joebmx Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 so i am in the market for an older subaru and have come across plenty in around seattle for very little $$$. However, it seems common that many people are saying their cars may have or do have bad head gaskets. Is this common? If I were to get me an older wagon how easy is it to do engine work? I currently own an 89 corolla gts and if anyone has ever peaked under the hood its a small nightmare to do work on. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks joey p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Working on an old subaru is NOTHING like working on your corolla. You can pull the engine in less than an hour, and most stuff is pretty accessable. You could do headgaskets in a weekend if you need to. It is relatively common for these cars to blow headgaskets IF the engine is overheated. If the car is taken care of and not abused badly, they don't really have much trouble. So if you found one with a blown headgasket, you could concievably replace the HG's, most likely do some head work while they're off, put it together again, and have a good reliable vehicle for quite some time thereafter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrid cold Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 You are so lucky, you are in Grand Central when it comes to Subaru stuff. I had to go Seattle to get my last one as harder to come by one the East side of the mountains. Found it on "Craigslist.com, (click Seattle, click Auto/truck, type in Subaru) Look for a rig taken car of, no funny wear on front tires, no wires dangling out of dash, and sounds like you can learn motors and you will be set... I paid, $140. for 88 wagon in great body/interior, (bad motor), and last two, $1. for 88 & 82 wagon... those are the best deals. They are like most cars, have their own quirks etc... it is very much a LOVE, HATE relationship. The more you do, the more you learn and I try to avoid mechanics costs.... as I learn to do it myself... what little I have done, but am learning. This site is great for info, tips etc.. The worst that can happen is you turn around and sell it back to a Subee lover for a little loss. Find yourself a good deal and have fun.... assure it is,Manual Transmission, 4x4, and enjoy the ride! I am!!!!!!! and I'm spent.... .02 cents worth... :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Two thoughts on blown head gaskets on older subarus: 1. Early turbo models had a nasty habit of cracking heads. Since the symptoms can be identical to a blown head gasket, it's hard to tell, but a cracked head is way more expensive. 2. If you do end up replacing a head gasket, it's not a difficult job for a fairly competent backyard mechanic. Just remember that you're working with an aluminum block and aluminum heads, and you need to treat them accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebmx Posted December 10, 2005 Author Share Posted December 10, 2005 So I found an xt 6 with an H6 2.7 liter 170k miles in it and it runs...for now and an 87' DL 4x4 wagon with a bad head gasket both for 500$. Interior space isn't really a concern although a wagon would be nice but not gonna make the decision for me. How is the XT6 to work on engine wise? are they as simple as the smaller wagon engines. I have seen these things and couldn't believe how tiny and simple they look. But Looks can be decieving especially when engines are a new realm in car fixxing world for me. joey p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Umm... you don't want the H6. Just tell me where it is, and I'll take care of it. Seriously, it's not going to be too much different than working on your H4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97OBW Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 You are so lucky, you are in Grand Central when it comes to Subaru stuff. I had to go Seattle to get my last one as harder to come by one the East side of the mountains. Found it on "Craigslist.com, (click Seattle, click Auto/truck, type in Subaru) Look for a rig taken car of, no funny wear on front tires, no wires dangling out of dash, and sounds like you can learn motors and you will be set... I paid, $140. for 88 wagon in great body/interior, (bad motor), and last two, $1. for 88 & 82 wagon... those are the best deals. They are like most cars, have their own quirks etc... it is very much a LOVE, HATE relationship. The more you do, the more you learn and I try to avoid mechanics costs.... as I learn to do it myself... what little I have done, but am learning. This site is great for info, tips etc.. The worst that can happen is you turn around and sell it back to a Subee lover for a little loss. Find yourself a good deal and have fun.... assure it is,Manual Transmission, 4x4, and enjoy the ride! I am!!!!!!! and I'm spent.... .02 cents worth... :-p 1$ for a car.... i rather have a cold pepsi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPMurray Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 well ok first older is better the only thing is sometimes electrical items can be issues like tailights grounds rusting off water that kind of stuff but as far as an easy car to work on its the ultimate mechanics beginer mobile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 the h-6 rules the xt-6 motor is just a standard 4 banger with two more cylenders they have about the same problems and are about the same difficulty to work on\ they are also allot more powerful okay so it's like 140 hp for the er27(xt-6 motor)vrs the 90hp for the non turbo ea82(wagon motor)i think thats about right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critical_max Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 go for the XT6, they are much harder to find and engine is not much more complicated than the 4-cylinders from what I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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