Legacy OB Overheating Research

[vixen220]

My 99 OB wagon suddenly and inexplicably overheated in Nov 03. In short, I parked the car after a 30 minute highway commute, and there was steam coming from under the hood. The temp gauge, however, read normal. At the end of the work day, I topped up the coolant and drove home--temp guage was normal until I got home, when it went up to the 3/4 mark as I was idling. Next day, I drove 3 miles to my mechanic's shop--the engine stayed cool. After checking the cooling system pressure, the water pump, and the thermostat, my mechanic checked the head gasket--which was also fine. However, the cylinder walls were deeply scored and the exhaust valves were destroyed because of high temperature damage.

 

I posted this incident on the NHTSA complaint board. Since then, three other people have posted similar NHTSA complaints, and one of them says this is problem is cropping up frequently in the Phase 1, 2.5L OB engines. My mechanic, in a small city in Connecticut, has had 4 of these cases since mine. All the same engine, all around 125K miles.

 

I'm trying to find:

1) Other owners and mechanics have had to repair this problem

 

2) Year/model/mileage of vehicle when it occurred

 

3) What the repair was and how much it cost.

 

Thank you to any and all who respond to this posting!

 

Vicki

[Sconnyite]

I just had this same lovely problem, which left me with the choice of fixxing just the head gasket & Heads(They hadn't taken it apart enough to know whether the cylinders were scuffed) for 1800 in parts, and 1400 in labor(Dealer), or purchase a rebuilt engine from Colorado Component Rebuilders(Exclusive subaru engine rebuilder) for $2695 plus $200 shipping, with about 700-$1000 labor. The benefit of the rebuilt engine is that by replaceing the whole thing, I'd save on labor, and be certain that the lower part of the engine was in good condition. Imagine doing the head job and having the block go bad 500 miles later.

 

Plus they offer a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty.

 

Of course, I was also upside down on the car loan(I owed $9K). So I did the best thing I could, which was trade the car in for $5K and buy a new one.

 

I won't be driving the new one past 60K though. I feel dumb enough buying subaru again after being burned, but no one else would pay that much on trade for a car with a blown engine.

[vixen220]

Refresh--

 

I've posted to several other "overheating" threads to try and get folks to document the issue here. I'm seriously considering suing SOA for at least the cost of my repairs, if not a new vehicle. If I can collect enough anecdotes, perhaps a class action might be effective at fixing the issue for all of us.

 

Thanks again,

 

Vicki

[Sconnyite]

I'd love to be party to a suit. I'm livid, and out $4000.

[joybell]

Vixen: Shouldn't you be getting a voluntary recall letter from SOA? They have a new "stop leak" additive for the coolant that the dealers have to put in. I also heard that they will refund HG repairs. Letters were supposed to go out in March, I think, to the owners of the oldest models with the 2.5L engine first. Call your Subaru dealer and ask.