ThosL

For the older Subarus it is the least of our worries to over-fill.

Typical symptom according to F and S auto; overheating when you go up a hill; also he said none of the gasket fixes in a bottle work. I said "did you apply for your refund?", he said no. I said I got mine when I used Blue Devil though it took some doing. Also he said air pockets in the system will cause the same symptoms.

I'm looking for a replacement vehicle, probably Subaru. I don't have the tools, etc., to repair or replace the engine, and no one around here would do it for less than $1000. Plus the vehicle isn't worth $1000 even before the head gasket issue. But it still runs like a top.

I'm looking for a used replacement.

So my 2.2 engine overheated significantly over the weekend, one of the narrow finger width hoses over the engine blew and I chanced it driving short distances and putting water in the radiator, while the vehicle was hot with steam coursing out of the two openings on the top of the radiator. I don't know how badly it is damaged. No water or white smoke coming out of the exhaust or oil in the radiator. So what are the levels or engine damage or head gasket problems and symptoms of each with limitations of driving the vehicle? This is my guess: head gasket leak where bubbles come out of the radiator into the overflow tank or become apparent if you have the cap off, minimal bubbling to more serious. How long can a vehicle with the minor problems be driven? Is overheating the main issue? Since steam is so powerful as it builds, what are ways to limit it, by either cooling the engine or taking pressure off it? Does coolant fluid help in these overheating problems or is it just an expensive fluid to be used when the vehicle is running properly? If you have to keep adding fluid, you are burning through a lot of $12 a gallon coolant.

This is either a mechanic's job or an advanced do it yourself type person. Do you have all the tools to do the job? Do you know all the torque settings for replacement of parts where that is critical? Do you have a sufficient garage or other place to do the job? How much experience do you have in doing similar jobs? Do you have any mechanically adept friends who could help you out? How much is your time worth, and would you actually gain by having a reasonably priced mechanic to do it? Look at all options and alternatives. If the engine is the 2.5, notorious for head gasket issues. How bad is it? Maybe re-torqueing the heads is an option? Subaru makes a silicate additive for minor leaks, and there are others with guarantees, with lots of youtube videos on.

I have a friend who asked me to sell a Ford Taurus junker for him though it has a lot less miles and is newer than mine. A lady called up who obviously had significant problems physically, etc.. So I told her it probably wasn't for her though cheap. Never fall in love with a car you have to have.

Most people don't know how to vent out the steam, etc., using the passenger side radiator vent bolt, actually I lost mine on Saturday, and was not able to find a replacement at Auto Zone or Advance Auto, and those guys are leery of coming out to try to help, so I found the right metric thread bolt at Home Depot. But the steam built up with head gasket issues. Since my leak was from the narrow hose over the engine below the throttle body, I did not fix that blown out hose until yesterday, but it is just jerry rigged with a foot of hose I got from Auto Zone spliced in with a worm plastic connector to the old hose. So I'll just have to keep monitoring everything as these engines can heat up quickly if the steam gets bottled up!

Thanks--another option is the plastic vent bolt on the passenger side of the radiator top; so you can release pressure that way; also useful for burping the air out of the system. Also I have run the heat full blast to suck some excess heat from the engine, but now it seems to only be hot part time, which tells me the water is not getting to the heater core all the time or possible air bubbles are making the heater ineffective? Radiator is new last fall; fans are a-OK, thermostat was put in with the new water pump last fall. At that particular point in time, the mechanic who installed the water pump actually said that the gaskets he could see were partially melted at that juncture. I used the K and W Fiberlock then because they thought that the head gaskets might be toast as the bubbles were coming out; but that could have also been the crack in the radiator, which I later replaced. No over heating then until recently.

This is an old thread, I've been perusing it for ideas after my 2.2 overheated several times on Saturday though it had been running like a top with no issues and even passed the emissions inspection with check engine lights off. But now with 292K miles on it, and the likely head gasket issue, I will have to just use it for short trips monitoring the temperature gauge anxiously. I bought another bottle of the K & W Fiberlock, double your money back @ around $40, nothing to lose. The bubbles/steam came out the radiator top bleeder plastic screw, not the radiator cap end. No real option except to try and baby it as spending over $1000 on the head gasket repair is not sensible.

It happened to me once on the highway; tow truck city. Not an easy job; $300-$400?

I found the thin hose on top of the engine had the leak, very hard to get to unless you had super thin fingers to change it.

The other vehicles I had were V8 GM pick-ups, never had engine problems. As they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Most of the work I have had on the car they haven't done much in the way of preventative maintenance.

Thanks a lot for the probable causes. I will limp back to my parking space later and then see if I can find a mechanic to fix it then. I guess it doesn't take much to turn a great running vehicle into a cripple. 2.2 '96 engine in 99 Outback Legacy. So really few options as no one is going to help you fix something like this that makes the vehicle, undriveable, and I don't know any other vehicle that is as prone to engine threatening problems as the old generation Subarus. I just hope the head gasket is not blown. I either had to call AAA to have the vehicle towed, which would easily run into the hundreds or be at the mercy of one of their recommended mechanics and have to find my way back 70 miles away or take my chances with my own attempts to keep the engine in the safe range.

The water was hissing on to the engine, like the leak was hitting the engine, and I saw the dripping directly down from the back of the engine.

This was a shock to me, was driving on the highway, car was running smoothly then I noticed the temperature gauge was inching up toward danger zone. I could hear a hissing sound coming from the middle of the engine; I stopped at an auto parts place they were clueless. From what I have learned water leaks seem to be confined to the radiator and hoses going to and from the engine. Are there any smaller water lines around the engine? I am driving the vehicle back in 7 or so mile stretches as I was 70 miles away from residence when the problem occurred. No fun to have to continually pull over and re fill the radiator and have the steam coming out of the other side as I removed the rubber screw from the other top side of the radiator.

It looks like the fuel injector went bad, they replaced it as I indicated earlier they recommended it though delayed for a few weeks with a switch of two to see if that would help, it didn't. Since she only drives short distances like your grandmother, no real acid test likely for a while.

The check engine light came on again last week; this time she pushed the panic button and called AAA to tow the Subaru. I will try to speak with the last mechanic to check it out tomorrow and see what's next.

OK, thanks for your nice offer of help. The cop did look at the video but said he didn't see anything. But I was on my phone when they returned the car and someone got the keys out and may have grabbed the coin then? I was on the phone in back because it was too loud out front. I wrote out a description of the timeline, etc., they say I don't have any evidence or a case in small claims court.

I'm filing in small claims court, probably the evidence isn't strong enough for the judge to side with me, but too few citizens shrug their shoulders when their rights are violated. To have secure possessions is a very fundamental right.

It was dumb of me, but most service stations and basic service places you can trust the workers totally. In the police report the oil change guy listed his address as the homeless shelter in Norwalk and the intake woman listed her home as the car wash. My options at this point are waiting and hoping the valuable turns up, but pawn shops don't have to do photos of coins just jewelry and similar valuables with a hold period; option 2 is small claims court which is up to a $90 filing fee. NY is $10 or so for claims under $1000. Hopefully this will be a useful alarm for those who go to these places.

This is not really a mechanical question but is relevant to trusting the place you have work done on your car. In this case a "Splash" outfit in Norwalk, CT I paid to have my oil changed. I had bought a rare coin the day before, a high relief 1921 Peace dollar that was uncirculated that was missing a couple hours later when I checked the small group of coins in the tray, including some dingy looking Barber silver coins. So I filed a report with the town's police department, I waited an hour for the cop to be ready to take a report. To his credit, he said he was going up to the place before they closed tonight. What was suspicious, was a woman who handled the oil change cars as they get driven in, came up to me as soon as I went back reporting the missing coin, saying they did not do a vacuum of the car. I spoke to the manager, a nice Hispanic guy and then did the police report. When others get their oil changed do they keep all valuables in the trunk or in back?

So I had the local Hispanic amigos look at this issue today; the main guy is coming back from Columbia on Monday but he said he would do the job. So it was the leak between the cat converter and the pipe going back. Once he got the parts separated, the Napa donut gasket became obviously too big but he said he would try to sandwich it in with the split flange. It was relatively easy, price $60. We still have one of the Y pipe gaskets that is leaking he had no more time today for that.

She'll know in a couple days probably.

They did not charge her anything; one of the guys said he spent an hour on the car; actually they gave her a ride home this morning when she dropped the car off and drove the car to her apartment at end of day after they worked on it! So whatever they did in terms of work is unclear. But very impressive service.