Headgasket on 2 year old Outback

F

Fredisg

Well,

My 2001 Outback with 43,000 miles blew the headgasket. This is the first
headgasket in over 30 years of owning many many cars. So, is this a common
problem with Subaru? The dealer fixed it at no charge and said that it is
"unusual".

Then, yesterday I ate breakfast with a guy who owns a large independant garage
and he said that he does plenty of Subaru head gaskets, and he told me that at
about 60,000 miles I should look for a bad oil seal near the timing belt, or
something like that.

Is this all true? Can I not expect Honda/Toyota/Nissan like reliability from
my first Subaru? My wife's Accord has almost 200,000 miles with no major
repairs.

Thanks for any info,

Fred
 
I have a 1997 Outback Limited with 108,000 miles. I've had no head gasket
problems. I did encounter an oil leak at about 90,000. It turned out to be
the oil pump which is not unusual for a Subaru in my experience (I've owned
them for 20 years). The problem is the oil pump on the Outback is under the
timing belt cover. It's a pain to get to. While I was there I noted a
small leak in the cam seals so i replaced them along with the front crank
seal too.
Bob
 
It was a fairly common problem on the DOHC 2.5 ltr motor. I have a 98OBW and
had the problem, just a small leak but required the motor out so that head
gasket could be replaced. Can't complain too much as it only cost me AUD$965
(US$650) for the repair and included about AUD$550 (US$400) of parts.

Well,

My 2001 Outback with 43,000 miles blew the headgasket. This is the first
headgasket in over 30 years of owning many many cars. So, is this a common
problem with Subaru? The dealer fixed it at no charge and said that it is
"unusual".

Then, yesterday I ate breakfast with a guy who owns a large independant
garage
and he said that he does plenty of Subaru head gaskets, and he told me that
at
about 60,000 miles I should look for a bad oil seal near the timing belt, or
something like that.

Is this all true? Can I not expect Honda/Toyota/Nissan like reliability
from
my first Subaru? My wife's Accord has almost 200,000 miles with no major
repairs.

Thanks for any info,

Fred
 
I've had 5 new and 2 used Subaru's. Put 104k on the '91, 50k on the '96,
105k on the '98, 45k on the '02 and just started into the '04. NEVER HAD A
HINT OF A HEAD GASKET LEAK. I did have three of the cars develop oil pump
seal leaks (very common).
 
Fredisg said:
Well,

My 2001 Outback with 43,000 miles blew the headgasket. This is the first
headgasket in over 30 years of owning many many cars. So, is this a common
problem with Subaru? The dealer fixed it at no charge and said that it is
"unusual".

My head gasked started leaking at 14,000 miles. It took 6 weeks to get
a new
gasket set in, due to a shortage. The evenining after I got it
repaired,
a piston snapped in half, and I needed a new short block and one head.

'01 legacy, 2.5L

My right front wheel bearing makes a nice humming sound at 50 mph, but
it's
been doing that since new, so I'm not too worried. The dealer says it's
the tires. Changing tires had no effect.

now my neutral inhibit switch is acting up again
 
Oil seal leaks can happen. I was told (had one go at about 80K on my '95)
this is because of the flat configuration of the engine, which makes it
easier to leak oil. The repair wasn't too expensive.

The head gasket is a new one. I just had them replaced on my wife's '01
Outback. The dealer replaced them at no charge. The story I was told is
one of either bad gasket material or an installation problem at the factory.
Cold weather (we just had a bad cold snap) is said to induce the leak.

While I was there, another customer had an '02 (30K miles) with the same
problem. So the "factory" story makes some sense. I'm not worried for
either of my cars. My dealership has been trustworthy in the past.

Compared to the American cars I've owned, my Subarus are still far and away
the most reliable cars I've driven. This doesn't shake my confidence in
Subaru. My experience is that Subaru will stand behind its cars.

Talk to your local dealer, who may be able to fix it at no charge or at a
discount.

Erik
 

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