kamoore63

I'm definitely a newbie as I don't have either the knowledge or equipment (or location) to be doing work on my car. What's the power difference between the 2.2 and 2.5 liter engines? The current engine (RIP) is great with the stick, lots of pick-up, which is important where I live (Boston area) due to a lot of short on-ramps and other bad road situations where it's good to have solid acceleration. Anything special I'd need to tell the mechanic if I do go the 2.2 liter route?

The engine overheated back at the end of July in the middle of the night when I was driving in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. It didn't stall but it ran hot for awhile until I managed to pull over. When I checked it, the coolant was empty so I refilled it and it's been fine since. When it went on Saturday, I noticed a smell and then looked at the temperature gauge and noticed it was as high as it would go. It couldn't have been there for long since I look at the gauge frequently, esp. since the problem at the end of July. The mechanic did say he could replace the head gasket but his concern would be that there's other damage and for the work involved, he figured it was better to get a new engine. He said the last one he did was a 1999 and cost $1,700.

I have a 1998 Subaru Forester S with 150,000 miles on it. The engine just died this weekend (blown head gasket apparently). According to the mechanic who looked at it (someone I don't know as this happened while I was away for the weekend), the engine has a lot of aluminum in it and so gets damaged easily if it overheats, which it did. With this many miles on it, I'd probably just let the car go, rather than spend probably about $2K to replace the engine BUT I just put a bunch of money into it two months ago for a new fuel tank, sensors and lines, new rear struts and new pistons for the rear hatch. Plus four brand-new tires. So if I decide just to junk the car, that money is pretty much down the toilet. Any opinions on whether or not it's worth replacing the engine? The body's in good shape and I had the clutch replaced a couple of years ago.