2.5L Engine and Gasket Problems

I have a '00 Legacy Wagon with 46K miles that had a leaky gasket. I took it to the dealer last Wednesday and on Thursday they replaced the gaskets (removed entire engine) at no charge. I am extremely pleased with how Subaru took care of me.

I have an 01 Legacy GT 50K both head gaskets went. Dealer fixed it under recall warr.

Will be getting my 00 obw back in a few days with new HG and new seals. 124k miles so bill is on me.

The gasket just started leaking externally, left, rear. Could only spot coolant on a few bolt heads on the xmember and drop in the overflow tank.

Mickey

Does any maker cover a gasket leak at 124k? I dont think so. How many people get 200k on a subie without major problems.

I thought Subaru was covering the gasket leak problem for eight years regardless of miles. What did the recall letter say?

"jabario" wrote: > Does any maker cover a gasket leak at 124k? I dont think so. > How many > people get 200k on a subie without major problems.

Is there any differance between the head gaskets used in the years recalled and the 2003 model year with the 2.5L engine? My ?03 Forester has smelled like coolant for a while now so it?s possible that it?s also starting to leak.

My understanding from info provided by the inde shop I'm using says they are on the 3rd design of the gasket. Good thing is shop says they have never have seen a failed gasket with the latest design.

My understanding is the problem yrs for head gaskets was 2.5L engines up to 2002 model yr.

Mickey

8 yrs, 100k miles.

IMO the conditioner Subaru wants you to use is just a "stop leak" that will likely get you out past the extended warranty period.

A post I read yesterday was saying they had HG problem at 70-80k miles and took it in to the dealer and thought new HG had been installed. Some months later and slightly more than 100k miles, the leak appeared again. Took the car back to the dealer and was then informed all that was done first time was put the stop leak in. Since leaking past 100k miles, the bill was on the owner. NOT GOOD!

Mickey

Here is some helpful info on headgaskets..

From: Gene Goldenfeld

What and where is the "swirl pot"?

The Swirl Pot is a mystery to me as well. It might be a British term or aircraft thing. I have e-mailed Al Wick for more details..

Here is a link to the Al's webpage:

Where he states:

It's essential that the 2.5 liter coolant crossover tube atop the engine be drilled and tapped. This allows user to add a small tube from there to the coolant reservoir.

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And from a recent post in another forum it looks like doesn't recommend using the overflow. Is there a difference between the overflow and the coolant reservoir?

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1st.Only air in the block and higher power settings will cause the head warpage. Every single occurrence (per my mechanic source) is traced back to the owner changing the coolant and not knowing how to purge the air.

2nd. It's a design oversight by Subaru. Due to sloping hood and vehicle height, the air in block can't move to radiator. It stays in block. The radiator isn't mounted high enough relative to engine. There are a number of other manufacturers that have this problem, without the head warping. They just overheat until customer takes it to dealer and he burps it. Some place a bleed valve at the engine block. Just open valve until water starts coming out, close it.

True, you would not want to run the tube to overflow. Your cooling system would then no longer be under 7 psi it normally is during operation. You just want the air in block to move higher and out of the coolant flow. My bleed line is the most robust approach, but you could also just make sure you loosen hose clamp until fluid comes out. That's what dealer does.

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Could someone explain what a "swirl pot» is??

I am tracking the Swirl Pot at this location.

Check it out...

I think he's really on to something. The 2 times I've replaced the coolant, I've been on pins and needles as I watched the temp gauge go above it's normal position while trying to bleed the air out.

I think that you could install a 1/8" copper line from the crossover tube, through a little needle valve and then into the coolant reservour. Just cracking the valve periodically with the engine hot should purge the air bubbles. No big deal and not a big hassle to install.

Sorry for my ignorance, but isn't this what the pipe from the radcap to the overflow bottle suppose to do? Is the point of all this that this pipe is not in the right place to bleed all bubbles from the engine so we have to add another one?

cheers!

That pipe is too low to get the air out. A bubble forms above it and there's no way to get it out.

from that site:

-- All of these problems were caused by a small quantity of air trapped in the block at the highest point. Eventually, I added a small diameter tube to this block high point. This allows all the air to exit the block and move to the small reservoir under the radiator cap.

I'm noticing that this thread isn't differentiating between specific model years or phase I or phase II designations.

I just went out and took a look under the hood of my '02 OBS 2.5, and what I see is:

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1. The engine IS positioned at a slight upward attitude (front IS higher than the rear).

1. The highest point of the crossover tube IS the exit end (hose end).

2. The upper radiator hose IS positioned in a slight incline as it makes it's way to the upper tank which visibly IS easily the highest point of my cooling system.

Essentially, my vehicle has a complete uphill path for air exit.

To top it off, when I purge/burp my cooling system, I have the front of the car up on ramps which effectively doubles the incline of "air rise" out of the system. Yet during normal operation after the system is closed back up, I still get a slow stream of air bubbles out of my overflow tube after the engine reaches full operating temperature. The bubbles do not stop, they will continue week after week, month after month.

I've been watching this phenomemon for 4 years now. Can anyone explain this?>

years or phase I or phase

way to the upper tank

car up on ramps which

normal operation after

my overflow tube after

will continue week

Thought this would be a good spot to add my comments.

Water exits the engine from mid-point and with engine mounted as noted above, I would think trapped air would be at front of the engine. Have noted and done so my self, had car on ramp to increase the angle during purge. Seems like this would be cause for more trapped air. And to add fun to the discussion, most common location for external leak on phase II engines is the lower aft left side. Seems to me like this would be the most unlikely spot for "trapped air" and why is the left side more prone to fail?

Will be picking up my car in a day or so and will talk to the shop owner as to his thoughts on trapped air being root cause for failures and reason for failure location.

Mickey