WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I have a 90 Legacy wagon with just over 115K miles. Is it possible for head gaskets to fail and coolant NOT end up in the oil on these cars? It developed a miss at idle a few days ago to start with that then started materializing at highway speed. It has been losing some coolant (which I occasionally smell) but, I have not been able to find out where it is going. I took it to the shop as I've just been too sick to mess with it. I fully expect them to make this the diagnosis. Not sure what I'll do with it if that is the case as it was just supposed to be a "get by with it for now" car any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 With Subarus, a failed head gasket does not result in coolant getting mixed with the oil. It results in exhaust gas entering the cooling system to cause over heating on your 90 model. If you smell antifreeze, it's possible that the heater core is leaking just a tiny bit. If it were me, I would drain the coolant, add fresh antifreeze and a bottle of radiator stop leak. Just don't add too much, or your heater core may not work so well As far as the "miss," how long has it been since you replaced the spark plugs and spark plug wires? If a long time, and many miles ago, it would be a good time to do that to see if that fixes the miss. I hope you know and trust the shop, and that they are honest? I would hate to hear that they want to throw lots of new parts at your car for no good reason, and charge you an outrageous amount. Let us know what the shop tells you what they think is wrong, and their solution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Defiantly not a head gasket causing these symptoms. As rooster2 said a headgasket would cause overheating. The miss is more than likely plugs or wires and a coolant leak is why you loosing coolant and smelling antifreeze. I suggest that you fix the leak rather than plug your heater core with stop leak. Its more than likely an old hose that is warming up and seeping, there are a few places that could be easy to miss a slow coolant leak. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) The miss showed up about 4 days ago. New NGK wires and Denso plugs about a month ago along with two new injectors. It's not overheating so hopefully the coolant loss has nothing to do with the miss. I've never been a fan of stop leak products so if it's the heater core I'll replace that. Hoping it's not something fatal as I think this car has lots of life left in it. I checked the shop out with a friend in the business. Spent quite a bit of time looking for someone familiar with these older vehicles. Edited January 17, 2016 by WokeUpGrumpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Unless abused, 115k is just scratching the surface on the life of those motors. They commonly go 300k and beyond with minimal maintenance. Not head gaskets, something small. Look toward coil pack, pinched or chewed wires etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Thanks guys. I really enjoy boards like this and so appreciate the help. Will let you know what I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp213 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 My sons 02 Wrx had a bad miss. We could also smell coolant a little. It ended up being the passenger side head gasket and his did not overheat. Replaced the head gasket and runs perfect with no more misfire code or miss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 My sons 02 Wrx had a bad miss. We could also smell coolant a little. It ended up being the passenger side head gasket and his did not overheat. Replaced the head gasket and runs perfect with no more misfire code or miss That's a totaly different motor your talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp213 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 It is, but still same exact issue so I thought I would throw it out there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 the 2000+ developed external head gasket leaks and don't overheat until they run low on coolant. Not relevant to compare them to the earlier motors that push exhaust into the coolant and cause overheat regardless of the coolant levels. They bear a lot of similarities, but those motors are apples and oranges in head gasket failure. no point in comparing the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 find the coolant leak. 115k tells us the car saw lots of city traffic, sat for an extended period(s) of time with little use. those don't do great things to engine longevity. if it is the headgaskets, pulling the thermostat might help it run cooler/less pressure and mitigate the leak while you limp it along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 First owner was an elderly lady that went to the grocery store, dr & church. It sat for about 4 or 5 years without being driven so me taking it into Dallas traffic on a daily basis was probably quite a shock. That said, it's a really nicely equipped car. 4 wheel disc brakes, plenty of power and almost everything works. Body is is pretty good shape. It seriously needs struts and brake pads/rotors but not much else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThosL Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I have had a number of Subarus with blown head gaskets and managed to deal with the problem. At this point I have one that I think has a blown hg, so I pulled out the thermostat and it runs great now. I would try to get an accurate diagnosis, there are false positives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Good news. Injector #3 was bad. So, while not cheap to fix, not fatal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 awesome, glad you found that. subaru injector failure is very rare. how did you test it? an injector doesn't cause a coolant leak so that still needs diagnosed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 awesome, glad you found that. subaru injector failure is very rare.. How is it rare for a first gen 2.2 to have injector failure. I've had several fail on me, the later models are much better than the early gray top injectors. I usually swap in the red top injectors out of the later models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 copy, so they're more common. they all rusted away here before that became obvious i guess. lol doesn't seem like a common topic on the boards, but neither are first gen EJ's in general. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 copy, so they're more common. they all rusted away here before that became obvious i guess. lol doesn't seem like a common topic on the boards, but neither are first gen EJ's in general.True, I am a first gen enthusiest, probably why I'm familure with the problems these cars have. From experience the most common issues on a first gen ej motor is Knock sensors #3 injector failure (technically any injector #3 is most common one to fail in my experience.) And maf sensor issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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