Head gasket finally went

[Richard Heckman]

i just bout a 98 forester with 130k miles, i love the car. and i am
seriously considering keeping it. but all this head gasket problems is
making me wanna sell it as soon as i get the title in the mail. seems
like this is bound to happen to every forester.

question: does driving your car a certain way help prevent head gasket
problems? i hardly every go over 65mph or over 2500rpm, will this help
save the head gasket? if u put less stress on the engine by drivng slow
with low rpm's will that save the gasket?

this is a really nice car, looks great, runs great, can do a lot with.
but is it worth the headache and looking over your shoulder all the
time? i might just get rid of it as soon as i get the title because
nothing would be worse for me than being stranded in the middle of the
freeway out in the middle of nowhere!

It's a mistake that many folks make to think that driving slow is easier on
an engine. It all depends on what load is on the engine. The conditions of
highest Brake Mean Effective Pressure in the cylinders are at low RPM and
high throttle setting. If you lug your engine, you are creating the
condition that will help identify any possible weakness in the head gasket
or weakness in the bearings.

We've had an 87 wagon that went 235,000 until I hit a deer and had to
replace it. The 90 Legacy Wagon replacement had 267,000 on it when we sold
it to buy a 2002 Forester.We take a 2000 mile trip twice a year for work
purposes. We stick with manual because I like the better control on slick
surfaces. I shift up around 4500 and down at around 2500 to 3000 depending
on load. I use 80 mph on the gage when the signs say 70, figuring that
spedometer error will take care of the diff. So far so good on the ticket
situation.

Although I rev the car fairly high, I seldom floorboard the throttle. I
raced sports cars for 8 years with only one blown engine. "Babying" an
engine can do more harm than good.

Dick

 

[Michael Pardee]

It's a mistake that many folks make to think that driving slow is easier
on
an engine. It all depends on what load is on the engine. The conditions
of
highest Brake Mean Effective Pressure in the cylinders are at low RPM and
high throttle setting. If you lug your engine, you are creating the
condition that will help identify any possible weakness in the head gasket
or weakness in the bearings.

We've had an 87 wagon that went 235,000 until I hit a deer and had to
replace it. The 90 Legacy Wagon replacement had 267,000 on it when we
sold
it to buy a 2002 Forester.We take a 2000 mile trip twice a year for work
purposes. We stick with manual because I like the better control on slick
surfaces. I shift up around 4500 and down at around 2500 to 3000
depending
on load. I use 80 mph on the gage when the signs say 70, figuring that
spedometer error will take care of the diff. So far so good on the ticket
situation.

Although I rev the car fairly high, I seldom floorboard the throttle. I
raced sports cars for 8 years with only one blown engine. "Babying" an
engine can do more harm than good.

Dick

In addition, some engines depend more heavily than others on higher revs to
rotate the valves, and will suffer valve sticking and subsequent burnt
valves if not "blown out" regularly. Volvo 850s are notorious for that.
Subarus probably aren't very susceptible, based on the higher reported oil
consumption. Close tolerance, low oil consumption engines are more of a
problem. Still, I agree - a properly maintained engine will usually benefit
from being revved well occasionally.

Mike