About two years ago at around 110K miles on my 2011 Outback 2.5L H4 I had to replace both gaskets. Never done this before so I watched your videos 2 or 3 times, plus I had taken a lot of pictures while working on the engine. Took me almost 10 days to finish the job :) Result? 50K miles later (!) it still runs perfect, no issues, just made roundtrip from Chicago to SF and back. Right now at 170K on the clock. It's like a family member. So yeah, thank you so much for doing this tutorial. Not only it helped me to repair engine, but I got hooked A LOT on doing repair myself so I bought a lot of tools and been working on all my cars myself since. Thanks!

You are awesome Eric you are the salt of the earth I mean that. To be mechanic, camera man, editor, narrator, secretary, business man .,,In short a multi-tasking maniac. Outstanding.

I'm in the process of doing the head gaskets on my 02 outback right now. It's my first time doing this particular job and I've watched this video series at least a half dozen times. Wouldn't of attempted it if you hadn't put such a great tutorial video out. Thanks Eric, you're a class act dude.

How is this the first I've heard of the Powerbar??!!! Kick ass tool! Extremely informative and well done video. Thank you for taking the time to make these excellent videos.

I wish to be like you one day Eric. Being able to work on any car that come in to the shop is pretty cool. I've seen so many of your videos and seen many makes and models come in with all different problems and you always are able to fix them. You are the best in my book. Glad I found your channel and will be a life time viewer as long as you post videos they will be watched . Thank you as always for making the videos. It's really appreciated

5 hours I've spent watching the SMA channel today, I feel like fixing some stuff now. LOL😆 Just ordered the 3/8 nano, and various hose fittings I've seen Eric use. Good Work!

My ex wife just got a 1990s Legacy wagon w/ 200k plus on the odometer. After she got it she wanted to see what I thought of it .The first thing I noticed was that in the back of the wagon there was a fresh set of head gaskets and other gaskets waiting to be installed .😨 I wish she would have had me come along to take a look at it before she bought it . It's a basket case and needs a bit of work but overall it sounds good and runs .No oil in the radiator fluid or vice versa but that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have a head gasket leak . I was hoping it wouldn't be too much of a job to replace them but after seeing this video I'm definitely having second thoughts about it . From what I've read it seems like these Subaru boxer motors were prone to having head gasket leaks pretty often .

That little air ratchet sounded way too much like a dentist drill...... 😁 Thanks for the video.

I like the multi part vids when the material covered warrants it. Its all great stuff and will help me keep somewhat up to date with technology.

The head gasket fix worked so well on my car that I'm starting in on my wife's Subaru! This series helped immensely.

Just getting to watching this series. Only one comment...I know...a year later. Anyway, why not remove the radiator and fans as a unit? I haven't worked on a Subaru personally, but it appears you have to get the radiator out anyway in order to bust off those cam sprockets and it gives you lots of room to work without worrying about bumping it. I'm glad as time goes on you quit apologizing for the stop/starts and running your business. Your business is what brings us these great videos and I have enjoyed watching them. May the phone and doorbell ring on!

If your just tuning in ...I am going to tell you the five videos in this series are well worth watching if you need to do similar job on your Subie. I have seen all five and Eric does a great job with lots of detail, tips and takes some time to explain and show some of the specialized tools including where he sourced them.Great job Eric, thanks.Robert.

Love your channel...I’ve been a mechanic for thirty five years ..never stop learning

Thanks, Eric for taking the time to teach us and run a shop at the same time. That can't be easy.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! This is exactly what i want to see, no messing around just showing what it takes to do the job. Please, you don't have to excuse yourself, I would watch it even if it was real time. We should be the ones to apologize for not being able to help out, you are giving us this for free. Don't worry about the camera work too much, if someone is doing the same job i am sure they will figure out most of the stuff they can't really see. Just getting to see the process is what is worth the most. Please show more stuff like this, long running jobs that involve taking nearly everything apart. I did browse your video archive to find the most involved job, actually looking for a big engine swap or somesuch. Would love to see one. Thanks!

Wow Eric! You're doing a super job in keeping up with all the stuff on the car plus all the other stuff going on around you. I don't believe that I could be as dedicated as you. You're a great inspiration for a lot of people out here in KZfaq land. Thanks Eric for taking the time!

Gotta respect a dude who still uses air tools. Old school all the way. Good video!

This 5 part series is awesome. Thanks very much for creating them an posting. I just finished the full job on my 05 outback and I relied heavily on your guidance. I couldn't be happier with the results. Thanks again!

Fantastic- looks like you've been making vids for years. I almost took on one of those jobs last year , never did one before and it seems my quote for labour was too expensive at $500. They decided to go with two cans of bars leak, seems to have worked great until they came back in the fall and complained the coolant leak was back and for some unexplained reason they have no heat :) I said go try some more bars leak- they haven't been back , mechanic in a can. LOL. Thanks for doing this Eric. Steve

i was once going buy a subaru because i had some kind of affinity for horizontally opposed boxer style engines after flying airplanes that all had 4 cylinder horizontal engines.....i'm glad i resisted the temptation and went ahead to buy a small mazda car that has never given a moment's trouble of any kind in 10 years except needing new tires

Thanks for taking the time to make this video series. You asked for feedback: It would be helpful if you pointed out the importance of setting top dead center and how to do that before proceeding past that point in the tear-down. This is a really helpful video series.

Eric thank you so much for making this video. It has helped me out on my 2007 Outback immensely! THANK YOU!

WOW! What can I say Eric…you are great. Thank you for doing this. Your efforts are appreciated! It seems you've been shooting repairs forever! God bless sir!

Love these longer videos, thank you.

You just gave me a tip that will save me so many headaches...(Use the Hose pliers to remove connectors!) ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Subaru head gasket issues seem to mainly affect 2.5 liter EJ series engines with non turbo engines. Always replace these gaskets with the turbo engine gaskets regardless.

Excellent videos, descriptions and camera views. Just bought a 2001 outback and will be relying a lot on this head gasket video. Hopefully the layout is similar. Thanks for all the hard work!!!

hey man, i appreciate that you took the time to make these videos! I am a beginner mechanic and this would take a lot of patience to record and that it helped alot!

Pretty tight working space in that compartment Eric, you are darn calm considering. i bought an -06 with a blown head gasket one side for super cheap and going to watch your whole series of five vids before i even start work on mine, love your work by the way, good clear instructions and advice Thanks for the time this must take to do and post.

these are great videos very informative. i have the exact same subaru and im replacing the head gaskets. its my first time doing so. and these videos were really helpful . you do a great job.

Great video of a really complex job. You are a master craftsman, for sure.

I have watched this about 7000 times... same as the cam sprocket torque. Thanks for putting this together

Awesome instructions, I am following step by step to replace head gaskets on my 2000 Outback. Couldn't do it without Eric.

Thanks for taking the time and effort making these vids. I just had that damn Radiator drain plug fail while jamming down the freeway and cooked my 02 WRX wagon.... then got the dreaded water from the drain plug and oily gurgles in the expansion tank! So looking at head gaskets minimum, hopefully not a full rebuild as I got her shit down quickly and was running fresh premium synthetic oil. Happy to have a shop with a Bendpac in it to work out of. Edit: tore into it and had coolant pouring from the exhaust manifold!!!!

You doing good man..ready for part 2🙏🏾

Thank you! I'm looking forward to the rest of the videos. I have an 02 with 195k I've owned for three years. I put some stop leak in two years ago, and a water pump last year. My 95 legacy made it to 208k but was very rusty. I like the pliers you used to take of connections and removed the fuel lines.

Excellent vid, really!!!! TY soooo much! I know enough to know you know what your doing and love your personality and sense of humor! I also know I don't want to do this myself....LOL. I have worked on everything from weed eaters, Chain saws, cycles, cars, farm tractors....on and on and im sick of it.... now..... I have taken over my wife's business and now sell avon...LOL, Life is a trip! I have a good friend who is a professional mechanic and I will pay him to do it. You remind me so much of him. TY for the vid!

Great vid. I'd love to see the other parts. I have to do this job on an EJ252 to do a valve adjustment in the near future, so always good to see the process of pulling this engine out.

This video series gave me the confidence to replace the gaskets on my 01 Legacy. Been watching your channel since mid-2010s. I just pulled both heads today, dropping off at the machine shop tomorrow. Thanks, buddy!!! I also used a 3/8" drive Earthquake XT impact from Harbor Freight to do this job (I bought it years ago), as well as socket wrench and regular wrenches. I highly recommend an impact for this job. I tried loosening the crank pulley bolt with a regular socket wrench but was having trouble. I then used the Earthquake XT and that zipped the bolt off no problem! Same with cam bolts. I'm about 15 hours into this job so far, for reference. Just take your time!

I am a self taught mechanic and a Subaru lover. I have done the head gaskets, timing belts twice thanks to KZfaq. My method is to pull the engine. With all the things to come off and the way it is put together it comes out easily I was able to have the motor on a stand in 4hours with basic tools.

Good thing I watched this video all the way through. My brother was a Subaru mechanic and ALWAYS pulls the motor to do the heads. I have never done one either way so I can say if one way is easier than the other but if you have tried it then you know!

Yeah, it would be hard to record and repair at the same time -- you're very dedicated, especially on a job like this. But it will make for an interesting vid, and I'm sure Subaru owners will love you! Hope you get LOTS of views -- you will deserve it after all the hard work

A new Subaru slogan I thought of - "Love where it leaves you".

After watching this, I'm gonna sell my Subaru. Can't afford to have that kind of work done to it and I'm simply not going to tackle a job that big. I'd have all the bolts and hoses in the wrong place and end up with a ton of extra parts. 😂😂😂

I think Avril Lavigne wrote a song about that job, "Complicated"

This is an insane amount of work. Why does Subaru make this job so hard!?

You got skills man thank you for the information

Love that POWERBAR. soo cool and thats how to make your life easier.

Thanks, I appreciate your time and effort.

Eric!!!!! I love subarus!!!!! Can't wait to watch all 5 videos of them!!!

You really have it going on..not a subaru fan at all admire your patience..

I like everything you do

Awesome vid man! Im about to start on mine this weekend.

Excellent video. Thank you.

Great video Bossman. You make it look simple. I was in line with you until you took the belt off. can't wait to watch you put'r back on. oh ya, btw, I seem to have seen a case of beer at Steve's with yer name on it. I told Steve that a name on the case of beer rule is i auto-delete if not drunk within 24 hours of purchase. After all, possession is 10/10ths of the law. Told him to tell ya that it's prolly best for you to bring another case - just so you all can talk story about it ;) Of course that is based on the Super-Seeding Man Rule #1 .. Always Bring More Beer!

Yay! I get to do this as soon as the weather permits!

love these videos!!

Eric: Can't thank you enough for all your Subaru videos. This weekend I completed replacing the head gaskets on my 2008 Impreza SOHC with the engine in the vehicle as you demonstrate in these videos. Many people I talked to said it couldn't be done this way. You helped me prove them wrong. I didn't get as much side to side movement of the engine as you did so it was tough getting the heads on all by myself. Kept knocking the gasket off with the bolts. Could have filled a jar with quarters for all the swear words I said during that part of the job. I spent about 4 months preparing to do the job to identify what parts I needed, what other things I should inspect/replace, and what tools I'd need to buy or rent. Your videos were key to giving me the courage/confidence to take on the job by myself. Up to this point I'd never done anything more complicated than changing spark plugs, light bulbs, and brake pads. Given my wife and kids depend on this car and I didn't have the money to pay a shop to do the work over again I put a lot of pressure on myself not to screw it up. I especially appreciated you taking the time to talk about tools and giving such a detailed demonstration on how to adjust the valve clearance. None of the videos from other people on KZfaq talked about this important step. The right tools and an excellent mechanic as a teacher / coach made the job possible and certainly increased the quality of the work I did. I literally had your video running on one side of my laptop and a PDF copy of the factory service manual up on the other side throughout the project following along step by step. There were definitely some differences between the year/model in your videos and mine. Especially when it came to the torque sequence. The Snap-On ATEC torque wrench and the timing belt pulley pliers made a huge difference though. After a week of vacation the car started right up and purred like a kitten. My wife and friends were really impressed and I told them I owed it all to people like you. Unfortunately I live in Washington state and can't stop by your shop and thank you in person so I hope this comment does justice in communicating how much I appreciate you sharing your expertise with all the weekend warriors like me. I wish and your family all the best and will definitely be using your other videos to keep my cars in top condition.

Congrats 80K viewers, Eric is that worthy of a shot lol? rarely see Fords, or Chevy's with head gasket trouble, like my 3.5 in my 2013 Taurus

Hey Eric! Draining a Subaru coolant is so easy there are two plugs at the bottom of the engine that drain all the coolant out of the engine.

Nice job. I always wonder how you guys keep a track of the hose connections, what bolts go where and what connectors go where especially after you just throw it all in a pan. Much respect.

I did this repair 18 months ago thanks. I wish i had also, 1. Pulled out the AT dipstick just for 2 seconds when I had the heads off because when I went to remove it afterwards it was stuck. It was a bear to break loose. Heads off there would have been lots more room. 2. Consider replacing 3 inch long fuel hoses when manifold is off car. It seems like the fuel hardlines are like an octopus and kind of tied or welded together so it's not so easy to push an individual line aside to install a new hose. Supposedly the hoses get stiff with age and leak if temps drop below 17 degrees F. Also make sure all hose clamps are orientated so they are easy to tighten from above.

I think you are doing great . It is hard to make a video and keep track of both so you do not forget something on camera . And things are just harder to do trying to stay out of the cameras way . but think you done well. I like the power bar.

I've been following stuzman52 's posts and watching your videos. Seeing a lot of good info and that power bar is going to be on my shopping list! Looking forward to more of your vids!

great vids keep them coming

You might want to check into a mac or aircat short/compact 1/2" impact. They have some really decent snap. I'd recommend them. Maybe you could give em a shot and give your opinion. Worked great on a harmonic balancer on a 2003 durango. Another very educational video!

Just started watching this series. Would love to see you do a set of head gaskets on a 12 Subaru Hatchback with the FB20 in it to show how drastically different those 2 motors are in comparison.

That Power bar sounds like a cool tool, I've never seen one. A great idea when you have to approach from the side. With all the flared steel at the hammer end, you've used it for decades. A quick search shows that Mac still sell them. It looks like something I could make with the welder and a little time. Presumably the joint is a simple bushing?

Please try taking the radiator, fans, overflow bottle out as a whole unit. That’s the way I do it and it saves quite a bit of time versus they way you’ve done it here. Just disconnect the hoses and fan connectors and out she comes.

Just did headgaskets on a 07 impreza at work, just machined the heads, then all new gaskets including oil pan. Slight differences in removal of the accessories.

Dang E O watching this old video with you dragging that air hose behind you seems strange after watching you run all that battery powered hand tools today ,I no we need air but battery powered tools have come a long way enjoy watching your video, your fan jeff w you do great work.

several tools especially made for the harmonic ballancer bolt removal tool as well as the cam shafts. sometime have to weld nut on camshaft bolt to get it out its an allen socket....

thanks a lot.happy thanksgiving

I like the anti-thumb detector guard that tool has.

Excellent vids my brother..and a new Powerbar will soon find a new home with my tools

big job, well done...

You are very smart guy, i usually watch ETCG "Eric" a lot but i believe are great too! Your videos are straight forward to the point repairs with great dialog. Keep the videos coming please very informative and interest to watch.

Also Eric, i have noticed numerous times that you need to drain your air compresser tank, because water is coming out of your air tool's exhaust, this is an indecation that you need to drain the tank, because otherwise the same thing will happen to you as me where it will damage your air tools due to lack of lubercation, therefor rust can occure in the air chambers, theirfor siezing your air tool's ability to operate.

I'm watching closely. I've got this job in my near future. Lol

love your videos thanks

Very straight forward job @SouthMainAutoRepairLLC

just a tip to helpout bro, I've worked on these motors for years, my way of doing it is pull out the whole motor put it on the engine stand and you can strip that cyclinder head down in no time, without trying to squeeze in that small space, pulling the motor out will take 40 mins max depending if it's a non turbo or twin or single stage turbo, in your case should be a breeze as its a SOHC standard motor, the thing I stuck with is when I took it to the machine shop depends on there work load lol, anyway you can try it, you will know how easy it is and how quick you progress, as I tried that before and it's a pain trying to squeeze everything in the engine bay ,I feel your pain , its one of the reasons why I like working on these motors as there are only a handful qualified mechanics that can work and find symptoms when these box motors start to fail , I must say when you finished installing all the high performance parts in it, it's pretty much bulletproof engine hopefully I'm helpful to your vedio good luck bro

@26:13 when doing steam flanges we called these 'striker' wrenches & they came in different forms - neat to see the automotive side =)

really appreciate this video; God bless you

Thanks for taking us along Eric. Remind me never to buy a Suburu... Argh! 2 days to change the valve cover gaskets? Too much!

Ah yes. The 100,000 mile headgasket change Subaru's always require.

Great video! I have done timing belts on these engines but never head gaskets. I am surprised that you only broke one bolt considering you are in central NY. I am on Long Island and I see lots of rust from the salt air by the ocean.

I will never own a Subaru! This video is awesome and I will never work on a Subaru period! So much to take apart just to get to the motor. I am an analog guy living in a digital world!

Eric, thank you so much for making these videos. Because of them I was able to do this myself, first time too. Is there a way I can donate to your shop with a go fund me or something? You saved me some serious dollars and I learned a lot in the process too. Thanks again and hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

i could really use some tech support here. Just got finished installing the fel pro perma torque head gaskets in my 190k 1998 legacy outback wagon and re installing the engine.It went well, the engine fired right up and idled very good in the beginning with good throttle response. After good power first test drive I noticed a cel on , it was for the map sensor low input.It began sputtering and acting like it was going to die. I was able to remember having pinched off that small one way check valve that goes to the map on removal. i ran straight hose to verify, and it cleared the code. During that time, i had already removed the tps i cant really tell you why, i was going to clean it or inspect it.any way essentially, i have fixed one code and made a new one. now its for the tps low circuit. I have tried to clock it back into the correct position, and Have gotten the cel to stay off. It has even driven alot better with great response (once).The next morning it was back to sputtering under quick abrupt acceleration, but driving ok ( jumpy response) with light acceleration even building up to fully depressed making good power in high end rpm. i am wondering if i may have connected the fuel rails supply lines backwards? or is that even possible? thanks alot! any advice is greatly appreciated! 

Thats a Ej251 but this a great series to detail the little bits and pieces involved.

Was going through your vids. came across this one, LOL. DAMN Sir O. You almost made me spit my coffee all over my computer right out of the gate. YOU SAID, I don't know if this will be a 1 part 2 part or 37 part series, LMFAO, SIR O. Been there, also did timing belts on the ROO'S.

I ended getting a 2017 Chevy Cruze and releasing my 2007 Subaru Forester 2.5. AWD. The Forester only had 81,064 miles but after finding the costs and procedures required to replace head gaskets at this timeframe. It was better to let the dealership deal with it than me. Cause it was my only transportation At least the Forester debt was wiped clean with the transaction.

I really can't find fault with any of your videos. I think part #5 knocked the ball outta the park. That engine should have many more miles of good service left in it or until the rods start hammering. If I wasn't a tech myself I would want you repairing my car. I don't care if your videos are long or short I would watch them anyway. NICE job Eric.

People that buy those Subaru's really like them. They make good rally cars too.

2020 keep going man

Great video. Definitely deters me from buying a Subee

Keep doing it the way u r doing it. It is excellent!! Tell us more about that power bar that u used to take off crank bolt.

If you close your eyes your at the DENTIST!!!!! NEAT

Great series. Do you know if this same method of getting at the heads can be done on a 2007 Outback? Thanks.