mikec03 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 In a recent thread, the Subaru letter [from 2004 or so], describing the head gasket problem, applicability, and extended warranty, was reproduced. However, the actual VIN numbers of the cars at risk was deleted. This is kind of significant for the 2002 production run since the head gasket problem was "fixed" during the run. Since I own a 2002 Legacy which is supposed to be manufactured after the fix, I'm kind of interested. The dealership says no problem, but I would like to see it from an independent source. Does anyone got the VIN number after which the fix was made? By the way, I'm at at 80K and have no leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I think you might be mistaken about the 2002 produciton run fix. It is widely known it wasn't til the 2004/2005 year that might have been fixed.....not 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 But Subaru stopped giving out the extended warranty, up to 100,000 mi, at some point of the 2002 production run! They must have made a change involving the head gaskets during 2002! Does anyone know the VIN number where this change was made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 There is also an 8 year limitation to it as well, so you're almost beyond that. Actually you might be beyond that depending how they calculate that 8 years - I believe it's from the date of the original purchase of the vehicle...which can vary by quite a bit...so if it was sold in 2001 (very likely) then you're out of warranty. They must have made a change involving the head gaskets during 2002! Right, they add a conditioner, they didn't change anything. Your car has a bottle of goop in it that the earlier ones didn't get...or not until they started having issues at least. Technically speaking you have to verify this Subaru Genuine Coolant Additive goop is added at every Subaru recommended coolant service interval for the cooling system if you want this warranty in effect. Granted they're lenient on that small part, recognize the issue, and will take the warranty work....but, if you're pressing the limits with mileage, production date, and years, you're getting on really thin ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Even the official Subaru recall say that counter measures were applied during the 2002 production run. No doubt, they just changed the gasket. But what was the VIN number? Anyone. Only early Phase II 2.5 liter engines are affected. Phase I 2.5 liter engines (some 1999 model year and prior years) are not affected. Countermeasures applied to the manufacturing process for those 2002 and later VINS not affected by this campaign have eliminated the need for this campaign to be performed on those vehicles. In the future, it will be necessary to add Genuine Subaru Cooling System Conditioner to the SUBARU vehicle cooling system whenever the engine coolant is replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Even the official Subaru recall say that counter measures were applied during the 2002 production run. No doubt, they just changed the gasket. right, i've read that before too: Right, they add a conditioner!!! 'iim sure adding conditioner is part of the manufacturing process now that they require it. they probably adjusted the gasket and torque sequence, but they still have issues post 2002. i'm not sure of the VIN deal. i saw someone mention before that they were "100 short of the cutoff", not sure if that's just some out $2,000 being emo or real. I've never seen the VIN cut off publicized. Did you try googling it? It'll take some time as I couldn't get it to come up before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted November 6, 2009 Author Share Posted November 6, 2009 Just to complete this thread, my VIN "serial" number is 211xxx, which if it only applied to NA cars and they started at zero, would imply that my car was near the end of the production run. However, the dealership papers indicate that they had it on their lot in February 2002 which doesn't seem like the end of the production run. I bought it in June. The dealership isn't any help. They just say that my car is not covered by the extended warranty. There is no further information that can be obtained by Googling. So it remains a secret. Subaru is doing better then the CIA in keeping secrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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