07 Legacy 2.5L HG

[buster]

A coworker just told me about his friend that had her 07 Legacy HG replaced on the 2.5L. They told her both head gaskets failed. Do both gaskets normally fail in this engine? He thought it was odd they both failed. I thought this problem was fixed back in 2004.

Thanks

 

[renegade_987]

While I'm not familiar with this motor, both failing at once DOES seem odd.

 

[Bill in Utah]

My 2007 did have leaks (external) and the head gaskets were replaced at 70,000 miles with the new owner.

I did follow the 30 months or 30k (actually did it at 2 years or 24k) coolant change WITH the stop leak from Subaru.

Still leaked....

I've always said for a 4 cyl the motor is a COMPLEX motor over any I4 NA.

 

[buster]

Interesting, thanks. Here is what I find odd. She said they told her it was leaking oil, but she never had to add coolant and said the level was full. I wonder if they ripped her off and really only needed to replace the valve cover gasket? I wasn't there so I guess I'll never know.

 

[mattd]

MANY of them will leak oil. As long as they dont leak coolant or perfusely leak oil, run it. Subaru will only warranty for coolant leaks AFAIK.

 

[buster]

Do you know what DOJ boots are too? I assume they are axle/cv boots, but they all looked fine per my friend.

Also, they said the control arm bushings were bad. The car has 60k miles. Is it common for them to go?

I'm pretty sure they were out for blood since they wanted $5800 worth of repairs.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: buster
A coworker just told me about his friend that had her 07 Legacy HG replaced on the 2.5L. They told her both head gaskets failed. Do both gaskets normally fail in this engine? He thought it was odd they both failed. I thought this problem was fixed back in 2004.

Thanks

HG failure on these 2.5 engines in legendary. You always do both on these regardless for a couple of reasons.
First. The timing belt, tensioner and both head pipes at a minimum have to be removed/taken down to get one head off, the head is easy to remove once the belt is off (on some you don't even need to remove the valve cover).
Second. The chances of the other side gasket lasting much longer is slim. All the same components will need to be removed to do the job again.
If this happened in a few months the dealer would be called incompetent for not doing both the first time.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: buster
Do you know what DOJ boots are too? I assume they are axle/cv boots, but they all looked fine per my friend.

Also, they said the control arm bushings were bad. The car has 60k miles. Is it common for them to go?

I'm pretty sure they were out for blood since they wanted $5800 worth of repairs.


Inner CV boots. (double offset joint) More expensive than normal boots but around $130 IIRC.

Bushings bad in 60k? Doubt it.

I'd bet more stealer there....

 

[buster]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.

 

[DrDusty86]

It is a Subaru, My roomate has had HECK with his STI. It uses 3 quarts of oil in 1700 miles. He brought it to Subraru and they told him it was normal for the STI. The underside of the car is bone dry. Compression is in the 132-140psi range and leak down is less that 8% at the highest.
Subarus are money pits.

 

[DrDusty86]

I told him to run Delo 15w40 with some high moly grease mixed in. lol He likes the car but the engine was been VERY problematic

 

[cptbarkey]

i'm sure he drives that problematic STI like grammy too right DrDusty86? your story while interesting has not much to do with Op, but thanks for sharing.

 

[DrDusty86]

Oh yea.. he just putts around. But sets the CC on 80mph during road trips, where it uses most oil

 

[Thermo1223]

Could be the oil control rings were installed wrong at the factory. Happens more than you think on cars.

Nonetheless it is a STI and the dealership will assume he is abusing it. I don't believe for one second anyone owning an STI drives slow.

BOT:

Ya sounds like she is being taken for a ride. Could be HG, could be valve cover....

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
It is a Subaru, My roomate has had HECK with his STI. It uses 3 quarts of oil in 1700 miles. He brought it to Subraru and they told him it was normal for the STI. The underside of the car is bone dry. Compression is in the 132-140psi range and leak down is less that 8% at the highest.
Subarus are money pits.

Does the exhaust smell like oil or any smoke when he steps on it?

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: buster
Do you know what DOJ boots are too? I assume they are axle/cv boots, but they all looked fine per my friend.

Also, they said the control arm bushings were bad. The car has 60k miles. Is it common for them to go?

I'm pretty sure they were out for blood since they wanted $5800 worth of repairs.


Inner CV boots. (double offset joint) More expensive than normal boots but around $130 IIRC.

Bushings bad in 60k? Doubt it.

I'd bet more stealer there....


My labor guide says 1.0 hr to r/r the axle and another 0.4 to clean and install a new boot. So yeah, I can see $130 depending on the area of the country.

Control arm bushings wear out all the time at that mileage, depending on the vehicle design and driving conditions.

Originally Posted By: mattd
MANY of them will leak oil. As long as they dont leak coolant or perfusely leak oil, run it. Subaru will only warranty for coolant leaks AFAIK.


One more reason why I stay away from Screwbarus.

 

[Hollow]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
One more reason why I stay away from Screwbarus.

More for me then.

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Could be HG, could be valve cover....


i would lean towards this too, i think she got taken for a ride. diagnosing a head gasket is fairly straighfoward, as is the obvious locations of leaks from the headgasket, versus the valve cover. without pictures and proof it will be endless speculation.

i've noticed though that even later subaru's are still prone to HG failures, those who thought (including myself) that the HG subaru issue was fixed are likely wrong.

 

[buster]

*Update, I found out she didnt' go through with the work and will be getting a second opinion. Sounds like this dealer was trying to take advantage of her. I hate that.

Subarus are good cars overall. If you take away the HG failures of the 2.5L's, they are pretty reliable cars and quite capable.

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: buster
*Update, I found out she didnt' go through with the work and will be getting a second opinion. Sounds like this dealer was trying to take advantage of her. I hate that.

Subarus are good cars overall. If you take away the HG failures of the 2.5L's, they are pretty reliable cars and quite capable.


There is a dealer near me that is quite honest regarding the HG issues.

If the car is over 100k with no evidence of them ever being done they do it as long as they intend on selling the car on their lot.

Looked at an older 2001 Forester S/5M for like $4,000 that was traded in when the older couple was done shifting. Really clean car so it was a shame I didn't get it in time. Had new HG's as well.