Headgasket class action website

[mandorichard]

2005 Outback, about 86K miles. Seems early to have head gaskets leaking. Not being a mechanic myself, I just went through the exercise of pricing a 2011 Outback. Nice, but I'll get 2005 repaired. Subaru wants $2400. Local repair shop $1600. My question is, should I go ahead and get a valve job while the engine's pulled apart? Given the history, Subaru giving any breaks to dealers they can pass on to customers?
Thanks,
Richard

[subiesailor]

First off 86K what exactly do you mean valve job? Have the shims adjusted? Also if your having a non Subaru shop do the heads I wouldn't bother with the valves given I would not keep the car more than another year with a non subaru shop doing the HG work.

If you want to keep the car for a while have subaru do it and call HQ give them **** tell them your thinking about buying another subaru but this HG issue has you second guessing the thought of another one. HQ will probably share some of the cost with you in the repair possibly matching the non subaru shop price except you get the subaru workmanship warranty on it. My HG was covered by Subaru at 65K out of warranty and had zero issues with it when I sold the car at 160K. No they did not touch the valves during the whole 160K run and it was fine.

[rbutcher]

The Subaru dealer told me that there are two types of head bolts. They look exactly the same except the two center bolts are painted black on the ends. The Felpro head bolts do not have the ends painted black. I assume Felpro just ignored the difference in head bolts, whatever the difference may be. Is it ok to use the Felpro head bolts? Is it better to re-use the old head bolts? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy dealer Subaru head bolts?

[lockmedic]

Reuse your head bolts.

[Novablue]

Originally Posted by lockmedic

Reuse your head bolts.

Um, the question was asked in 2010. I think they found a solution by now.

[pyite]

Originally Posted by mikebike357

It wasn't covered under the revised headgasket 100k warranty because mine was only leaking oil... warranty only applies if it's leaking oil AND coolant.

Where can I find information about this revised warranty and what engines it covers?

I just had the head gasket replaced on my 2006 Outback with 75,000 miles due to both coolant and oil leaks, but at an independent shop. Is there any way that I can recover some of the costs? I am getting the sad feeling that I hosed myself on this one.

Thanks,
Mark

[crshbandit]

I am about to take the plunge and have my mechanic replace the hg's on my 97 outback 2.5L . He offered to do the job for $1000 which I think is really reasonable. I have known him for years and I do trust his work. He will send the heads out to be checked for warpage and have them milled if needed. Is there anything else I should talk to him about before he starts this job? Should he use an aftermarket hg rather than the OEM Subaru hg? I have heard this is a good idea, just can't remember what brand was recommended. The car now has 153,000 mi. on it. He already replaced the waterpump and the car has a new timing belt also.

[crshbandit]

I tried going to the class action website and it says the domain has expired. Is this not an option for me to seek any compensation from Subaru on this problem?

[derry30]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback with 90600 miles on it . It has been using approx. a pint of coolant every 1000 miles. The last time I had it state inspected mechanic stated head gasket was leaking slightly and should be replaced. Quoted price of 2400.00 for complete job. I think I will try a sealer kit specifically for this model Subaru . It is 149.00 and I hope it works . It has great reviews from others who have used it.

[gfguy]

the only way to get Subaru's attention is to log your blown headgasket complaint on the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) at the NHTSA.

just go to NHTSA.gov and you will see a link to open a complaint into their database. You will need your VIN number and it will take you through the questions and give you an area where you can describe the problem.

If you took it to Subaru before the warranty and they did not diagnose the hg problem until after warranty expiration, then you need to mention that.

If you took your car to private mechanic forget about Subaru doing anything voluntarily, I mean why should they? even though it's their responsibility for making defective gaskets on all of their cars.