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Frankly the leaks on the earlier gaskets started popping up with low mileage. Nobody was paying much attention because they weren't bad. The first owner of my car said she thought it was normal to always have to add a bit of water because the car did it from shortly after new. Cold weather really brought the leaks out when the shrinkage occurred.
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Lots of threads on this. If I were looking I would consider a post 2003 2.5, H6, or the Outback Sport with a 2.2. You stand a bit more of a head gasket problem chance with any DOHC phase 1 2.5 engine. The 99 in Forester and 2000 in Outback-Legacy phase 2 2.5 is a big improvement and only stands the chance of an external leak unless over heated. After 2003 leaks are rare. Most of them that have replacement head gaskets are fine. It is rare to find a good old 2.2 but most of us like them as with good maintence they are a great engine.
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Legacy Sapporo
cookie replied to nixon's topic in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
Remember there may be a difference in gallon size if you don't use liters. -
Sounds like you have already given her good advice. She should follow the break in instructions in the owner's manual like it is a new car. Most dealers don't fix engines anymore, she may have a brand new block from Subaru and her old heads. I'd love it if somebody replaced my engine just before the end of the warranty.
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On my car they may have driven it that way for years. I would have just thought it was a small hose leak or something if I did not rear this board. I crawled under and saw the telltale wet spot. My engine had to come out for a clutch and major service anyway so I had the gaskets changed too. Today I'd probably just add the goop as it is such a small problem if you keep it full. Folks who don't go under the hood much have had serious problems running them low on coolant.
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If there is nothing wrong you won't see a difference anyway. That stuff might help to remove carbon if you have a carbon problem, or it is a solvent so it might clean some of the crud out. In this case it might help a sticky lifter if you were very lucky. Or it could flush out crud and plug a lifter. Unless you have a carbon problem I doubt you could notice much.
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I had the external leak before Subaru came out with the conditioner. The people who owned the car before me were not so fussy and added a bit of water every few months. When I checked the oil I check the water, it would seem to go down about a half pint to a thousand miles. I had the gaskets changed but I may have only needed to add the stop leak. I now run the new gaskets and the stop leak and have had no further issues. If you think of a leak that small what you would find is that it would seem to get dangerous about the time of an oil change, or about 3,000 miles. At this point I would just add the conditioner to your car, good chance you'll have no further concerns.