Any Writeups for '98 2.5 Headgasket Replacements?

[mnwolftrack]

Hello,

 

I'm new to subi's. In fact, I don't even own one yet. I plan on getting one in the near future, and my budget will probably mean something higher miles and may already have issues. Since I do all my own work, I don't mind doing headgaskets and what-not. I'm looking to see if there's any online documentation or member write-ups on 2.5L headgasket swaps. Short of buying a repair manual, I'd like to see what I'd be getting into. I'm actually half tempted to buy a local '98 subi that needs a headgasket "but still runs." I haven't looked at it yet, so it may be a no go. But this sort of thing would be right up my alley to buy cheap and fix (I just haven't done a subi before).

 

I'd like to try and figure out how long it will take to swap a head gasket, replace any other parts while I'm in there, etc... or if it's just easier to pull the motor.

 

I've tried doing searches, but I'm dialup and it's very slooooooooooooooooow so I'm trying to speed up my "searching." Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

mnwolftrack

[The Dude]

I would never suggest buying a car unseen. But if you can find a Subaru in the deep south it might be worth a look. Obviously, there are a lot fewer Subarus south of the snow belt, but they almost all are rust free. And used, they don't bring the same prices as they do up north. I had one person show up to see my used 1999 Forester. Other than having 200,000 mile on the clock, the car was in cherry condition.

[mnwolftrack]

Subaru's are pretty hard to find in our neck of the woods, and they do go for a premium (thus delaying my hopes of finding something in my pricerange that doesn't need repairs). I definately wouldn't buy it without seeing it, but I want to know what I'm getting into price-wise for repairs in the worst case scenario to make sure I can come out even or preferrably ahead.

 

While I have seen some subi's with rust, it hasn't been much more than some very minor bubbling around the rear wheel well. It is nothing like the rust I see and fight with on my '85 Toyota pickup....

 

I don't have an efficient way of going south to find a rust-free subi, so I will need to find something here. Traveling about 3 hours to get a vehicle is about as far as I want to go. I've looked at enough vehicles in my day to know my concept of "good condition" is not always the same as people selling something. I looked at an AWD Audi last weekend that was "in good shape and didn't need anything," drove 3 hours to plan on buying it, only to find it had lots of rust, needed 2 catalytic converters, interior was trashed, needed a new driveaxle and CV boots, and it was unknown when the t-belt was done (a big deal on Audi's)....

[outback_97]

http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html

 

Welcome to the USMB, lots of good info here. Above is a link with some good info on what you're looking for, specifically the "HG Replacement Instructions" link. Also there is currently a thread on swapping a 2.2 engine in for the 2.5, that's an option for some as the 2.2 is much less prone to HG problems. I have a 97 with 126K miles and no HG problems to report (hope I didn't doom myself by saying that).

 

What part of MN? I was just back in the Walker area last week. There are indeed fewer Subarus up there than there should be given the winter driving conditions!

 

Steve