Think I have a blown head gasket!

[subiemommy]

So not happy! We took a fmaily drive the other day up this wicked winding road, would have been funner without kids. haha Half way up my car starts over heating. Not good, pull over let it cool down, check coolant, seems to have it and the fans are kicking on. Hmmmm Finaly make it home. Get looking at everything and my coolant is low, but not gone. And my oil seems to have risen. Well I'm not car buff, but I know oil doesn't multiply so I knew it was bad and before Eric said it I figured the coolant, which has no leaks out onto the ground, was leaking into my oil! So now I can't drive my car at all. On top of that we still don't know what causes his infrequant and inconsistant bucking and dying, possibly the MAF, but not positive.

What stinks is he was just talking about putting in a phase 2 2.5 block with my heads. I was looking forward to some added torque and the tiny raise in HP. But if my head warp too much from all the overheating that won't happen.

Why is it the cars I love the most end up being more money and time than they are actually worth? I have had about 10-14 cars (I can't remember them all! haha) and the 2 I actually loved, Dmitry and my Ecpipse with cut springs, end up being money pits. Just my luck! :-(

[MsLovely]

So not happy! We took a fmaily drive the other day up this wicked winding road, would have been funner without kids. haha Half way up my car starts over heating. Not good, pull over let it cool down, check coolant, seems to have it and the fans are kicking on. Hmmmm Finaly make it home. Get looking at everything and my coolant is low, but not gone. And my oil seems to have risen. Well I'm not car buff, but I know oil doesn't multiply so I knew it was bad and before Eric said it I figured the coolant, which has no leaks out onto the ground, was leaking into my oil! So now I can't drive my car at all. On top of that we still don't know what causes his infrequant and inconsistant bucking and dying, possibly the MAF, but not positive.

What stinks is he was just talking about putting in a phase 2 2.5 block with my heads. I was looking forward to some added torque and the tiny raise in HP. But if my head warp too much from all the overheating that won't happen.

Why is it the cars I love the most end up being more money and time than they are actually worth? I have had about 10-14 cars (I can't remember them all! haha) and the 2 I actually loved, Dmitry and my Ecpipse with cut springs, end up being money pits. Just my luck! :-(

Hey don't feel bad that is how my Legacy went. I blew the headgasket. Overheated and warped everything. It was a mess. Now I have my new subie.

[StripesRX]

If you havn't actually overheated(I'm assuming here, since you didn't actually mention it) then the heads are fine. My old Impreza had the same issue of loosing coolant and overheating, but it wasn't the head gaskets, it was a crack in one of the cylinder walls.

Bought an old Leggy motor off Ebay and dropped it in, and my dad still uses it as his daily! Just watch the MAF if you did overheat, because it caused problems for us after the new motor was in. It was cooked MAF. :(

Good luck!

[subiemommy]

If you havn't actually overheated(I'm assuming here, since you didn't actually mention it) then the heads are fine. My old Impreza had the same issue of loosing coolant and overheating, but it wasn't the head gaskets, it was a crack in one of the cylinder walls.

Bought an old Leggy motor off Ebay and dropped it in, and my dad still uses it as his daily! Just watch the MAF if you did overheat, because it caused problems for us after the new motor was in. It was cooked MAF. :(

Good luck!

I did mention overheating in the third sentance, though I'm hoping it wasn't too much and we didn't mess anything up. I'll keep an eye on the MAF, I didn't know about that.

Eric was talking about finding an RS motor and using my heads. Someone else mentioned an EJ20, not sure if that's the same. The guys on my local sight forget I really don't know hardly anything! haha
Hopefully we can get things taken care of before anything else gets ruined, ya know.

[xxthat girlxx]

Good luck!

[StripesRX]

To me, starting to overheat and overheating are two different things. I took your comment to mean that you caught the gauge climbing in time to turn off the car and let it cool off before the temperature climbed high enough that the car shuts itself off. (Which is good) Once you get to the point where the car has shut itself off, its no bueno. It takes a lot of heat to start warping the motor itself, but everything not metal such as all of the rubber connectors and hoses and such, will mealt quite nicely once you get to that point.

I'm just wondering, If its your head gaskets that are the problem why not just get a gasket set for your car and install that instead of getting a new motor? And if I may ask, why are you considering buying a new motor and using the old heads?

Cheers!

[gizzmo]

NA 2.5s WILL eat the head gaskets at some point. Count on it. As long as you didn't beat the shit out of her on the way back you should be ok. You may need to mill a lil bit off em, but, they should be fine to throw on the new block and get you some torkz! Good luck, I'll shoot ya a price quote on gaskets and such Monday :)

[subiemommy]

Stripes, I'm going to sound stupid here but, I have overheated many cars and never had one shut off so I didn't know they would do that. The gauge was at the peak of the gauge for quite awhile, but no the car never shut off. So maybe it will be ok. (I learned something new, again today! Sweet! haha)

We plan on just replacing the gaskets, but there is also a knock in the motor. Eric wants to wait until that knock gets worse and then switch my 2.2 to a 2.5. Not a big jump in power, but enough for me until I get my lead foot under control! haha Then we'll talk more about the WRX I want to get in a year or two.


Gizzmo, I'll remember that about the 2.5 and my head gaskets. I'm sure Eric knows, since he's the mechanic not me, but I'll ask just to make sure. He can do all the milling and that as well. So hopefully the 2.5 won't give us to mush trouble.

Now remember I do not understan how cars drive or how the motor works. Hand me a part, if I can see it or you give me directions to find it hiding inside I can replace it. Just don't ask how it works or why it's making a funny noise! haha

[MoN]

If you need any parts PM me. Ed works at an auto recycling yard and could possibly find u a good deal to have parts shipped to your local yard if he can find what u may need :)

[MsLovely]

If you need any parts PM me. Ed works at an auto recycling yard and could possibly find u a good deal to have parts shipped to your local yard if he can find what u may need :)

Unrusted out front fenders for my 95 impreza? We've determined that is the best fix.