kman

No like you said I don't lose coolant unless it overheats and overflows the expansion tank. Are you positive that the sealent is not a viable solution for my problem. I would appreciate some more opinions on this. Thanks, Kevin

A couple of mechanics I've talked to seem to think that this sealent will work on my engine as they believe it does on any number of fixes. They recommended me this solution independently of Subaru's sealent recommendation for Phase II engines (I don't beleive either knew about that). Does any one have any experience with sealents in this situation? Any thoughts on this method of fixing head gaskets? Remember that my gasket leak is quite small-- you really have to push the car to see it and the car will not overheat unless you try to drive over mountains for more than 40 minutes or so. THanks, kevin

thanks a lot everyone! The car never overheated too much or for too long. I've been very careful about that, monitoring the temp gauge carefully and stopping if it even goes past half way. A friend of mine (and a very good mechanic) told me that often times such a small leak in the head gasket can be fixed by a kind of liquid sealent you run through the cooling system which patches the leaky gaskets. I've heard this can patch seeping head gaskets (and sometimes even blown head gaskets) and can last reliably for a number of years. Any thoughts on this? I'd love to believe it's true... Thanks again, Kevin

Just got the bad news from the shop, and I need to make some tough decisions. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. It's a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback station wagon. It was running fine except when you went up steep hills, in which case it would after a while over heat. You can drive it around town all the time without problems, but go on a mountain drive and it gets risky. The shop just told me that the Radiator isn't flowing very well (65 degree temperature differential between the top and bottom) and that I have a seeping head gasket (air bubbles in the expansion tank and it failed a hydrocarbon test done with a very sensitive smog machine.) Total repairs are around $2000! Now this is not a cheap shop, but they are very good. My questions to all of you: 1) Should I just get rid of this thing? Do some band aid repair on it (e.g. fix the radiator) and sell it as is? (Of course, I would inform the buyer as to the head gasket seepage). 2) Can I get this work done way cheaper? The head gasket repairs were quoted at total of $1275 alone which included machining. A new radiator is around $450. The mechanic said to leave a liberal $300 for misc. (new knock sensor, plugs and wires, etc). So I'm looking at around $2000. I live in the SF Bay Area. 3) How much would you say this car is worth? It's in pretty good shape, that paint is a little funky in places but no dings and a nice interior. It has about 135,000 miles. The only other known (but stable) problem is with the rear differential-- it whines a bit on decel above 35mph but has not gotten worse for over 20,000 miles. Thanks a million for your help, this is not easy stuff to figure... Kevin

I did the bubble test today.... drove up a steep hill and checked for bubbles in the expansion tank... sure enough it was bubbling steady... yet another symptom for the worst...

Well, my research on this very helpful site seems to indicate that my head gasket is blown but I'd thought I'd run it by you guys before I bring it in to the shop yet again. The car overheats very predictably on steep hills. Driving around town, idling or driving on freeways the temperature stays fine I've had the water pump replaced and the thermostat replaced recently. A test for exhaust gases in the coolant came up negative several months ago but now I'm seeing little black crumbs in the expansion tank and generally dirtier coolant. Also, when the car overheats I lose heat to the cabin (air blows cold). The first time it really overheated on a steep hill recently the expansion tank filled up so much it boiled over. Is it bad to drive the car even when it's not overheating? This happens really only going up steep hills so it's been easy enough to avoid. But now I need to do a 100+ mile drive (mostly flat) and I'm afraid to do it. Will draining and replacing the coolant help me drive the car a little bit more? I don't have the money for these repairs. I have noticed also that the car is idling lower nowadays, sometimes stalling when cold. The engine seems to stutter from time to time too... Any thoughts? Is there a way I can do a sniffer test myself? And finally, can anyone recommend a really truly good subaru mechanic in Marin or the Bay Area? Thanks, Kevin