I have a '97 outback limited wagon. I completely love it and want to hang on to it as long as possible. the problem is this:
last week I noticed that the temperature gauge was noting SLIGHTLY higher than normal temperatures. you've probably noticed that the subaru temperature pins usually remain at just below half way up the gauge. well last week it was about half way up, so I decided to take the car in for 'preventative maintenance.' the next day they said they'd fixed it, cleaned the radiator, new thermostat and gasket. great. two days later as I was driving around I happend to look down and found the needle completely off the temperature gauge, in the bad direction. I pulled over and turned the car off.
took it back to the dealership and they say it's the headgasket. to be honest though, it doesn't seem they've made much of an effort to verify this diagnosis. now I'm still relatively young and not exactly rolling in cash, $1500 is a lot of money to me!
I haven't noticed ANY loss of power which, I've read, usually accompanies a head gasket problem. can any of you think of other possible problems that woulde cause the engine to overheat? how much stock should I put in the dealership's diagnosis? is it pretty straightforward to determine it's a head gasket problem or are they sort of just making a best guess?
normal temperatures. you've probably noticed that the subaru temperature pins usually remain at just below half way up the gauge. well last week it was about half way up, so I decided to take the car in for 'preventative maintenance.' the next day they said they'd fixed it, cleaned the radiator, new thermostat and gasket. great. two days later as I was driving around I happend to look down and found the needle completely off the temperature gauge, in the bad direction. I pulled over and turned the car off.
though, it doesn't seem they've made much of an effort to verify this diagnosis. now I'm still relatively young and not exactly rolling in cash, $1500 is a lot of money to me!
head gasket problem. can any of you think of other possible problems that woulde cause the engine to overheat? how much stock should I put in the dealership's diagnosis? is it pretty straightforward to determine it's a head gasket problem or are they sort of just making a best guess?
I have the same car with a confirmed case of the head gasket disease. I've made some posts on this problem in some other threads in this group. You ought to still be able to access them.
I don't notice much of a power difference. I only notice is a slight hesitation on acceleration after I first start up that I didn't notice before. Other than that it drives normally. There isn't any white smoke from the tailpipe and it looks and sounds normal. I can even drive mine for about ten minutes and fool myself into thinking the problem doesn't exist because the car comes up to temperature normally and stays at the midpoint for a while. Then after pausing at the midpoint it starts to climb until it overheats and expels coolant.
A local shop tested my car's coolant with a CO2 test kit. This is just a chemical they add to a small sample of coolant that turns color in the presence of CO2. The conclusion is that gas from the cylinder is seeping past the gasket and overheating the coolant. The gas heats the coolant, the coolant never gets a chance to do its job and your engine overheats. You can actually buy this test kit from Snapon.com yourself but it's about $60. (Stock# GDCT16) This test is easy and doesn't take long to do. That and a check of the overflow container for a grey sludgy residue is probably all they needed for a diagnosis.
Hopefully you can get it done for $1500. Quotes I've received are upwards of $2400.
I would suggest you not drive the car any longer to avoid spot heating the head. This would just make your problem worse.
It appears that when Subaru made the 2.5 engine, they just bored out their 2.2 engine. In doing so the area on the headgasket that sealed the different chambers on the head was reduced and appears to have made it more prone to failure. The early 2.5 engines fail like mine. Engines after 99 or so tend to leak coolant to the outside of the engine. Subaru has changed gasket designs but there isn't any hard evidence on how much this has solved the problem. Since post 99 engines still have HG problems I wonder if they really have a handle on this at all. Interestingly, I haven't read anyone with H-6 engines having HG problems.
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 on his 97 OB go here:
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Youcan add your name to his list of people with bad Subaru head gaskets. For info on testing head gaskets go here:
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To register your car with Subaru and see the recalls that affect your car, go here:
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Finally, write, or at least call Subaru and complain. Ask them what they can do to fix your problem. Ask them if there were any service bulletins that pertain to this problem for your car. They have been known to be flexible with their warranties but this depends a lot on the mileage of your car. To be fair, they can't help you if you don't ask. I would strongly suggest you write them and get a written response.
They can be contacted at (800)-Subaru-3 (in the US) or at Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru Plaza P.O. Box 6000 Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000 Attn: Customer/Dealer Services
Good luck
it as long as possible. the problem is this:
normal temperatures. you've probably noticed that the subaru temperature pins usually remain at just below half way up the gauge. well last week it was about half way up, so I decided to take the car in for 'preventative maintenance.' the next day they said they'd fixed it, cleaned the radiator, new thermostat and gasket. great. two days later as I was driving around I happend to look down and found the needle completely off the temperature gauge, in the bad direction. I pulled over and turned the car off.
though, it doesn't seem they've made much of an effort to verify this diagnosis. now I'm still relatively young and not exactly rolling in cash, $1500 is a lot of money to me!
head gasket problem. can any of you think of other possible problems that woulde cause the engine to overheat? how much stock should I put in the dealership's diagnosis? is it pretty straightforward to determine it's a head gasket problem or are they sort of just making a best guess?
Hi, I had the same problem with my ´98 Outback a few years ago, it came the same way you discribe, and indeed I have the headgaskets still somewhere and one of them was damaged. First thermostat was renewed, I didn´t had any loss of power also, but the temperature went up, so went to a garage and then they measured exhaustgasses in my coolingfluid, diagnoses: headgasket And I went back about the same amount of money :o(
"nathh" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...
on to it as long as possible. the problem is this:
than normal temperatures. you've probably noticed that the subaru temperature pins usually remain at just below half way up the gauge. well last week it was about half way up, so I decided to take the car in for 'preventative maintenance.' the next day they said they'd fixed it, cleaned the radiator, new thermostat and gasket. great. two days later as I was driving around I happend to look down and found the needle completely off the temperature gauge, in the bad direction. I pulled over and turned the car off.
honest though, it doesn't seem they've made much of an effort to verify this diagnosis. now I'm still relatively young and not exactly rolling in cash, $1500 is a lot of money to me!
a head gasket problem. can any of you think of other possible problems that woulde cause the engine to overheat? how much stock should I put in the dealership's diagnosis? is it pretty straightforward to determine it's a head gasket problem or are they sort of just making a best guess?
I have had the same problem with my 96 OBW that has 163,000 miles. Admittedly, I am not that broken up over it. About every two weeks I have to add about a pint of anti-freeze.
Can removing the thermostat help the matter for the Spring and Summer, if it lasts?
By the way, I am buying a 2004 Outback Sedan LTD. Any opinions on my choice? Should I be looking at a Forrester instead?
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