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broke subaru

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  1. The vehicle referred to here is mine. One of the reasons I think a loose timing belt might be my problem is that the overheating is intermitent. My first mech. replaced the radiator,water pump, thermostat, belt, belt idlers and the belt tensioner. He had to reorder the tensioner 4 times because the first 3 had almost no tension in them. The old belt had a lot of scuff marks on the back of it and he thought it might be slipping on the WP. I took the car to a Subaru dealer because of continued overheating. It did not overheat for them, but did on the way home. They finally diagnosed the blown HG. If the HG caused the overheating why does the OH come and go? Also what caused the first OH ? The radiator was bad (half clogged, probably from the stop leak Subaru put in it) if that caused the first problem why did a new one not fix it? I don't know the answers to these questions and, so far, no one I have taken the car to knows either. I really want to prevent this from happening again whatever the cause. PS: If the belt can bounce due to lack of tension/dampenin/cold fluid or whatever, could it not be skipping on the water pump, causing poor flow?
  2. Thanks. I said I would keep everyone updated so here it is. I went to see my mechanic today, he had the left head off and it did have a blown gasket. He said when he took the timing belt off it was loose and he could spin the water pump by hand. He thinks the belt tensioner was not keeping the belt tight enough and the water pump was not being turned. This caused overheating and the gasket failed. He did not think the gasket was inherently bad. On a good note, he showed me the cylinders and they still had crosshatch hone marks. At 140,000 miles thats pretty impressive. I am starting to believe that, in my case, the problem was not the gasket but the engine cooling system. The original belt tensioner probably wore to point that the belt was not tight enough to consistenly turn the water pump. My first mechanic replaced the tensioner 4 times because each one he was sent did not have adequate tension. I am trying to locate an aftermaket/ high performance tensioner to prevent another overheating problem.
  3. Well I found a mechanic who will do the job for $300 labor. He is an auto and aircraft mech and is familiar with Suabru and this issue. I was convinced he was the man when he said he would refuse the job unless I agreed to have the heads checked by a machine shop and he use OEM or better parts. I'll let you know what he finds out when he opens it up. It's such a shame (sham) that we all have to guess and stumble around out here about whats up with this car when Subaru could just come out and tell us. That honesty would be a nice attempt to keep customers. PS. I am not really a computer savvy person and was wondering if I am on the right section of this site. (is that called a thread ?) Also how do you guys find my posts? I can hardly find my own posts because there are so many sections of this site.
  4. Thanks for the response guys, I really appreciate it. I have been searching this site further and see I am not alone in this problem. I guess in any event I have a pretty big decision to make. Just for more information, my first mechanic said he smelled stop leak on the thermostat when he removed it, and Subaru had, in fact, used the stuff during a recall service a year after we bought the car. He was not sure if that clogged our radiator but I suspect it was the reason. A five year old car MIGHT need a new thermostat but a radiator? I bought Japanese to avoid all this but I guess they're taking lessons from Detroit.
  5. To anyone who can help me out. Sorry about the wordiness. STORY: Our 2001 Outback (140K miles) started with a check engine light and then intermittent overheating. A local mechanic replaced the radiator, water pump, belt tensioner (4 of them since they have a defect problem with them) ect. ect. but $1500 and 4 miles later, same thing. Towed it to the Dealer where we bought it, and they replaced the coil and #3 plug to stop the check engine and a noticable missfire but it did not overheat for them. My wife drove it home (80 miles) and it was almost redline when she arrived. I looked under the hood and the intact ductwork was missing up the the air filter box. The apologetic dealer came and got it and now says $2400 for head gasket replacement. QUESTIONS: Is there a website, aftermarket company, or anywhere I can find good clear and thorough information and instruction on doing this myself. I have lost faith in our dealer, Subaru, and most mechanics. If Subaru had a problem with their design or gaskets how long would a replacement gasket last? I have read many post here with the same problem but have not found where to get the best parts, books ect. Any help or direction on the site is appreciated.
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