My 97 2.5 GT with the Phase I engine is approaching 120,000. What are my changes of taking it past 200,000 without this problem rearing it's ugly head. Is there a consistent mileage were the head gaskets go or is it just luck or misfortune.

 

Ciao

mileage doesn't seem to be a good indicator. some people experienced failures young (30k), while many didn't have any trouble until 150k and beyond...

 

you can browse through this list...

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/guestlog.html

Although it's not fun, if it's hot out and you're worried about overheating you can turn the heat on full, crank up the fan, and open the windows.

 

My sub was running a little hot last summer and this always got the gage back to normal. My mechanic flushed the cooling system and it's been fine since - 97 OBW, 140K miles.

 

Nevertheless, with all the reports of head gasket failures and the two hottest months of the year upon us, I brought mine in today for "preemptive" replacement of the head gaskets. It's at Peabody Sunoco in Peabody, MA, who has done all the work on the car previously (tuneups, camshaft gaskets, etc.) and has done a good job. They've done several Subarus, but say they can't honestly say they've seen a pattern of failure.

 

I'm going to have the valve seals replaced and the seats honed as well, while it's in.

mileage doesn't seem to be a good indicator. some people experienced failures young (30k), while many didn't have any trouble until 150k and beyond...

 

you can browse through this list...

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/guestlog.html

 

This site says it's locked?

From what I understand, the incidence of failure depends on how hard the car is driven, and how close attention you pay to the temp guage. If most of your driving is on the highway, and yor car never overheats, you should have no problems. . .

 

If you actually use the HP that comes with the 2.5L engine, however. . . .

My 97 2.5 GT with the Phase I engine is approaching 120,000. What are my changes of taking it past 200,000 without this problem rearing it's ugly head. Is there a consistent mileage were the head gaskets go or is it just luck or misfortune.

 

Ciao

Keep your fluid fresh and you might be fine. It is a total hit and miss. I know of many 200k 2.5 that go to my local subaru shop.

This site says it's locked?

 

the site has moved. it is now at:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/

My 97 2.5 GT with the Phase I engine is approaching 120,000. What are my changes of taking it past 200,000 without this problem rearing it's ugly head. Is there a consistent mileage were the head gaskets go or is it just luck or misfortune.

 

Ciao

 

Just expect the failure! Poor design on Subaru's part. Even with regular maintenance and not pushing any limits mine bit the dust @ 80,000 miles.