2004 Subaru Legacy GT problems

[silverlady]

My 2004 Subaru Legacy has only 56,000 miles on it and I have to replace the valve gaskets on both sides! I was surprised by this by my car repair guy said this is common because the engine (4 cyl) runs so hot then get so cold here in NH. Does anyone out there have any input into this? I had no idea the Subarus had this kind of problem.

[bheinen74]

i think you might mean Headgaskets.....perhaps.very common on the ej25 engine which is what you have.

[idosubaru]

i wouldn't put much stock in that explanation or chalk it up to miscommunication. if it was due to temp's, then all of them would be doing the same thing or ones in canada would have more problems, but they're not. and - the engines don't really run hot, they are thermostatically controlled like any other motor - 185 degrees i believe - out there and certainly don't generate near the heat of the turbo motors in the forester and WRX which aren't really any more prone to valve cover leaks than anything else at your age/mileage.

 

so - the temp explanation doesn't hold water.

 

valve cover gaskets tend to leak on most engines - but not this early and low mileage.

 

8-10,000 miles a year is low. if it's sitting for long periods of time, or has in the past, or is racking up a lot of city miles, that doesn't do any favors to certain components like brakes and gaskets/seals on any engine.

[johnceggleston]

have you done the repair yet? you might try to 'snug' up the bolts first. it probably will not work but you never know.

 

the flat four engine design doesn't help, i would think the oil doesn't 'drain down' as easily or quickly as a straight or 'v' design.

[idosubaru]

the flat four engine design doesn't help, i would think the oil doesn't 'drain down' as easily or quickly as a straight or 'v' design.

good point, it's the underneath that leaks the most.

[silverlady]

Thanks for all of the input. The work is being done by my car repair guy. I will be the first to admit, I know nothing about cars, thus I am at his mercy, but there isn't much else I can do. Typical female there unfortuneately. I need to have my car, so it being down for even one day is a hardship. I have taken very good care of my car since I bought it brand new. Have had all required service done on time or sometimes ahead of time as I do tend to do a lot of around town driving (to and from work 3 miles away mostly). This is my first Subaru, and until now, I have really loved it, but now I have some doubts about it being a car I can keep for a long time. I have had Chevys in the past that were 6 cylinders and had gobs more mileage on them and I haven't had to do this kind of service to them. But I never bought them brand new either. All the used cars I bought in the past have had 60,000 plus milages on them when I bought them! Anyway, this is my first new car, so I do not know what to expect from it as far as things wearing out and when. Once again, thanks for your input and I hope my 'guy' isn't sticking it to me this time. Oh, do any of you know of other things I should be forewarned about concerning stuff that may wear out soon on my Subaru?:-\:-\

[idosubaru]

You shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

You shouldn't have to touch that vehicle until 105,000 miles when your timing belt is due. I wouldn't replace anything until that time unless it's something obvious like brake pads. The only maintenance i'd probably do is air filter.

 

Your best bet is to ask here for service advice so you're not putting more than necessary into the car.

 

What exactly are you getting done now, valve cover gaskets cost like 20-30 bucks and don't take all that long to install. Maybe you're actually getting something else done?

 

This should be an easy 150,000-200,000 mile car. Heck most of us on here are doing that with our older and higher mileage vehicles. I bought my 02 with 135,000 miles and did a few preventative maintenance things on it and plan on another 100,000 miles out of it. Much easier to get higher mileage out of a Subaru than other makes, but i won't point fingers.

[RallyKeith]

Can you clarify a few things for us:

1. Did the Subaru Dealer ever see this car or have you always taken it to an independant repair facility?

 

2. Are you having the HEAD Gaskets replaced or the Valve Cover Gaskets replaced? From the description you gave it sounds like HEAD gaskets.

 

These cars have what is called the phase 2 EJ25 engine and have a known issue with the head gaskets. It is something that is more of a neusence than a problem with them leaking antifreeze and requiring frequent refilling of the coolant. Subaru has a conditioner that goes in the antifreeze to fix the issue. If your car was serviced at the dealership you should check with them to see if they have any record of putting the conditioner in your car. If they did this shouldn't have happened.

 

Also, if you are having the head gaskets replaced, or if it's been done already, you should visit the dealer and get the conditioner and put it in yourself. Just replacing the head gaskets doesn't always fix the issue, but using the conditioner should.

 

Keith

[silverlady]

When I bought my car brand new, it came with a booklet that listed at what mileage and age certain servicing should be done. I have followed that with my local repair man. I took my car to the dealer for the it's very first oil change and the over filled the oil! So I took it back to them and they over filled it again, not once, not twice, but three times before they finally got it right! Thus I do not trust the dealer where I bought the car to work on the car for anything but warranty work. Now the it is out of warranty I do not go near the place. So if you are familiar with the service book, that is what I have been going by for maintenance service. That said, I had my 60,000 service done early due to my mostly in town driving. In that service, the radiator was flushed etc. No one ever mentioned at any time about a conditioner needing to be added. Oh and I do think it was the head gaskets as he talked about doing both sides (yah typical female I know, I don't remember the terms he used). I have had my car in the Subaru dealer ship for warranty issues when I had a warranty on it, and they never said anything about a conditioner being needed for my radiator. So this is total news to me. Do you have some sort of Subaru official document I can download from the internet which I can print out and show my 'guy'. I could then ask him if he put it in or not and ask him why he didn't know about it. Oh and by they way, my 60,000 mile service was done about 2 months ago! Please give me more info. THANKS A HEEP!:eek::eek:

[silverlady]

I just checked my repair slip; I had the right and left side valve cover gaskets replaced. Whatever those are that is what was written on my repair slip.

[bigjeep]

My 2004 Subaru Legacy has only 56,000 miles on it and I have to replace the valve gaskets on both sides! I was surprised by this by my car repair guy said this is common because the engine (4 cyl) runs so hot then get so cold here in NH. Does anyone out there have any input into this? I had no idea the Subarus had this kind of problem.

 

I am replacing the valve cover gaskets on my 2004 sedan at 44,000 miles. This is not a major problem. I have done many myself on all kind of cars throgh the years. I have found through the years that Subies are high maintance cars, but always seem to get you where you want to go, even though they look like they are on their "last legs".

[idosubaru]

I just checked my repair slip; I had the right and left side valve cover gaskets replaced. Whatever those are that is what was written on my repair slip.

they are rather benign really, simple to replace. probably the easiest oil leak to cure.

[AWDfreak]

When I bought my car brand new, it came with a booklet that listed at what mileage and age certain servicing should be done. I have followed that with my local repair man. I took my car to the dealer for the it's very first oil change and the over filled the oil! So I took it back to them and they over filled it again, not once, not twice, but three times before they finally got it right! Thus I do not trust the dealer where I bought the car to work on the car for anything but warranty work. Now the it is out of warranty I do not go near the place. So if you are familiar with the service book, that is what I have been going by for maintenance service. That said, I had my 60,000 service done early due to my mostly in town driving. In that service, the radiator was flushed etc. No one ever mentioned at any time about a conditioner needing to be added. Oh and I do think it was the head gaskets as he talked about doing both sides (yah typical female I know, I don't remember the terms he used). I have had my car in the Subaru dealer ship for warranty issues when I had a warranty on it, and they never said anything about a conditioner being needed for my radiator. So this is total news to me. Do you have some sort of Subaru official document I can download from the internet which I can print out and show my 'guy'. I could then ask him if he put it in or not and ask him why he didn't know about it. Oh and by they way, my 60,000 mile service was done about 2 months ago! Please give me more info. THANKS A HEEP!:eek::eek:

 

This is the best I could find:

http://www.snedcs.com/dcsmain/service/WWP_subnet2-5-04.htm

 

But consider yourself more fortunate; those with a 1999 or before 2.5L Subaru engine have to deal with the major Phase I head gasket issue, which I have experienced. The Phase II SOHC engines (MY 2000 and onwards) don't have it as bad, from what I can remember reading on these forums.