Head gasket

Kinikie

Got an 98 Subaru outback....it's in great nick internally and drove like a dream. Unfortunately it seems as though the gasket has gone on it and it overheats and cuts out after about 20 mins on the road. My wife uses it, mostly for shopping and taking dogs to Forrest.

Problem I'm having is that no one will look at repairing it. I'd have though the way the economy is people would jump at the chance for a few quid but I've had garages telling me it's not worth their time doing it as they could be doing a more lucrative repair instead.

Im in north Wicklow, anyone know of a local guy who might want to take a look. It's now been off road for about 3 months in the drive. I'm loathed to scrap it but will have to if I don't get someone to look at it in the next few weeks.

I'd take it on myself but not sure how difficult it would be to do a DIY repair. I'm pretty handy but don't want to start something and regret it down the road
Cheers

Nissan doctor

Kinikie wrote: »

Got an 98 Subaru outback....it's in great nick internally and drove like a dream. Unfortunately it seems as though the gasket has gone on it and it overheats and cuts out after about 20 mins on the road. My wife uses it, mostly for shopping and taking dogs to Forrest.

Problem I'm having is that no one will look at repairing it. I'd have though the way the economy is people would jump at the chance for a few quid but I've had garages telling me it's not worth their time doing it as they could be doing a more lucrative repair instead.

Im in north Wicklow, anyone know of a local guy who might want to take a look. It's now been off road for about 3 months in the drive. I'm loathed to scrap it but will have to if I don't get someone to look at it in the next few weeks.

I'd take it on myself but not sure how difficult it would be to do a DIY repair. I'm pretty handy but don't want to start something and regret it down the road
Cheers

Well first of all, you have 2 head gaskets. Second, have you had its diagnosed as a head gasket failure for sure?

I don't see the difficulty with repairing it although it is a much easier repair when the engine is removed. Many garages are just afraid of different engine types(boxer in your case)

They are likely pointing out that the cost of correct repair will be close to, if not equal to, the value of the vehicle.

Kinikie

Thanks...I had it checked out in my local garage who said it was gasket...he said he wouldn't touch it as he could better spend time doing tyres, exhausts ,batteries etc which he would make more money on. Wasn't about value of car v repair. He said it should cost about 600-700 to repair but didn't know who would touch it locally as it is too time consuming when there are other jobs around.

Sounds daft but otherwise it's in good nick and suits the missus due to boot size for dogs, shopping etc.....

Any idea how much I'd get for scrap? Need to weigh up cost of doing or cot of replacing.

Thanks

Nissan doctor

Kinikie wrote: »

Thanks...I had it checked out in my local garage who said it was gasket...he said he wouldn't touch it as he could better spend time doing tyres, exhausts ,batteries etc which he would make more money on. Wasn't about value of car v repair. He said it should cost about 600-700 to repair but didn't know who would touch it locally as it is too time consuming when there are other jobs around.

Sounds daft but otherwise it's in good nick and suits the missus due to boot size for dogs, shopping etc.....

Any idea how much I'd get for scrap? Need to weigh up cost of doing or cot of replacing.

Thanks

I'd say you'd be looking at closer to 1k to do it properly as you would never just replace one of the head gaskets. You'd only get maybe €150 max scrap value for it and trade in wouldn't be much better.

IMO that wasn't a proper mechanic you were talking to.

If the northside of Dublin wasn't too far you could have it done no problem.

Mar4ix

i think you must be sure it is headgasket, as overheating and cutting out, is not typical headgasket issues. headgasket failure usually comes with.... blue/white ish smoke goin out from exhaust, mayo ish colour oil, oil in coolant canister, .. at the end proper headgasket failure would show up if do compression test on cylinders.

Have you got any of these signs ?

Overheating could be just broken thermostat, and cutting out would be one of sensors fault... (example temp sensor, crankshaft or camshaft sensor, or some other sensor, as there is loads them in this car).

Nissan doctor

Obviously the overheating is certainly a symptom that could be caused by a HG failure.

I would advise a second opinion though as if they guy you went to couldn't be bothered to attempt the repair, then its unlikely that he had the correct equipment to confirm 100% that the HG has failed.

Mar4ix

wouldn't sniff test and compression test show headgasket failure ?

overheating could be a sign a blown headgasket ... like recently was on my car, but i call them dodgy headgasket failure, compression on higher revs sipping in to cooling system ,causing air bubble, and that way causing overheating, ... how can other than that blown headgasket cause overheating?

dharn

loss of pressure in cooling system will cause water to boil more easily, and of course loss of coolant will cause overheating

Mar4ix

dharn wrote: »

loss of pressure in cooling system will cause water to boil more easily, and of course loss of coolant will cause overheating

Loss of pressure in cooling system it might will cause overheating, not on all cars... easy fix though. But what you are saying, there is no any connection to headgaket fault.

Plug

Are you losing coolant Kinikie?

Nissan doctor

Mar4ix wrote: »

Loss of pressure in cooling system it might will cause overheating, not on all cars... easy fix though. But what you are saying, there is no any connection to headgaket fault.

Loss of cooling system pressure will cause overheating on all cars.

When a HG fails between the combustion chamber and the cooling jacket, then the cooling system gets over pressurised causing over heating. This can often only happen when driving(under more load) and may not happen at idle at all.

If the HG has failed between two cylinders then you can get cutting out as the cross contamination effects the combustion cycle.

Mar4ix

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Loss of cooling system pressure will cause overheating on all cars.

When a HG fails between the combustion chamber and the cooling jacket, then the cooling system gets over pressurised causing over heating. This can often only happen when driving(under more load) and may not happen at idle at all.

If the HG has failed between two cylinders then you can get cutting out as the cross contamination effects the combustion cycle.

ok, but than it wouldnt run rough ? and it cutting out after 20 min, as kinkie wrote.
I am not trying convince that there is no headgasket failure, just find out what exact problem there. as i am not really familiar with boxer engines.

d o'c

@ OP , I'd say a compression test or better still get a leak down test done to see which side is at fault.

as Doc says it's easier doing this with the engine out, due to the two horizonal heads


I'l try dig up a pic of one I removed from an impreza to give an idea if you want to do a DIY

Mar4ix

d o'c wrote: »

@ OP , I'd say a compression test or better still get a leak down test done to see which side is at fault.

as Doc says it's easier doing this with the engine out, due to the two horizonal heads


I'l try dig up a pic of one I removed from an impreza to give an idea if you want to do a DIY

Im recon, op not diy'er, he cant do even compression test, so seems to be that subaru goes to scrap.
sorry.. im on buz.

Muckie

Check out www.isdc.ie chaps on here should be able to help too.

Sound traders and indy mechanics should give you a good price on the job.

anthony4335

I would get a second opinion on this . It could be an air lock ,TC ,fan switch or fan, all leading to a car over heating. How does the oil look, any creamy substance on the oil cap or dip stick?

Nissan doctor

anthony4335 wrote: »

I would get a second opinion on this . It could be an air lock ,TC ,fan switch or fan, all leading to a car over heating. How does the oil look, any creamy substance on the oil cap or dip stick?

You won't always get mayo under the oil cap with HG failure, it depends on how it has failed.

Subaru's use open deck or semi closed deck blocks(depending on engine model) so coolant mixing with oil is much less likely.

Kinikie

The guy in the garage said there was tell tell signs in smell and look of water in radiator cap.

There is a slight oil ( I think) leak in one of the tubes on the engine resulting in bit of smoking when it burns off...I might try and get someone else to look at it. It drives fine for about 10-20 mins then just clocks up the heat and begins running rough until it cuts out. A point to note, my wife had ran the water reservoir dry just prior to it cutting out for the first time ( in hindsight I should have been checking fluid levels for her)

It's a shame though as she loved the car as it was great for the dogs

Nissan doctor

Kinikie wrote: »

The guy in the garage said there was tell tell signs in smell and look of water in radiator cap.

There is a slight oil ( I think) leak in one of the tubes on the engine resulting in bit of smoking when it burns off...I might try and get someone else to look at it. It drives fine for about 10-20 mins then just clocks up the heat and begins running rough until it cuts out. A point to note, my wife had ran the water reservoir dry just prior to it cutting out for the first time ( in hindsight I should have been checking fluid levels for her)

It's a shame though as she loved the car as it was great for the dogs

A simple and quick test with the right equipment will confirm 100% if its gone or not.

If the car is in otherwise good condition and suits your needs then sureky repairing is the best option?

Kinikie

Thanks Nissan Doctor

Might try and get it over to Subaru garage in bray who I assume will be able to say conclusively if it's gone.

Repair would be best it's a great car to drive

Kinikie

Plug wrote: »

Are you losing coolant Kinikie?

Wife inadvertently ran coolant down, so don't know if it was lost or she ran it dry and caused a ripple effect of issues

Nissan doctor

Kinikie wrote: »

Thanks Nissan Doctor

Might try and get it over to Subaru garage in bray who I assume will be able to say conclusively if it's gone.

Repair would be best it's a great car to drive

You'll definatly write the car off if you bring it to a subaru dealer.

What part of dublin are you in?

Kinikie

Greystones....car won't drive for more than 20 mins or so without cutting out so Bray is as far as I can get. Failing that it a tow job if I want to go further afield.

I could get them to look at it to confirm or deny if its a HG issue or not...don't necessarily need them to carry out repair if that's the route I go down.

Nissan doctor

Kinikie wrote: »

Greystones....car won't drive for more than 20 mins or so without cutting out so Bray is as far as I can get. Failing that it a tow job if I want to go further afield.

I could get them to look at it to confirm or deny if its a HG issue or not...don't necessarily need them to carry out repair if that's the route I go down.

I wouldn't be driving it any further regardless as you will be making the problem worse eveytime it over heats.

Ask them for a price before hand as many people get a shock when they leave a car in for a 'check' in a main dealer.

Plug

Kinikie wrote: »

Wife inadvertently ran coolant down, so don't know if it was lost or she ran it dry and caused a ripple effect of issues

If its losing coolant a coolant pressure test would be a good thing to do. With the plugs removed get mechanic to stick a fibre optics endoscope into each cylinder. He may see coolant in a cylinder. At least it will save the bother of doing two head gaskets but only if thats the case,