milo2000

Thanks to all who responded. I found another mechanic who confirmed that the overheating was due to HGs, did not find any cracks but shaved all the HGs and replaced the water pump, etc. for about at least $1300 cheaper than the other mechanic who had quoted me minimum $2,700 to replace the HGs. The temperature is back to normal. I just hope we will not run into this HG issue for a while!

Hi, I had posted to this forum previously regarding a potential Head Gasket problem that my mechanic warned me about. We have a 2000 Forester at 152K miles and have run into an overheating engine issue. Due to the expensive nature of a HG change, we went with the Subaru recommended coolant sealing solution (and a thermostat replacement) after the checkup. For about a month, everything was fine. Last week, the engine started overheating in traffic again. On highways, there is no problem, but as soon as we hit stop-and-go traffic, it starts to overheat again. I checked the coolant level, and it is fine (no leakage). What else may be causing it? What should I be looking at to prevent a potential blown HG? Thanks in advance. Milo

I have a 2000 Forester 2.5, which has 151,000 miles on it. The engine started overheating out of the blue and my trusted mechanic broke the bad news to me today: the coolant is leaking both externally as well as in the engine (as a result of the hydrocarbon test). He suggested to replace the head gaskets and quoted around $2500. If not, he suggested going with the special additive to prevent leakage in the short run. Reading through the forums, it looks like 2.5 engines from 2000 to 2002 have this problem. My questions are (especially to those who have been through this problem) : 1. How effective is the additive solution? 2. If I go ahead with this expensive repair, how likely am I going to have the same problem again (and how much mileage will I get out of the car) 3. Is there a third alternative than replacing the gaskets or using additives? Thanks in advance! Milo in SFO