Head gasket replacement on 98 Liberty RX

Our Liberty RX seems to have blown a head gasket. Shortly after 130,000Km service we travelled 5 hours, parked a week in the snow (temps varied above and below freezing, but not much below), and on descending the mountain the engine overheated. No coolant, and the overflow bottle was over-full. I expect that the gasket had blown out all the coolant, as when I tried to refill it, it continued slowly bubbling. That might have just been boiling however. The oil was clean, and about 1 litre (1cm on the dipstick) overfull.

What's the most likely cause?

  • no antifreeze added, so radiator was blocked, excess heat caused gasket to fail, or
  • oil overfull, causing increased pressure on gasket, or
  • something else?

Does the head necessarily need work before the gasket is replaced? The estimated price of $AU2500 seems a bit steep...

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath
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See my post a few weeks ago: 1998 Outback 2.5 litre DOHC with similar symptoms. Mine had done.... guess how many km? 130,000.

Quote I received from Subaru in Canberra was $1,500 to replace gaskets including machine heads and check radiator. I ended up paying almost $2,000 as they replace spark plugs also (~$100) and had the valve stem seals done on the head as they reckoned they were leaking (I had noticed a bit of oil consumption so this may have been the cause).

If you have an opportunity, get another quote or two.

Cheers Glenn

Clifford Heath wrote:

Glenn Pure Canberra, Australia Web page:

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Glenn Pure

The shoulder straps on my legacy have quit moving on their track. Fuses are ok. Where is the motor that drives the belt along the track? Is there a relay that could possibly be blown. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks Gary Gibson

Reply to
Gary Gibson

Thanks Glenn, sounds identical. Difficulty with quotes is that the car is in Bright, 4.5 hours from here :-(. I wonder what might be the best way to get it to a cheaper repair shop... gotta be worth a try to save $1000, even if I have to borrow a car, hire a trailer and drive 9 hours :-).

Clifford.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

Dear Glenn and all: Please forgive me if this is a dumb question. I just replaced the radiator. The car does not overheat when the car just sits and idle even with the air conditioner on. The overflow tank does bubble over when driven and the car does overheat. The old girl is a 96 OBW with

178,000 miles (284,800 km, I think). Does that sound like the heardgaskets or should I look for something else? Clogged thermostat? Thanks so much.

Ra

Reply to
rajp53

The info I've gained says this is a good idea, and that it can be necessary to replace the valve guides also, which wear and contribute to oil loss.

Subaru Wangaratta reckon (without looking) that $2500 is fair. They're probably friends with the blokes in Bright though. My repairer locally says it sounds reasonable, and that $1500 was a very low price even excluding valve seals.

I think I'll call Subaru Albury before committing however.

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

its the head gaskets!!...do a google search on subaru headgasket failure....96-99 are notorious for internal head gasket failure...it is due to the engine over heating in spots due to air bubbles caught in the engine coolant. A good guess is coolant change was not done properly and air was left in the coolant creatiung hotspots, head gasket failure and possible engine failure...guys who have used this engine in aircraft have documented the air problem in engines which were not properly "burped" and address getting rid of the air bubbles...

Reply to
bj

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