laush Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I have a 2002 Outback 2.5 with a 2004 motor just installed last Nov.. Last week had drv. side HG done, and now I have noticed the passenger side leaking. Needless to say I am not impressed with Subaru and their history of this quality defect. Also the motor was replaced due to excessive piston slap - very noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendly_jacek Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Sorry to hear this. HG is a known issue with subaru's 2.5L. Usually the external leak with 2000+ subarus was correctable with the conditioner additive. Did you pursue the conditioner as per the recall? Also, there is that 100000mile extended warranty on the HG. Regarding the piston slap, timing belt tensioner can mimic it very well. Using stethoscope helps a lot. It is another problem area in subarus. I just took mine in for third tensioner in my 2000 legacy. And yes, the wheel bearings, mine failed at 50-60000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 With a swapped engine, i dont think the warrenty is valid anymore. The warrenty usually covers the car and its original equipment. You would have a hard time proving the replacement engine had less then 100k on it. Also i thought (i may be wrong), i thought by 2004 all was fixed. I would try the conditioner first and see if that stops the leak. My next question would be how well do you know the replacement engine? IS the HG leaking externally and how bad. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Oh man, talk about wheel bearings. I just bought a 90 legacy wagon. Just about everything went out on it within the next week or two. The tranny was one of those things. Major pain in the rump roast. But also, both the driver side wheel bearings were SHOT. But the passenger side bearings seem to be fine...why would that happen? The timing belt snapped because whoever owned it before me was very neglectful with the car and it had something like almost 120,000 on the belt. The motor has been replaced with a jap crate motor I think. Mine is the 2.2 but I believe it's leaking oil from both heads. Not sure about the HG but it's got oil all over the bottom of the heads and it's running down the oil pan and stuff. Not very happy with the guy who sold me this thing and said it ran like a champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Oh man, talk about wheel bearings. I just bought a 90 legacy wagon. Just about everything went out on it within the next week or two. The tranny was one of those things. Major pain in the rump roast. But also, both the driver side wheel bearings were SHOT. But the passenger side bearings seem to be fine...why would that happen? The timing belt snapped because whoever owned it before me was very neglectful with the car and it had something like almost 120,000 on the belt. The motor has been replaced with a jap crate motor I think. Mine is the 2.2 but I believe it's leaking oil from both heads. Not sure about the HG but it's got oil all over the bottom of the heads and it's running down the oil pan and stuff. Not very happy with the guy who sold me this thing and said it ran like a champ. did the last owner weigh 400 pounds? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laush Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 The replacement motor had only 40000 km, it came from a wreck had original champion plugs and was dry when it was put in. Subaru did the supposed fix of adding the conditioner when I had the gasket done. It was one of four recalls that had not been done on the car. Others were parking pawl in trans., undercoating around rear axle, and something on the brakes. This motor still has piston slap and gasket issues. The problems are making very hard to want to keep this car although I love driving it. The car has only 110000 km and has had way too many issues, my parents 97 Camry has yet to have seen the dealer with 200000 kms. I guess I expected the same with my first Japanese Auto. Oh and yes this gasket and the other that was repaired both leaked externally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 The replacement motor had only 40000 km, it came from a wreck had original champion plugs and was dry when it was put in. Subaru did the supposed fix of adding the conditioner when I had the gasket done. It was one of four recalls that had not been done on the car. Others were parking pawl in trans., undercoating around rear axle, and something on the brakes. This motor still has piston slap and gasket issues. The problems are making very hard to want to keep this car although I love driving it. The car has only 110000 km and has had way too many issues, my parents 97 Camry has yet to have seen the dealer with 200000 kms. I guess I expected the same with my first Japanese Auto. Oh and yes this gasket and the other that was repaired both leaked externally. A car is only as good as its maintance and mechanic. Now i dont know how warrenties are done in canada. Personally with the piston slap being so bad i would have stood my ground for either a new engine or a rebuild, not a swap. Here in the US i have never heard of anyone offering a swap to fix piston slap. At 110.000 kms, this is less then 100,000 miles and should be under warrenty. And i know of Camerys that have blown headgaskets. i also had a honday civic that blew TWO headgaskets within a year of each other. As long as Subaru put the conditioner in, you should be covered under the warrenty. Make s stink if you have too. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laush Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 My OBW was purchased used it was actually a lease return (4 yr). The dealer told me they had a good history on the car, but later I found that was not true. At 110000 km the motor had been replaced ( found that out on first visit to Subaru dealer ), none of the recalls had ever been done, etc... . I am pretty particular when it comes to maintenance, I am an industrial mechanic, and know the issues that arise with neglect. The car is great to look at, drives great but I have learned a valuable lesson in buying a used car. Luckily I insisted on a one year complete PT warranty and have already taken advantage of it and will continue to. But I personally would never recommend anyone buy a used Subaru without a good warranty - there are a lot of "neglected" cars out there and with some of the Subaru quality issues that makes it even more important. -Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 This doesn't make my wanting to buy a newer subaru all that appealling... Does the 100 000 mile warranty actually apply in Canada? And would it apply to someone who is not the original owner of the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I was not the original owner of my car and I have Canadian relatives. Does that count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I was not the original owner of my car and I have Canadian relatives. Does that count? Maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laush Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 My local Subaru dealer here in New Brunswick never even mentioned a head gasket issue or warranty on them. Just out of interest I asked the driver of the courtesy car about head gaskets and he replied "you didnt hear this from me but the gaskets are a known issue with these cars". The service manager only told me their repairs are guaranteed for 1 yr 20000 km. I put that many miles on in 9 months. Keep in mind this is the same dealer that quoted me $300 to replaced frt O2 sensor. I will not be going back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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