Subaru Motor

[GHarman]

Our Outback has a leaky head gasket after 224,000 miles. I contacted CNC Motors in Santa Ana, California about one of their used engines from Japan. Seems that the Japanese have VERY STRICT inspection requirements and the engines for sale have <60,000 miles. CNC motors say they offer 6mo. /6000mi. warranty. The price delivered is $1300. The cost just to replace the head gaskets is close to that and I will still have a 224,000 mile engine. This has been an excellent car for my wife. She drives like Mario Andretti :--) , rain, snow, sleet, or sunshine. I have been her one man pit crew for many years. Any thoughts or experiences to share are all appreciated. Thanks, GregH

 

[OKish]

HAHAHAHAHA <60k engines! hahaha biggest pile of sheep **** i have ever heard. we have had our foreign repair shop in business for over 25 years and i can tell you all them low mileage import engines are a joke. subies are known to blow the head gaskets on their flat style engines. the cyl heads run at high high high temps and are cast out of ****ty alum. i would just straighten/machine the old head and put in a new HG. plus those 6 month warranties sound great eh? but remember, they dont cover labor.

 

[Grizzly]

With that many miles on the Sub, get rid of it and get a Toyota Rav4 or a 4Runner

 

[DieselMinded]

Our Suby Has a Recall for Antifrezze type thats what they are blaming blown HG's on ... . I Havent taken it in for recall work yet ... Need to tho



DM

 

[surfbeetle]

Just look on ebay, I went with a company called CNS motors in El Monte. I got a JDM subaru EJ20 Turbo for an engine swap that I doing on an air cooled vw. It was only $750 including tax, I picked it up so I didn't have to pay shipping.



As for these engines being junk from Japan, do you honestly think that this industry would be as large as it is if every engine was junk? Of course there has to be a certain percentage of the engines that are bad that's why you get a warranty. Even if it doesn't cover labor, that's still better than being stuck with no engine.



Down here in southern CA, lots of people are using these engines for Sand Rails, dune buggies, etc. As for the blown headgaskets, supposedly the story is that you are supposed to use a Subaru branded coolant conditioner in the engine. I suspect that people are getting their coolant flushed at a quicky lube place w/o adding this back in.

 

[GHarman]

Dieselminded and surfbeatle, Thanks for the info on the antifreeze. I have to pay shipping to Colorado on the motor. Otherwise it was quoted as $1095. Still shopping around. GregH

 

[OKish]

What is the year? Transmission? Engine size? I might be able to help you out.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

subies are known to blow the head gaskets on their flat style engines

The 2. 5i DOHC engines were problematic in the head gasket department. The 2. 2 and 2. 5 SOHC have been excellent engines. Thats why they stopped making the DOHC engines and went back to the SOHC engines.



Check Consumers Reports. Very good cars.

 

[GHarman]

With that many miles on the Sub, get rid of it and get a Toyota Rav4 or a 4Runner

Hey Bud, We don't see many of those up here. The Subaru is the car of choice. Miles don't matter. Fix it and run it. Run it until the repair costs more than the vehicle is worth, then run it some more. Then I'll buy another Subaru. Used. Are they perfect? NO !!! The big issue is they are designed to be maintained and repaired, not as an afterthought.

 

[wtfd6]

I put a crankshaft in a 02 wrx. that was not fun. I learned more about those box engines than I ever wanted to know. they seem like good engines overall.

 

[GHarman]

I put a crankshaft in a 02 wrx. that was not fun. I learned more about those box engines than I ever wanted to know. they seem like good engines overall.

The WRX is a SCREAMIN' ZONKER. My friend has one. Its also a ticket magnet. :-laf GregH

 

[Matt400]

Our Outback has a leaky head gasket after 224,000 miles.

I am not one for shabby fixes but if its the common external leak and its still small I would try a bottle of stop leak first. Beyond that I would fix what you have or time to trade in.

Seems that the Japanese have VERY STRICT inspection requirements and the engines for sale have <60,000 miles. CNC motors say they offer 6mo. /6000mi. warranty.

Run don't walk from that deal. Also Subaru sells an additive for preventative maintenance of this trouble.

 

[DMcPherson]

actually most jd, emgomes dp have fairly low miles because of their tax structure on cars being based on mileage. the nice think is that on the older and base cars all the parts interchange. a friend did a 2. 5rs with a 3. 3 liter H6 from a svx. pretty cool. the jdm engine is a good option, but the head gasket is NOT very hard to do on that.

 

[GHarman]

The leak is internal. When the motor is hot, the head and block expands enough at the weak part of the gasket to allow exhaust to pressurize the coolant gallerys. The 15# (0. 9p metric?) cap blows off and coolant is dumped through the overflow onto the deck. The heater blows cold air. Motor temp maxes out. Ive tried the stopleak treatment. It worked for a while. No coolant in the oil. Subaru has not been communicative about the coolant additive. Here, {{Thank you all }} is where I heard of it first. I may retry the stop leak, again, with some additive?, for a temporary fix ( The motor still runs strong ), until we can get through the snow season. My shop is snowed in. I dont want to tackle this in a snow bank. I believe this is my next step. before a rebuild or replacement. I'll get the materials this week. Will post results. Thanks

 

[DMcPherson]

theres this stuff that I used to sell at a small shop i worked at, its the only stuff I have ever seen work. unbeleiveable actually. its called steel seal. yahoo it maybe. I can still get it. its like 80$ a bottle but its unbeleiveable.

 

[silverram03]

GHarman I don't know where you live exactly but my mom and dad (even grandma and grandpa) have alway had subarus since 1983 and she won't drive anything else since she commutes to Conifer/Aspen Park from Denver 5 days a week, and they always have had there cars serviced at Kevin's (until he sold to Scott) in Aspen Park which is now Clarkson's Automotive. Scott has always been a great mechanic and he knows all the in's and out's of these prized mountain cars. Maybe this will help you. I know my Mom just had the major service done at 150,000 miles and Scott said it doesn't usually take long for the head gasket to go after that. Her car is a 1999 Outback wagon Limited. Let me know if you need any other info.



Here's a link for you http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr...678040364843577748&sa=X&oi=local&ct=authority



Greg V.

 

[Matt400]

Subaru has not been communicative about the coolant additive. Here, {{Thank you all }} is where I heard of it first.

I will post the part number for it when I get to work but sounds like its too late for it now. Still it would be good to know. Clarksons Automotive that Greg pointed out sounds like a good place if your close enough, if not maybe try a zip code search here.

 

[Grizzly]

Hey Bud, We don't see many of those up here. The Subaru is the car of choice. Miles don't matter. Fix it and run it. Run it until the repair costs more than the vehicle is worth, then run it some more. Then I'll buy another Subaru. Used. Are they perfect? NO !!! The big issue is they are designed to be maintained and repaired, not as an afterthought.

Because of my experience with Subaru, my car of choice is Toyota.

 

[GHarman]

You all are GREAT. Thanks for the info. Silverram03, I live in Gilpin County, About 35 Miles North of Conifer. It probably is to late to try the additive. But I cant get much accomplished unless I hire out the repair. We'll see what I can do with more stop leak. Maybe we can limp along for a couple of months more? Matt400, I'll be looking for your part number. I need to go to Flatirons Sub. on Tuesday for a core charge refund. I'll get the additive then. Thanks Again, EVERYONE, for all of your input. GregH

 

[Matt400]

Matt400, I'll be looking for your part number. I need to go to Flatirons Sub. on Tuesday for a core charge refund. I'll get the additive then.

The product is:

SUBARU COOLING SYSTEM CONDITIONER

PN# S0A635071



It's purpose is a corrosion inhibitor to reduce the gaskets degradation.

What year is your Outback?