RS Blown Head Gaskets ??

From what I've learned the '99 Forester and 2000 Outback 2.5s ( first year for the SOHC in each model) had some head gasket problems. Our Forester chucked it's gaskets at 60k km. I understand the replacement gaskets are upgrades and should resolve the issue, unless of course they were installed under poorly checked and warped or cracked heads.

When ours were replaced by Peterborough Suby in Ontario I was assured by the service manager that the heads were sent out for magnafluxing to detect cracks, and would be planed if they showed any signs of being warped. When I asked if they had checked the decks of the block for flat his response surprised me. He told me he had no idea why anyone would do that, and confessed he had no idea how to go about it anyway.

I guess to become a service manager in some auto dealerships these days you need not have ever met a straight-edge and a set of feeler guages.

With todays' ever-more-technical vehicles the quality and experience of the service staff at the dealership is every bit as important as the original build-quality of the vehicle.

Hi,

Way back when with iron heads on iron blocks, the deck of the block seldom caused much problem--planing the head would take care of most "inaccuracies." I've been told the same is true of aluminum heads on iron blocks (by the guy who owns the machine shop I use, and I've seen nothing to prove him wrong yet) but do the alloy Subie blocks warp enough to worry about?

Just curious, cuz one of these days I might get brave and replace the gaskets in my engine and wonder how much work is really necessary?

Rick