Head gasket and Tires

[jamiea98]

I just found out my '05 forester has a cracked head gasket. It is covered under an extended warranty I purchased with the car so the will replace the faulty one. I've heard that this is an ongoing issue with subaru's and was wondering if anyone had any similar problems.

 

Also, my tires are worn and need to be replaced. The dealership told me that I needed to replace all at once. Is this true? Also, any suggestions for good brands?

 

Thanks

[bheinen74]

You will need to replace all 4 at the same time, its the requirement for a AWD vehicle. I would probably say stay away from GoodYear and Bridgestone.

 

those such as Michelin, Yokohama, Hankook, Pirelli, Continental, BF Goodrich, Dunlop, Uniroyal, Kumho would be a good choice, its all a matter of your best deal on the correct size. A good place to comparison shop is http://www.discounttiredirect.com and http://www.tirerack.com they have reviews, prices, etc, then use that info to shop locally.....

 

if it was me, I would get the HG fixed under warranty, first and foremost, and make sure that turns out as expected.......and drive it a few more thousand miles before plunking down money on tires. If the engine seems fine, then go for it.

 

What is your mileage? The T belt, water pump, valve cover gaskets, and cam seals are prbably ready same time they do HG. I would ask them to do both HG at same time, unless tey tyr to do just the leaker due to warranty, it IS worth it for you to do both and make sure they use the Subaru Updated design HGasket. even if they charge you some to do both, its a peace of mind thing and you won't regret it.

Edited September 17, 2009 by bheinen74

[jamiea98]

The car has 50,000 miles and this is the first big problem. I doubt they will replace the under one under the warranty. They won't cover the cost of a new oil filter.

[GeneralDisorder]

What is the symtom of the "cracked" head gasket? Typically the SOHC EJ25's leak externally when they go. 50,000 is pretty low mileage. It would not need the timing belt/water pump job till it reaches 105,000 so you don't need that yet.

 

GD

[jamiea98]

The inside of the car smelled like coolant and the level was low. I think I will hold off on replacing the timing belt and water pump, but will see how much the other HG will cost to replace.

[idosubaru]

Subaru headgasket issues significantly decrease around 2003. i assume it's much more rare than it used to be on the older models. Subaru's own extended 100,000 mile head gasket specific warranty covered 2000-2002 models only, so they had some reason for stopping at 2002 (besides they just want to save money like the reason the ignored the much more troublesome 96-99's!) anyway, i'd assume they made some changes. but there's no documentation, proof, or quantitative information either.

 

that being said...it's also normal not to "see" issues because people rolling around with new-ish cars aren't typically members of forums like this (much lower percentage) and are much more likely to just pay to have something fixed or covered under warranty without ever looking for info, etc.