The costs they ask for blow my mind. I did a video on changing the cabin air filter on my Ascent which cost like $20 for the filter. Some people online said dealers were charging anywhere from $100-$220.

Thanks!

I'll have to give that a try next time. This repair is still going and is been a few years.

Thanks!

Can I ask how long the job took? Thinking of doing mine on my 2003. Also did you need to Jack up the engine or was it pretty easy to get the gasket cover out?

I just bought the valve cover gaskets and spark plug tubes from Subaru. Don't buy aftermarket. It took about 3 or 4 hours. No I didn't lift the engine. Also when doing this it'd be a good idea to change spark plugs and wires. Ngk plugs and wires

@@mattjohnson550 Awesome thanks for the info. Yeah I've got some NGK"s and all the rest but no new leads, I'll have to get some. Thanks again

@@stormb3948 there's 2 styles of plugwires at the coil ends so be careful to get the correct ones. I buy most parts off eeb-y by-cause you can see with 99+% pos. +or- fb if the seller is solid. I bought aftermarket gaskets and so far they seem good (2 reviewers said they were adequate) and the kit was under ten bucks so I just gave it a shot vs. 70 bucks for Suby parts. The pass.side took me 2-3 hours but I'm slow. A guy in a suub-group said he posted a video howto do the valve adj. but I didn't look at it and there's X hours in a day; not a bad idea to consider it though, he said it's minor.

I did the pass. side yesterday and the gasket stayed against the head when I removed the cover (05 Forester). I felt around the gasket and it seemed ok so I didn't replace it; and I was running out of sun, getting chilly. Also, the cover doesn't come out the top on pass. side so I just changed the plug gaskets. Sinec I didn't have the cover in my hand I forget about the bolt washers which mostly stuck to the cover, so when I put the short bolt in the center it never caught thread and I remembered the rubber+washer and pulled the short bolt and pryed it loose. Tools will slip out of the hand and get lost in tight places so a magnet helps with that. Wear gloves so you don't soak all that junk into skin through your pores. Careful what you breath working with chemicals, use a respirator if it seems good.

That would have helped! I'll have to do that next time. Thanks for the suggestion.

From a Google search it looks like 3.6 ft-lbs. Personally I just hand tighten until snug as I'm afraid to break the bolts out split the case.

@@BiancoLand_ thanks man

I'd try using a shop vac to suck out as much as possible.

Leave spark plug in, spray brake cleaner in hole, and blow it out with air line and have a rag above hole so it won’t come back into your face. Or push rag into hole and let it absorb brake cleaner with oil.

This was a decent job, if you had taken out the battery and reservoir or fuse box, it would have been a lot easier, well done.

My 1997 I believe has the EJ20. I've replaced the valve cover gaskets while doing a head gasket replacement (it's a nightmare to do) however I have never had the valve covers leak on that car and I've had it 15 years. It is possible for them to warp but I would think it would be very unlikely as they don't get a lot of heat compared to other parts of the engine. If you have leaky head gaskets I would think it is much more likely to have leaky valve cover gaskets because the EJ engines typically over heat a bit causing the heads to warp. If the heads are warping you might have heat transfer causing the valve covers to leak. But again, I've never seen a warped valve cover on any of the 4 Subarus I work on (1997, 2005, 2010 2019) .

No I didn't drain the oil. You'll have a little spill out the bottom but not a whole lot...at least on this 97 legacy.

@@BiancoLand_ nice one . I actually took the cover off this afternoon it was easy enough as I have a scooby engine in my beetle so no problems with access. Cheers for the vid Mr , I’ll be sticking it all back together 2 moz 👍 greetings from London

On the 05 forester you have to remove the plastic mudguards underneath..2 bolts in the middle, and a few of the press-in plastic fasteners, which are brittle; and one of the bolts has had the head scraped off from not clearing the road surface, so, probably some vice-grips.

Is it a good idea to use an aluminum sealant? Or is it on to forgo any sealant? I saw that one expert mechanic Cartuber recommend using it on the corners..,,