So my little brother bought a 99 legacy SUS a couple months ago. I told his mom to have it looked at, but she just put the cash down and picked it up. I looked at it with them before they bought it and everything checked out. I looked for all the usual things you do when you buy a used car, but I'm no mechanic, I just know what to look for. Anyways, the story goes. They were driving it with full heat on and all the sudden the heat turned cold. The temp gauge was normal and then shot all the way up to the hottest. When they got home and popped the hood, there was coolant everywhere. I noticed that there was oil in the coolant overflow can and the radiator hose is suctioned together, if that makes sense. So is it in fact the head gasket or what else could it be? Why would there be oil in the coolant overflow? Is this an easy fix or is it going to be spendy? I just don't know where to go from here. If you can help me out with any info, we'd be much obliged.
Yikes bro, I'm no expert but it sounds like the dreaded head gasket. One of my 99's is in for the repair as we speak. As to the cost, I'm still waiting for what the official damage is going to be.
yeah ive got a small leak...checked with the local car-x and they quoted me 1250...i think they said 900 or so was for the labor alone.:hsugh:
I've never dealt with a blown gasket before. Could other things be wrong from this or would it just be replacing the head gasket? How does a head gasket blow?
definite HG as i'm one of the victims. i think i paid roughly 1.5k for it at a private shop chingchong
i have the same car, and mine went around 125xxx with no warning. took mine to St. Cloud suby and it was about 1200 bucks, but they do awsome work, and they don't over charge!
wtf? I'm getting quoted way off the charts for all this? How are you guys getting out so cheap? I haven't been told anything under $2500.
Thanks for the quotes guys. I'll PM LegacyPGT and see what he says. I still am interested in what makes a head gasket blow?
haha, besides that! I just feel bad for my bro. It's his first car and I dont want him to have a bad taste with Subies
also not a bad idea to check the heads and make sure they are not warped. The heads should be within +/- .002" flatness, same with the block. If the surface/s are not flat it can be the source of repeated HG failures.
head gasket for sure. same thing happened to be on my old 98 legacy. small leak most likely. it will often be misdiagnosed as radiator, radiator cap, thermostat....
