Here's my sad sack story, looking for sympathy; A while back I stumbled onto a Subaru Outback that suffered from benign neglect but was cheap so I suggested it for a friend's son. I was tasked to buy it, make it mechanically as good as it can be for the friend's son and I would be compensated for the effort. So, after doing lots of servicing, including timing belt, water pump, etc. I failed to properly bleed the cooling system and managed to briefly overheat it on a test drive while preoccupied with attempting to diagnose a brake issue:banghead3:. These cars are notorious for fragile head gaskets and sure enough I seem to have managed to pop one(?). I had barely turned a wheel on it before starting work, maybe it was bad before but the fact remains it needs to be done. The folks wanting the car have been very patient while I did more and more work as I found and repaired faults here and there with the car. I'm now fed up to here`` with this car and told them to buy another car since I have little ambition to yank the lump out of this turd right now. ANYWAY, once the HGs are done it ought to be about perfect mechanically, the body is pretty good and the interior almost as new. I was hoping for a BMW, MB or pre '73 domestic but it looks like I'm stuck with this for a while. Tell me it's a real wagon boys, so I can keep it a while and amortize my considerable investment. I need something to haul pic-nic gear and dogs. "Tell me something good" Chaka Khan
The good thing is that ALL those things you fixed are now fixed correctly so you will have worry free driving for quite a while! Let's hope it works that way. One thing for sure, they do drive well, and seem to last a long time if you keep on top of them.
Thanks for the confidence, I'm feeling quite the dope for the overheat. It seems a moderately pleasant car, in an appliance sort of way, and does have a good seating position/visibility. So, does it get "wagon" status??
Bummer about the problems, They look like a "wagon" to me, what year are we talking about? Pics? Remember, no pics, no proof, never happened, you don't have one
Correct. Show us the pictures and we'll decide if it's a wagon or just another "wanna-be." By the way, a buddy came over with a gold HHR today and called it a wagon. Sure looked nice. It reminded me of the red one I almost bought. After I sat in his and played with all the bells and whistles I'm glad I kept my Dodge truck. So, now it's a two part question. Is that "Subaru Out in the back" and an "HHR" wagons? I didn't get pictures of the HHR either but I saw and felt it. It's fun feeling other people's cars!
First, Subaru's are not only "real", they can be addictive as potato chips. I rarely meet someone with only one Subaru. But I wonder if the head-gasket failing was even anything you did. I assume any "cheap" Outback, Forester, or Impreza with a 2.5 liter from the late '90s, earlly 2000's has either a bad headgasket, or the owner knows the headgasket is about to go (it WILL definitely before 150K miles) and is attempting to unload it. Good news, once the oem single layer poc (piece o' crap) gasket is properly replaced with a modern MLS one, then it's a non-issue. Lot's of Subaru love on this forum, both for the imports (Old GLs/Loyales/Imprezas from Japan), AND domestics (Legacys and Outbacks from Indiana). Love to see pics.
Quote: Originally Posted by CatModelT It's fun feeling other people's CARS ! Pervert! I knew I liked you for some reason!----< Misquoted by a misguided soul! Tedy you seem to have ACCIDENTALLY missed a very important word. I was also going to mention those HHR's are CUTE. But I have a fear of sliverfox's who don't use cameras so didn't. We have a friend who has had several Subaru wagons and puts a lot of miles on one before trading. Actually my wife has a friend. I don't!
It's a '99 (EJ25) with 140k so right in the ballpark for the scenario you describe. The coolant overflow tank had some scum in it but no coolant was present in the oil before or after the "episode", the spark plugs removed(WHAT A BITCH!) bore no evidence of coolant in the combustion chambers. The circumstances I bought the car under* lead me to think the seller did NOT know there was a problem if it did indeed pre-exist. Do the cylinder heads usually survive without warping? I will check them anyway but am wondering what to expect. Any suggestions for the preferred gasket brand/type? * A shop owner friend called on me to diagnose a BMW's electrical problems, a car owned by the same fellow who had the Subi. The Subi was in for brake work only. I ended up buying the Subi as the owner decided not to invest in the brakes, tires and heated windshield the car was then needing.
Yes, the Outback is a wagon, since it is a Legacy wagon on a raised suspension. Just the same formula as AMC used years ago for the Eagle wagon. Take a good wagon and hike it in the air for ground clearance, the only difference being that the base Subie wagon was already all wheel drive. Sounds like you are well on the way to having a pretty neat little wagon there. Good luck with her.
Yep, those cylinder heads were on borrowed time regardless of anything you did or didn't do. Since replacing is so labor intensive, in my opinion it's worth it to have the heads trued since they have to be pulled anyway. The real issue is, and hopefully you will be avoiding this one, is that often an owner will put many miles on a 2.5 Subie with failing/failed head gaskets, you know, running a motor with contaminated oil which shortens the life of the bearings. As far as preferred gasket brand, Felpro is good. EDIT: Here's another thread about gasket selection: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...-head-gaskets-week-help-me-select-please.html Mainly just make sure whatever you choose is a quality brand MLS (Multi Layer Steel). The original OEM is single layer, and was unfortunately junk from day one. Here's a link that may be helpful, but there's A LOT of other information online about 2.5 headgasket issues. http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-head-gasket-problems-explained/ Actually there are quite a few folks who deliberately look for 2.5s w/ failed headgaskets as an expensive way to get an otherwise excellent Subaru "on the cheap", especially those who can do the head gasket work themselves. Again, once the OEM gaskets are replaced with quality pieces, it should never again be an issue. Otherwise the 2.5 is an excellent motor, as long as timing belts are religiously changed on shedule (most are 105K, but not sure if they ALL are so take that w/ grain of salt). The 2.5 is an interference engine. Good luck.
