...yet another 2.5 HG

[cojo]

This morning as I pulled into the parking garage, I noticed the temp gauge was just past H. My heart sank because even though I knew it was coming, I was hoping that I would be spared this all too common problem. I had been keeping an eye on the temp gauge and up to now it had been steady as a rock.

 

Anyway, I've got a spare vehicle to drive so I have some time to shop around for a good mechanic. Are there any recommendations for a good shop in the Lowell, MA or Manchester NH areas? I've seen Manchester Subaru mentioned before, but last year they quoted $900 for a timing belt, water pump, cam seal job and i expect that they'll try to gouge me here too.

 

thanks for any suggestions

[oskar_subaru]

i don´t know wy but we don´t have this problem with the 2,5 motor here in iceland

 

sorry to hear about your car

[Dr.Outback]

This morning as I pulled into the parking garage, I noticed the temp gauge was just past H. My heart sank because even though I knew it was coming, I was hoping that I would be spared this all too common problem. I had been keeping an eye on the temp gauge and up to now it had been steady as a rock.

 

Anyway, I've got a spare vehicle to drive so I have some time to shop around for a good mechanic. Are there any recommendations for a good shop in the Lowell, MA or Manchester NH areas? I've seen Manchester Subaru mentioned before, but last year they quoted $900 for a timing belt, water pump, cam seal job and i expect that they'll try to gouge me here too.

 

thanks for any suggestions

 

How many miles?

[friendly_jacek]

i don´t know wy but we don´t have this problem with the 2,5 motor here in iceland

 

sorry to hear about your car

 

Is it hard to overheat an engine in Iceland?

[johnceggleston]

where are the icelandic suubs built? usa or japan? maybe it's not just the design but design plus building process.

 

Is it hard to overheat an engine in Iceland?

[cojo]

thanks for the kind words Oskar.

 

I suppose I should consider myself lucky in that we got 113,000 miles before the HG went. I did go ahead and give Manchester Subaru a call this afternoon and was given a ballpark of $1600 for the HG repair. But was then quoted another $600 to replace the separator plate which is about to go if it hasn't already. Would it be reasonable to expect that if the engine were removed to replace the sep plate, that the cost for the HG repair would be significantly reduced - easier access and all that?

 

One of my coworkers gave me tha name of a shop in Lowell, MA and will give them a call tomorrow. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[richierich]

Extra hour tops for replacing the seperator plate while doing the headgaskets.

[2.5 DOHC H gaskets suck]

I had the HGs done in my '98 Outback at Rays repair shop in Hudson, NH. It's a small local place put they have decent rates and do quaility work.

(603) 889-9584.

[oskar_subaru]

Is it hard to overheat an engine in Iceland?

 

not as hard as you think .... while the winters here are pritty cold, in the summer the sun does not set becose how far north we are, so around christmas we hardly get any sun.

so the heat here easaly gets to 100 deg. in the summer

 

and yes all the subarus in iceland imported by a dealership are made in japan but there are a few e-bay cars here from usa

[trevize1138]

not as hard as you think .... while the winters here are pritty cold, in the summer the sun does not set becose how far north we are, so around christmas we hardly get any sun.

so the heat here easaly gets to 100 deg. in the summer

 

and yes all the subarus in iceland imported by a dealership are made in japan but there are a few e-bay cars here from usa

 

Remember, folks, in an attempt to keep out the rif-raf and redirect them, snickering to themselves, to someplace worse, the old vikings called the warm island "Iceland" and the cold one "Greenland."

 

From what I've heard, here in Minnesota we've got it colder than Iceland. So, Oskar, are you blonde? My wife and I had a brief layover at Keflavik airport on our way to London for our honeymoon and it seemed to us that everyone in Iceland was blonde! ... well, Bjork being the obvious exception ... she's still hot, just not blonde ...

[oskar_subaru]

Remember, folks, in an attempt to keep out the rif-raf and redirect them, snickering to themselves, to someplace worse, the old vikings called the warm island "Iceland" and the cold one "Greenland."

 

From what I've heard, here in Minnesota we've got it colder than Iceland. So, Oskar, are you blonde? My wife and I had a brief layover at Keflavik airport on our way to London for our honeymoon and it seemed to us that everyone in Iceland was blonde! ... well, Bjork being the obvious exception ... she's still hot, just not blonde ...

 

well thad´s just bull***** i have black hair and dark brown eyes as

most Icelanders are a mix of blond, brown and red hair and brown, green or blue eyes and generaly icelanders are pritty tall. (maybe thads wy all wagons thad came here had a raised roofline ??)

 

Winter in Iceland isn't really that cold compaired to some places in the USA. But Icelandic weather changes a lot very quickly, it can be sunny and calm but 2 hours later everything's white and 2 hours after that it's sunny again

 

 

and i wanted to ask you.... is it the SOHC or the Twincam motors thad have this problom with the heat gaskets ?

[The Dude]

not as hard as you think .... while the winters here are pritty cold, in the summer the sun does not set becose how far north we are, so around christmas we hardly get any sun.

so the heat here easaly gets to 100 deg. in the summer

 

and yes all the subarus in iceland imported by a dealership are made in japan but there are a few e-bay cars here from usa

 

I don't know, Oscar. I see where July, the warmest month in Iceland, has an average daily high of 56F/13C. Not so warm by South Carolina, USA standards. I also see Iceland has a lot of rain and cloud cover. I'm guessing that convertibles aren't real popular in Iceland. On the other hand, free geo-thermal power is a nice thing to have.

[vic/se]

and i wanted to ask you.... is it the SOHC or the Twincam motors thad have this problom with the heat gaskets ?[/

QUOTE]

 

Twincam engines are prone to HG failure oskar

[blatant]

if you're going to go to a dealer, i suggest AMD subaru in N Hampton, may be a bit far from ya but you're gar. a fair shake. Best dealer i've found hands down, imo.

[oskar_subaru]

I don't know, Oscar. I see where July, the warmest month in Iceland, has an average daily high of 56F/13C. Not so warm by South Carolina, USA standards. I also see Iceland has a lot of rain and cloud cover. I'm guessing that convertibles aren't real popular in Iceland. On the other hand, free geo-thermal power is a nice thing to have.

 

well last year august was the hottest month with a peak of 32°c

 

adn no convertibles ar not comon sight here in iceland but still there is one and one garaged sumwhere.

 

well we ar getting a little off-topic here so i´l stop talking about icelandic weather.

[Dusza Beben]

I may be an inquisitive idiot ( because there are no stupid questions), but with 118,000 miles on the clock did anyone suggest checking the thermostat before jumping straight to head gasket replacement? I mean if elevated engine temp is the only symptom and there is no power loss or clouds of white smoke how does this signify head gasket? I'm no expert, but I am curious.

[WAWalker]

ASSuming this is a 2.5L DOHC engine (Year or model info has been provided). When these head gaskets go coolant is not leaking into the cylinders, there for no white smoke. You start loosing power only when the pistons and cylinders get so hot and expaned to the point of seezing the engine. If it is HG there will be evidence of HC's in the cooling system.

 

With these engines HG problems are a given after 100k. If you have one and are concerned, do a search, lots of threads here.

[cojo]

Based on the info I've found by searching, odds are that my problem is indeed a HG issue. The overflow tank also has this glorious black slime coat on the walls. I'm taking my car in to Ray's Repair (suggested above) next week for an estimate. We'll see what the "pros" have to say.

[ak98forester]

I'm looking for a reliable guidebook to help me repair my 98 Forester (160K mi). It's not a great comfort to know that there have been so many stories similar to mine, but I feel as though all of you attached on this string are the most qualified people out there for advice and direction, at this point. Here's my story...

 

Back in November, just a day prior to a 800 mile trip between Anchorage and Chena Hotsprings (past Fairbanks), I had the all the fluids changed at the local QLube.

 

After two days at Chena (around -30F at night), the battery and engine (oil)were so near-frozen the car needed a jump. About an hour or so into the return trip to Anchorage, the engine lost heat, all at once, when climbing a decent size hill on a -20 F morning.

 

So suddenly really cold air's pouring in, and the temp gauge was rapidly nearing the red zone. We backtracked for about 5 miles, mostly downhill, and stopped at a likely place to get advice / help. Temp guage started to fall during the descent.

A "semi-qualified" station attendand suspected the thermostat - and we uncovered fresh snow from the air vents below the windshield, and hoped for the best.

Temp ran normal again until almost at the top of that hill, when car repeated heat loss, redzone scenario.

 

Decided, since no one was open on a sunday morning in interior Alaska, to chance it all the way home, with temp fortunately returning to "normal" in most of the way.

 

Subsequently had t-stat changed, but problem continued sporadically to surface most days during fifteen minute rides to work each day, acting normal until last 3/7 minutes depending on route taken. Didn't always happen, seemed to be more prevalant on really cold days. 3 different shop visits immediately suspected internal head gasket leak, at best. No "milk" in oil, but radiator overflow tank lined with black gunk. T-stat shop said there were no hydrocarbons in the coolant. Two others said there were. Repair estimates ranged from $1400 to $2600, depending on the shop. Another shop said I may have overheated the engine enough times to "score" the cylinder walls, and generously offered me $800 for the rig. Car still runs excellent, and just passed I/M test last month without a hitch.

Exhaust looks white from time to time, but not blue or black.

 

Now I'm no expert, and Ive replaced clutches by pulling engines on my old 82 and 84 roo wagons (which have since rusted into the ground), and a chevy luv p/u once with good success; but nothing as "new generation" as this. Lots more parts and pieces, aluminum engines and other aspects make this seem a more daunting job, it appears. Money's tight, but time isn't - and any advice is welcome at this point.

 

-Will

[pinnhedd]

If you want to give me your year and model I can look up prices at work. I work at a Pep Boys in the area. Let me know.

xpinnheddx@yahoo.com

or call Pep Boys at 603-890-0555 if you want, you can ask for me -Kristen

 

thanks for the kind words Oskar.

 

I suppose I should consider myself lucky in that we got 113,000 miles before the HG went. I did go ahead and give Manchester Subaru a call this afternoon and was given a ballpark of $1600 for the HG repair. But was then quoted another $600 to replace the separator plate which is about to go if it hasn't already. Would it be reasonable to expect that if the engine were removed to replace the sep plate, that the cost for the HG repair would be significantly reduced - easier access and all that?

 

One of my coworkers gave me tha name of a shop in Lowell, MA and will give them a call tomorrow. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[pinnhedd]

call Pep Boys in Salem, NH 603-890-0555

 

thanks for the kind words Oskar.

 

I suppose I should consider myself lucky in that we got 113,000 miles before the HG went. I did go ahead and give Manchester Subaru a call this afternoon and was given a ballpark of $1600 for the HG repair. But was then quoted another $600 to replace the separator plate which is about to go if it hasn't already. Would it be reasonable to expect that if the engine were removed to replace the sep plate, that the cost for the HG repair would be significantly reduced - easier access and all that?

 

One of my coworkers gave me tha name of a shop in Lowell, MA and will give them a call tomorrow. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[cojo]

Well....I pick up my repaired Outback tomorrow morning. Ray called me at 6:00 this evening to tell me its all together and ready to go. I was completely unprepared for his next statement in which he told me that the engine in my car is not the circa '98 DOHC 2.5, but instead a "newer" SOHC 2.5. Obviously the motor was replaced at some point before we owned it. We did buy this car used from a Subaru dealer in 2001 at ~30,000 miles but no mention was ever made about the motor swap. Knowing that something as significant as a motor replacement would be on the car's record, was the dealer negligent during the sale by not informing us about the vehicle's history? Any recourse?

Now, the only Subaru motor I have ever seen close up was this one - is there a way to tell whether its a DOHC or SOHC from the outside without removing the timing covers?

It turns out that one of the HG's was truly gone and he had to send the heads out for machining. He also did a complete timing belt job and replaced all of the seals including resealing the oil pan which had developed a leak. All of this with a 1-yr warranty for $2000 seems like a reasonable price.

[OB99W]

Now, the only Subaru motor I have ever seen close up was this one - is there a way to tell whether its a DOHC or SOHC from the outside without removing the timing covers?

DOHC:

http://www.soko.com/engines/ej25%20dohc.jpg

 

SOHC:

http://www.subaru-faq.ru/faq/gfx/inline/ej25-new.jpg

[cojo]

Well Ok then; single cam it has been as long as we have owned it. Thanks for the pics.

 

Now in searching a little bit on the single-cam HG issue, I see that Subaru began notifying owners a few years ago to come in and get some cooling system "conditioner". Would it have been reasonable to expect Subaru to notify me also, since they likely were the ones to have replaced the engine previously? Or are "recall" notices sent out based on vehicle sales records only and not repair records? Regardless, I feel the we could have taken preventative measures had we been notified.

Any advice on where to start to dig into this further? The dealer where we purchased the car (Wakefield Subaru in MA, by the way)? SOA?

 

...and another thing, does anyone else here have any knowlege of Subaru replacing DOHC motors with SOHC?

[cojo]

oops...double post