smeade6813

Hi - I'm new to this forum, and have spent a few hours reading through many of the topics on the 2.5L engine. I didn't see anything that addressed my situation, so will ask here. I have a 97 Legacy GT with about 145000 miles on it. Has always worked wonderfully. Last spring, the dealer told me that the water pump was beginning to seap, and I should plan to replace it. No performance issues, no overheating, nothing. Since I saw no immediate problem (dealer also said it could wait a few months) & I was strapped for money, I waited until last fall to get it replaced. I was about to go on a trip to Grand Junction (over the Divide) & didn't want to get stranded in the snow up at the top. Still was not having any problems at this point, but decided to be proactive... Got the water pump fixed, went to GJ, no problems-cool weather. Put about 900-1000 miles on the car. When I got home and it was later driven to Denver, it overheated. Took it back to garage, where they bled the lines (again; said they'd done it before), test drove it in the mountains & said it was fine. Overheated the next day, too. At this point, took it to the dealer, where they said the water pump was full of air & had caused enough overheating to wreck the head gaskets. Got those fixed to the tune of $2000+. Since I had not had any problems with the car's performance before the water pump replacement, what are the odds that the air in the lines caused the head gasket failure? I realize that there is a percentage of failure in this engine type, but it seems too coincidental that mine failed with the water pump. Comments are appreciated... Thanks