We lost the headggaskets on my wifes 96 2.5L Outback. Having them replaced. Our shop is top notch. Pricey though. They are going to mill the heads, Replace the Water Pump, Timing Belt and all of the Cam Seals while they are in there. Also totally steam flush the radiator.

 

The car has 112K on the clock. Is driven about 10k a year. What type of longevity should we expect after theis replacemnt? Is it something you'd keep for a while and then trade off? Or would you drive it till it falls apart?

Anyone have any mileage statistics after they've had theirs replaced?

 

Thanks,

 

John

97 OB.

 

HG's replaced exactly 2 years ago. 125,000 km (78k miles) ago. Still holding (knock wood).

 

Commuter

And all hoping commuter keeps rolling!!!

I replaced our head gaskets (and some other things) just about a year and 30k miles ago. I have really beat the snot out of the car since then (revenge) and no trouble.

 

Commuter really lives up to his name with those kind of kilometers a year! Wow!

Commuter really lives up to his name with those kind of kilometers a year! Wow!

Yeah... been doing it a long time. Some of you will have heard me say this before... I put 712,000 km on a Honda Civic over 14.5 years. Probably the best car I'll ever own. Virtually no problems. The engine was never opened and the clutch was original!

 

Commuter

As of right now, it may not be the headgaskets. They did more leakdown testing and couldn't find anything. They think it may be a leaking tranny cooler line in the radiator. As there is oil in the coolant, but no coolant in the engine. They are going to further test to make sure. But right now it looks good. a radiator beats the headgasket job hands down when it comes to $$$$$.

 

That's why I love this shop. They are not going to do a job, just to make the money. they want to fix the problem, without doing something you don't neded.

A leakdown test won't conclusively find most Phase I head gasket failures. Testing the coolant for combustion gasses is more conslusive.

 

You might try the bubble test. Get the engine fully warmed up, then beat on it really hard for a few miles. Then stop the car, raise the hood, and look in the overflow bottle while revving the engine to 2k-3k rpm. If you see bubbles it is most likely a head gasket.

The shop has a test probe they stick down into the radiator to detect any exhaust gases. So far - Negative.............

That's good!

gas test and still showed a blown gasket on teardown.

Look at it this way, if it is an old car it probably needs a radiator soon, and if that is all it is you buy the beer!

gas test and still showed a blown gasket on teardown.

Look at it this way, if it is an old car it probably needs a radiator soon, and if that is all it is you buy the beer!

You ain't lyin brother!!!