Repost for the Daytime Crowd: Bad News on Subie

"commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)" (warsstar)
10/03/2014 at 15:46 • Filed to: Subaru

As some of you know, this is my second Subaru, silver Subie. She was preceded by green Subie, who I found out after a few months of ownership, had bad head gaskets. I started looking for a replacement car, as I knew I didn't have the time to fix her right away and wasn't sure if it would be worth it. I found silver Subie, who had just had the head gaskets changed. I bought her, thinking I'd have 100K worry free miles ahead of me. I sold green Subie after a year of kicking around the idea of fixing her before deciding I didn't have the time. Well, just this week, I ran into the office to get something and left Subie idling. When I came back a couple minutes later, the temp needle was pegged. It went down as soon as I started driving though. When I got home, I check the overflow tank. The coolant was murky and smelled of oil and exhaust. So now I have another Subie with bad head gaskets, after maybe 20K miles on the new gaskets. Overall, this one is in much better shape than green Subie was at this point. The plan is to preemptively yank the thermostat, allowing me to keep driving without worrying about overheating. I am going to save money, either for a new car, (SVX, a Baja, or a post head gaskets Subaru) or for a bulletproof EJ22 swap. I will probably end up doing the swap, as it will be around $1000 to do it right, including the engine and parts that I will replace before putting it in.

DISCUSSION (8)

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
10/03/2014 at 15:52

Man, that sucks. Head gaskets are probably my single least favorite part of a car...I mean I had a Cadillac with a NorthStar. Hope pulling the thermostat works, though you might have an issue with the car not coming up to heat.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
10/03/2014 at 15:53

I've gotten the impression that a lot of the trick of trouble-proofing a Scooby 2.5 that's lost head gaskets is re-doing it *right*. Layered Viton gaskets or nothing, truing the heads, etc etc. The head pull itself actually seems to be not that bad if you know what you're doing. Very easy to get the job itself wrong, or use questionable gaskets, of which there are many.

commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads) > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/03/2014 at 16:21

Green Subie had her thermostat removed as well, so I know all about no heat lol. In fact, that's how I discovered the head gasket issue, I had no heat when I started driving, and I went to replace the thermostat only discover it was missing.

commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/03/2014 at 16:24

Yup. If I end up doing the swap, I may rebuild the 2.5 and sell it. Or just scrap/part it out and be done with it.

ilostmypants > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
10/03/2014 at 16:56

I havent done it yet, buta feiend changed both headgaskets on a NA impreza at a relaxed pace in a weekend,

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
10/03/2014 at 18:49

We've all been there, finding somebody else's bandaid. I personally can't wait for somebody to buy my F150 and see the part of the exhaust which I fixed (and I'm using that term just as loosely as the English language will let me) using a Spaghetti O's can and hose clamps.

commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads) > ilostmypants
10/03/2014 at 20:13

I have no doubts about my abilities to do it, it's more just worries about what happens if I get in there and I break something or find something unexpected. This is my DD and I really don't have a backup. With another engine, I can get it prepped and then swap it when it's ready.

Also the whole "2.5 eating gaskets" deal

commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads) > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/03/2014 at 20:15

lol, I have that fix on my Chevy 1500. It was amazing just how quiet that simple fix made it. I'm sorta sad about it though, that exhaust leak note was glorious.