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Forester - Headgasket Repair & Engine Rebuild

150 messages,  Last post on Feb 08, 2012 at 12:19 PM

You are in the Subaru Forester Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester, Subaru

Messages Page 2 of 16

#6 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [asa] by ateixeira

Apr 30, 2007 (8:28 am)

Replying to: asa (Apr 28, 2007 5:47 am)
The TSB is applicable to all vehicles
 
Where'd you hear that? That's not true at all.
 
Here is the actual text from Subaru:
 
Service Program WWP-99
 
Dear Subaru Owner:
 
This email is sent to you in the interest of continued customer satisfaction. Subaru of America recently announced a campaign on certain model year vehicles starting in 1999 through 2002. Official Owner Notification Letters will be mailed to all affected customers starting in late February through May of 2004. The timing of the mailings is based on the vehicle model year, starting with oldest affected model year in February through the newest affected model years in May. The following text is similar to that contained in the Official Owner Notification Letter that will be sent to you during the mailing phase affecting your vehicle. Therefore, this email is most likely arriving before most owners will receive their official Owner Notification Letter in the mail. Please do not schedule your vehicle for an appointment for this campaign until after you have received your Official Owner Notification Letter, unless you are experiencing vehicle problems. You can contact your local Subaru dealer for any questions related to this or e-mail us at Subaru.com, contact us.
 
All vehicles? Where? Source?
 
My '98 Forester was not affected.
 
Our late-build 2002 Legacy was not affected.
 
My sister's 03 Forester was not affected.
 
My brother's 04 Legacy sedan was not affected.
 
All vehicles?
 
C'mon folks, these forums are only useful when the information shared here is accurate. Spreading misinformation like this is harmful to everyone, both Subaru and the customer.
 
I'm correcting you because I don't want Edmunds members to run off looking for a TSB for their car that simply does not exist.
 
Please, folks, check your sources, quote them, offer references when they're available.
 
That will make the advice here a lot more useful.
 
Thanks all.

#7 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [ateixeira] by xwesx

Apr 30, 2007 (10:46 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 30, 2007 8:28 am)
In the 2007 Outback/Legacy owner's manual, on page 11-15,
 
"Always add genuine Subaru cooling system conditioner whenever the coolant is replaced. Change the engine coolant and add genuine Subaru cooling system conditioner using the following procedures according to the maintenance schedule in the “Warranty and Maintenance Booklet”."
 
Apparently, they do not want to take any chances...

#8 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [xwesx] by ateixeira

Apr 30, 2007 (11:00 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Apr 30, 2007 10:46 am)
That's not quite the same as saying "they have a continuing problem with failed head gaskets".
 
That hit 99-02 models hard, sure.
 
I haven't seen reports of head gaskets failures for 03 and later models. Nor did any of the Subarus in my family get a notice that it was to be added.

#9 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [ateixeira] by xwesx

Apr 30, 2007 (1:34 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 30, 2007 11:00 am)
No, it is not. I just wanted to put out correct information for those who own, or are interested in owning, Subaru vehicles manufactured post-TSB. I cannot say for sure whether owner manuals from 03-06 request this additive, but it would stand to reason. If not used, I imagine this could be grounds for warranty denials.
 
Actually, the head gasket problems hit '96 through '02 models hard. It was only addressed by Subaru in the phase II engines, for some reason.
 
Not that this is indicative of widespread problems, but I heard from a fella in California about his gasket saga (1998 Outback, green), which lasted about 2 years and is just now coming to a close. He ended up having the gaskets (and a bunch of other work) replaced to the tune of $2200. His wife wanted him to dump the car, but he was stubborn and went ahead with the fix. Having owned it since new, he is convinced it has a lot of life left and the $2200 is well spent. I cannot recall the mileage - I think it was in the 80K range.
 
Funny enough, I get many many emails from people who do Google searches and come up with my page covering gasket replacement on my '96 back in Sept '05. So many that I finally set up a folder on my email program called "Subaru Correspondence."

#10 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [xwesx] by ateixeira

Apr 30, 2007 (1:57 pm)

Replying to: xwesx (Apr 30, 2007 1:34 pm)
whether owner manuals from 03-06 request this additive
 
I'll check in my sister's Forester Owner's Manual next time I see her, or my brother's 04 Legacy. I seriously doubt it, though.
 
What section was it under?
 
I don't see how Subaru could deny a warranty claim unless owners were officially notified (or unless it's in the manual, like for the 07s).
 
I also wonder if it's in the Tribeca's manual, as the H6 wasn't ever really affected by the issue.
 
I guess what set me off was the "all vehicles" comment, I still doubt that's true.

#11 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [ateixeira] by smittynyc

Apr 30, 2007 (2:20 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 30, 2007 1:57 pm)
I can't say for sure whether it was mentioned in the owner's manual, but I am positive that there was a TSB about the coolant additive for my 04 Forester X.

#12 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [ateixeira] by xwesx

Apr 30, 2007 (3:29 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 30, 2007 1:57 pm)
No, I agree with you fully about spreading mis-information or just inflammatory posts in general.
 
As for the coolant additive, it was in the Maintenance section (section 11 in my manual) under coolant replacement.
 
Out of curiosity, is there not a law that manufacturers not require items specifically from the manufacturer unless those items are provided free of charge? If this is the case, this Subaru coolant additive must be a commercially available item. Is that so?

#13 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [xwesx] by smittynyc

Apr 30, 2007 (5:01 pm)

Replying to: xwesx (Apr 30, 2007 3:29 pm)
I don't know whether there's a law like that. It seems like there are an awful lot of products -- from vacuum cleaners to printers to water pitchers to various kids' toys -- whose consumables are available only from the OEM.
 
I do know that you can buy the OEM coolant conditioner from your local Subaru dealer, or from any dealer which does online/phone parts orders.

#14 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [xwesx] by ateixeira

May 01, 2007 (9:42 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Apr 30, 2007 3:29 pm)
I've been told it is exactly identical to Stop Leak.
 
MythBusters had a cool episode about ground pepper doing essentially the same thing, i.e. they put pepper in a radiator and tested to see if it would clog up the leak.
 
Guess what? It worked!
 
Myth confirmed. Ground pepper has the same effect as Stop Leak.

#15 of 150 Re: Subaru Coolant 'Conditioner' [ateixeira] by tidester

May 01, 2007 (10:37 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (May 01, 2007 9:42 am)
MythBusters had a cool episode about ground pepper doing essentially the same thing ...
 
I missed that one! Got any details?
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

Messages Page 2 of 16

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