Toyota 86/ FRS / BRZ Blown Head Gasket - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Twin-Dragons · 09-02-2018, 01:35 AM

Im sure most of you guys are familiar with Subaru head gasket issues.

That being said, has anyone on here has blown a head gasket or a leak?

Ive noticed these problems were common when their cars hit around 100k. It has been 5 years since the 86/BRZ has been released, so I would like to see if any problems has arise in our cars.

Any high mileage people feel free to chime in.

humfrz · 09-02-2018, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twin-Dragons

Im sure most of you guys are familiar with Subaru head gasket issues.

That being said, has anyone on here has blown a head gasket or a leak?

Ive noticed these problems were common when their cars hit around 100k. It has been 5 years since the 86/BRZ has been released, so I would like to see if any problems has arise in our cars.

Any high mileage people feel free to chime in.

Oh, although my 2013 FR-S is about 5 years old, it's not high mileage, I have never had any head gasket problems.

From what I've read on this forum, head gasket problems with the FA20 engine are rare on a stock engine. So, I think you can relax -

humfrz

Mr.ac · 09-02-2018, 03:30 AM

90k and going. Bone stock. Zero problems. Well engine wise anyway.
Only major issues was the throw out bearing at 75k.
Other than that leaky cam plate sensor at 55k. Seems like it's back again but too minor to get it fixed.

Tcoat · 09-02-2018, 11:23 AM

Just becuase other Subaru engines had issues does not mean they all do. There have been maybe two reported here. Not even a blip statisticaly. I do not see these being a problem.

Jegan_V · 09-02-2018, 03:47 PM

One Subaru engine was the common culprit with a high frequency of blown head gaskets and that was the EJ25. The earlier EJ22 on the other hand was extremely durable and extremely rarely blew a head gasket. The blown head gasket on a EJ25 was most serious on the DOHC versions of the engine basically the late 90s Subarus, those leaked coolant internally and caused serious problems. Later EJ25s were SOHC and the big change here is when the head gasket blew on these, the coolant leak was external and no longer catastrophic as it was previously. Subaru has revised this head gasket a few times, thus far EJ25s with the new revised head gaskets appear to operate fine for the moment.

Our FA20 is quite a lot different from the EJ family and our FA is a lot closer to the Subaru FB engines. A change on the FB engines over the EJ is that they don't have coolant passing through the head gasket, an attempt to further reduce the chance of oil and coolant mixing. So the same issues with blown head gaskets of the past will at the minimum not affect the newer Subarus in the same way. Any engine however can blow a head gasket, you just hope its when the car is finally done after several years of service.

That said Prodrive has made a Subaru engine without head gaskets. If it can be mass produced who knows, Subaru might actually build that instead and at that point the head gasket problem is unquestionably over.

09-02-2018, 01:35 AM	#1
Twin-Dragons Banned Join Date: Jun 2018 Drives: toyota 86 Location: ?? Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Mentioned: 6 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Toyota 86/ FRS / BRZ Blown Head Gasket Im sure most of you guys are familiar with Subaru head gasket issues. That being said, has anyone on here has blown a head gasket or a leak? Ive noticed these problems were common when their cars hit around 100k. It has been 5 years since the 86/BRZ has been released, so I would like to see if any problems has arise in our cars. Any high mileage people feel free to chime in.

09-02-2018, 03:30 AM	#3
Mr.ac [insert cool phrase here] Join Date: Aug 2015 Drives: BRZ Premium Location: Central Coast CA Posts: 2,369 Thanks: 709 Thanked 1,558 Times in 930 Posts Mentioned: 30 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	90k and going. Bone stock. Zero problems. Well engine wise anyway. Only major issues was the throw out bearing at 75k. Other than that leaky cam plate sensor at 55k. Seems like it's back again but too minor to get it fixed. __________________ New daily driver - Subaru BRZ Premium Weekend fun/track car - '91 MR2 Turbo Gen3 Old daily driver - '88 MR2 Supercharged

09-02-2018, 11:23 AM	#4
Tcoat Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Drives: 2020 Hakone Location: London, Ont Posts: 69,845 Thanks: 61,656 Thanked 108,286 Times in 46,456 Posts Mentioned: 2497 Post(s) Tagged: 50 Thread(s)	Just becuase other Subaru engines had issues does not mean they all do. There have been maybe two reported here. Not even a blip statisticaly. I do not see these being a problem. __________________ Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar, because Racecar.

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09-02-2018, 03:47 PM	#5
Jegan_V Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Drives: 2023 Subaru BRZ Location: Toronto Posts: 433 Thanks: 67 Thanked 275 Times in 156 Posts Mentioned: 5 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	One Subaru engine was the common culprit with a high frequency of blown head gaskets and that was the EJ25. The earlier EJ22 on the other hand was extremely durable and extremely rarely blew a head gasket. The blown head gasket on a EJ25 was most serious on the DOHC versions of the engine basically the late 90s Subarus, those leaked coolant internally and caused serious problems. Later EJ25s were SOHC and the big change here is when the head gasket blew on these, the coolant leak was external and no longer catastrophic as it was previously. Subaru has revised this head gasket a few times, thus far EJ25s with the new revised head gaskets appear to operate fine for the moment. Our FA20 is quite a lot different from the EJ family and our FA is a lot closer to the Subaru FB engines. A change on the FB engines over the EJ is that they don't have coolant passing through the head gasket, an attempt to further reduce the chance of oil and coolant mixing. So the same issues with blown head gaskets of the past will at the minimum not affect the newer Subarus in the same way. Any engine however can blow a head gasket, you just hope its when the car is finally done after several years of service. That said Prodrive has made a Subaru engine without head gaskets. If it can be mass produced who knows, Subaru might actually build that instead and at that point the head gasket problem is unquestionably over.

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