jamiea98 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I just got my 05 forester back from the dealer after having the right HG replaced. The car still smells of coolant. The service department says that coolant and/or oil probably splashed on the engine block and will take up to a week to burn off. I was wondering if this is accurate. I'm concerned that something could be wrong with the other HG. Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Antifreeze takes a LOOONNNG time to go away after its been spilled. Pretty much whatever it gets on needs to be washed off after wards or it will just linger there until the antifreeze burns off. You can gently spray down the engine with a water hose, and that should help some but I would side with the shop and say give it a week or two, if the smell still isn't gone or you find antifreeze on your driveway, then take it back. Honestly I'm surprised they didn't replace the HG on the other side while they had the engine out. It doesn't take but maybe an extra hour or so (minus machine time if needed) to just do both sides. Then you don't have to worry about the other side blowing out in 3 months. I'm wondering why it needed a head gasket so soon though. Only 4 years old. How many miles on it? If you don't mind me asking. What was the reason it went in to the dealer for diagnosis in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiea98 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 It went in because it smelled of coolant and the level was low. It is still under warranty so I took it to the dealer. They diagnosed the problem. I asked about replacing the other side and they were going to charge me $500 and told me it would take 8 hours of work. I will give it a week to see how well the smell dissipates. There is a rattle from the engine now that wasn't there before. I would have preferred taking it to my local mechanic whom I trust. I must say, I am disappointed that it has had such a failure at only 50,000 miles. Leaves me with some concern for it's reliability. I was hoping to drive it for a very long time. I had an escort before this and it never gave me any problems.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 ask them to clean it off, if they are a reasonable dealer, they should clean it off. if they were a good dealer they would have cleaned it before you had gotten it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I've wondered myself how Subaru has managed to keep their "reliable" reputation after reading about so many problems with head gaskets and broken timing belts. The rattle could be a heat shield on the exhaust manifold. That's a pretty common issue on Subaru's, and while it's quite annoying its usually nothing to worry about. I had a feeling this must have been warranty work. I just wasn't sure how long Subaru's factory warranty lasts, of is this was extended warranty. Eight hours is about right for one head gasket. You have to pull the engine, which is a project in itself. They have to tear down the front of the motor to remove the timing belt, no matter which side they do. Once that's already out of the way, and the engine is out, replacing the other head gasket at the same time is like a cake walk. Unfortunately, you'll probably be seeing a failure of the HG on the other side in a short time. Exactly how long is hard to say, could be a month, could be a year. It might last you another 50k miles if you're lucky. I'd consider trading into something much newer, and still well within the factory warranty coverage if you can. If not, maybe consider buying an older model with the non interference EJ22 motor. 96 was the last year IIRC. Less power, but practically no problems with head gaskets, and if the timing belt breaks you don't have to buy a whole new engine like the newer EJ22 and EJ25 motors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiea98 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 I just paid the car off so I'm not going to trade it in. It is an extended warranty I purchased and runs out in June. I had them repair the heat shield over the summer (which was not covered under the warranty) so it's really annoying it's a problem again. Maybe I'll press the issue with them about the heat shield and cleaning the engine. It's cold and I need to run the heat and don't need my 2 year old smelling coolant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiea98 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Although, I might consider trading it in for a diesel version. Anyone know when that might be available in the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) Honestly I'm surprised they didn't replace the HG on the other side while they had the engine out. You have to pull the engine, which is a project in itself. the engine doesn't have to come out to replace the headgasket and the dealers i've talked to do not pull the engine. a 2005 loosing a head gasket, that's very unfortunate. glad it was under warranty and thanks for sharing. you didn't happen to ask them if they ever do any other newer ones like this did you? i should ask next time i stop in if they ever get newer ones in. i usually ask "how many EJ25's you got getting new headgaskets in today", but just assumed they were all older ones. Edited September 20, 2009 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StructEngineer Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I thought all of Subaru's headgasket issues went away starting in 2002? What's the deal, are newer years showing issues too?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I thought all of Subaru's headgasket issues went away starting in 2002? What's the deal, are newer years showing issues too?? No and no....but also yes. They've taken steps to ALLEVIATE the issue, so I would say "yes" the "issues" have been taken care of....meaning the old head gasket issues with it's own percentages of risk, known issues, etc. Doesn't mean the new ones are zero though. They are hopefully far fewer, but there have been incidences past 2002. There's no quantitative information people!!! It's not like Subaru releases "percentage of head gasket failure charts", without that there's no way to know anything about when "it" "went away", etc. 2002 was commonly thrown around and Subaru's extended warranty was 100,000 miles for headgaskets through 2002, so the INFERENCE is that it "went away" around that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibumm Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 you didn't happen to ask them if they ever do any other newer ones like this did you? i should ask next time i stop in if they ever get newer ones in. i usually ask "how many EJ25's you got getting new headgaskets in today", but just assumed they were all older ones. When I had my 01 OBW H6 VDC over at the Subaru dealer in Wheeling to order a couple of minor parts for it in June. I got to talking to the mechanic, I asked him how often does the H6 HGs fail, He told me he has done one HG job on the H6, which in his own opinion was not bad, just upper management was trying to satisfy a customer. He also mentioned they do 3-4 EJ25 HG jobs per WEEK!, but I too didn't ask if they were newer 05+ model years, at any rate 3-4 HG's jobs seem very high for a small market dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 To get rid of the antifreeze smell under the hood, I would use some dish washing liquid, the kind you use for hand washing dishes. Have the motor warm, park somewhere close to a garden hose, then squirt the dish washing liquid on the motor where antifreeze may still linger. Wash down the motor with a garden hose, then leave the hood up, and if it is a sunny day, the heat from the motor and sunshine will dry off the motor in an hour or so. I even use the dishwashing liquid to clean off oil and grime from the engine bay. Leaves a nice clean smell from under the hood after the cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 the engine doesn't have to come out to replace the headgasket and the dealers i've talked to do not pull the engine. I was under the impression that it needed to be pulled because of clearance issues. My mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 at any rate 3-4 HG's jobs seem very high for a small market dealer.sounds familiar to some of the scenes i've witnessed and conversed about as well. 3 a week that's $150,000 per year for a dealer. if there's 100 Subaru dealers in the US - that's $15 million worth of revenue just for head gasket work on EJ25's. Many folks would be surprised at how organizations look at numbers. There's HUGE profit margin in service that vehicle sales don't even come close to touching. Gone are the days of the 70's when companies made money on cars, now the profit margins are in used cars, parts, and service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) I was under the impression that it needed to be pulled because of clearance issues. My mistake.there are clearance issues and pulling the engine is a great way to do the job! different EJ25's are harder - the original DOHC being the worst. i'd be interested to watch a dealer do it. they make more money if their fast, so the incentive is high to get it done quick. Edited September 20, 2009 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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