Same old HG problems

[Jay]

Greetings, all. I am, in most relevant areas, a newbie, so please have
mercy on any ignorance found herein. I've seen that many people have
posted the same and similar problems, and while I hate to waste
anyone's time, due to my lack of vehicle know-how I think I need
situation-specific advice. I have a 96 Legacy Outback with the EJ25
DOHC. Borrowed $3500 from the bank to buy it (as is, 165000mi on it),
and not two months later, the heater starts blowing cold air as the
temp guage shoots up. The mechanic tells me there's air forced into the
coolant lines and he bleeds it out. No problems for three days. It
happens again, and he says he's gotta replace the thermostat. Once
again, one day later, the problem persists. Then we have the thing
powerflushed. No dice. Not the heater core, either. Nor the water pump.
(bear in mind, I know very little mechanically, so I'm taking all this
advice from various people on their word). Finally, the more expert
opinions I gather, the more they tell me the head gasket's shot. I've
had to trial-and-error, nickel-and-dime the thing for so long that now
I've blown a hole in the radiator getting back and forth to work. I
have a friend and colleague who says buying a used engine and putting
that in would be more cost and time effective than having the head
gasket replaced (he's offered to do the job himself). I'm just now
getting the car paid off, and I have around $2300 available to fix the
damn thing. Suggestions?

 

[lkreh]

B/c you already have 165K miles on your engine and a used replacement
engine (which I assume has significantly fewer miles than your original
engine) is cheaper than fixing the head gasket, I would go for the
replacement engine. That said, having a friend do it always concerns
me. What's his experience level? If there's a serious problem with
the replacement engine (think timing belt), it's not like you're going
to make your friend pay. I would get a couple of estimates from a
dealer and from an indie shop to install a replacement engine vs.
replace gasket so you can make a more educated guess which way to go.

LK

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Greetings, all. I am, in most relevant areas, a newbie, so please have
mercy on any ignorance found herein. I've seen that many people have
posted the same and similar problems, and while I hate to waste
anyone's time, due to my lack of vehicle know-how I think I need
situation-specific advice. I have a 96 Legacy Outback with the EJ25
DOHC. Borrowed $3500 from the bank to buy it (as is, 165000mi on it),
and not two months later, the heater starts blowing cold air as the
temp guage shoots up. The mechanic tells me there's air forced into the
coolant lines and he bleeds it out. No problems for three days. It
happens again, and he says he's gotta replace the thermostat. Once
again, one day later, the problem persists. Then we have the thing
powerflushed. No dice. Not the heater core, either. Nor the water pump.
(bear in mind, I know very little mechanically, so I'm taking all this
advice from various people on their word). Finally, the more expert
opinions I gather, the more they tell me the head gasket's shot. I've
had to trial-and-error, nickel-and-dime the thing for so long that now
I've blown a hole in the radiator getting back and forth to work. I
have a friend and colleague who says buying a used engine and putting
that in would be more cost and time effective than having the head
gasket replaced (he's offered to do the job himself). I'm just now
getting the car paid off, and I have around $2300 available to fix the
damn thing. Suggestions?

Investigate a short or long block from CCR .

Carl

 

[myusenetacct]

One thing to keep in mind is that a used engine might blow a head
gasket too. I understand this was a real problem in the Subaru 2.5l
engines up to early 2003 model year. Mine blew a head gasket while it
was still under warantee.

If I were buying used, I would really try to get late model engine.
Your local Subaru dealer (or maybe someone at nasioc.com) might be able
to tell you engine serial numbers to look for: 2.5l engines made after
they fixed the head gasket defect.