Seeking: Upstate NY SUBARU Mechanic to do headgaskets et al '09 2.5NA

[lufusol]

High all,

 

I am looking for a good local SUBARU mechanic in the Capital Region of NY (Upstate - I'm in Troy near Wynantskill).

 

I'm a dog walker and I use my car every day.  I need a mechanic that is well versed in newer gen Subarus but not too far away.

 

I need my headgaskets done and I want it done properly with resurfaced heads and replace all the other wear and tear parts you're going to disassemble anyway in order to get to the headgaskets.  May also need some under seals replaced, it is leaking oil.  I want the job done so that it is reasonable to expect another 100k out of the motor (not a promise, not a warranty, just reasonable expectation).  Water pump, timing parts, all seals you'll be breaking, etc.  Here's the details:

 

163k miles on the '09 OB with 2.5 NA EJ25 motor, runs fine at the moment, losing a little more than a quart of oil every 3000 miles and to a much lesser extent consuming coolant.  Why do I blame HG?  Found oil in the spark plug holes when I did a tune up... cleaned them out with brake parts cleaner... noticed the wires were damaged... replaced the wires a week later when they came in the mail, found new oil on the boots again.

 

The motor will need to be pulled out and thoroughly inspected - I'm not going to the expense of having the HGs done with a jacked up motor just to find later that my oil pan seal or RMS are leaking and need another R&R or drop the exhaust.  Let's just do everything right in one go.

 

If I say this to any local shop that translates to "Please laugh, shake your head, and tell me it's gonna cost me however many thousand dollars you need to vacation in St. Lucia this winter".  At this point let me reiterate: I am a dog walker.  I will come up with fair money to get this job done but I am NOT MADE OF ST. LUCIA VACATIONS.  

 

If you are a SUBARU mechanic and have experience with this kind of work as well as the garage space, tools, time and desire to do the work on the side, I am more than willing to cut a fair deal for your labor, and provide all the parts up front if possible and during if necessary.  Once the heads are off I can get them resurfaced by NAPA (or I can put in the elbow grease to DIY resurface them if you're comfortable with that).

 

What is a fair deal to offer someone to do this kind of work on the side?  A couple hundred bucks and all the parts up front, 40% halfway thru, the remaining 50% upon completion?  Something like that?

 

If you're still reading then you may just be crazy enough to help me out...

 

Pete

 

P.S. I DON'T NEED THIS DONE IN A DAY.  It's a PITA but I can borrow my girlfriend's car for a few days or a week, but it affects my service level as a dog walker because I can't take dogs in her car.  So it's not ideal... but yes I do have alternate transportation so you don't need to rush.  Good work can't be rushed.

Edited September 26, 2016 by lufusol

[DaveT]

I don't think the oil you found in the spark plug holes has anything to do with headgaskets.

 

Coolant consumptuous is a possible hint, but there are other ways for coolant to sneakily dissappear.

 

Has it been run at over normal temperature while low on coolant? Low on coolant means significant air in the radiator.

[1 Lucky Texan]

you might also ask here;http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

[lufusol]

I don't think the oil you found in the spark plug holes has anything to do with headgaskets.

 

Coolant consumptuous is a possible hint, but there are other ways for coolant to sneakily dissappear.

 

Has it been run at over normal temperature while low on coolant? Low on coolant means significant air in the radiator.

 

Hi DaveT,

 

Someone else suggested the oil in the spark plug holes and on the boots might not be a HG problem but at 160k with HG that are notorious to fail 80k-120k it seemed like a reasonable assumption.. not a mechanic though... someone else suggested it could be from valve cover seals leaking.. I can't figure out how to make sense of that, the boots have a hump at the end that plugs the hole pretty firmly and I don't see anything leaking down over them externally.  But again I don't know things like exactly how the fluids run through this motor and where all the problems can occur.  So I guess there is a shadow of doubt over the HG theory that needs to be assessed.

 

It has never indicated overheating at the gague and as far as I know I have always caught the coolant level near the bottom of the bottle (way below the "LOW" line) then filled it to the "FULL" line.  That's maybe every 6 months.  I don't think it was ever so low there wasn't any in the bottle.  

 

Catastrophic failures can still occur without the engine indicating overheat at the gague.  I know this because I've been through two EJ25 motors that catastrophically failed on my '05 and never indicated overheating at the gague or smoking under the hood.  The second one was very expensive from a company in Colorado who rebuilds subaru motors, bought with 0 miles on the rebuild and it still failed around 70-80k.  Sorry, that's not what this thread's about (unless you'd like to point out that my driving style destroys motors, then I'd probably agree with you).

Edited September 27, 2016 by lufusol

[lufusol]

you might also ask here;http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

 

I was recommended by someone to ask for a mechanic on USMB but I will definitely also beg for the professional help I need on subaruoutback.org and nasioc and maybe a few psychiatry forums for that matter

[golucky66]

Not saying you can't or shouldn't replace your HG as maintenance but the oil in the plug hole is almost always from the valve cover. I've seen it a dozen times on subarus. If that's you're only and immediate concern, then valve cover gasket will do.

But then again, if you actually want to have the HG replaced, replace the valve cover gasket is part of the job.

 

Just to give you a comparison. I recently replaced HG on a 09' OBW because after a long a slow oil leak from the heads it blew and was leaking coolant. The thing is, he had 225k mikes on the car, with the original HG. He did take very good car of his car and stayed on top of coolant flushes and oil changes. But just because a "traditional" life expectancy is 120k, doesnt mean you cant double that. The 120k number is on car that's had the oil changed every 10k miles and the coolant flushed maybe once before the 120k mark.

Parts last longer the better you take car of them.

Edited September 27, 2016 by golucky66

[lufusol]

Too true golucky66...

 

I bought this car from a small dealership at 97k miles, who bought it at auction.  No idea its history.  VIN check comes up clean but that's neither here nor there.  It had a misfire within a month and I got the guy who sold it to replace the spark plugs and wires, fixing the issue.  So we already know someone wasn't doing the maintenance...

 

I have changed the oil every 3-5k miles.  3k for the last year.  Prepare the spankings... I have NEVER had a transmission service or coolant service done.  Tsk tsk me, because at 97000 miles probably both of those should have been done already (let's assume they weren't) and at 164k now, it's kind of absurd that I still haven't but it seems every time I almost have the money for "elective surgery" something breaks (or something else in life happens) requiring compulsory spending of said money.

 

Anyway...

 

Should it be able to go from 164k to over 200k before I actually need to replace the HG?  Possible, but unlikely... I have driven this VERY hard.  It's not a turbo and the car overall is a pig so I have used a lot of downshifting into BIG BIG RPMs to make her fly for years and only started taking it easy when I realized my motor, in its current condition cannot handle the pressure of constant demands for high RPMs anymore.

 

Even if it's just the valve cover seals leaking, say we shore those up.  Where is all that pressure going to relieve itself next?  What is the danger of ignoring a very real possibility of headgasket issue because I think I solved my problem with some new valve cover seals?  Shouldn't I have someone at least take a look?

 

I have a bad habit of being cheap and costing myself more on the long run.  But I am also extremely paranoid about getting taken for a ride by mechanics.  What to do oh wise forum sages?

[golucky66]

Completely understand where you're coming from. A car drivin hard needs more care then a Grannie car.

Can it go to 200k? Maybe. All about what you wanna do. Worst case is it blows, you don't realize your coolant temp skyrocketed and you warp your heads.

Best case, you blow the gasket, you shut the car off before it over heats, and limp it home/to a shop but then it needs to be repaired then and there, not at your convenience. Get what I'm saying?

Edited September 27, 2016 by golucky66

[steve56]

Check out South Main Auto on YouTube, Eric O is a very knowlegable mechanic who understands Subarus.