I am researching, do 2.2l early 90s - 95 have headgasket issues?

what about the turbos, any big nightnare type issues? auto trans

ok for turbo or stay w/ manual?

 

also i see 96-00 legacys had 2.2l and 2.5l / see alot of issues with 2.5l headgaskets ............but 2.2? OK?

 

i am looking for reliability mainly, dont want to deal with big issues. what about SVX, late model in perfrct shape. there are

examples available but is the extra complexity worth it? do they

seem to hold up? 200+HP and all wheel drive seems like the ticket.

 

thanks in advance.

 

kevin walsh

There are no head gasket issues with the 2.2 engines.

The 2.2's seem to be pretty bulletproof if maintainance is done regularly. I don't own a SVX, but most of the common problems I've seen posted about them seem to be with the transmissions and the disc brakes warping quite often.

I just replaced the headgaskets on my '90 legacy AWD wagon 2.2l

Exhaust gasses were leaking into coolant at 166,000. SO, it can happen. I had just bought the car 6 months ago and records showed it had been maintained at a Subaru dealer. It WAS taken in for overheating about a year before I bought it and they couldn't find anything wrong.

IMHO there has never been an engine design produced in any significant quantities, drivent significant miles, where 0 head gasket failures have been seen.

Yep, the internal leak is to be expected, even if we cannot call it common. In fact, I wouldn't consider this a weakness, since the leak is tiny and you can actually run for a long time with. Just keep adding coolant....

 

Seriously though, this sort of non-critical HG failure is otherwise the reserve of Mercedes and BMW, most other marques blow water into the oil and often oil out the engine!

Any Scoob is susceptible to headgasket failure. I know a friend in Gainesville, FL that blew his HG on his 90 Legacy 2.2, supposedly the best year. You'll find a few war stories in the Old-Gen forum about EA82T's blowing them too.

 

Still though, the 2.2 line of engines is the best Subaru ever made IMO. Especially the 1st generation of Legacies. You'll get tired of beating on it before it will get tired of being beaten on. They're tough cars.

 

The SVX, on the other hand , while I think they're BEAUTIFUL cars, are reliability nightmares. They're the same 4EAT that the 4cyls use, so they're not made for the massive 6cyl torque curve. I'd also be willing to bet that hardly any SVX still on the road today still has its original rear wheel bearings.

I'm vary upset with Subaru right now.As you will recall,I wrote a while back about another head gasket gone in my 97 outback2.5.I called Subaru today and the guy i talked to said that they will pay for Phase 2 gasket jobs but not my Ph.1.He said there has been no complaints about my engine.Can you believe that?.I have the 800# and I hope evryone will call who have blown gaskets in 2.5 engines.This is the THIRD one I have replaced.

 

Collins

collins - that's total bs that subaru fed you. i have 40 96-98 2.5's (phase I's) with head gasket failures on my list. print it out and send a nice letter to subaru if they have heard of any of these people...

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/guestlog.html

Thanks Skip,I will send this info. Hope I can find the right person to send it to. I'm just sick about this whole thing.They know there is problem,cause this guy came back to me with an answer that seemed well reherst.

 

Thanks for you support,

Collins