friendlynortherner

Hi Guys,

Wonder if any of you gents can help, I fear its the head gasket I have the following symptons in my Classic: Did do a full flush and re-fill was hoping it was an air pocket, still hoping it is lol, did the fill and squeeze pipe thing. Also had combustion test kit liquid from 5yrs ago and it did change from blue to green.

Coolant overflowing from plastic resorvoir near battery when hot and coolant inside pulses up and down.

Coolant cap (near turbo) tank empties itself when the above happens.

Thermostat opens, fans kick in ok.

Hot air ok for heating.

No overheating on idle even if left for long periods running and also drives spot on.

Coolant cap tank (near turbo) bubbles away when opened with a drop of water in it like a kettle with little water.

No exhaust fumes or coolant smell at all, no vapour etc tottaly dry.

Would be grateful for any advice I am naturally very upset

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Does sound like coolant being forced out under boost yes - same symptoms as me, when mine went.

But I'm confused why the header tank DOES NOT reek of exhaust fumes - you would expect this (it did with mine - VERY noticible).

friendlynortherner

Thanks Joz - Did yours overheat? It probably is the worst..Drove the car back 80 miles with no heating problems at all other then the dry Coolant tank, strange...

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Mine only overheated when I used boost i.e. the pressure rose too much and the header tank cap opened forcing the coolant out into the expansion tank - wet by the battery. It was fine off boost.

The temp equated to about 118deg C when the std. 0.9bar pressure cap opens - the needle rose from the normal halfway mark right up to max vertical. Also, the coolant was bubbling rapidly in the bottom of the expansion tank and the header tank level was down to about halfway and stank of exhaust fumes.

Oh, and the borttom hose was stone cold after boost i.e. the airlock thus caused, created all the symptoms described.

friendlynortherner

Thanks again thats very helpful

I measured the temps on both hoses via laser thermometer both were about 70deg on idle when thermo opened up, I suppose a pressure test is in order. Im still hoping its an airlock

At one point the heaters stopped blowing hot air so maybe the air was working through the heater matrix then it came back on with a glug...

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Yeah, an airlock can cause the heaters to blow cold air as the lock prevents the coolant from circulating through the heater matrix... until/if it clears again.

legacytt

have you tried starting car with rad cap and reservoir cap off and let it run up to temp it will leak a bit out of your header tank but when you rev you should see the coolant go down and back up when revs are released if it bubbles out rapidly then i would fear the worst strange how it hasnt overheated or excessive smoke from exhaust but then not every bhg starts the same way hope its just an airlock or could a faulty thermostat or water pump cause these symptoms.

s20pe

sorry to say hg defo gone same symtoms as mine I replaced mine with cometic head gasket set engine out as well good luck fella

friendlynortherner

Thanks - Yes tried it but not with reservoir cap also off, I will try reving it and see if it bubbles out. Thanks for the reply...

Will take it down to a real mechanics he owes me a favour or two so he wont try and con me lol yes they are all the same with the odd exception.... I know its very weird how it has not overheated but like you say they dont always have the same symptons.

friendlynortherner

Uhhh ohhhh - Is it an engine out job? Bloomin heck....Will have to go see my mechanic and spend a day there Are all the settings etc same as a uk spec wrx because my mechanic wont have JDM settings.

legacytt

yes its easier with engine out and i would think that settings will be the same as uk dont quote me on that if im wrong there will be someone to correct me and give you a definitive answer.

friendlynortherner

Eeek - How much am I looking at from a friendly mechanic? Also and most importantly can any competant mechanic do a HG on one of these or should it go to someone who has done these before? How much is a head gasket itself?

Any advice greatly appreciated..

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

API (Subaru engine gurus) charge £700 + VAT = c.£805 for head gasket replacement. This is assuming nothing else is wrong i.e. just the heads/block mating surfaces requiring truing up.

Price includes uprated STi metal HGs which account for c.£100 of the final bill, so labour/sundries comes in at c.£705.

legacytt

thats not a bad price considering the work involved and at least its getting done by a subaru specialist.

friendlynortherner

Thanks for the reply - Wow ! Thats a bill, I assume most of the labour involved is for lifting the engine out, I think if anything its a seeping gasket pushing the coolant up as theres no overheating and could even drive 100miles without overheating.

Is it a hard job for a non subaru specialist i:e my mechanic, has 40yrs under his belt.

I think the next course of action is compression test?

Just an advance thanks to all the good people who have offered advice here, its most appreciated..

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Indeed. And what Dave and his crew don't know about the EJ engines... isn't worth knowing!

Also, I think WMS do the job for £700 (don't know whether VAT is added to that though ).

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Yes, unfortunately - but this is pretty much the cheapest it will cost.

Unless, of course, your mech is a 'mate' who you can pay in <ahem> notes ...

friendlynortherner

Thanks Joz and all for helping me out...

Just been to my mechanics and popped the coolant cap (turbo side) and he said straight away head gasket as we could see what looked like stream of bubbles coming up, like someone blowing a straw...Wasnt interested in a compression test at all, would an air lock also cause these bubbles, if I dont fill up with collant then nothing overflows..

More then likely HG anyway but will get a second opinion from another mechanic..I will update this thread in case someone does a search in the future.

Thanks again all especially Joz...

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

Get him to check for combustion gases in the cooling system with a "sniffer" - takes no time at all to do and if the fluid changes colour in the sniffer,then the head gasket(s) have failed.
The other way is a Compression Test and a Cylinder leakage test to tell you the Internal health of an engine.

Mick

friendlynortherner

Thanks Merlin - Did the chemical test myself from a kit I had 5yrs ago, it did change colour but sometimes if a wiff of exhaust fumes are caught nearby then it would do that. He wasnt interested to be honest and was definate it was a BHG, I am not having someone taking apart the engine without confirmation via compression test or cyl leakage test as you say...Will get it down to another mechanic when I get time...Thanks again to all in advance who have offered advice, it really helps...

Natas

Same as mine, no smell or anything, just kept pumping the water out.
Had the head gaskets done by a Subaru main dealer and within a couple of weeks the bottom end let go, so my advice to you is when the engine is apart make sure they have a good look at the condition of the bottom end.