BlueSoob Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Well, I'm sitting there, idling at 4:30 am... all of a sudden I hear a buzzing noise, then a pop, then steam comes through my heater vents and out of the hood I thought.. WTF? So I turned off the car and checked to make sure everythign was still attached... nothing was leaking... no signs of anything... I thought hmmm.. this is weird.. a blower motor perhaps? the engine gave me no reason to believe it was upset.. I get it towed anyhow... to the dealership.. They call me at 2:00 to say my car is ready.. I thought -hey, must have been something that came loose or a simple fix. wow- I get there and I'm reading over the comments on the statement and it says I have a leaking head gasket and also an oil leak in one of the cam seals. WONDERFINKINGFUL. I took it over to the service manager to get more info... and he said that the -SUBARU TECH LINE- told the mechanics to put "coolant conditioner" in to stop the leak. WHAT A BUNCH OF FINKING NONSENSE! I thought, hmmm this will last like a snow ball in hades... I was VERY disappointed with that. I know its not the dealerships fault. Next time I'm going to go straight to the Factory Rep and deal with him. 45,907 miles! I have been sooooo good about scheduled maint, oil changes, picky about oil.. etc.. What in the heck happened? I went out and test drove a Jeep Wrangler today.. and a Full size Chevy truck. It was nice... Thinking about a switch.. What a PAIN IN THE KNEE! (Its so hard to express the frustration I feel right now and still be family friendly.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 You did the right thing and its on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathh Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I have the same problem man. All I can say is that ALL of us should call that subaru number (1 800 Subaru4 something like that) get case numbers and COMPLAIN. this is a huge problem with these cars and they have completely abandoned us.... of course, if yours is newer than '99 I think subaru will pay for your head job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adwolf1 Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 that sucks. the best thing to do is not only open a case with subaru by calling the 800#, but also surf on over to edmunds.com, go into the subaru forums, and tell your story to Patti, the subaru rep who actually hangs out on the bulletin boards over there. if you're nice and polite, she'll be able to look at your file and expedite things for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zooma37 Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Does this head gasket problem affect 03 Foresters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nug Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Hey Blue, any updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperRallyRoo Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 I think u jinxed it, didn't you make a topic about when your head gaskets will go? :-\ Its an 03 forestor right? Its under warrenty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 BlueSoob, Sorry to hear of your pain:banghead: Keep us updated on your Forester, Glenn:wave: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixen220 Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Hey folks-- If you have overheating issues with your subarus, please respond to my thread on the ultimate subaru message board under "overheating". I'm trying to compile a complete stack of issues. thanks, Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joybell Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 I also have an 03 Forester that leaked coolant and overheated. It happend on a very cold day and the dealer blamed the coolant hose clamps. That was the first time......and then it happened again on another cold day. Bluesoob, what kind of weather did yours leak in? I think these are not good winter engines. Or maybe it was just coincidence? I'm waiting now to see if it will happen again. I have owned Subarus for 20 years and will NEVER BUY A SUBARU WITH A 2.5L ENGINE AGAIN, nor will I recommend them to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSoob Posted March 27, 2004 Author Share Posted March 27, 2004 it was 45 degrees out. Just at an idle. Nothing out of the ordinary.. except for a strange vibrating sound not long before it happened. I checked everything and couldn't find what was vibrating. I thought it would just be an engine shake. I had no warning- no lamps, NO overheating. I knew to watch the temp gauge but it did not move up or down- not a bit! The coolant smell burned off after 3 days. I kept checkin to make sure nothin was leakin or i was low on anything. So far so good. I"m still nervous. I called my favorite Subaru repair place in Seattle and asked some more detailed questions and just had to realize its too early to tell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joybell Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 Mine was also just at an idle. When it is very cold outside I do not sit in the car and wait for it to warm up. I started it up and went in the house to wait, then went back out about 3-5 minutes later and found an overheated engine and antifreeze smell. The second time there was only the smell and no overheating. From then on I had to sit in the car and wait for it to warm up. Needless to say I used our Chevy truck on very cold days so that I didn't have to sit and freeze in a cold vehicle watching the temp guage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 Amanda, I wouldn't settle for a bandaid approach to repair. If the dealer won't do anything beyond putting oatmeal in the cooling system, take it up with the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce. Bring documentation from the board as assistance to your perspective. There's enough cases of this problem to start a recall. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSoob Posted March 27, 2004 Author Share Posted March 27, 2004 Thats what I planned on doing.. I've been searching out other cases of this happening to other gen 2 2.5s... been checkin around.. Its not the dealership's fault.. Its what the Subaru tech line told them to do.... So I've been workin up a little letter to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 subaru's been having problems with their 2.5s since the early 90s... you should have a leakdown test done at an independent mechanic's shop of your choice... if the test says it's eating a head gasket, then make some noise about it , and if the test says your car's fine, then the money will be worth knowing that. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 What a shame. Why Subaru could build indestructible engines in the past, and not now, is a head-scratcher. So apparently, Phase II EJ25's aren't safe from HG failures either... Do not, under any circumstances, accept this ghetto-rig. The car is still under warranty, they should remove both heads, machine them back to specs, replace them, double-check the head bolt torque, wash the car inside and out, put a brand-new air freshener on your mirror, and wave goodbye to you with a smile even though you didn't pay them one red penny. I would accept no less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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