2.5L SOHC Head Gasket Failure

Mine didn't fail in the first 100K miles.
But I've heard they can fail anytime between 120 and 200K miles. Just budget for it and keep an eye on the fluids. The fix is permanent AFAIK.

t.'02 Forester XS, sold and bought a '14 Outback H6

File: Screenshot_20160817-213527.png (395KB, 480x854px) Image search: [Google]

395KB, 480x854px

>>16292203


Feel in the rear wheel well if the top is closed or open.

There's insulation that gets wet and rusts from the inside out on the older ones.

Rear wheel bearings. Check em. It's a huge, colossal pain in the dick if the car is rusty. Pre o2 is bad I think, ball instead of needle.

I bought mine for 1350 and sold it for 2 grand, 220ish on the clock.

I hated it by the end and went back to a volvo

>>16292235
>>16292225

Thanks guys. I'll try to check some of those things out when I go to see it. Also if the HG repair is a one time thing, then it shouldnt be too bad I guess. I'll likely have to replace the timing belt in it if I do buy it, so maybe I can get the HG done along with it.

>>16292203
Mist all of them fail. Faulty material.
Crawl up under the car and see if there is any oil leaking, especially where the head meets the block. This is the first sign.
That and check your fluids.

>>16292203
Subaru tech here.

The DOHC 2.5 did not suffer from head gasket failure. Only the singles did.

If you're concerned about the head gaskets just look under the car when you go check it out. You have to remove the splash shield though which is 2 clips and 4 bolts. 12my socket size.


Had to inspect a 1998 forester s yesterday

>>16292203
Best of luck finding one with that low of miles for that price. That's a 8k car where I live. Subaru's are considered gold by there owners and they never want to sell them cheap.

I got lucky with a 97 with 140k for $2,500

>>16293424

They most certainly did fail, and in a worse way than the SOHCs. The SOHC can be nursed along for a while with an external oil leak, the DOHCs failed at lower mileages generally, with an internal coolant leak.

>>16293424
2.5 dohc did suffer from head gaskets though, they break differently though.

>dohc can have the gasket break and mix exhaust into the coolant

Check for the warped or cracked head that often accompanies the typical SHGF.

>>16293439
>>16293446
SOHC usually has the external HG leak, where as the DOHC usually is the one to suffer from the catastrophic internal failures. If you see any oil leakage, walk away, OP. The EJ25, in my experience, is nothing but trouble. Mine also liked to eat its front half-axles, too, for what it's worth.

you are a fucking retard for owning a subaru or wanting one

japan shit makes you clingy as fuck with that reliability safe space, and it only proves you dont know shit about cars

also, the odometer is easy to roll back, more easy than you know.
you plug a device in the obd2 port and reprogrom the oddmeter in less than 2 mins