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Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

18386 messages,  Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 1:47 PM

You are in the Subaru Crew Forum. Your Host is kcram

What is this discussion about? Subaru Impreza, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Subaru Legacy, Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, SUV

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#17898 of 18386 1995 outback overheating by dbcoolcars Oct 18, 2008 (6:02 am)
I have a Subaru Outback that started overheating as many others in forums have written obout. Temperature guage buried on H, bubbles in the reserve tank with a light film of dark solution, and loss of antifreeze in the radiator regularly. I would assume it was the head gasket as I changed out the radiator as it blew out and replaced the top radiator hose as it continually collapsed. This is what I did to remedy MY problem and it may not work for everyone BUT if it works for you as it did for me, it is a whole lot cheaper than tearing into the engine. I removed the 2 bolts by the lower radiator hose at the thermostat and let it drain. Took out old thermostat and took a garden hose and flushed out radiator good. Then plugged radiator hose and engine outlet with rags and filled radiator full. Did this a few times to flush ALL antifreeze from engine and radiator. Then I cut the guts out of the old thermostat so it was free flowing . I installed it in the car and installed 2 bolts. Also remove overflow tank and drain. I put in about a quart of water and purchased a quart of BLUE DEVIL from Schucks Auto and poured all of it in radiator and filled with water. Need to make sure radiator is full and engine burped. Jack up front of car. Let car idle for 45 minutes then you can drive around if you want. Temp guage will fall to cold but that was ok, in all I let my car run constantly for 2 1/2 hours. Kept an eye on guages so it never got hot. Stayed in mid range where it should. Drain solution from thermostat area, let cool down for 2 hours or more, install new 170 thermostat, gallon antifreeze and water. It took me a half hour to burp system of air with front of car in air. I squeezed upper radiator hose and all to help it along. As this is going on have car running with heater on and blower on high. All should be well when HOT air comes out of heater. It fixed my problem and it could help you. I have been on the road for 3 months now and it cost $65 Replies to this message: samiam_68 (Oct 18, 2008 3:00 pm)
#17899 of 18386 Re: 1995 outback overheating [dbcoolcars] by samiam_68 Oct 18, 2008 (3:00 pm)
Replying to: dbcoolcars (Oct 18, 2008 6:02 am) That sounds very interesting, and thanks for sharing the detailed steps but I'm not sure I'm following - did you or did you not have a blown head gasket? If you did, I don't understand how your solution would have fixed the bad gasket.
#17900 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [tanager] by paisan Oct 18, 2008 (7:51 pm)
Replying to: tanager (Oct 17, 2008 7:13 am) Swapping a motor on a Subaru with the same year or compatible motor is a 10-12hr job MAX, even for a small operation like my shop's. $1500 to install it isn't outrageous, but a bit high IMHO.   I'd go for the teardown and then if it needs more than the shortblock, go for the engine swap.   -mike Motorsports and Modifications Host Replies to this message: tanager (Oct 20, 2008 5:14 am) xwesx (Oct 20, 2008 8:03 am) tanager (Oct 20, 2008 8:52 am) and 4 more...
#17901 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [paisan] by tanager Oct 20, 2008 (5:14 am)
Replying to: paisan (Oct 18, 2008 7:51 pm) Thanks for the reply Mike. I would go for the teardown without a second thought if it didn't cost $850. If I go for the teardown and then find out the shortblock is not going to cut it & heads/cams are bad, I'm looking at a repair nearing $8000. That's what the dealer told me. If that's the case, I can't authorize that repair (unless Subaru pays for A LOT of it) and I'll have to take it to my independent mechanic. Herein lies the dilemma....go for the teardown and risk losing $850 if Subaru can't help me, or just give up on help from the dealer and take it to my mechanic where I know the repair cost won't exceed $4600. Sorry to the forum folks for carrying on about this issue. I am going to talk to Subaru headquarters again today, since they never called me back last week. If they can give me a glimmer of hope that they'll help, I'll probably go for the teardown. Replies to this message: xwesx (Oct 20, 2008 8:03 am) tanager (Oct 20, 2008 8:52 am) paisan (Oct 20, 2008 7:32 pm) xwesx (Oct 23, 2008 1:21 pm) and 2 more...
#17902 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [tanager] by xwesx Oct 20, 2008 (8:03 am)
Replying to: tanager (Oct 20, 2008 5:14 am) Well, that's the thing, though. Once the $850 is spent, you know whether it needs more than the short block. At that point, you will not need to spend $8000 because you could just have the car towed back to your mechanic, where the added cost is "only" $4600. In fact, perhaps you should find out what work the dealership plans in order to diagnose the extent of the damage. At $850, you should request that they remove the engine from the car. Maybe then labor would be less through your independent mechanic, as part of the prep work is done. I might be dreaming, though, since the poor man would then have to deal with whatever mess is left by the dealership.   $3100 for a complete engine seems on par.   What a crummy situation. I cannot help but think this is a manifestation of something the previous owner may have done to it. If it was a manufacturing issue, it would surprise me that 100,000 miles passed before it caused failure. Possible, but tough to fathom. Replies to this message: tanager (Oct 20, 2008 8:52 am) paisan (Oct 20, 2008 7:32 pm) xwesx (Oct 23, 2008 1:21 pm) tanager (Nov 17, 2008 7:29 am) and 1 more...
#17903 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [xwesx] by tanager Oct 20, 2008 (8:52 am)
Replying to: xwesx (Oct 20, 2008 8:03 am) Thanks, good point. It's a good idea to find out if they will remove the entire engine and perhaps save my mechanic some labor. My mechanic has done nothing but look out for my best interests in this situation, so I know he wouldn't mind...unless the engine is in shambles and I have to deliver it in pieces in a big cardboard box or something. I know with these crazy numbers flying around, $850 seems like peanuts. But I will find it hard to stomach the $850 on top of the $4600, if it's all for naught. Does anyone know if it's possible, or even worth it, to find out who the original owner of the car was? Then maybe I can contact them and find out if they were honest with the dealer about an engine issue, and then the dealer was dishonest. But if the original people abused the engine and didn't originally confess that to the dealer, then they're not going to admit it to me either. Also, I had a CarFax report done, and it didn't show any accidents or rebuilt anything. Can things be hidden from CarFax?    --This should be the symbol of my existence for now. Replies to this message: paisan (Oct 20, 2008 7:32 pm) xwesx (Oct 23, 2008 1:21 pm) tanager (Nov 17, 2008 7:29 am) xwesx (Nov 17, 2008 4:23 pm)
#17904 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [tanager] by paisan Oct 20, 2008 (7:32 pm)
Replying to: tanager (Oct 20, 2008 8:52 am) I'm not so sure about the problem showing up initially. I have a customer who's LGT started burning 1Q/1K miles at about 45k miles, The dealers have been doing an oil consumption test for 6k miles after replacing his turbo, thinking the seals on the turbo were the issue. Now they are on his case about maintenance records, when he does his own maintenance and documented it in my.subaru.com   While they haven't denied the claim yet, they haven't said they'll pay for it either...   -mike Motorsports and Modifications Host
#17905 of 18386 Re: Update on '04 Forester XT needing new engine [tanager] by xwesx Oct 23, 2008 (1:21 pm)
Replying to: tanager (Oct 20, 2008 8:52 am) Regarding the PO, yes, it is possible, but who knows if it is worth it. The added history might be interesting, though! I am not sure why the person would not want to be open and honest about it. If that person abused the car, you could not go back to seek damages from them. The phrase "caveat emptor" bears no better application than to used cars and real estate.   The only thing that carfax will show is something that hits its DMV or, I think, insurance records. So, yes, there are many things that can happen to a car that would not show up there. Replies to this message: tanager (Nov 17, 2008 7:29 am) xwesx (Nov 17, 2008 4:23 pm)
#17906 of 18386 pads and rotors by logtrail Oct 26, 2008 (2:00 pm)
Pulsing in my brakes (06 Forester) suggests that the rotors may need to be resurfaced and I was told by the dealer that this is covered under the warrantee. Two months ago my local mechanic checked my brakes and said that the pads were ok.(worn about 40%) So if the rotors are resurfaced can I still use the old pads or should I replace with new pads? I do not want to spend unnecessary $$   Opinions? Replies to this message: samiam_68 (Oct 26, 2008 6:35 pm)
#17907 of 18386 Re: pads and rotors [logtrail] by samiam_68 Oct 26, 2008 (6:35 pm)
Replying to: logtrail (Oct 26, 2008 2:00 pm) You can keep the old pads. That happened to my 04 Forester. The dealer just resurfaced the rotors, kept the old pads, and the vibration was gone.

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