Todd C

I think I'll wait until I can see the condition of the valves before I decide whether to do anything with them. I'd rather not do something that's not needed, but I just assumed that a valve job would be recommended. I'll do the rest of the items that Theotherskip recommended. I have heard also of problems with oil consumption if you redo valves without touching the bottom end. My car has shown no signs of any problems or oil consumption (almost never have to add oil between changes) except for the occasional overheat. Funny thing is (in a sad sort of way) that I just finished putting it back together after doing the clutch in August. Wish I knew then that I had a head gasket problem, I was probably half way there... thanks for all the suggestions/comments. Todd

Well I confirmed combustion gasses in the radiator last night... I had to run the car around the block a few times until it started to overheat and then vent the gasses into the overflow to test them. Interesting thing is I sniffed the fumes from the radiator afterwards and it smelled like exhaust fumes, maybe I came up with an unsophisticated test method... So, anyway, I guess I have to at least pull the heads and have them checked for flatness and tested for cracks. The question is, with 116k miles what else needs to be done? I figure at least a valve job. I don't want to spend more than I have to, but I plan on keeping the car for quite a while yet. I really expected more from this car though

Refilling three times may be an exaggeration, I may have lost count. I have drained and refilled at least twice since last winter. Both times to change the thermostat because of the overheating. Both times it seemed fine for quite a while afterwards. Anyway, I think I am going to drive it once or twice to work this week while attemting to see whats going on. I haven't payed much attention to what came out of the radiator when it heated up in the past. I will now see if there are gas bubbles when it heats up. I expect there will be. I will also check into the combustion gas tests. I expect that I will be doing head gaskets in the near future. I have checked your site 'theotherskip' and it will be very helpful. I will sign in if/when I know for sure about the head gaskets. Thanks for all the help... Todd

Excuse the question, but, what is Phase 1 and Phase 2? Commuter: I reread your post (should have read more carefully first time) and that sounds like my problem - the driving around for weeks at a time with everything looking fine. I assume it leaks slowly until you build up enough gasses in the coolant to cause a problem... How bad is it to do head gaskets???

Thanks for the quick replies... Whenever I have the overheat both fans are running, forgot to mention that. I have NO signs of external leaks at all. I have seen it happen under load and at idle. Haven't seen anything unusual in the coolant, though it has been drained and refilled probably three times in the past year. I have had this car since new and its been used hard at times, but taken care of. I dont like the idea of doing head gaskets, not sure I'm up to that (sounds like a lot of work, but I'm too cheap to pay someone to do something I can do myself :-\ ) I guess I'll get a kit to test for gasses in the coolant and take it from there. I think I will also pull the radiator and try to flush it and the engine with a hose to make sure there's nothing in there that shouldn't be... Todd

Hi: Just found this forum, I've been looking for something like this for a while and since my 99 legacy OB has 116k on it now this may be very helpful. Anyway I've been dealing with an intermittant oveheat problem for some months now and I cant figure it out... the car will run normal for weeks at a time and then all of a sudden the temp gage will peg. let it sit and cool down and will run fine again for quite a while. I've replaced the coolant and thermostat (subaru thermo). coolant level doesnt seem to change. no bubbles in the coolant while running. hoses are new. I have also seen it peg the temp gage and by the time I notice it the gage starts to drop to normal. within 15-30 seconds its back to normal - What am I missing??? any suggestions appreciated Todd :cornfuzz: