coryl

^^^ either you were really lucky or I am very unlucky because this is my first Subaru...I will not be applying for ambassadorship. That said, I still love my Subaru and I am more angry at the dealership for their incorrect assessment of the head gasket problem because the car was under warranty at the time.

^^^ that. I'd try and boost the battery. If the car starts, leave it running. If it dies out then it could be your alternator or something in your charging system. If it doesn't start, it could be your starter although if you have a manual transmission you can bypass the starter by putting the car in first gear with your foot firmly pressed on the clutch and get a few friends to push start you. Once you're rolling along then release your foot off the clutch and the car should start if it's a starter issue. You may have more than one issue going on here, but I do know one thing for sure, and it's that you definitely need a new battery. What battery do you have in this car? Any newer technology battery (VRLA/WETcell) we call a "two boost" battery (battery gets drained two or more times) before it usually won't hold a full charge due to it now being damaged and in your case, "old" as you say. And how do you know it's fully charged? If you've charged your battery with a battery charger, many chargers won't recognize a 12V battery if the voltage goes too low and it may only charge the battery to 6V or less or not at all, which isn't enough to start a car I think you need around 10V? What I do in those cases when there's a dead battery, is to set the battery charger to 6V battery setting and let the charger charge the battery to 6V. Then change the charger setting to charge a 12V battery and leave it on overnight or until it says it's fully charged. The battery charger I like the best (and I've tried many) and that I have now is the NOCO G3500. With the Noco charger they have a desulfation/repair mode and I've used that one on my Red Top battery to bring it back to life after 3 discharges due to a faulty car security system.

Subaru doesn't have a head gasket problem, just ask them. If you have oil leaking then its your valve cover and then after your warranty expires its really a head gasket leak. Yup bitter here! If they do pay out in head gaskets then ill sign up too. I found this site from my google head gasket problem search.

Thanks so much for the info. I had almost decided to go with the dot 4 and then i hit the disclaimer at the bottom saying if dot 3 has come with your car, the fittings and hoses, etc, have been tested with it and there might be problems going with dot 4. My Evo also comes with dot 3, but most of my evo friends use dot 4 with no issues and although i use dot 3 in my evo i got a code when lapping last year so i had my brakes flushed and refilled with dot 3 thinking it was just the gforce when taking the corners because thats when i got the low brake fluid codes was when taking the corners. This year i lapped the evo a few weeks ago and went the full day with no codes although my friend running also dot 3 in his evo was pumping his brakes by the end so it probably is fluid age with his and mine too? That said, back to my Subaru, as i said i autox it and brakes get even hotter than when lapping so id like to go with dot 4 but should i worry about this? Going to dot 4 doesn't seem to be an issue with Evos, and in fact just might be better so next change ill go with dot 4, but just wondering about Subaru so im still undecided there. Thanks for any suggestions.

I just purchased some new brakes for daily driving and for AutoX for my Subaru 2.5i. I got the Stoptech sport slotted cryo-treated rotors and Hawk high performance street/race pads. I know nothing about brake fluid so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a decent brake fluid that will be good for Canadian winters as this is my daily and also decent for autoX. Thanks.

Wow that's very good about autozone, but not sure we have that kind of service here in Canada. Not enough competition that makes companies need to go the extra mile unfortunately. I'm in the Ottawa area and have never heard of it but maybe there's something like that in Montreal due to more competition but probably not. And not meaning to brag, but here in the north we have a better health care system for when our alternators break, our cars become possessed and we get into an accident and need health care. JK. Lol.

A quick way to figure out if it's your alternator or something else in your charging system would be to test your new battery. The new battery should have been fully charged when purchased and if it's draining a week later again then you have your answer. If the battery is fully charged then check for the codes as already mentioned.

A quick way to figure out if it's your alternator or something else in your charging system would be to test your new battery. The new battery should have been fully charged when purchased and if it's draining a week later again then you have your answer. If the battery is fully charged then check for the codes as already mentioned.

Also just disconnect your battery to shut off all the blinking lights.

Also do not drive a car acting up like this as you could do damage with irregular voltage and you could also get yourself killed if systems are failing because of it. Tow it to a mechanic.

Thank you guys, you've given me food for thought. Definitely my Subaru dealership is one that will gladly take my money and they can find all sorts of extra things for me to purchase before I leave there. With that said, I'm probably going to take my Subaru to my friend who's the service manager at Mitsubishi and see if he can tell me if I've got a problem or not. I'm now 3 days with no oil drips underneath my Subaru and although that doesn't mean anything, that means it's a very small leak from the head gasket if that's what it is. Norm, what is that conditioner called and how often do you change the coolant to get those kinds of top engine km's? I use Mobile 1 synthetic in both my Evo and Subaru and change them twice a year and additional if had a race day.

If I was a betting person I'd say it was your alternator. Your alternator charges your battery and may not have been working correctly and is possibly why your battery was dead after a one week vacation in the first place. Batteries regulate voltage as well, and if not charging/charged correctly from a bad battery or a faulty alternator then you get all kinds of voltage issues and your car acts possessed which can be quite dangerous as it can affect all electrical/ECU including braking, etc.

Thank you for the recommendations. The car runs perfectly with no overheating/ backfires and the coolant and oil are clear. I can't even see where the car is leaking from and it was only when the dealership mentioned an oil leak/head gasket possibility that this became a concern for me.

Subaru Nut, it was a buy back warranty in that if I didn't use it over the 4 years I'd get all back except for $400. It was worth it for me to pay the $300 for the valve cover to get back $1400 when it was getting closer to warranty end. If I'd have known that it was head gasket, I would have used the warranty and this is what I'm so upset about. The car has 97,000kms on it. I've looked and the coolant is a clear green color and oil is clear as well. No backfires and no overheating and no loss of power that I have noticed. I have a cardboard piece under the car for the past two days now and not one drop of oil on it and it was only because of the dealership mentioning the oil leak when they had it up on the hoist so I've not even seen where it's coming from so clearly it's a very small leak. Based on years of the car I'm also due for the timing belt replacement so I'm needing to get that done anyways. Since I will be doing that, is there anything else I should get done at the time? Thank you for your help.

I have a 2008 Impreza 2.5i. I bought the car 5 years ago and bought an extended warranty that covered everything for 4 years until 2015. Two years ago I took it into the dealership and they said I had an oil leak and needed my valve cover gasket replaced which I did and that cost me $300. Last year my full covered aftermarket warranty ended. Last week the dealership says that I still have an oil leak and are suggesting it might be my head gasket. After some research, it was mentioned that inexperienced people suggest replacing the valve cover when it's often actually the head gasket. Now here is my dilemma...if it is my head gasket and was always my head gasket, I'm now out thousands to fix when up to last year everything would have been included under warranty. I'm so angry right now and trying to figure out if I have a head gasket problem and if so what should I also fix if I do fix (both) gaskets and what kind of fight do I have with the dealership? I understand that so far my coolant and oil look good and that I only have a small oil leak.

I found this site after doing some research on what may be a head gasket problem with my 2008 2.5i. I love cars and racing them. I autox my Subaru and drag and lap my EvoX MR. I love that Mitsubishi and Subaru can get along on my driveway. I'm female which is a bit different from the norm in the racing scene...think I get that from my mother with the lead foot? I'm going to go to the area to try and figure out my oil leak issue and potential head gasket problems. I love my Subaru and I just bought new racing brakes and now I'm concerned about the oil leak. Thinking if I replace the both head gaskets I should do my timing belt, water pump, oil pan, and anything else? My Subaru 2.5i has 97,000kms and is a 2008.