nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 195,000 miles and 94 miles from home. No warning at all, the head gasket blew. 2005 Subaru Outback Limited Some nice lady let me use her driveway as the two lane twisty busy road I was on was not a safe place to be. After one of the scarier tow/rides of my life in a flatbed truck, got home in 4 hours and 127 miles.AAA directions were wrong as were Garmins. Not replacing the car, so the options are a rebuilt engine or a used engine. That car retails for 6-10K in my area. Now to source them. PS the tow truck broke down after he left my house 1 mile away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 How blown'd is it? Did it overheat? Badly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Yeah why not have the head gaskets replaced? You'd be smart to do that to any other motor before it's installed anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 It just barly went into the red after the second start. First start was very high but i wasnt anyplace safe. 2nd start got a little hotter but never pegged.Just into the red zone. and just long enough (100 yds) to get me off a curve. 3rd start car was down to normal to get me into a strangers driveway. My usual rule of thumb is 130K is cut off for HG vrs replacing engine, but this is all highway miles. The other odd thing was normally at warm idle oil pressure is about 10 psig but on this trip it was down to 6psig, that was before the HG blew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Yeah why not have the head gaskets replaced? You'd be smart to do that to any other motor before it's installed anyway. Any other lower mileage engine. Worried about doing a valve job and raising the cylinder pressures back to stock and then getting blowby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 That is weird! As I'm sure you are the first to realize, usually the 00-09 subarus leak oil and then maybe coolant but to catastrophically fail, well that doesn't seem very common. As someone said on these forums, a used 2.5 engine is always problematic because you don't know if it was overheated. So that leaves you with rebuilding, assuming yours didn't overheat. Another alternative is to visit the junkyards and find an engine from a crash so that there is a fair chance that it wasn't overheated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 weird (oh, and sorry it happened to you) any dents in the oil pan? the oil pressure thing is weird, wondering about a cracked pick-up tube. maybe a different engine IS a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Yeah why not have the head gaskets replaced? You'd be smart to do that to any other motor before it's installed anyway. That would be done nbefore any other engine goes into the car, thats why i am starting to debate a short block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Oil pressure will be low if the engine is running hot. But down to 6 psi before the guage starts going up... Probably a good indicator something was going on for a while. Likely the coolant level was low and the block was running hotter than normal. So the car is home now. How are the fluid levels? Any mixing of fluids? Have you stared it and let it warm up? Any steam blowing out of the tail pipe or bubbles in the radiator/overflow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Oil pressure will be low if the engine is running hot. But down to 6 psi before the guage starts going up... Probably a good indicator something was going on for a while. Likely the coolant level was low and the block was running hotter than normal. So the car is home now. How are the fluid levels? Any mixing of fluids? Have you stared it and let it warm up? Any steam blowing out of the tail pipe or bubbles in the radiator/overflow? I havent really done anything yet as Mom had eye surgery this am, so using the Justy. Tomorrow I will check fluids and stuff. The few times i started the car to maneuver it for the flat bed andf get it in the driveway there was no steam out the exhaust. It all comes out of the Rad Cap like a gyser once the Tstat opens up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 NO!!!!!! short blocks: 05 legacy $250 in Tiverton, RI: 401-624-6687 2006 forester EJ25 $540 in NY 1-315-684-9212 2006 Forester EJ25 $500 in NY 1-800-696-0144 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I might send an oil sample for analysis and to see if they find high levels of wear metals. Takes a few days but you'll have a good idea if the short block is worth a re-gasket or if you should spend the money for a "new" one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 I might send an oil sample for analysis and to see if they find high levels of wear metals. Takes a few days but you'll have a good idea if the short block is worth a re-gasket or if you should spend the money for a "new" one. Got a recommendation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 (edited) other Subaru folks have used these guys, the only one's I can think of from memory: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ Edited June 16, 2014 by grossgary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Blackstone is good. Oil Analyzers Inc is the one I've used several times in the past. Usually costs around $25 including postage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 And the answer is ..... Always shop around. I went to two subaru dealerships. I was going to go to three but i stopped with the second. Funny how the last place you go is usually the one you should have done first. The first dealership was really lazy about getting me a solid estimate. They are a large and respectable multi brand shop. i did not get the warm and fuzzies from them. i did not see any modified subarus in the lot. They werent the most helpful getting a parts price form the parts dept (and felt like they make more money off service then major work). Second Dealer (Metric Subaru) used to do major service on Blu and i have bought Justy parts from them. They quoted me 15hrs (they get all the ricers that blow their engines so have it down pat) at a much reduced labor rate. The service writer walked me over to parts and told parts what i was doing. Parts was chatty with me as we figured out what i needed (and a Subaru short block price I couldnt beat). They purposely over quoted on parts as they weren't sure what the short block would come with (fine with me better too high then too low). The written estimate (only unknown was the condition of my valves) was much less then the other dealership, and much less then I had in my head. Funny thing, the parts manager told me not to beat on the Justy as he doesn't have any CVT parts anymore. Car goes in July 1st as the engine specialist is on vacation till then. So for under 5K i get a fully rebuilt subaru engine. I can't replace that car for that money. I am happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Just for curiosity, did you ever replace the HG's? This is assuming that you owned the car since mgf. So if the your 05 did 195K miles on the original HG, I think that is unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 I bought the car used, I am the third owner. My 1997 DOHC went 191,000 then threw a rod. It is not unusual, however the 2005 (still haven't thought of a name yet besides the Big Car) has been weeping since I bought it after Sandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Holy spoob 5k?! That's a lot. But if you're happy, I guess that's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Under 5K factory warrenty I can't beat that. All the Soobies here still have a high resale due to sandy killing them all, so I can't touch a 2005 for anything less then 8K that isnt rusted to hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) $1,941 for a Subaru OEM short block - I'm going to start bidding on this job! stuffed with coal of course Nip! glad you found a place willing to talk and work you through it, they sound good. Edited June 18, 2014 by grossgary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 in the odd event you ever buy another Subaru, get one with 200k, you're possessed around 190? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) Actually the short block price they quoted was around 2K. Gary I just noticed that too, Blu threw a rod at 196K, this one blew a HG at 195K. The Justy only has 46K on him so he is safe from the curse for a while And they admitted they quoted high just to cover everything so it will be under that 5 and much closer to 4. Edited June 18, 2014 by nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 The Justy only has 46K on him so he is safe from the curse for a while HA! take that, you stinkeen curse! The Justy has immunity from the curse - it will never reach 195,000 It will reach 95,000 then 95,000 then 95,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I can buy a brand new short block for $1800 from my local dealer. I can have my Subaru guy rebuild a motor for a grand. I just hate dealer prices. The warranty part is great, but that price is outrageous. Definitely cheaper than replacing the car, but there's no reason to do that anyway, it's just the head gaskets that failed. But like I said, if you're happy with it, that's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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