I drive a 1998 OBS with roughly 129K. A few weeks ago my CEL started appearing with the code P0325: knock sensor. No big deal I thought, the light comes and goes as it pleases with the only effect I feel being a little lack of power when it's on. I'm going to get it fixed when I can afford the money to replace it and the time to go home. Now, last week, after a 70 mile drive back to school, my heater didn't want to warm up and my car wanted to overheat. I checked my coolant, and it was almost completely gone. The CEL was on at the time. I refilled it, brought it to the shop to have the system pressure tested, and it came back that I apparently need a new cylinder head gasket (I thought this was an EJ25 thing, not EJ22). Now, what makes no sense to me is that, last summer, I also had no coolant in my car (drove it almost a year that way without knowing) and the temp needle never once moved past the 1/2 way mark on the gauge. My engine runs perfectly fine. Could the knock sensor have anything to do with it running so hot? I don't have the $800 for a new head gasket...I'm not a fan of Japanese cars...only bought the OBS because it was cheap and they're supposed to be so "reliable" (reliable my ***...) so I think I'll let the OBS run as good as it can without getting the headgasket fixed (hopefully it'll go back to running perfect after I get the sensor replaced) and just junk it and go back to German cars. I just want to know...does this diagnosis sound right or should I get a second opinion?

 

No. I think you should see a shrink... back to German, like the nickle dime ya VW or the $100/$1000 kill ya BMW and MBZ?

Been there done that. I don't suppose a German car would be any happier with a 'driver' (insert moron, if it's more to the point) who drives a car for a year without coolant and then wonders why his car is destroyed!

I'll warn the German cars you are coming!!!

 

With all due respect, I've never had the problems with my Germans that I have had with my Subie. Now, don't get me wrong, it has been a good car with the exception of this. As far as the "moron" comment, which is very unfounded, I guess it can be expected when the average Subaru owner appears to be 17 years old. But I digress. I've done all the repairs on not only my cars, but also the Audis in my family. As I said before, my car still runs beautifully with the exception of the coolant leak, which has apparently been a problem ever since before I bought the car (I bought it at 89,600 miles, now has just a tick over 129K). The Subaru is the only car I have ever driven that does not have a low coolant light. I thank you for your very informative, helpful post.

 

Sounds like what happen to my monte carlo, i'd be carefull even with adding regular coolant i still blew out the motor, One thing you might try to help with the knock sensor is going up a grade in your gas.
Tho I've also feel like i should point out I agree with OBS, driving a year without coolent deffently isn't good for the car, and having to replace a head gasket on a 98 car after approx 130k isn't bad at all, and pretty damn good after going a year without coolent. I understand about your exprence with Germans, but don't give up on a subby because who knows how it was driven for the first 90K

 

You can run for a year without coolant and still consider yourself a 'car guy'? Interesting, even the 17 year old of which you speak, will look at the coolant level every couple of months ~ at 53 I certainly do. Crazy, huh?

 

I don't know man... You must have been really neglecting your car or something. I have a '97 with about 114k miles on it, and yeah... it is still running fine. Don't get me wrong or anything, but there was a time when I was a noob that I didn't check fluids and air pressure and all of that, but that's why I am here at I-club. Just learning about the typical stuff.

I don't think you should be coming out and bashing Japanese cars, especially about your Subaru, on a Subaru forum. It doesn't really matter what type of car you get or use, if you neglect maintenance on it, it'll bite you in the ***.

 

Um... I've never owned a car with a "low coolant" light. Actually I didn’t know any cars had those… Granted, I’ve had cars where an “idiot light” came on that I didn’t realize was there. So lets assume you assumed there would be a warning light, and therefore didn’t check your coolant level for a year. Even so, once you knew it didn’t have a warning light, why would you not check it again? And also, why would you expect a car with a blown head gasket to run perfect after fixing a knock sensor?!!! Now if it’s just leaking coolant, then yeah it would probably run fine. However, if it’s burning the coolant, you could have all kinds of build-up in whichever combustion chamber has the gasket failure. This could actually be causing some knock, and setting off the knock sensor code (Note: I do not have a factory service manual, so I have no way of knowing if the P0325 code is a “failed knock sensor” or “excessive knock”). In which case, new knock sensor won’t do anything. Also, 800 bux sounds excessive for a head gasket change for these engines. Everything is so easily accessible, it seems it would be a relatively simple and therefore less expensive process.

So to answer your original question: Yes, I think you should get a second oppinion.

 

Exactly why I DON'T think it's a blown head gasket. There's no smoke, the car runs perfect when the CEL isn't on, the heat works, runs smooth, etc...it doesn't have ANY blown head gasket symptoms at all. Also, if it were a head gasket, wouldn't there be coolant in the oil? I change the oil myself every 3,000 miles and once again, no sign of anything abnormal. I'm also far from a noob when it comes to cars, I check my fluids all the time. I've only checked the coolant when I flush it every year, because my car has always run at the right temp. I've never had a reason to not trust the car, but I'm just not sure anymore. I've had cars run up into the high 100 thousands with no repairs needed, and this pops up...frustrating. Both my last car (European Ford) and my mom's car (04' Audi A6 2.7T) have low coolant lights...

 

not do start bashing at u or ne thing, coz weather u like subarus or not is ur thing but why would the shop lie 2 u about the head gasket problem?

i mean if u cant find ne thing wrong on your own yet the car is having problems its not such a bad idea 2 go 2 another shop 2 figure it out if u dont trust the one u jus went 2.

but as stated up there ^ maybe the reason ur not catching ne of this from the gauge cluster is the car as abused by the owner b4 u and things just arent giving u a real reading or a sensor some wear is broken

o and the 17 yr old comment was unnessisary, if we can keep our cars running gud and ur having problems u shouldnt bring up the subject

 

"o and the 17 yr old comment was unnessisary, if we can keep our cars running gud and ur having problems u shouldnt bring up the subject"

Amen brotha!

 

If you hate **** so much then dont come complaining to us.

They dont make knock sensor just so you have to spend $80 after 80,000 or so. They make them to detect knocks in the engine.

As for oyu head gasket... what can we say, if oyu dont take care of your car stuff will happen to it. If it was a huge issue with the cars there would have been a recall. I have the ej25 and I take care of EVERYTHING in my engine and it runs as good or better than new with 91,000 miles on it.

 

It turns out that dealer #1 didn't have the first clue as to what they were doing. I brought it to the mechanic that my works on my mom's Audi (import garage that specializes in Audis, VWs, and Subarus) and he replaced the radiator cap to the tune of $13 and all is well. He had called all the local Subie dealers and not one had ever heard of a blown head gasket on a EJ22. Now if only I could get my hatch to stop rattling...

 

:rotfl: thats not going to make people want to help you. If you dont normally check your coolant, perhaps you should have gotten a car with a low coolant light. As for it "not being reliable" an engine knocking and then having a blown headgasket at 129k miles! come on man, its not gonna run like a new car at that age, parts wear with age, its part of having a car.

As for the average Suby owner being 17.......well why dont you go through and check the birthdates of most of the members (since its listed on most peoples profiles) and then get back to us for some help, unless you'd rather call us all kids, and THEN ask for help again...either way probably wont work since you've already made an *** of yourself

kthnxbye.

 

my ej22 is turboed, with 170K on it...no problems, most reliable car ever