2002 Legacy Outback Wagon head gasket failure with 13k miles?

Hi,

Well, a quick search indicates to me that lots of people seem to be enjoying this head gasket failure feature with their recent vintage Subarus.

During a routine service call on my 2002 with 13,000 miles on it, my dealer spotted the L/S head gasket seeping and has scheduled me to have it replaced this Thursday under warranty. The dealer says we win the prize for the lowest mileage vehicle with this failure, most seem to be above 20k when they start to fail. The service rep mentioned that they average one or two each week.

My question is, has anyone been successful with getting SOA to authorize having both head gaskets replaced with the improved replacement ones while it is still under warranty? I assume when the other one goes, probably the day after my warranty is up, that it will be expected that I will fork over $1000 for the repair. To be honest, my dealer has been outstanding with this kind of stuff. (They supported my request that SOA cover my Impreza wheel bearing replacements, and SOA did come through.)

Anyone have any luck with SOA on this issue?

Regards,

Ender

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Ender
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Can anyone tell me what years and engines are afftected by this issue? Seems I read somewhere that only the 2.5 DOHC had this problem and has since been corrected with an all-steel gasket. Is that correct? I plan on buying a 2004 model forester or baja soon and this issue has me concerned. Maybe it's too early to tell if the the "fix" actually works?

As always, thanks for any input!

Dale

nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
DRM

Hi Dale,

I don't have any "hard evidence" information for you, but you might enjoy looking at the links below. There is some interesting history in the reported failures, and some conjecture that the head gasket failures were most common with the Phase one EJ25 DOHC models. However... in at least one forum I found reports of unexpected failures with the Phase 2 EJ25 SOHC head gaskets. I honestly don't know what to expect with the 2004 models. I would definitely dig deep into whether they have addressed it by moving to the steel gaskets. My dealer assured me that they would be installing the new "fixed" version gasket in mine this week. I have had excellent luck with my dealership in every instance with my 7 subarus over the years, but... I think the 2002 will be my last Subaru. There have been just too many nagging little problems that seem to indicate to me a pattern of cutting corners a too much in the quality of the parts they are using throughout the powertrain. (I can't even remember how many CV joints, CV Boots, wheel bearings, and assorted wingnuts I have replaced since my first Subaru in '79.)

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I found the site below interesting as they had cool photographs of blown EJ25 DOHC head gaskets, as well as the preferred replacements, which are of steel construction just as you mentioned.

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Good luck!

Ender

(79, 82, 84, 88, 91, 98, 02 Subarus throughout the years!)

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Ender

I had my Phase 2 '01 OBW headgaskets (both) replaced in December @

41,000 miles. The dealer also resealed the oil pump while they were in there. Oh yeah, the piston slap is "normal".

Mike

nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Mike

Is this covered by the 5 year 60,000 mile warranty for engine and drive train? Thanks Jeff

nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Jeff

I had a discussion with my dealer about that yesterday. The answer is yes. Head gasket replacement is covered by the 5 year 60k engine/drive train warranty.. Additionally, if you purchased the Classic maintenance plan, coverage for internal engine parts (including gaskets) is extended out to 6 years or 80,000 miles. I don't know about the Gold plan, but I assume the coverage probably extends out even further.

My dealer indicated that SOA will absolutely not authorize replacement of the other head gasket on my engine as a prevention against future failure. So... I am glad I grabbed the Classic plan in the deal when I purchased the vehicle. I usually don't grab those plans (it was around 300 bucks) but it looks like it may pay for itself...

Regards,

Ender

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Ender

Me too, though only one was visibly leaking. did the oil pump and rear main seal, too, which was leaking. mileage: 16,000

Reply to
R

Congratulations, you have the world's worst made Subaru. Adam Sandler's "Ode to my car" is being played for you now. Can you hear it? "It's a piece of **** car!"

As I listen I look out at my own dead Subaru parked in the street with bad head gaskets. I cannot drive it, I cannot afford to have it fixed and it is beyond the extended Gold warranty plan I purchased. Since I drive about 25K a year, I've come to believe the extended warranties are worth a lot less than what they want you to think.

If you had to fix the gaskets yourself, you would be lucky to have it done for less than $1000 in the US. It appears that because of Subaru's flat engine design the engine has to be removed from the car to repair this problem. This makes head gasket replacement a very costly endeavor.

One estimate I received from a small independent shop was $2400. The two dealers I talked to in Southern California are quoting anywhere from $2900 to nearly $5000 for a worst-case scenario. They say the cost depends on what they find and if the heads need to be replaced or if they can be reused. A quote for a replacement engine to be shipped to my door was going to cost about $3000.

Luckily for you the problem has been acknowledged and you didn't get stuck in the wilderness like my wife was. I think it is unlikely Subaru will go around replacing head gaskets on all the affected Subarus. Personally, I'm going to replace BOTH head gaskets. It just doesn't make sense to me to replace only one side.

It appears that SOHC engines are known to fail between the water channel and the outside of the engine. It appears that the older DOHC engines are more likely to fail between the water channel and the engine cylinder. This leaks hot gas from the engine into the coolant causing the engine to overheat, overflow the plastic coolant reservoir with a grey sludgy liquid and render the car useless with very little warning.

Subaru has changed the head gasket design since my 97 was made, presumably to eliminate this problem, but problems with new cars like yours makes me wonder if they really have a handle on this at all. I haven't seen specific information on which engines are affected, which engines contain which head gaskets, what the failure rates are with original engines and with rebuilt models. As you read Subaru newsgroups at Edmonds.com

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snipped-for-privacy@231.wMMwcIuIjYB. snipped-for-privacy@.efd/2598)or on Yahoo
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, it's easyto overstate the problem, however, I'll say it does appear as a verycommon theme.

To see a picture of head gaskets and get a good idea of the problem you have, go here:

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To see a guy who replaced his own head gaskets go here:
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Youcan add your name to his list of people with bad Subaru head gaskets. To register your car with Subaru and see the recalls that affect your car, go here:
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I suggest that anyone affected by this write Subaru, describe the problem with bad head gaskets, make your request for remediation and get an official acknowledgement in writing.

Good luck.

nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
LC Brian

Does the H6 3.0 have the same problem?

nothing." Edmund Burke

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Reply to
Alan

Thanks for the link above. The post with the WWP-99 Service Campaign information was extremely interesting. If you can believe what was posted, it looks like the Phase II head gasket failures (like mine) result in a low pressure (14 psi cooling system) external seepage type leak rather than the more lethal Phase I type internal leaks that tend to induce the nasty surprise engine failures as coolant/oil/gas mix in ugly ways. Interesting that if you let the dealer add the "Official Subaru Cooling Conditioner/sealant" that they will extend the head gasket warranty out to 8 years/100k miles. I will certainly discuss this with my dealer today.

Good luck with the rebuild of yours. As a side note, my dealer indicated that they do not remove the engine to do head gasket replacements in their shop. I wonder if they remove the front quarter panel instead? It looks awfully tight in that engine compartment...

Thank you again for the timely post.

Regards,

Ender

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

Reply to
Ender

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