Topic: HG Failed, Guess Who

[rrocket]

A HG job on a typical Subaru is a giant PITA job.  The heads are buried in the engine bay.  Ugh.  Also, Subaru dealers have decided that this "mishap" is actually a large revenue opportunity for them!  Most Scoob indies I know charge $2500 or so P/L including changing out the timing belts and pulleys and water pump while they've got your car all apart.  I've heard some dealers might come down to $3K or so if you're a regular customer and they think they'll lose you.

The bummer is that most owners are hooped.  Suppose you have that 2011 Forester.  It's still worth over $10K - you can't walk away from it.  But, try selling it with a huge bill looming - even dropping the price, you're hard pressed to sell it.  So, you're boxed in.  (get it...)

Yea..I'd try Blue Devil first.  If it doesn't work..or only hold for a year or whatever...it's worth doing.  Because either way...you're hooped.

Nothing to lose since they will refund your money if it doesn't work.

What is this blue devil stuff??

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Oh..it's a headggasket sealer.  Works awesome.  Probably the best one on the market IMO

1) Take thermostat out
2) Flush coolant system
4) Turn car on with heater on MAX. Install Blue Devil
5) Let engine idle 50 minute.

[rrocket]

Why bluedevil over irontite?

More success.  Available locally (Canadian Tire carries it too I think).

But IronTite is a good product also.

There's another..called K Seal I think.  Also heard positive about it...but zero experience with it.  **EDIT** It is called K Seal.

Here's another I found while looking for K Seal.  Expensive though!  https://www.steelseal.com/product/steel-seal/ 

[johngenx]

What is this blue devil stuff??

[mmret]

For me its a PITA that involves my friends and I spending a weekend in the shop and a few beer. Sounds like a good weekend.

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It sounds theoretically fun to me. But then reality bites.... Need friends who are interested and capable at this, plus real world of kids, other interests, friends kids and their other interests....Plus need the shop.
Generally a lack of time for everyone.

My brother has been eyeing a Forester for some reason (not sure how that's so much better for his life than the TL...) So this HG stuff should keep him on the straight and narrow.



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[Fobroader]

What is this blue devil stuff??

Ahh, snake oil...ok

[SaskSpecV]

So once again, where's Mike on a thread like this?  I hope he's letting the upper management poo-bahs know that
1) loyal Subaru customers are really unhappy about the HG issues, especially that Subaru won't acknowledge the problem (though not like he's in the engineering dept and can do anything about it).  Easy for Subaru to keep saying "the HG issue is fixed on the new engine" when you know the problem won't appear for 5+ years... by then Subaru will have a slightly modified engine in their new cars, so they'll just keep saying the same thing.
2) CDN Subaru dealers are gouging over this (amongst the litany of things Subaru dealers gouge on!).  And those are concerns that might be fixable by someone at Subaru Canada.

Just hoping my Forester holds out.  Only 20K so far in 19 months, so it's not like the mileage is piling up.  I've dodged the oil consumption bullet (knock on wood), we'll see about the HG...

[quadzilla]

Considering Subaru sales are at all time high is it that the customers don't care or don't know.

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[Fobroader]

Do turbo Subarus have this issue?? Is there an aftermarket fix?? I would love a turbo Legacy wagon but if I have to do the HGs every year, I'm good.

[rrocket]

Ahh, snake oil...ok

Definitely not.

It's the real deal. Like IronTite, have seen it work multiple times..And long term too.

[johngenx]

A former colleague of mine just called to ask me if I knew a good indie Subaru tech as his 2012 Impreza 2.0L CVT lost it's head gasket.  He's 4000km out of warranty and Subaru Canada told him to pound sand.  Dealer offered a good-will price of $3500 plus taxes and misc fees.

He said they acted like his is the first Subaru to  have this issue and so it must be his fault.   

It never rains...

[Weels]

^

 

We've already made the decision to unload ours, but because CVT and crap interior with a non stop squeak in the sunroof that drives me nuts.
The head gasket issue is just another thing that tells me to move on.

You know something is a little off with Subaru - after our first oil change i was given a litre of oil to keep in the car and told to keep an eye on the oil level... but no.. there is no oil consumption problem... no there is no head gasket issue....

[KD]

A former colleague of mine just called to ask me if I knew a good indie Subaru tech as his 2012 Impreza 2.0L CVT lost it's head gasket.  He's 4000km out of warranty and Subaru Canada told him to pound sand.  Dealer offered a good-will price of $3500 plus taxes and misc fees.

He said they acted like his is the first Subaru to  have this issue and so it must be his fault.   

It never rains...

Haha, that's what they told me when the hg blew on my 97 OBW at 135k....    

[blur911]

Considering Subaru sales are at all time high is it that the customers don't care or don't know.

The first owners don't care, the head gaskets are the second owners problem.   They tend to go a bit after the warranty runs out.

My 3.0 flat-six was supposed to be immune, HG went at about  275k.   Crazy how much work it was to replace.

[johngenx]

My 3.0 flat-six was supposed to be immune, HG went at about  275k.   Crazy how much work it was to replace.

The H4 in our Forester was past 350K when it started leaking, and I'd probably change it except for the sheer amount of work involved.  It's just not worth it for me.  I recall your thread about it - seems you like a challenge!

H6s aren't immune, they just seem to be perhaps less prone and perhaps last longer before it happens.

As for the turbo engines, for some reason, they're much less prone to HG failure, but potential owners should know the turbo 2.5s have their own list of issues.  Turbo self-destruction is not uncommon.  There's also some issue on the early 2.5L turbos that cause them to put holes in pistons but that's not a widespread problem.  It's important when buying a used 2.5L turbo to look at the service history.

[blur911]

As for the turbo engines, for some reason, they're much less prone to HG failure, but potential owners should know the turbo 2.5s have their own list of issues.  Turbo self-destruction is not uncommon.  There's also some issue on the early 2.5L turbos that cause them to put holes in pistons but that's not a widespread problem.  It's important when buying a used 2.5L turbo to look at the service history.

Yup, I was in a friend's shop the other day and one of these was failing a leakdown test on one cylinder .   I'll have to ask what the culprit was.

[johngenx]

Yup, I was in a friend's shop the other day and one of these was failing a leakdown test on one cylinder .   I'll have to ask what the culprit was.

I'll bet it leaned-out while in boost.

[Trainman]

Wow!  Was not expecting such action on one of my threads, usually they just wither away after a couple of posts   

As has been mentioned, the 2.5 turbo, notably in the '09 Foresters, have had issues, to the point they put a stop sales order on them.  They seem to have remedied that issue now.

Looking at the Forester forum and True Delta, there are not a lot of issues cropping up yet on the 2.0T like I have, and it is now in its 4th year in the Forester.

As for Mike, I get why he can't be here.  At my work, we just got the riot act read to us re our use of social media and what we can and can't post if it is work related.  Basically can't post is the correct answer 

And back to the original topic, I wish I was closer to my friend so I could talk to his indi as I think he is getting double dipped on the labour for the timing belt and HGs.  All I can do is let him know and to ask.

[2JDM]

Buddy's 2011 Forester XT's turbo died at 7x,xxx km.

Uncle's 2004 Outback H6 also had headgasket issues. Not sure at what mileage. He currently has a 2013 Outback and 2011 Forester, both non-turbo. No headgasket issues yet.

[Trainman]

A chap from TO posted his quote for 2 HGs and the timing belt for a '09 with 166,xxx km on the Forester forum.  Quote was from a dealer and was for $2,513 with HST.   No water pump though.   I am going to send that to my friend so he can show it to his indi for pricing.

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[Ex-airbalancer]

Has there been the same problem with the 3.6?