Hi everyone! I am new to this forum. I wanted to bring up an issue with my subie.

 

There are small bubbles that appear in the overflow tank. The engine was shut off when I was I made the video but before I made the video it was running and made small bubbles. My car is a 1998 Subaru legacy with the phase 1 ej25 engine. It has 121k miles. It does not overheat, even when I drive up a mountain. I have a video posted on youtube

Any overheating? HGs ever done before?

Well... it's only a problem if you can't fix it

If you are seeing exhaust bubbles on the expansion tank, then there's a good chance your HG are already shot. There are some test strips you can use to confirm what's going on with your coolant. Until you find out be extremely careful... these engines (EJ25D) don't take too well being overheated.

There are small bubbles that appear in the overflow tank.

you aren't going to have a headgasket problem, you already have one.

 

if it's currently running fine then awesome, take some time to start planning how you want to proceed to repair it. you can replace the headgaskets or swap in an EJ22 (much better motor). plenty of information about your options all over this forum and the internet.

 

whatever you do, don't overheat the engine or run it hot.

 

that particular EJ25 in your vehicle can be really frustrating, once they overheat it is completely random and for no reasons at all. they can overheat at start up, any time of day, any driving conditions, doesn't matter if the coolant is full...etc. makes it a real pain to get to work, get stranded, etc. that also means there's a lot of blown blocks from people not noticing the overheating or just hoping they can make it home.

I've had my car for about 8 months and driven 10k miles so far. There is no record of a headgasket job done in the past. Right now my car does not overheat (knock on wood).

you posted right when i did, check my last reply.....

 

you've only had it a few months....let's hope the previous owner didn't have headgasket issues in it, that's not good.

Also kept to short trips the HG's can be bad for a while before being noticed. I usually test using a 45 minute drive.

 

You have a classic SUBARU HG symptom.

With the 25d, it's less of IF the head gasket is going to fail. It's WHEN the head gasket will fail. When I worked in a shop, most of them came in around 110-130k with bad head gaskets. Seems like that's how long they last, other mechanics in the area have noticed the same mileage ranges.

 

Have it fixed properly now, and that engine will last another 100k miles. It's probably due for a timing belt, wp, idlers, etc as well.

 

Fix it properly now, it'll last a long time. Let it overheat really bad just once, and you've cooked it. Except a few thousand miles till you start having rod knock.

179k on a 99 OBW... no overheating/headgasket problems... when I purchased this car, I asked everyone I could find (parking lots, etcetera) if they have had any problems... only heard about the cup holders... & some cv joints.

enjoy the ride.

later,

Peter

The cup holders on every 2nd gen is a problem. They're some of the worst engineering I've ever seen.

oil preshure test it first make shure bottom end is ok no less than 10 psi hot at idle