ktdenali

so phase What? engines did they use in the 2006 and younger models. Are those still prone to HG failure?

I am looking at buying another one (5 speed) which has 90000 miles on it. It is a 2006, the next generation from mine. unfortunately a dealer, but I cannot do much about that. Subarus are hard to find used. Does anyone know if Subaru had fixed their HG idiocy by 2006 or is it still a problem? What are some of the years safe to buy, so the engines last Like the old 2.2's used to? I am not savvy enough to rebuild an engine, and I would hate to put another 1000s of dollars into this one, to get my engine rebuilt.

He said OEM gaskets were use, the same ones he uses on hundreds of Subarus. The heads were resurfaced, but since the leak came back he suspects the block may have been warped from previous overheating (not in my hands) I think this engine is gonna be a throw away, because I already spent $1500 on it. I'd rather find a "new" one, spend a little more and have a better engine. We shall see. Where I live engines seem hard to find these days. I have talked to 3 mechanics already. My lower hose gets just as hot as the upper hose. So I suspect the thermostat still opens and let's the coolant circulate. Thanks

So I drove it to work (160 mile commute per day) the last two weeks. It did not overheat, until today at a rail road crossing. I sped up and in quit, until I got to the next town. Just out of curiosity I opened the hood to see how crazy it was bubbling. It WASN'T!!! I drove home and let it coo just enough to be able to open my radiator cap. The hoses were still very stiff and hot. For some reason the bubbles were not blowing into my overflow this time while driving, but when I twisted the radiator cap just a ted, HOLY COW. It shot into the overflow like crazy. Mostly gas (combustion). I think the reason it over heats now is because my radiator runs low on coolant. Even if I fill it up it blows into the overflow tank and stays there. So my radiator is always low, and tank is always so full. Now I just need to figure out why the bubbles don't go into my overflow anymore. That is probably why I started overheating 'cause the pressure builds up and there is not relief. Subarus are interesting...

Do these still have the head gasket issue of Subaru finally fixed. I suspect the newest ones have been redesigned completely but what about the generation before the newest?

if I start out the day with normal coolant levels (i.e. after I burped the engine) and even leave my overflow tank on the LOW mark, by the end of a longer trip (interstate) the overflow will be full, in fact if will push out some of it. The bubbles keep going for a little while after I shut the engine off. After it cooled down the overflow stays full so it does not get sucked back in the radiator. I think it theoretically should. As far as testing the coolant. Unfortunately I do not have those tools (cost about $50 right?) It kind of smells gasy, not like regular coolant and its color changes over time to something much darker, grayish. I don't know how this car is still running. I would love to use a EJ22, but I am very very sceptical about the Subaru 2.5's anymore. No matter what phase. Which brings me to another question, if anyone knows. Has Subaru fixed the HG problems by the 2005-2009 generation Outbacks??? or those still give out on you at 120k ish?

I just drove it around town in 100 F weather for an hour and no sign of over heating. However, driving it sound like flushing the toilet. You can hear coolant movement (like a sewer pipe) as you accelerate. I have never added the Subaru Coolant additive. Most people I talked to said it seems silly to try to fix a major problem with some cheap liquid. But like you said, this maybe the end of this engine so if it's really only $2.50 I will try it. I bought the car at 126k and HG was done at 136k. The sole reason being bubbles in my coolant. Where I live it's hard to find Subaru engines, especially 2.2's. So I may have to look for a new car.

I used to have a EJ22 in a legacy before. Those are indestructible and hard to find anymore. If I could I would go for one of those for sure. I am gonna try to change to coolant today because it's color has significantly changed since it was put in. I assume it's because it has been constantly blasted with combustion gases. I still wonder why it would not over heat on HWY but as soon as I got to the city it started???

The HGs were done by a very good reputable mechanic in town here. he said he used OEM (the same he uses on every Subaru he works, and he only works on Subarus) The radiator was burped after replaced, but that was almost 30,000 miles ago. I believe he did both head gaskets. As I said before a few months after I got the HGs done the bubbles came back. I took it back to the mechanic and suspected the block may be warped. We do not know what the previous owner before me did to it the first 130,000 miles. It has never over heated with me until now. The heads was also machined and they have taken some unpronounceable micro mm off of it. So far it has run over 30000 miles since the HGs were replaced, and that is with bubbles like crazy. This time around I drove it to Denver (600 miles) and right as I got to my destination I got a lot of red lights and and it started overheating. I don't understand how it did not do anything non-stop Hwy. I drove it a few miles with my defrost blasting which cooled it down and it was parked for 4-5 days. Also at the time it over heated my hoses were not normal stiff and hard but very easy to squezee. The overflow was full, the radiator low. Today I drove it back from Denver. Same exact thing. no problem for all 600 miles, but I was almost home driving in town it did it again. Except this time the hoses remained hard. I wonder if running it 30,000 miles with bubbles coming through weakened my radiator cap. So i put a new one on. We will see what it'll do. Anyway more ideas other than an obvious HG leak that cannot be fixed (if I have a warmed block possibly????)

I have a 2000 Outback ltd, EJ252. 168000 miles. I had the Head Gaskets replaced at 136000 because I had bubbles in my overflow. Even I had that done, I have been having bubbles and coolant getting pushed out the overflow tank. Anyway. 32000 miles later (today) my car starts to over heat after I drove it 600 miles on the highway and I came into town. There seems to be no coolant loss (none in oil, or through exhaust or anywhere else but maybe the over flow tank.) My radiator is practically new (changed at 142k) When HG were changed they changed most everything else with it (pump, thermostat OEM, the whole shabang) Fans run, but not immediately as I come to a read light off the Highway. It only overheats in town, after a lot of miles of constant running. What the heck is going on, anyone knows? thanks

Does anybody know of a place that sells rebuilt and salvaged Subaru engines. My mechanic wanted me to ask, since he is computer illiterate. Preferable in the NW West, US. Thanks for the tips.

so I am a psychological wreck....... thanks!:-\

thanks Steve! Those are the three options I have been thinking about as well. Selling it would be hard as it is not 100% and I do not want to lie. I have no problem confronting the mechanic, if I have bad test results. Running it to death is also an option but not the best of them. My next question is. If my mechanic offers to do it all over again, whether it's free of charge of costly, will it fix it? What are some thought on that? Thanks

Thanks for all your valuable advice. Even though I have no idea who you are and this is just a virtual conversation what I hear sound right to my ears. You are right my mechanic does not seem to wanna do it over again. I asked him if he used genuine Subaru head gaskets and he said yes, it the same kind he has been using for over 7 years. I know they pulled my engine out of the car, and that is how they did it. The heads went to a machine shop and got resurfaced. So everything sound and seem right, just like what other mechanics would do. One mechanic I talked said they should have used brand new head bolts as well, and I asked bout that. they did not, and did not think that was a good idea. "My" mechanic speculated that just because the head get resurfaced the block itself may not have a perfect surface or it is warped. we do not know that. It has never over heated since I had it, which is 2 years and 25,000 miles. I guess my biggest issue is dishing out another $1100 for an HG job. I thought that was done a year ago. I have a really hard time spending more money on this $5000 car. That is my biggest hurdle to jump. As far as the powder, and the blood on the floor. I don't think we think alike at all.

well it's been several weeks. the bubbles are still persistent. I drove the car over 1000 miles twice on the Beartooth Hwy going from 5000ft to 11000 elevation. the car never over heated but my overflow tank bubbles like crazy.it even pushed out some coolant through the overflow tank. At the end of a day, the overflow tank would be overly full, and the radiator low. In other words it does not suck the coolant back in the radiator like it should after it cooled down. The mechanic who did my Head gaskets just one year ago this month has no idea what is causing it. He sees no sense in replacing the HG again 'cause it was done right in the first place. I left the car with him one over night for him to hear what it sound like on cold start (the gurgling noise). he did not hear it. I think he put some kind of powder in my coolant (I am guessing) - something lie a HG sealer. Now the bottom of my coolant in the overflow tank is full of gunk, murky. I assume it is from the stuff he put in. No I have not done the hydrocarbon testing cause every mechanic i talk to in person don't think very highly of it. It there was combustion gases coming through my coolant my nose would be able to tell, as it would smell like exhaust. It doesn't. I do not know what is wrong. I give up and am tempted to sell this lemon. Any more ideas?

and yes I have check the small hose going from the radiator to the overflow tank. It is NOT blocked. You can blow right through it.

I see the bubbles in the overflow tank. (you can see that in the earlier posts in this thread). It does another very strange thing as well. After I drove it somewhere (longer trips) the coolant does not always gets sucked back into the radiator from the overflow tank. In other words if I open my radiator once it cooled down, my radiator is low and my overflow tank is way too full. And of course no coolant loss. I have been to the mechanic at least twice and he does not know what is going on. He has not offered to redo the HG's and I have not asked.

Thanks for all the valuable advice. I agree the test results would be a good argument for more work to be done on it, if need be. I trust my mechanic pretty well. he is a nice older gentleman and has a very good reputation among other mechanics. In fact even the "big Dog" expensive Subaru mechanic in town admitted that he does a great job. I believe he used genuine Subaru HG's. Most of the parts I have got from him that I installed myself (radiator cap, thermostat, etc) were genuine parts. Some weren't I think. I.e. he put in a new front O2 sensor once that was made by BOSCH and came from carquest. He said BOSCH is very good. A new radiator we put in not long ago was a MAde in China one. But I think when it comes to something as serious as HG's, or timing belt he uses Subaru parts. I talked to him once about the Subaru coolant additive and he called it a bandaid only. In other words some liquid will not fix a engineering problem. I kind of see his point, but that is just his opinion. I think next week I will try to see how much one of those test kits cost at NAPA or Carquest. Every mechanic I asked either did not do the test or recommended against it. Also, in case the HG's are leaking again, which i hope not, I hope it will not jeopardize a good relationship with this mechanic if I have to have him do all that work all over again. Honestly I am absolutely clueless where I would constantly get bubbles in my cooling system from if it was not combustion gases. BUT: -I am not loosing any coolant -I have no exhaust smell in my coolant -my exhaust has no coolant smell -no overheating -no coolant in my oil or vise verse

The DUDE! No I do not spend $68 easy. I neither spent $1100 easy on replacing HGs. I have been going to the same mechanic for years I trusted his advice to replace the HGs. he said sooner or later it will have to be done because Subaru majorly screwed up in those years. It is very confusing to me that all three mechanics I talked to in person here said the testing is really just a sprinkle of sugar on the cake. The problem is there seems to be no cake yet. On the other hand all other people in this forum said I should jump on the test. Kind of like the health care system, they send you for all kinds of testing for this and that and nail you with a huge bill of small items here and there. Anyway to cash out $1100 for HG change was a month salary for me, and $68 is almost a whole day of work. So don't be surprised I am not to jump on it that easy. Back to the subject. I did burp the car as I said I would. Ran it for 45 minutes saw a lot of bubbles come out and as I had the heater going full blast the coolant was continuously retrieving and I slowly filled it up. For a day or so I did not hear trickling noises but it came back. It come and goes, but is there on most cold starts. I do not know what is going on neither do all three mechanics I talked to. ?????

I talked to the Subaru mechanic who did my HG's about the test. he does not seem too keen on it 'cause if my HG's were leaking again it would be very obvious. I went and got a second opinion from the Big Dog in town, another Subaru Mechanic with the big money, and he said my best tester is my nose. If those bubbles in my coolant were combustion gases it would pretty obviously stink like exhaust. It's kind of nice of them to be honest and not have me jump on the testing for $68. Since there are really no other typical signs of a leaky HG I gotta find out where on earth my system is getting air into it. I am going to try to burp it again this weekend and see if that does any good. Any thoughts, pieces of advice are welcome.

I have not got the test done on the coolant cause I have not found a place that does it. Is it expansive?

I was wrong! Bubbles are going, and truckling noise as well every morning and every start up after cool down. So I am back to square one after an expensive head gasket change. I have no idea along with the mechanics I talked to what is going on. It is NOT overheating, and not mixing coolant with oil. urrrrr.

that's exactly what I did. Got the HG replaced just because of the bubbles, trying to be preventative. After about a year the bubbles came back. I replaced the radiator cap just last week, it was faulty. Now the trickling sound is gone but the bubbles remain. talked to my mechanic and he said he suspects it is because the time they do it the heads get resurfaced but the block itself does not. In other words there maybe micro cracks between a smooth resurfaced head and the old block. That maybe whey I still have bubbles in there, even thought the HG is new. I am starting to give up on Subarus with the 2.5s. They suck, with so many problems.

I talked to another mechanic just to get a second opinion. First of all he confirmed that the one guy who did my head gaskets know what he is doing. He is a well reputed Subaru mechanic in town. There are absolutely no typical signs of a leaky head gasket, other than the bubbles in my over flow and the trickling noise, if that is even a HG symptom. -no over heating -no white exhaust -no coolant smell -no leaks anywhere or loss of coolant -no milky oil, or residue on my oil cap I do not know what is going on, but this Outback is turning out to be a kind of a lemon for me. Makes me wonder if the newer they get the worse they are. I have not done the exhaust testing yet. So far 2 out of 2 mechanics were either too busy or did not have the kit. I have not been able to find a place to buy the kit anywhere online, but saw traces that it may cost $50+.

I put a different radiator cap on this morning so we will see. A few more things. -The radiator is almost brand new. -Cooling fans working -water pump was replaced when the HG changed Where would you have the coolant tested?