2.5 liter Headgasket issues

[SubaruFan]

I have been noticing more and more comments about headgasket issues for the 2.5 liter engines recently.

Not to mention my cousin just informed me that her 97 outback went to the shop for this issue recently and there were 4 other outbacks parked at the shop with the same problem. Mechanic said that the subaru head gasket has become one of his biggest sources of income.

I have a 2001 Legacy GT with 80,000 miles that has had synthetic oil every 5000 miles. The heat guage has never moved past center. I have recently started smelling antifreeze and fear the worst. I do not race the car, simply commute to work and do road trips.

If this is a head gasket issue I will probably never buy another Subaru again. I had the same design flaw headgasket issue with my 91 v6 Toyota and doubt I will ever own a Toyota again. All I want is a well built car Honda is becomming more and more attractive dispite their boring design and bla handling characteristics.

I suggest that we have a headgasket forum.

It would be great to hear from the auto cross guys regarding this issue since they have more experience with excessive engine wear, and probably have more experience with head gasket issues.

It would be nice to hear about repair costs, so those of us can shop for the best option.

Thanks Subaru crew

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[amdmaxx]

and this is in News and rumors section because........

[pio!pio!]

because it's right next to the warranty issues forum and he messed up?

[SubaruFan]

Simply put I haven't seen any organized response about this problem which is becoming a commonly heard comment from fellow subaru owners. I figured it would get some attention on this forum. Not to mention that the engine shared by all the models is very similar.

If you have a better suggestion feel free to share it. I'm just looking for some feedback from a good crosssection of owners and would really like to hear from the guys that push these cars hard. I consider their input and experience very important since they are more likely to find problems before the average daily driver.

[amdmaxx]

U'll get more attention in 2.5 liter forum... Also try searching for head gasket...

[SubaruFan]

After looking at the warranty issues section I still don't see a good place for this forum. I have followed this site for some time and I'm starting to get the impression that many of the people posting here are mainly younger people into racing their cars which obviously has a smaller margin of error when it comes to breaking things. Not to mention the lack of interest in Warranty coverage by Subaru.

[SubaruFan]

I will move this thread, any suggestions as to how I can post it so it will get some attention?

Thanks

[amdmaxx]

Only mods can move the threads....
keep the thread up top is the way to get more reads, but u risk of upsetting people by bumping your own thread...

[bluesubie]

Check the Legacy forum. There was a long thread about it a short while ago.

edit - Found it. Gotta love the search function!

-Dennis

[Calamity Jesus]

Originally posted by SubaruFan If this is a head gasket issue I will probably never buy another Subaru again. I had the same design flaw headgasket issue with my 91 v6 Toyota and doubt I will ever own a Toyota again. All I want is a well built car Honda is becomming more and more attractive dispite their boring design and bla handling characteristics.

First of all, the 2.5L engines have very narrow spacing between the cylinder walls due to the large displacement.. this means the headgaskets are put under more stress. It's not a design flaw, it's the downside of a large 4 cylinder engine. Subaru's engines are some of the most notoriously unbreakable ever made.

You won't own a toyota or subaru again over a headgasket? Goodluck finding engines more bulletproof than those two. I'd suggest BMW as your only real alternative.

Honda's have bla handling compared to Toyotas? Since when? The 3 most bla handling cars I've ever driven were all toyotas.

Anyway, I can see how a thread concerning headgaskets and their recalls and such would be usefull, but a forum? It's a peice of metal surrounded by thick dense paper.

If you're really worried about that antifreeze smell, why don't you have it checked out? You can look for signs of oil in your coolant and signs of coolant in your oil. Is the antifreeze smell coming from the tail-pipe? There's a good chance the smell is nothing more than a coolant line that's seeping. How often do you flush your coolant? Synthetic oil guarantees nothing.

[SubaruFan]

Thank you for the topic location suggestion.

I can't seem to make the connection between my Honda comment and Toyota? However I own several Honda products and believe they design and build some of the best cars and engines there are. As for the handling of their cars vs Toyota. Both Honda and Toyota are seriously lacking driving character other than their super sporty models. I hated driving my 4 runner not to mention it was an accident waiting to happen for anyone not familiar with driving trucks or high center gravity vehicles. The camary was a snooze to drive as is most of their other cars. I don't think the Accord is much different, but then again most toyotas and Honda's were never intended to be the slightest bit performance oriented vehicles. Sure with some extra money and bolt on parts they become great performance cars, but that goes back to their design quality.

If Honda built an AWD car the size of the Legacy or slightly larger with some creative styling and mildly exciting handling characteristics for rougly the same price they would have a top seller. But Subaru already has it and is working hard to expand that image.

[SUBE555]

Beaverboy says it all.

I believe there may be a service bulletin coming out about this, but make sure to ask your dealship nicely, I got that info on the down-low so I believe it isn't a well-known thing at this point.

I've seen a number of cars going higher mileages without the problem, but others (like my dad's 2000 Legacy L) have gotten it at lower miles (still under drivetrain warranty.) It is sort of hit or miss, but my parents both said regardless, if that was the worst thing to happen and they had to pay for it they would still be buying Subaru's again. Not buying a Subaru over a head gasket is sort of frivolous IMO.

[linsavy]

Subarufan,
I hope you didn't pay to replace the HG in the 4runner. There was a warrantee on it basically forever. I had mine replaced at no charge as the second owner when it was 6 years old with about 100k miles.

Subaru 2.5l especially the DOHC had a terrible problem with the HG. This is a well documented issue. They seem to start to fail around 70k miles and up. This is no real fix, but a new gasket design helps.
Subaru is doing next to zilch about it, but some people have guilted them into fixing it by show them the threads with dozen of people with the same issue.
The SOHC are nearly as bad.
Check out the threads in the Legacy forum. It's scary reading. An extended warrantee may be a good investment.

Subaru is no match for Toyota or Honda in quality. They used to be but have gone downhill since about 1997 onward. The latest JDPower puts them about average. On the plus side the AWD is bulletproof and they are fun to drive.
If you want dependability get that Camry, throw in the TRD bits and give up on the AWD.

[quentinberg007]

I heard the SOHC was much less prone to have headgasket problems. I've read tons about the DOHC having trouble, but haven't seen a SOHC issue.

~~Quentin

[SubaruImpreza_power]

man I get scared every time I hear about these 2.5L headgasket problems... I have a 98 Forester with the phase I engine.. I'm at 79K miles so far... No problems with the HG and I HOPE it stays that way!

[1978911SC]

All 2.5 owners should pay attention to the smell of antifreeze. My 2.5RS is in now for head gasket replacement. At 58,000 miles I just made warrantee. I am glad I was made aware of this "all to common problem" from reading threads on this site or I may have let this occasional smell cost me a great deal of time and money. Niether of which I can afford. I also own a 96 Impreza Outback with a 2.2l engine and this car is the reason I opted to buy the 2000 2.5RS. 128000 miles on the OB and no problems. It is truly a quality car and I will probably keep it until I can no longer drive. The 2.5 engine has a design flaw that after several years has not been resolved. That seems to me to be a good reason to avoid buying another auto from Subaru. The future of my RS- it will be traded in for a Honda CRV that my wife will drive.