Re: 1997 Legacy Wagon GT

my previous landlord has a '97 legacy wagon and has heard from his dealer that they have problems with the head gasket. it cost over CAN$1000 for him to have it replaced. he was having small amounts of coolant leaking into the oil. i can't tell you anything other than that.

my 2001 forester runs beautifully though.

Yes *many* '97 2.5 L engines have this problem. I have a '97 GT wagon. I had the head gasket *and* the block replaced. The problem described may be due to small cracks in the block. In that case replacing the head gasket alone will not solve the problem. This ia major problem with older 2.5 L engines.

I am interested in hearing from others who've had this problem.

To reply directly to me, replace all 'z' with 'a' in email address.

about 30 miles east of Sacramento CA. I talked to the local Subaru specialist and he says it sounds lake a classic case of blown head gasket. He talked of a common problem with #1 cylinder where there is a narrow spot on the gasket that always seems to blow through. He also said he is looking into a new style head gasket that is designed for the turbo that should be stronger. I am not ready to throw another $1000 at the sube just yet, I am going to try silver seal just in the off chance that it could work. My mechanic warned me not to drive it in this condition because the leaking spot could erode the top of the cylinder liner and this would render the block economically irreparable. If the silver seal doesn't show immediate improvement, i.e.. no more bubbles in reservoir, and coolant returning to the radiator when it cools down, I will be scheduling the head gasket job.

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