HI,

My name is Mark and I own a 97 legacy outback. For the past couple of weeks now, the car has been overheating after driving about 20 miles. (rural) I have replaced the thermostat but it still overheats. I am now leaning towards the head gasket. I want to do the work myself because I cant afford to pay a garage $60/hr to work on my car. I am looking for a web site that may be able to help me do this job. I have a haynes manual, but I cannot find any specific area dealing with the head gasket. Does anyone know of such a website? I would appreciate any help you could give.

Thank You,

Mark

 

I have the same car as you, same year too only the sedan version. I had the same prob like 3 months ago, the car would overheat constantly. I had the thermostat replaced and thought the prob was over. 2 days later the car overheated again. The body shop told me it was the head gaskets and it would be cheaper to get a new motor. I took what they had said to my boyfriend's father who knows just as much about cars as any mechanic, and he said they were bull****ting. Long story short, he pointed out that when the themostat is replaced, the engine needs to be bled. Which means since the engine is pressurized, the air which gets into the engine needs to be "bled" out other wise pressure will build up and blow out the fluids and ultimately cook your motor. So....before you go and spend a pretty penny gettin head gaskets put in, have them check to see if the motor is airbound.