Hi all, not really a specific question here, just a hypothetical what-woud-you-do?

 

I've got an 01 legacy with 215k on it. No rust, well maintained in terms of struts, rotors, pads, bearings, ball joints, tires... you know, the cheap stuff. I popped out and chewed up a front CV the other day (I did it while drifting by a Honda in the snow...so almost worth it). One head gasket is imminent- no overheating, loss of power, radiator bubbles, codes, or mayonnaise in the oil... but sweet-smelling exhaust and a bad external coolant leak. And it's got normal cold start piston slap.

 

I feel wierd sending a car to the scrap pile for a 150 dollar fix...but if I fix the CV I'm going to have to fix the HG in two months...and do I really want to fix the HG if it could possibly crack a piston ring at any time?

 

Would you scrap a car that just needed a new axle?

1.  replace axle with used Subaru oem axle for $25-$33

2.  get a bottle of Subaru's coolant conditioner  - can even try two bottles on a bad leak. this stops* initial external coolant leaks nearly every time.

3. piston slap is benign, turn the radio up

 

*sounds like you may be well beyond "initial" but for $2.47 a bottle it's worth a try.

 

axles are incredibly easy.  once the wheel is off it requires removing 1 bolt (and loosen another) to replace an axle.   you don't get much easier than that in terms of car repair.

 

www.car-part.com and get a used OEM one for $25-$33.  aftermarkets are a waste of time and money.  google or search any subaru forum if you're unsure of this.

 

this Phase II EJ25 headgasket that you have generally leaks externally - no oil/coolant mixing, overheating, etc.  keep it full of coolant and oil and they'll keep on trucking along.  if they've ever been replaced before or over time they may start to exhibit issues.

 

friend had like 200k on his and it was rusted, bought at auction, then wrecked, rebuilt, leaking like a seive out the headgaskets. knowing this particular motor doesn't really catastrophically fail, i told him it wasn't worth all the work it needed.  i told him to just keep adding fluids - he had like a 160 mile daily commute, got to like 280,000 on it before moving on.  james bond smoke screen by then but it was still running.

Easy, fix it and keep it on  the road.  

 

What are you going to do if you scrap it, have $300 a month payments on a new car or a used car that you have limited idea of the history on.

 

Or sell it to me for $500 and I'll fix it 

Did I mention I go through a gallon of coolant a week? Might be losing some of that from a heater core though...

That's pretty extreme, but you need to find the source of the leak, could be the HG or could be a $5 hose.

 

Do you have the Subaru Coolant Conditioner in?   Doubt if it will help with a gallon a week leak but for $3 it's worth putting in.

Did I mention I go through a gallon of coolant a week? Might be losing some of that from a heater core though...

HA HA!  indeed you did not.  well i don't need to say that's a lot of coolant.

 

is that all leaking from the long block?

if it really has been leaking that much from the block for an extended period then the heads or block will likely be questionable if you disassemble it.  even if it doesn't overheat, over time the coolant begins to "wear" a groove through the aluminum if you put extensive miles on a car leaking that badly.  i've seen it happen and someone else on the board just had it happen within the last couple months and i believe posted pictures.

 

an engine swap may be easier and with some creativity could be inexpensive.

 

a gallon sounds extreme but it was driving well enough for you to still be driving, drifting, and chewing up CV axles so a $30 axle replacement doesn't sound like a big deal to get a few more miles out of it.

Wow that is quite a bit of coolant, my mom's 04 goes through that every oil change and I'm not really happy about it.

I would change headgaskets and knurl the piston and good to go standard procedure on piston slapen 2.5s have fixed some pistons that were realy bad come in knocken leave dead silent is worth fixing. [ just say no to subarus coolant conditioner] will not stick to stainless steel gaskets waste of time and gross

Thanks for the responses..just shook hands on buying a '97 2.2 legacy with 129k and a bad heater core so now I'll have two cars that can't hold coolant.

1.  replace axle with used Subaru oem axle for $25-$33

2.  get a bottle of Subaru's coolant conditioner  - can even try two bottles on a bad leak. this stops* initial external coolant leaks nearly every time.

3. piston slap is benign, turn the radio up

 

*sounds like you may be well beyond "initial" but for $2.47 a bottle it's worth a try.

 

axles are incredibly easy.  once the wheel is off it requires removing 1 bolt (and loosen another) to replace an axle.   you don't get much easier than that in terms of car repair.

 

www.car-part.com and get a used OEM one for $25-$33.  aftermarkets are a waste of time and money.  google or search any subaru forum if you're unsure of this.

 

this Phase II EJ25 headgasket that you have generally leaks externally - no oil/coolant mixing, overheating, etc.  keep it full of coolant and oil and they'll keep on trucking along.  if they've ever been replaced before or over time they may start to exhibit issues.

 

friend had like 200k on his and it was rusted, bought at auction, then wrecked, rebuilt, leaking like a seive out the headgaskets. knowing this particular motor doesn't really catastrophically fail, i told him it wasn't worth all the work it needed.  i told him to just keep adding fluids - he had like a 160 mile daily commute, got to like 280,000 on it before moving on.  james bond smoke screen by then but it was still running.

 

I hate feeling like I'm hijacking, but it may help the OP too- any quick tips for identifying an OEM vs. AM axle on a vehicle? Quite a few subarus in the yards around me... 

 

 

Thanks for the responses..just shook hands on buying a '97 2.2 legacy with 129k and a bad heater core so now I'll have two cars that can't hold coolant.

 

Hahaha look at it this way- maybe your first heater core is good, so you can end up with one functional sub. 

 

I hate feeling like I'm hijacking, but it may help the OP too- any quick tips for identifying an OEM vs. AM axle on a vehicle? Quite a few subarus in the yards around me... 

. 

green inner cups.  google images and look at a few subaru axles.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7243/axle1.jpg

 

 

Thanks for the responses..just shook hands on buying a '97 2.2 legacy with 129k and a bad heater core so now I'll have two cars that can't hold coolant.

 

at least you can simply splice the two heater core hoses together and drive it immediately!  although that's very odd for Subaru's to have heater core failure, so hopefully it's not somethign more ominous.

 

great engine!  that's an interference engine - get all new timing kit on there, Gates kits are only $120-$130 on rockauto or amazon for new pulleys, tensioner, belt.  the old pulleys are always devoid by grease by now. the new style tensioners are weak and prone to failure too. 

heater cores not to hard to change { pull whole dash as a unit } and whole heater box as a unit last one took me 1.5 hours have 6 smashed outbacks if you cant find one

The car is still worth more complete to sell as a fixer vs scrap. No rust and not wrecked gives it some value regardless of the engine. Sell it to someone that has parts laying around.