163k miles, 2.2 liter brighton wagon

 

blown head gasket. No knocks or bad noises. Just loses coolant from head gasket. Can't drive longer than 10 mins or it will lose coolant. Confirmed head gasket from mechanic. They wanted $1600. I declined and just want to get rid of it. Has been parked for like 8 months, still starts up.

 

Thanks!

 

I would fix it myself if I had the shop to work on it.

Toss a small blue bottle of "Subaru Coolant Conditioner" in it, they're $5 from the dealer.

It's designed to seal the headgaskets that leak coolant outside the engine, and it works surprisingly well.

Toss a small blue bottle of "Subaru Coolant Conditioner" in it, they're $5 from the dealer.

It's designed to seal the headgaskets that leak coolant outside the engine, and it works surprisingly well.

 

This isn't just a small leak, it's pretty well blown. I guess for $5 it might be worth the try though. Still want to sell it though. What do you think like $700?

The blue bottle of conditioner is really for the gen II motors with an slight seep of coolant, now what he is describing. I usually buy a car like that for 550-1000 depending on condition, miles and model.

talk to GD, send him a PM or email - he's a board member in Oregon that owns a shop and does tons of Subaru stuff. if you don't want him to fix it for you he may buy it.

 

you can sell it fairly quickly for $500 - $1,000. if you were close to here i'd offer something like that for it - probably $700.

 

if you are willing to test the waters and wait a bit (you've already waited 8 months) in a subaru rich market like that you could get lucky and get $1,000 - $1,500 but being the lower end brighton it's not going to have as much demand as an outback. you would have likely sold it for more back in the winter and during tax season when folks are temporarily rich.

Yes - call me and either I can take care of the HG's for you for a better price or I may be interested in taking it off your hands, etc. I'm in Portland but travel/pickup is no problem.

 

5o3-88o-4o84

 

GD

I have tried "Blue Devil", "Block Seal" and similar products; a friend told me the other day about a great product on the same principle; flush coolant system with water totally, put product in, let engine run, and then let it sit overnight with similar actions next day. Blue Devil worked for me for a while.

 

I would think it would be worth $2000 or so if fixed, but you may not be in the mood for that. Good luck.

Sorry, but IMHO, I wouldn't use the block seal crap or HG repair crap in a bottle. It just makes a big mess of things internally.....think radiator, heater core etc..... stuff may get plugged that you want to flow.

A 99 2.2l should be a phase2 engine, so the subaru coolant conditioner is meant for it.

 

Subaru recommends keeping a bottle of it mixed in with the coolant of every 99-05 4cyl, whether it's leaking or not. So I don't think there's much of an issue of it clogging the radiator or heater core.

 

I used two of those bottles to seal a radiator that cracked and was pissing coolant when hot in a ford explorer. 30k miles later its still holding up.

 

There's nothing to loose in trying the Subaru Coolant Conditioner, it's a factory authorized stop leak.

I think the Brighton is a Legacy model. For 99, I think all Leggie models came with the 2.5 phase 1 motor. However, some 99 Impresa models came with the 2.2 motor, but I believe they were still phase 1.

 

It is my understanding that the Subaru coolant conditioner was made for phase 2 SOHC motors, not for phase 1 DOHC motors. Someone correct me, if I am wrong.

You're wrong.

 

GD

the brighton was base of base models. a simple cheap winter beater. came with a 2.2l also had only crank windows on a legacy.

Don't get me wrong, the subaru conditioner is good stuff and I use it on all the 2.5 gen II's. I think the stuff works well as a preventive tool, but not to fix HG problems.

 

The HG fix in a bottle is a hope and a prayer, but it can gunk up your motor, radiator, water pump.......etc.

 

..but if you feel compelled to try it, go for it and I hope it wroks for you.

3pin - you are also wrong. Your statements conflict in the most fundamental way.

 

This whole thread is a mess.

 

The HG topic (both phase-I and phase-II) has been discussed to death. The answers from myself and others are here for the searching..... But let me clarify:

 

Phase-I:

 

2.2: No issues.

2.5: Replace every 100k on average. There is NO prevention or fix other than replacement.

 

Phase-II

 

2.2 AND 2.5: Coolant weepage can be stopped by Holts Radweld (stop leak) that is rebranded by Subaru and sold as "conditioner". It is nothing more than stop leak. Use two bottles on really leaky engines. Oil seepage cannot be stopped. There IS a fix for the 2.5 - use of the "642" turbo gasket (255/257) has been shown to stop this problem indefinitely. No such gasket exists for that 2.2.

 

99+ are all phase two engines except the Legacy Outback and GT which used the EJ25D phase-I.

 

GD

Edited August 5, 201213 yr by GeneralDisorder

It is my understanding that the Subaru coolant conditioner was made for phase 2 SOHC motors, not for phase 1 DOHC motors. Someone correct me, if I am wrong.

This is right, and since a 99 (non-GT or Outback) Legacy has a PHASE 2 2.2l in it, the coolant conditioner is made for it.

 

The coolant conditioner does not work in Phase 1 DOHC motors, but that's not what the OP's car has in it so it doesn't apply.

I really wish Subaru hadn't called it "coolant conditioner". IT IS STOP LEAK. Plain and simple.

 

And it does work in the vast majority of cases.

 

GD

Well, right or wrong, there is a bit of a stigma attached to "stop leak"- many consider it a "mickey mouse" repair, worry about clogged heater cores, etc.

 

"Coolant conditioner" doesn't carry the same kind of baggage. A dealer could list that on a routine service invoice and the majority of customers wouldn't blink. It's all about trying to manage customer perception.

LOL. I nver knew the conditioner was stop leak.