Help diagnosing Subaru

[JustinG]

Junk yard motor, sell, take the loss

[ViPER1313]

I mean... judging from the original post... are you sure it was even burning coolant? Was the car losing coolant?

All of those pistons have a lot of carbon for a car that is burning coolant. Usually it will look really clean like

[ispoonwithmugen]

Junk yard motor, sell, take the loss

Not an option. Lillie's first car andnits owned fully by the bank.

[ispoonwithmugen]

I mean... judging from the original post... are you sure it was even burning coolant? Was the car losing coolant?

All of those pistons have a lot of carbon for a car that is burning coolant. Usually it will look really clean like

Not sure at all... we only owned the thing for a week so don't have a measure of what it was or was not doing...

[BLINGMW]

Since you all went **HEADGASKET** before trying some easier stuff, what do the valves look like? Carbon buildup there would throw off compression. And I don't feel like I saw the compression #s that were so bad that it would prevent it from starting.

[ispoonwithmugen]

Since you all went **HEADGASKET** before trying some easier stuff, what do the valves look like? Carbon buildup there would throw off compression. And I don't feel like I saw the compression #s that were so bad that it would prevent it from starting.

Well I didn't jump to headgasket. We took it to a shop they gave us a diagnosis of head gasket. Told dealership we bought from they said let us take a look at it and also said head gaskets (and then offered to pay $1000 to fix it). So two shops said it was the head gasket.

I'm getting compression numbers tomorrow morning from the shop. It was so intermittent I have no clue what it was/is. Sometimes it'd start other times it wouldn't. Sometimes it would drive okay other times it would stall out while driving.

[ViPER1313]

Yea.... that doesn't sound like a head gasket. If it was burning enough coolant to run like hell you would have seen a white cloud coming out the tailpipe everywhere you went.

When the HG on my Camry was leaking, it would run like hell for 10 seconds after I drove it for a bit, shut it down, let it sit and then restarted it (because a large amount of coolant was entering the cylinder as the car sat). Once it burned it off and cleared out it ran fine. And that car was consuming 1 gallon every 100 miles or so.

[ispoonwithmugen]

Yea.... that doesn't sound like a head gasket. If it was burning enough coolant to run like hell you would have seen a white cloud coming out the tailpipe everywhere you went.

When the HG on my Camry was leaking, it would run like hell for 10 seconds after I drove it for a bit, shut it down, let it sit and then restarted it (because a large amount of coolant was entering the cylinder as the car sat). Once it burned it off and cleared out it ran fine. And that car was consuming 1 gallon every 100 miles or so.

Yeah I didn't believe that it was but given two shop diagnosis I was pushed to believe it. It sucks because I have no idea what it is or isn't doing since we had it for such a short time. If this was your car where would you start? Should o start putting the motor back together?

[.RJ]

From what I've read with the subaru HG failures the car can and will run OK and the failure isnt totally obvious like it would be on a car that doesnt have a normally problem with them and the failure is either catastrophic or the result of overheating. I'd ask the machine shop to check the heads for 'flatness' before breaking them down, if they need surfacing then take all the cams and what not off and have them decked and hot tanked. Reassmble with new gaskets and move on.

[ispoonwithmugen]

Should I not get the head pressure tested as well? That's why he needed everything removed. Should I clean the pistons?

[.RJ]

the pressure testing wouldnt hurt. I dont think those heads have a history of cracking and it doesnt sound like it was overheated, unless maybe it was and the PO threw new gaskets in and didnt solve the problem but sounds unlikely.

I wouldnt bother cleaning the pistons.

[ispoonwithmugen]

Welp guess I'm going to continue with what I was doing.

[.RJ]

Did hte machine shop check if they were straight/flat?

[ispoonwithmugen]

^ No he said it would take him more time to check it than to just straighten them. Maybe I'll tell him to check them anyway?

[JustinG]

you can eyeball em to see if they are flat if you have a metal square or straight edge ruler you trust. It is by no means a replacement for a machine shop checking them, but would at least let you determine if anything was really bad.

[.RJ]

^ No he said it would take him more time to check it than to just straighten them. Maybe I'll tell him to check them anyway?

Straight edge and feeler gauge ought to tell you if you need to dig further.

[ispoonwithmugen]

I'll check that off. Just got off the phone with him and he said these were the compression numbers:
1) 200psi
2) 200psi
3) 170psi
4) 178psi

Their reasoning for the HG or head compromised was that it was high and even between the 2 cylinders. He said since it isn't the head gasket that we should look at the head being warped or the exhaust valves bent.

HOWEVER, I'm looking at the cylinder and it appears that 1 and 2 are on two different sides of the car. Not sure how that would be a compromised head gasket since they aren't even touching/attached to each other. I hate to keep bothering the guy but I need these numbers. Am I reading these cylinders wrong?

PF: 1
PR: 3
DF: 2
DR: 4

[ViPER1313]

Those numbers are not bad enough to make the car run poorly. I'm not convinced this was anything internal of the engine at all.

[BLINGMW]

Those numbers are not bad enough to make the car run poorly. I'm not convinced this was anything internal of the engine at all.

True. Those numbers aren't ideal, but they're fine for a DD. Was the leakdown similar? Not ideal but *ok*?

Something you might be able test without putting every back together.... Have you done a fuel pressure and flow test? Could be a dying fuel pump or clogged filter.

[ispoonwithmugen]

^ill check that. Interestingly enough Navin put me in contact with a guy at MachV and he said the HG was failing. "#1 pic top right from cylinder to water jacket burn mark where it's leaking".