000? Hahahaha, Subaru told me it was going to be a $3000 minimum per side. Great vid bro. It's a big help.
That's absolutely fucked with how they have some of the service costs.
I really like how you specified not to strip the head of the bolt nearest the firewall... im here because i stripped it ha..... thinking bout drilling a hole in the crossmember to get some sockets on it... we'll see
i need to do mine too. mine is 2007 OB wiht 115k odo. So when u jac up into the oil pan is that safe? No denting the pan?
What's up with the raised, threaded hole above valve cover bolt bottom right passenger side? I had a bolt in it like the one connected to timing belt cover but longer, and yours looks like it was empty. Visible paused at 15:00+
Thank you for such a great tutorial. You have provided some great tips as well. I appreciate these videos and your timing belt video gave me the confidence to perform that service on my own without any issues. I do, however, have one suggestion for future videos. It would be really helpful to take a minute or two at the beginning of your videos to explain why you are performing the maintenance/repair you are performing and how you diagnosed the problem. For this video, why are you replacing the valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals? This may seem obvious to an experienced mechanic such as yourself, but it's really helpful for those who are still learning. For example, you might consider talking about whether you had an oil leak, how much it was leaking, how you distinguished this leak from a head gasket oil leak or other leaks, and how common this issue is with this model. I have a 2008 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with 117.5k miles and have a very slow oil leak, but I am having trouble figuring if the leak is coming from the valve cover gaskets, or if my head gasket is starting to go, or both.
Thank you, Taylor. Appreciate the feedback.
Can we have an update. Wich gasket did you need to replace???
Nice video but being doing this for years on Subaru and there is no need to jack up the engine to remove the cover. Being working in my legacy GT spec B, legacy NA, my 2009 Subaru WRX/STI. Will support ur video because I have small hands n learnt to work around boxer engine tight spot. Got to love a subaru
Appreciate the heads up!
What is the average labor costs? You made it look so easy.
For those no familiar with foot-pounds of torque I'd strongly suggest you to use ugga-duggas as it is internationally accepted in the english speaking world as measurement unit of force.
The valve cover bolts will take about 1 to 1.5 ugga-duggas. The engine mount bolts can easily accept up to 4 or 5 ugga-duggas.
For reference, 7 ugga-duggas is as close as you'd get to super tight territory without snapping the bolt/screw.
Hope this helps! =)
BTW, the actual torquing values area easy to find in most reputable Subaru forums out there where'd find servicing manuals for your specific model vehicle. Cheers! =)
i need to change the gaskets in my wifes 2011 outback. how long did it take you to totally complete the job?
have you ever had the bolts for the cover not break?
Could this leaking cause power loss issues randomly ?
Gracias, no hablo inglés pero le entendí perfecto, gracias amigo
What a nice video! Can I apply the same process on a 2007 WRX?
It's alot harder on a DOHC
Nice!
Do tou have to take the oil out first?
Hey what was the torque on the motor mount bolts ?
Hey
I need help with a valve cover gasket for my Subaru Impreza 2010 but I have a EL 15-BB8123323 engine.
Can this FEL PRO kit work my for car?
Currently doing this to my 08
I just did it to mine, did you have 8 bolts on your passenger side? I had one like the one attaching the timing belt cover but longer (they're a different design than my 12 valve cover bolts, and smaller) in the raised threaded hole above the bottom right valve cover
Do you have to get the oil out?
Do you need to drain oil first?
Doesn't work for an H6. Anyone know the trick to getting to the back bottom corner bolt? Looks like I'm gonna have to jack the engine up.
I have a 2008 Impreza 2.5i (same engine as yours). Today I changed my sparkplugs and notice a bit of oil on my sparkplug socket and on the sparkplug boots. I wasn't a massive amount of oil (maybe 0.1-0.2 milliliters per well) It's 60000 miles. I changed the plugs with new NGK. Is the sparkplug well gasket seal leaking a common thing on these subies ? I really hope my suby won't leave me stranded. I'd go for the valve cover gasket and sparkplug gasket seals replacement at the dealership but they want 800$ and I just spent 1500$ canadian for timing belt, pulleys and tensionner at the dealearship. Can I live with leaky spark plug well gaskets or is it a major bad thing ? Thanks for all your awesome videos !!! it help me change my sparkplugs and I will soon do the fuel filter (already bought the fuel filter and big round gasket).
At 140k miles the spark plug tubes weren't too bad. Based on your oil reading I wouldn't be concerned. Just watch for leaking head gaskets and keep any eye on the oil. Cheers!
Thanks for the reply ! Will do. For now, head gaskets look good (no visible leak from the outside of the short block-head interface).
Greta video, just one thing, do you need to drain the engine oil completely before commencing this job?
I think it’s down in the pan unless you ran the engine recently.
Is a ‘ 03 FORSTER any easier ?
THANX
Driver side cover, rear closer to fire wall down and front up and slide forward.
You’ll have to slide it from the bottom of car though.