awns729

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to post more as soon as my father fills me in, but here's the story so far. Last week the radiator hose clamps were lose so coolant leaked out everywhere. last night the coolant started leaking again (engine temp guage maxedout, juts like the week before), the mechanic said that it has somethign to do with the engine (I'll find out more soon) and that it could go at any time. It's a 1998 outback legacy wagon. Any thoughts? I'll post more ASAP - this is all i know from what my mother was told by my father

awns729

iTrader: (1)

okay, he said its a gasket leak..would you guys bother getting this fixed? the mechanic suggests to just get a new car.

driftin240

What engine is in the car, and how's the condition of the rest of the car?

Most of the 90's gen Outbacks had the 2.5L DOHC engines which very rarely had external coolant leaks from the headgaskets. There may be more than one place for the coolant to be leaking from too. Blown headgaskets would make it overheat. You may want to take it to another shop to have it inspected also.

awns729

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, it's the 2.5L DOHC. The mechanic we've gone to said he's had maybe 4 Subarus with similar problems. The anti-freeze is leaking into the engine from the head gasket apparently. I don't fully understand what's going on, but the mechanic said it's a risk to drive it becuase pressure can build up, and it can overheat. And acutally that's why my father doesn't want to drive it to another shop, but would you think that it would be worth it to get a second opinion on it?
Also, say the second opinion agrees with what the first guy said, then should we just trade it in? The first guy said it may be up to 5k of work.

driftin240

The engine will have to be pulled and normally if it has overheated, a good shop would send the heads out to be pressure tested. That checks for head warpage and valve seal/seat efficiency. You could expect to pay 17hrs Labor for engine removal, tear down, and re-build. Then parts will be around $300-$400. So lets just say, labor is 100/hr that's $1700 and we'll take the high side of parts and say $400. Add tax and shop supplies, and it would be around...$2500

That's about right seeing as how I just did one 2 weeks ago in a 97 Outback with the same engine.

If the car is clean and you don't want a new car payment, I would fix it, and drive it more!

awns729

iTrader: (1)

Hmm, thanks. My dad's looking at the new legacy now since he's ahd lots of other problems with this car. I found that it's a common problem with 98-02 2.5 engines. Plus the drivers side window stopped working and smoe othe repairs, so he's going for a new car.

Let me ask you something else, from driving a car really hard have you ever had coolant overflow?

SubaruGuru1

Yes, coolant overflow is an occurrence in cars that have been driven hard. I'm a Subaru and Porsche mechanic, and some customers that come in with Porsches have been driving them on the track. I usually need to top off the coolant because of overflow. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with the car. But, if you need head gaskets replaced, do it quickly. I own a '97 outback wagon that I bought from a customer who had it towed to my shop. The car wouldn't start due to lack of compression in the engine. When I finally pulled the engine and took it apart, I found the cylinder walls were MELTED!!!! They had run the car out of coolant and overheated so badly that they actually melted their engine.

Mulder

Well since this was posted last October, it's presumbably been long resolved one way or the other.