dyp911e

No doubt about that-I got all the parts from 1stsubaruparts.com or something like that, and they are a dealer on the west coast that happen to have OEM parts at about 25-30% less than my local dealer. I made sure to get the latest gaskets and the guy I spoke with knew way, way more about what I needed than my dealer. I think his name was Jason. I got their name from somebody on this board that set up a website when he replaced his headgaskets by himself. The outback goes to the shop as soon as those parts arrive, so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for all the replies-my independant shop quoted me 11 hours ($660) labor for the headgasket job, and I will purchase the parts myself ($300). This is a major relief, especially going into the holiday season. I had seriously thought of doing the work myself, but the only headgasket I've done myself was on an inline 4 where the engine stayed in the car, and even then it never ran right afterwards. With the price this guy quoted, it's a no brainer especially since that includes the labor to do the valves, install a new water pump, loctite the oil pump plate, and replace all accessible seals. While he's got it apart, I'm going to have the heads and valves sent to the machine shop for an extra $200. I hope to get another 150k out of it, and by then maybe price on the 05 legacy GT wagons will be nice and low. Other than this problem though, it's been a fantastic car, and a calming change of pace from my STi, which brings out my leadfoot too much. I really appreciate the advice-most forums I've used seem to be frequented by the 2F2F kids. This is a valuable resource. Thanks again, and I'll post as soon as the work is complete as a follow up.

Hello all, I generally lurk the STi boards, as that's my "fun" car, but I've experienced my first real problem with my 98 legacy outback with 160k miles. I bought it earlier this year as a beater for around $4300, without doing any research into the inherent engine flaws. I now have blown a headgasket and am now trying to decide what to do. The options I've come to after much online research are: 1. Fix the headgasket with the latest improved headgaskets, and while the engine's out, obviously do the valve shims, all accessible seals, loctite the 5 bolts on the oil pump back plate, new water pump. I just did the timing belt, so at least that's OK. or, 2. Get a rebuilt engine from CCR engines out of denver, specifically the previous generation 2.2L that, from what I've gathered, is far more bulletproof than the 2.5L. The engine price is $1975 + s/h. I'm a bit concerned about any OBDI / OBD II conversion issues, if any. The 2.5 L replacement is $3k, which is out of my price range. The dealer quoted me $2200 just for the headgasket replacement, which is obscene. I have an independant shop getting me a quote for both the HG repairs and for the engine swap. Any tips for those that have been through this? Is it reasonable to expect another 150k miles after doing the repairs, or are there bound to be bigger problems down the road? Thanks in advance. david