dbullen

I called the place in maryland, they were awesome to deal with and were willing to ship to canada, however head was $175 + 155 (Shipping) = $330 USD X 1.07 (exchange rate) = $353 Canadian + Taxes charged by customs (15%) = $406, then it would cost $140.00 to crack check it and $80 to plane it once here, for a total of $626.00 I just decided to go with the one for $650 here in canada, as it was crack tested and planed already and guaranteed and will be here in 2 days instead of 7-10 days. Once this is all said and done, I will have spent about $3100 in the last few months on this vehicle (And that's after I got a discount on all my parts buying online and my subaru tech cutting me a major deal on labour, starting to wonder if it was even worth it. Probably should have parted it out, but it's too late now

Found one for $195 that they are willing to ship to canada, the story on it is the following: 2001 H6 Had 70,000 Miles on it, Toasted lower end. Got a hole in the Oil Pan, spun a rod, upper end perfect. Given the above situation do you think the head would be okay?

Can only find one in Canada, and it's 650 (Shipping included), maybe it's worth checking it out, is the place in MD pretty reliable? Maybe I should call them tomorrow AM

Well here's the verdict, RH head is perfect, minor warp but being planed. LH Head has 2 cracks in first coolant passage in the front all the way up to the cam shafts. I guess it was leaking coolant in to #2 and all down that left side via the oil galley return,in such a spot that it's not repairable. Plan now is to pick up a good used LH head.

Just really weird that the pressure test passed before he took everything apart. The only thing to indicate head gasket was chemical test on coolant and that didn't turn all the way green, just yellow

Gotcha, so once he has the head checked for cracks and repaired if need be and planed if need be, I should hopefully be okay once it's put back together with new head gaskets?

Would a blow head gasket normally have a break in it? He said the gaskets he removed looked fine. He has replaced a one two other H6 headgaskets over the years (As they are rare to go) and I believe in the other ones the gaskets had a break.

Guides and tensionders were replaced at 130,000 miles. He said he tested the waterpump flow and it was fine, but I dunno. He's got a new one to put on anyways. I'm just scared he's gonna put everything back together and I'm going to have the same problem again. Would a water pump failure cause misfired on LH head?

Subaru H6, continuing overheating problem. Has been going on for 6 months now, still not fixed. 2003 Outback LL Bean H6 180,000 Miles Here's what happened. 6 Months ago: Car was overheating when starting from a stop (after car was warmed up) Temp gauge would rise slightly when starting off from a stop and then drop back to normal. It would also do the same when going up long hills on the highway, rise slightly at the bottom of the hill and then immediately drop back to normal temp for the remained of the hill. I had a new Subaru thermostat installed, the cooling system of course drained, topped up and burped (With Subaru coolant and conditioner) and car worked great for the next two months. Then I took the car for a 15 hour road trip. I was driving about 75 – 80 Miles/hour on the highway. It was 90 % highway driving, when I was about 1 hr away from my destination I had to go from the highway down into the city, and when I started sitting in traffic temp gauge started to rise, and wouldn’t go back down until I started moving again. It was 100 Degrees outside and probably the hottest day of the summer. I managed to keep the car moving until I got to my destination so the temp stayed down. When I arrived I noticed some coolant had spilled out the overflow tank. So I assume it was bubbling, but did not see. The Next day (It was also a much cooler day) I then transferred all the coolant from the overflow tank back into the radiator. The car worked fine for the 15 hour drive home, although it was much cooler outside and I took it easy on the way home. When I got home I took the car to my Subaru guy (Master Certified Subaru Tech who works at a dealership here). I had him do a complete check over. He did a pressure test on the coolant system and found three leaks. One small leak in bottom of radiator, one small leak in a metal fitted coolant house that goes around the side of the engine, and one around the coolant temp sensor. He replaced the radiator, hose and coolant temp sensor. He also put new clamps on all hoses After replacing the above, he did a pressure test on the cooling system and it was no longer dropping pressure overnight. He also did a compression test and leak down test and found no other issues. He took the car for a good drive (although not on the highway) and it acted fine. I picked the car up and made the drive home and was also driving about 75-80 MPH on the highway for about a 1 hour drive home. When I pulled off the highway and down into traffic heat gauge started to rise again, also AT Temp light was flashing for a bit. Gauge was going up and down. Coolant was bubbling a bit out of the overflow tank. I immediately shut the car off and had it towed on a flatbed back to my Subaru Tech. When my tech got the car back he did another compression and leak down test, and couldn’t find anything. After doing a vacuum test he discovered a leak in what he called an internal coolant hose, he said there were 3 of those hoses and so he replaced all 3. After he completed the work the vacuum test passed as well an additional compression and leak down test again passed. This time my tech took the car for a long hard drive on the highway after completing the work. When he got back to his shop the car was not overheating but there was bubbling in the bottom of the coolant overflow tank, and some misfires on the cylinders on the drivers (LH) side. He immediately did a chemical test on the coolant after the drive and it turned from Blue to Yellow, (I guess it normally changes to green with HG failure?) He also checked the fuel pump housing (I think this is what he called it) for cracks and it was fine. At this point the head gasket seemed to be the only thing left. So I purchased head gasket kit, a ton of other gaskets and also a new water pump, as I figured might as well replaced the pump when he’s in there. He just got everything apart, and the old head gaskets (The ones he removed) look fine and have no breaks, he has sent the LH head to a machine shop to check for cracking. Assuming it’s not cracked, is there anything else I can have him look for?

I thought about doing a chemical test on the coolant but I also remember my subaru guy saying that doing a chemical test on the coolant in a 2.5 is useless because it will always show up positive whether there is a head gasket issue or not. He said there was a subaru bulletin sent out about that. Although I'm not sure what the story is on the H6 and this test, whether it will always show up positive like the 2.5?

I'm putting it on a flatbed truck just to be on the safe side. (Already had the transmission rebuilt once) don't need to do it again

What does the blinking AT Oil Temp mean?

Just got the car back as had to wait for rad to arrive, + one of the coolant hoses had a very small leak as well. My Subaru guy replaced Rad and one of the coolant Hoses, put on new clamps on all hoses, created a vacumm, filled up system and added subaru coolant conditioner. Pressure tested the system overnight and it didn't lose any pressure. (Before rad/hose was replaced, was losing pressure overnight). He drove the car about 60-70 KM's) and it was working perfect. I picked the car up, was runnign great, no wooshing noise in dash anymore, and drove home about 120KM on the highway, when I got off the highway, heat gauge started to rise again, AT Oil temp started to flash (this never happened last time), Coolant Resovoir was full and a small bit came out the top, wooshing noise is now back in the dash and also when reving car up in park a small amount and then letting off throttle it would stall (Although he also just replaced battery cable ends so ECU is still in learning process). Any thoughts? He said he did all the tests for a Head Gasket Issue, and it has no signs what so ever. He is a factory subaru Certified Master Tech.

Had a very small hole in the bottom of the rad that was causing the issue.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Both Fan's are coming on. I managed to get the car home (another 15 hour drive) and it worked fine, ran at normal temp the whole way (It was a lot cooler outside on the way home). However I was in stop and go traffic and also a lot of hills and it still seemed okay. I also forgot to mention I was noticing a wooshing noise coming from inside the dash when accelerating (like water moving). Anyways I dropped the car off to my mechanic (Master subaru certified tech) who works at one of the dealers here. He's going to do a major checkover and hopefully will locate the issue.

If the rad cap is gone, would I have had air in my system?

Car has 180,000 Miles. Have you seen a faulty new subaru thermostat before?

There was no air pockets and no loss of coolant when it happened. Fans seem to both be coming on fine. No smell of coolant in exaust.

Thermostat was replaced with genuine subaru one a month ago (has been running fine since then). I assume coolant was bubbling (Although I didn't see it) just saw some dried coolant around the top of the resovoir cap and such the next morning when I looked)

About a month ago the temperature would rise slightly and then fall right back to normal temp while sitting still in traffic (would happen everytime I was drivig). Had thermostat replaced (genuine subaru). Car has been working fine for a month now. Just went for a roadtrip (15 hour drive), near the end of the trip after pulling off the highway and idling in traffic (or driving slower then 20km/.hr) the heat gauge would go up to the line under the red now, and it would stay there until the car started moving again, and then would drop right back down to normal temp. I pulled over once while idling and the temp was high and their appeared to be coolant pooring out a bit from the top of the resovoir tank. I tested the system for air leaks and their doesn't appear to be any. i'm thinking it might be a rad that's starting to plug up or another plug in a hose or something The day this happened it was about 100 degress out. Does anyone have any thoughts on what else to looks for Drove the car a couple times since this happen (just around town) and it seems to run fine (although it's not as hot out now) Heading home (another 15 hour drive) so hopefully this won't appear again.

It wasn't on recirculate, was just on outside air, although I switched it back and forth a few times when the problem was occuring, but it didn't help.

Had a chat with my subaru guy he thinks it maybe the air divertor was closed(vacuum powered on top of heater box)or blower motor fan cage had let go and was slipping for a few minutes. When it wasn't working I couldn't even feel the slightest feeling of heat from any of the vents, and then when it started working again it was blowing out really well, almost makes me think maybe it wasn't an obstruction.

Perfect thanks, I will see if I can locate it tonight.

No liquid, dry grey foam pieces (the kind you see that seal around the vents) How hard is this to get at? I'm not great at removing panels/dash stuff, I usually end up busting plastic pieces, clips etc.

2003 H6 Outback (Auto Climate Control) Was driving on the highway yesterday (Car was well warmed up) Heat had been working fine, then all of a sudden no air at all was coming out of the vents. Blower motor was on high and it still sounded like it was working properly, just no air at all (not even cold air) was blowing out of the vents. I kept switching between floor vents and front vents and window vents. Turning the fan on and off. Eventually after 20 minutes it started working again. I had a similar thing happen about 1 year ago and some grey foam shot out of the vent after and it started working again. This time nothing came out of the vents, but I'm wondering if it's somehow possible I have an obstruction in the vents somewhere ?