jongig Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 That's right I don't think it's fair. I own a 99 Legacy Outback Wagon 2.5L and while driving the car I noticed the temperature guage showed the engine overheating. No warning (idiot) lights or steam or sign of a problem. I shut the engine down and noticed the coolant was low, I filled it and drove to a garage. By the time I got to the garage, 1/4 mile it was starting to overheat again. I now have cracked heads and probably a car that's ruined all because of a small coolant leak. Why doesn't the car have a coolant sensor? I've spoke very highly of this car until now and it looks like this is a normal problem. I get this car checked, I change the oil and I keep it clean, for what, now I have a beautiful worthless car. Sorry for ranting. Any ideas or ways I should approach this that I may have not thought of? Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 My opinion... it doesnt need a light because it has a guage. If the guage is higher than normal (like ANY higher) then you should automatically know to check the coolant level. Just gives you a reason to check the guage now and then (I check mine like every few minutes... like once a minute if sitting in traffic) Even when I drive my mom's 96 impreza I still watch all the guages... just comes from having a car with 300K I guess you have to EXPECT stuff will go wrong and therefore catch it early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajavwnsoobnut Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 how many miles are on your 99? If you already went in for the recall stuff then you might be able to have it repaired by subaru if it's less than 100,000 miles but other than that you could also look into a Japanese Import motor for replacement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 That's right I don't think it's fair. I own a 99 Legacy Outback Wagon 2.5L and while driving the car I noticed the temperature guage showed the engine overheating. No warning (idiot) lights or steam or sign of a problem. I shut the engine down and noticed the coolant was low, I filled it and drove to a garage. By the time I got to the garage, 1/4 mile it was starting to overheat again. I now have cracked heads and probably a car that's ruined all because of a small coolant leak. Why doesn't the car have a coolant sensor? I've spoke very highly of this car until now and it looks like this is a normal problem. I get this car checked, I change the oil and I keep it clean, for what, now I have a beautiful worthless car. Sorry for ranting. Any ideas or ways I should approach this that I may have not thought of? Thanks, John That totally sucks. You either get a light or a gauge. I would rather have a gauge than a light myself. I would get a new motor from http://www.ccrengines.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 That's right I don't think it's fair. I own a 99 Legacy Outback Wagon 2.5L and while driving the car I noticed the temperature guage showed the engine overheating. No warning (idiot) lights or steam or sign of a problem. I shut the engine down and noticed the coolant was low, I filled it and drove to a garage. By the time I got to the garage, 1/4 mile it was starting to overheat again. I now have cracked heads and probably a car that's ruined all because of a small coolant leak. Why doesn't the car have a coolant sensor? I've spoke very highly of this car until now and it looks like this is a normal problem. I get this car checked, I change the oil and I keep it clean, for what, now I have a beautiful worthless car. Sorry for ranting. Any ideas or ways I should approach this that I may have not thought of? Thanks, John John you must be a newbie to this board, otherwise you would already know about the infamous 2.5 DOHC "Phase 1" engine. Boy, if you had a dollar for every person that has posted on this board about the head gaskets failing on their Phase 1 engine, you could afford to buy a new car!! What can can you expect from Subaru? Nada, zippo, null set, goose egg, and, of course, squat. The Phase 1 was not the greatest engine. I hope you, and all the others didn't mind being beta testers for the engine that eventually lead to the much improved Phase II. Honesty, I am sorry to hear of your trouble, because it is not fair. It seems that short of a successfull class action suit, Subaru will do very little to help customers with failed 2.5L Phase I engines, once they are out of warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Not sure but I think the recall and coolant additive that extended warranty to 100K on HG was on MY 2000 and up and applied to external head gasket leaks. I believe yours is the internal HG leak which SOA never acknowledged as being a problem... just a cash cow for repairs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 About light or gauge, I think that to be useful a temp gauge should have an alarm set at a predetermined temp. It's too easy to be disctracted and not have an eye on the gauge at the worst moment. These gauges exist (seen some in a catalog a while back) and I'm probably going to install one since my car is entering its tenth year. Should be same for the oil pressure gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 were between $12,000 to $16,000 that came out of my pocket. I wired them with a manual temp guage, an electric temp guage, and two senders that grounded when hot that I ran to one large red light and one horn for a fire alarm. I suspect that if I had a phase 1 I would at least be tempted to put an additional warning system on. My BMW has a $12,000 engine without a guage for oil pressure and I have temptations to run a guage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 What more do you want? A 10,000 decible alarm that sounds when it goes over half on the temp guage? It's not the cars fault you didnt stop in time or that you overheated it again knowing it had a problem. A guage is 1000000000 times better than an idiot light. When an idiot light comes on its TOO LATE. A guage is there so you can pay attention to your car and catch a problem before its too late. Still under warrenty? Time to talk to the stealership. Not under warrenty? Time to decide how much the car is worth to you.... new heads and new head gaskets or sell it and get something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jongig Posted October 15, 2004 Author Share Posted October 15, 2004 I thank you all for taking the time to reply to me. Just a couple notes on this. I also like the guages and I also check them by the minute I think. The guage hand moved up and I turned the car off. The light I want in the car is a light for coolant level. My BMW drove me crazy, 1 pint low in fluids and it made you push a button acknowledging the problem. The leak on the Subaru was very small and probably took weeks to leak out. I like this car more than the BMW because I have a kid and live on a dirt road in snow country but this car should have lasted much longer. Today I'm driving a new 05 Outback, blood red turbo XT and I feel awful. My 99 rides just as nice, and clean, looks as nice. These days at 42 years old I like new things but I really love keeping old things that work well and when you take care of something so expensive you expect that it will last. I am interested in the class action. This car was purchased used with about 50K and was serviced at the dealer and I was never notified about the recall. The car now has about 120K on it but after looking online at the recall information they could have advised me. It also looks like in the recall that the additional warranty doesn't apply unless you're the original owner. Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenner55 Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 John, As noted this is a common problem with the DOHC engines and is not being acknowledged by SOA as something they need to fix or be concerned about. The recall was not applicable to this engine, as I chased SOA on that point only the later version SOHC in Legacy/Forrester/Impreza cars in 2000 and on. My 99 GT had the head gasket go at 134K miles and was fixed by the dealer for $1200, luckily no head damage as I was told. If you're going to chase SOA with any sort of class action suit let me know since I share your belief that SOA has failed to address an obvious and well documented problem. While I had a lot of faith in Subaru and have recommended them to many people I'm beginning to suspect that they are moving towards a more marketing driven approach at the expense of some of their reliability and longevity. Glenn I thank you all for taking the time to reply to me. Just a couple notes on this. I also like the guages and I also check them by the minute I think. The guage hand moved up and I turned the car off. The light I want in the car is a light for coolant level. My BMW drove me crazy, 1 pint low in fluids and it made you push a button acknowledging the problem. The leak on the Subaru was very small and probably took weeks to leak out. I like this car more than the BMW because I have a kid and live on a dirt road in snow country but this car should have lasted much longer. Today I'm driving a new 05 Outback, blood red turbo XT and I feel awful. My 99 rides just as nice, and clean, looks as nice. These days at 42 years old I like new things but I really love keeping old things that work well and when you take care of something so expensive you expect that it will last. I am interested in the class action. This car was purchased used with about 50K and was serviced at the dealer and I was never notified about the recall. The car now has about 120K on it but after looking online at the recall information they could have advised me. It also looks like in the recall that the additional warranty doesn't apply unless you're the original owner. Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 and it did apply. But I am fairly sure it does not cover your car. It only covers phase 2 cars and I believe your car is fitted with a phase 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 John, I agree with your sentiments. Unfortunately SOA has tried to keep this problem quiet. This website is an aberation from the norm in that there are many here who are real car enthusiasts. Cars are not sold just to this type but rather to the many others who barely know where the gas filler cap is located. The newer Subes don't seem to share the reliability of the 1st Gen variety and the price tag has certainly strayed from the utilitarian. Still I recently bought an 05 OB i Ltd and this is now the 4th Sub I've owned. If you bought the 99 from a dealer, I would think you should have received the courtesy of advisory and extended coverage. As I stated earlier, I wasn't sure if the 99 was covered for external HG leaks but you seem confident so, contact SOA and beat them 'till they are dead and then kick them twice afterwards. Wait for a response and then repeat the procedure mentioned above. G'luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajavwnsoobnut Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 As I have mentioned before History repeats itself cause of the EA-63 incident in which case they were open decked (as like the EJ-25's for the most part) and there was a class action lawsuit against them here is the information about that http://jon.in.ct.home.att.net/Osborne_v_SoA.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Doesn't seem that the class action was allowed by the courts! So what is the next best step? The time frame seems shorter than the class action mentioned but I guess you'd be better off spending your time pleading your own case. They have the law power to wear you down. Contact SOA directly and ask how THEY have decided to respond to the well documented problem with these HGs. Speak of their supposed reputation for reliability. If they balk,at least ask if they will make accomodations to purchase of new vehicle since you may still be inclined to trust their reliability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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