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Another Subie thread.....

Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
i've been smelling coolant for about a month now... Checked the radiator about 3 weeks ago and it seemed like it wasn't losing much. i assumed it was a leak in the hoses, but to make sure i took it into the service wrench across the road.

The leak was in the head gaskets they quoted me a guesstamation of around a couple grand.

With fingers crossed i called a dealership and luckily for me it's covered in the warranty. PHEW!!~~@!@#~!!+$$$$$$$

The car is recommended to change a few more goodies that you have to open the motor up for anyways so i'll save money on labor to do what would be normal maintenance anyways.

So a couple of grand turned into about 300 bucks when it's all said and done!

Bullet dodged!:dancing:
 
Geoff G.

Geoff G.

Monkey
Sep 6, 2004
289
0
scituate mass
Skookum said:
i've been smelling coolant for about a month now... Checked the radiator about 3 weeks ago and it seemed like it wasn't losing much. i assumed it was a leak in the hoses, but to make sure i took it into the service wrench across the road.

The leak was in the head gaskets they quoted me a guesstamation of around a couple grand.

With fingers crossed i called a dealership and luckily for me it's covered in the warranty. PHEW!!~~@!@#~!!+$$$$$$$

The car is recommended to change a few more goodies that you have to open the motor up for anyways so i'll save money on labor to do what would be normal maintenance anyways.

So a couple of grand turned into about 300 bucks when it's all said and done!

Bullet dodged!:dancing:
Click to expand...
ever since my mom's subie blew the head gasket I've heard so many other people's stories about theirs. They seem to have coolant leakage problems, and head gasket problems. We smelled the cooland leak about a year before the head gasket blew. I don't want to say that it's a common thing, because I don't have actual stats, but I've been hearing alot about it.
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
SkaredShtles said:
It's a fairly "common" problem for older Subarus with the 2.5l motor. Skook - what year?
Click to expand...
2001 the dealership quickly mentioned something about a recall. i've got 90k so i fall under the 100k warranty.

There was no real significant loss of coolant or overheating problems so i avoided a complete breakdown by having it checked out sooner than later. All the same i wasn't that worried about it since i wasn't having major issues, so i'm glad i had it checked out.

Worse case scenario i just ignored it, drove it past the 100k mark and blow the engine up. i'm glad i was paranoid "just" enough and had free time to kill to have it looked at before becoming wrapped up in life and just putting it off.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,058
10,006
VW Vanagon's were famous for blowing head gaskets at around 60,000 miles. Weird to hear of a problem with Subaru's.
 
brungeman

brungeman

I give a shirt
Jan 17, 2006
5,170
0
da Burgh
stevew said:
VW Vanagon's were famous for blowing head gaskets at around 60,000 miles. Weird to hear of a problem with Subaru's.
Click to expand...
WeakA$$ metalurgy in the Vanagon heads... the coolant actually caused the corosion of the heads which caused their failure... that is why so many people get rid of the Vanagon engines and put Subie or I4vw engines in them... I am looking for a "weekender" with a poptop to do a subie conversion on... I am getting tired of always having to check the coolant before I leave to go anywhere in my 84 Vanagon.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,058
10,006
brungeman said:
WeakA$$ metalurgy in the Vanagon heads... the coolant actually caused the corosion of the heads which caused their failure... that is why so many people get rid of the Vanagon engines and put Subie or I4vw engines in them... I am looking for a "weekender" with a poptop to do a subie conversion on... I am getting tired of always having to check the coolant before I leave to go anywhere in my 84 Vanagon.
Click to expand...
A friend of my brothers shipped off an unfinished 1.8T swap into a Vanagon. The guy was undecided if he wanted to have it finished. It was stupid in the first place considering he was keeping it automatic.

There was a Audi V6 powered Vanagon in Boulder, CO at a show I went to a couple of years ago when I lived in Denver. There was a Subaru powered Syncro Westy around there to and a couple of 1.8L VW/Audi swapped Vanagons.
 
brungeman

brungeman

I give a shirt
Jan 17, 2006
5,170
0
da Burgh
stevew said:
A friend of my brothers shipped off an unfinished 1.8T swap into a Vanagon. The guy was undecided if he wanted to have it finished. It was stupid in the first place considering he was keeping it automatic.

There was a Audi V6 powered Vanagon in Boulder, CO at a show I went to a couple of years ago when I lived in Denver. There was a Subaru powered Syncro Westy around there to and a couple of 1.8L VW/Audi swapped Vanagons.
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the whole 1.8 thing doesn't make sense to me:confused: the bus was underpowered with the reg motor. I drove a TICO conv. bus, and didn't think that much of it... I have however driven a subie conv. and that thing was REALLY nice and the conversion was done well! I would have liked to have seen the V6 Audi motor shoehorned into that bus... I don't like the kits where you have to cut and change your deck lid to fit the motor in... just doesn't make sense to me!!!

I have never had a head problem with my subies, and would love to put a 2.2 into a newer van.
 
jvp108

jvp108

king of the road
Mar 21, 2006
153
0
filthadelphia
Clutch (20K Miles), wheel bearings (40K), Window squeal, coolant leak, and cold weather (<15 degrees) fuel leak in the engine bay.

The fuel leak is sometimes covered under warranty and def. not covered out of warranty (i.e. there was no recall). This concerned me enough to call Subaru of America and talked with a rep for 30 minutes. After arguing for the duration of the call, her solution was to take it into a dealer so they could charge me $500 to fix a part that they have acknowledged that it was defective. Not to mention they (SOA) don't think it is a safety issue, not enough of one to warrant a recall.

Any company that tells me that the sweet smell of 93 Oct coming through the vents because it is pooling on top of your engine block is my fault is f-ed in my book.

First and last Subaru purchase.
 
brungeman

brungeman

I give a shirt
Jan 17, 2006
5,170
0
da Burgh
jvp108 said:
Clutch (20K Miles), wheel bearings (40K), Window squeal, coolant leak, and cold weather (<15 degrees) fuel leak in the engine bay.

The fuel leak is sometimes covered under warranty and def. not covered out of warranty (i.e. there was no recall). This concerned me enough to call Subaru of America and talked with a rep for 30 minutes. After arguing for the duration of the call, her solution was to take it into a dealer so they could charge me $500 to fix a part that they have acknowledged that it was defective. Not to mention they (SOA) don't think it is a safety issue, not enough of one to warrant a recall.

Any company that tells me that the sweet smell of 93 Oct coming through the vents because it is pooling on top of your engine block is my fault is f-ed in my book.

First and last Subaru purchase.
Click to expand...
wow that sucks... cant you cause some sort electrical short and get that pooling feul to burn up the car?:rolleyes:
 
jvp108

jvp108

king of the road
Mar 21, 2006
153
0
filthadelphia
robdamanii said:
I'm amazed the clutch went at 20K miles. I've got 100 on my current clutch, and the previous had 90K on it. Must be driving like a maniac.
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Nah, the clutch that MY and 03 was notorious for being defective. Hopefully this new one will last long, so far 40K and no problems:thumb:
 
jvp108

jvp108

king of the road
Mar 21, 2006
153
0
filthadelphia
brungeman said:
wow that sucks... cant you cause some sort electrical short and get that pooling feul to burn up the car?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Fire Extinguisher...9.99. 93 Octane...2.65/gal....Subaru claiming it's not a safety hazard....priceless

you try telling me that you would load your kids into a car with visible fuel leakage on the engine block and fuel smell in the cabin.
 
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