throwin Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 My 1997 Outback is having the classic symptoms of a blown head gasket. Gunk in the overflow, overheating etc. My mechanic has replaced the thermostat TWICE with a certified Subaru thermostat, flushed the radiator and put a new cap on, and tested for a water pump malfunction. It ran fine for about 30 miles before the dreaded temp guage peaked out again! We were scratching our collective heads until I reaserched it on the wonderful world wide web. I was shocked to see that the HG has been an issue for some time now!!!!! I love the Outback because we live in a snow prone area. The AWD is a MUST! I am very upset at Subaru for not addressing this problematic issue of HG's in the past! I had no clue this was an epidemic until this happened to me. The car ONLY has 100,000 on it so replacing the HG would probably not be worth it. I will need to make a pretty quick decision next week on weather or not to buy a new one after it gets looked at by the local Subaru. I wanted to know if anyone here knows if the new 2006 models have been addressed with the faulty HG issue in the 2.5 engine and FIXED! Subaru is a car that's been known to run forever which is one of the reasons why I bought it in the first place. (I could've bought a cheap GM product and got much more mileage out of it.) I don't want to buy a new Outback if the same problem will happen again. That would be crazy! THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 If the car is in good shape otherwise it would be worth the headgasket fix. Search for more posts here about these issues. The Phase I 2.5 DOHC up to MY99 (Forester) & MY00 (Legacy, Outbacks) suffer from internal leaks while the Phase II SOHC that follow has a less potentally damaging external leak where coloant seeps to the outside. Hopefully all this has been addressed in these later models, but time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwin Posted December 4, 2005 Author Share Posted December 4, 2005 The car is in "good" shape. Was told by my mechanic that it would cost $2000 to replace HG. He said that when the head gasket goes there is no guarantee that anything else has gone wrong. I have extensively searched this issue! How do you know which phase engine it is (I assume phase I)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commuter Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 You know it is a Phase I by the year. If you haven't damanged the engine (yes, no positive way to tell), it is worth fixing. You should be able to get it done for less than $2000. $1200 to $1500 is more typical. Other choice is to buy a rebuilt engine from CCR. You get a 3 year 36k mile warranty. Not inexpensive (about $4k overall for engine and install), but you will have piece of mind. And consider that vs new car payments. Sorry to feel your pain. I have a 97 OB too. My HG's also went. (My tale of woe is on the site.) I've got 3.5 years and over 200K km now on the replacement engine. Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 The 2006 engine is two revisions after the one you have. The one you have has a fiarly high incidence of combustion chamber to coolant jacket headgasket leaks, the next revision (noted above) has a lesser incidence of coolant to external leaks, and the latest revision apearantly solved these issues. Subaru has addressed these issues, with a revised headgasket for your revision, and a "stop leak" additive for the following one. Your car is well worth repairing, but likely not at that shop. Look around for a lower priced shop that is still competant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 The 2006 engine is two revisions after the one you have. The one you have has a fiarly high incidence of combustion chamber to coolant jacket headgasket leaks, the next revision (noted above) has a lesser incidence of coolant to external leaks, and the latest revision apearantly solved these issues. Subaru has addressed these issues, with a revised headgasket for your revision, and a "stop leak" additive for the following one. Your car is well worth repairing, but likely not at that shop. Look around for a lower priced shop that is still competant. I totally agree, 2000 is way to much and if they do not know about this issue they are not a shop that specializes in Subarus. If you fix the car with updated HG you will be fine for another 100k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I totally agree, 2000 is way to much and if they do not know about this issue they are not a shop that specializes in Subarus. If you fix the car with updated HG you will be fine for another 100k. At least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 At least. Thanks 100k until you need to do a timing belt, HG should be good for well ove 100k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwin Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Thanks all for your input. We'll know more this week (fingers crossed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 $1,200 is going rate from the dealer from what i've read on the boards. The new headgasket solves the issue. Don't keep overheating and if it has overheated be sure the dealer mills the heads flat or at least checks them first. I imagine they do it right, but i do everything myself and am skeptical of anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 . . . but I do everything myself and am skeptical of anyone else. gee, Gary, it sounds like you are just like me. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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