[danvhp]

About six months ago, I bought an engine gasket set for my 98 Forester. I had the infamous blown head gasket problem. I pulled the engine and replaced the head gaskets and all the usual wear items. It has ran great for about 10,000 miles, but the engine started overheating after I got off of the highway tonight. It still runs great though. Has anyone had trouble with the head gaskets that they bought off of Ebay? I would be interested to know.

 

[flstffxe]

Were the heads and block checked/milled for flatness?

I would suspect this to be as much of an issue as potentially cheap HGs.

 

[rsay777]

how could any Forum members know the quality of a part bought from Ebay? ask the seller.

 

[ddavidv]

how could any Forum members know the quality of a part bought from Ebay? ask the seller.

I think he's surveying to see if anyone else has bought them and had issues. Not a stupid question.

In my never-humble opinion, when it comes to something as crucial and expensive to replace as HG's I would not risk saving a few bucks buying an unknown product on Ebay. As our OP is finding out, this is not a job you want to do twice.

 

[ScoobyDoobie]

I think he's surveying to see if anyone else has bought them and had issues. Not a stupid question.

In my never-humble opinion, when it comes to something as crucial and expensive to replace as HG's I would not risk saving a few bucks buying an unknown product on Ebay. As our OP is finding out, this is not a job you want to do twice.

+1

 

[JStorm]

Was this one of those "Erista" gaskets? I bought a kit for an EJ25D a couple years ago and I was not impressed with the headgaskets....they were not MLS, so I didn't use them. The remainder of the parts in the kit were not bad. Even the rubber parts seemed to have held up. (meaning my customer reported no problems after a few months of use).

 

[danvhp]

ddavidv is right. I am trying to see if anyone else has used these head gaskets and then had problems. The head and the block surface were within service limits. The Ebay head gaskets were the graphite looking erista gaskets. It looks like I will be yanking the motor again to replace the head gaskets with the latest from Subaru. At least someone may learn from my experience with these gaskets. I am getting pretty good at doing the engine shuffle. Sucks to be me.

 

[TexasForester]

I actually bought one of the kits and used the gaskets, other than the head gaskets which came from Subaru and valve stem seals which came from Felpro. I wish I had bought a Felpro gasket set and been done. Felpro head gaskets look identical to Subaru,visually, and are all metal w/ a very thin "graphite?" lubricant/coating.

good luck