Help diagnosing a head gasket, pictures included! (EJ253)

[TDH10]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of deciding what to do about my head gaskets. I have a 2009 Forester X with just 83,000 miles on it, but both head gaskets started seeping oil at the same time a couple weeks ago. The oil seepage was minimal and I wasn't leaking or losing coolant, so I continued driving (but checking the coolant daily). I was doing my coolant check one day, and my stomach dropped as I discovered my coolant reservoir was about 4-5 inches lower than it had been just 24 hours before. I jacked my beloved subie up, heart in throat, and saw this:

https://imgur.com/a/QOJrujG

So here are my questions:

1) The second photo (looking up at cylinder 4) is definitely leaking coolant, right? I don't know what else it could be but I'm pretty new to Subarus (purchased ~25k miles ago) so I figured I'd get confirmation before pulling the engine.

2) Does the failure of the head gasket in the back of the engine spell serious trouble? It's my understanding that Subaru head gaskets almost always fail on the bottom side. This makes sense, as that's where the coolant and oil will sit due to gravity, eroding the gasket over time. So why has mine seemed to fail so high up, level with the EGR pipe (as in 1st photo, and below)?? I'm worried that this unusual failure point means there is some serious cause that a (relatively) simple head machining and gasket replacement won't fix. Please advise!

Thanks so much for reading!

^ looking in from the Driver side wheel well at the back of the engine. EGR pipe in middle, cam plug in upper left corner for reference points.

[GeneralDisorder]

That's normal. Just replace the head gaskets. 

[brus brother]

While you are at it, carefully check all of your coolant hoses. I had a very small leak at  radiator connection on wife's OB last winter that in a short period of time resulted in an overheat.

[montana tom]

While you are there. Change the waterpump bypass hose, and the iac water lines to the throttle body as well.

[idosubaru]

that looks normal, and benign - barely even looks like it's leaking and would easily roll a few 10's of thousands of miles without replacement......and there's no coolant in the picture. 

without seeing any coolant i wouldn't make anything of the 4-5" perceived difference, it's not a diagnosis at all without repeating it a few times to verity

[TDH10]

17 hours ago, idosubaru said:

that looks normal, and benign - barely even looks like it's leaking and would easily roll a few 10's of thousands of miles without replacement......and there's no coolant in the picture. 

without seeing any coolant i wouldn't make anything of the 4-5" perceived difference, it's not a diagnosis at all without repeating it a few times to verity

Hm, did you look at the other photo, in the imgur link? (file was too big to include) - seems like a definite external coolant leak I think? I'd be psyched if I didn't have to do the job immediately..

[montana tom]

You don't have to do the job for years if you can keep the oil and coolant topped off.   Soon though you will start to smell anti freeze as it drips on the exhaust... same with oil  stinky but nothing you can't live with.  Your car has 83,000 it can easily make 100,000 before you tire of the smell.   

Should it be fixed ?   Yes, but with this engine its not critical to do instantly.  Plan it out ,save the $  then fix it.

[idosubaru]

9 hours ago, TDH10 said:

Hm, did you look at the other photo, in the imgur link? (file was too big to include) - seems like a definite external coolant leak I think? I'd be psyched if I didn't have to do the job immediately..

Circle whatever you see in green, I don't see any green coolant. 

These gaskets won't blow or leave you stranded.  They won't mix oil and coolant, they will not overheat. 
They will simply seep oil out slowly, ocassionally coolant as well, externally and as long as you top it off it's no big deal.  

It's not as if they leak profusely or are pumping oil on the ground, it's just a very slow seepage. 

Keep the fluids topped off and you can keep driving it and plan your repair later.  That oil you're seeing is probably a few drops from over a long period of time slowly spreading out as it soaks into the surrounding dust, dirt, and debris on the metal casting.  it's not like it "just sprung a leak" that's going to be problematic. 

The 08's will get worse fairly quickly sometimes but you've still got thousands of miles. 

[idosubaru]

i guess coolant/oil or not doesn't really matter - either way you're in a headgasket job.  and like we've already said - you can plan your repair out way ahead of time. 

your timing components are 10 years old - replace those and that labor is "free" since they have to be removed for the headgasket anyway. 

new OEM gaskets, resurface the heads, adjust valves if required, OEM or AISIN timing kit, new thermostat, radiator hoses, plugs, wires, PCV and you're good for another 100,000 miles.