Earlier this Spring, I decided to get back into the 2G Outback family by purchasing a 2001 LL Bean.
Listed on craigslist at $1900, it was several thousand cheaper than any other LL Bean. I had looked at many and under the pretense that not that many H6's have headgasket issues; my buddy and I drove 2 hours north to N. Carolina to check this car out.
Upon the test drive the car seemed fine so I told the seller that I wanted to let it idle for 15-20 minutes before I made my decision.
After about 10 minutes of idling, I noticed that the temp gauge was at 3/4 and turned the car off to check the coolant.
Seeing that the radiator hoses and the radiator were new, I added some about 3/4 gallon of water to the car and saw small bubbles coming out of the radiator intermittently as the car was running.
Possible bad headgasket! I explained that to the seller and he then said to make an offer.
Against my best judgement, I made a stupid low offer and drove the car 2 hours home with no issues.
I continued to drive the car and added coolant every other day.. enough was enough. I called a the dealer and a few shops to get estimates. $4500 on the high side... $2800 on the low side.
Most recommended I get a junkyard motor and swap it in. I decided against that and figured I could do the headgasket job on my own and save a bunch of money.
Little did I know!!
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Listed on craigslist at $1900, it was several thousand cheaper than any other LL Bean. I had looked at many and under the pretense that not that many H6's have headgasket issues; my buddy and I drove 2 hours north to N. Carolina to check this car out.
Upon the test drive the car seemed fine so I told the seller that I wanted to let it idle for 15-20 minutes before I made my decision.
After about 10 minutes of idling, I noticed that the temp gauge was at 3/4 and turned the car off to check the coolant.
Seeing that the radiator hoses and the radiator were new, I added some about 3/4 gallon of water to the car and saw small bubbles coming out of the radiator intermittently as the car was running.
Possible bad headgasket! I explained that to the seller and he then said to make an offer.
Against my best judgement, I made a stupid low offer and drove the car 2 hours home with no issues.
I continued to drive the car and added coolant every other day.. enough was enough. I called a the dealer and a few shops to get estimates. $4500 on the high side... $2800 on the low side.
Most recommended I get a junkyard motor and swap it in. I decided against that and figured I could do the headgasket job on my own and save a bunch of money.
Little did I know!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk