1998 Subaru Outback from North America - Comments

1998 Subaru Legacy GT Limited 150,000 miles with the telltale mysterious missing coolant and overheating. I pulled the engine myself and completed the repair. Parts are expensive and finding someone with experience in this type of repair may lead you to the dealer who quoted me 2400 for this job. I love the car and plan on driving it for years. You have to realize that my car was built in 1997 and engineered in 1992-1995. This is 2007 and the car has 150,000 miles on it.

I had a 1.8L model that lost a water pump at 165000. I tried to get it home and warped the head. My fault. I inherited my wifes 1999 outback. I drove this 4 times to work and back and at mile 150,010 it blew all of the coolant from the radiator. I assumed it was a pump so replaced the timing belt, oil pump, water pump, thermostat and hoses. The car continued to overheat. Next I replaced the reservoir and the radiator. I flushed the system before replacing with new coolant. I drove it today and discovered I had not fixed the problem. The only time this overheats is after the entire block has been running for at least 15 minutes. I did all of the work myself so far and may attempt the heads as well. Could anyone suggest the best head gasket available for these cars? I also had to replace the oil pan as some of the OE tack welds accumulated salt in NH winters and rusted holes through the oil pan. These are great cars; the awd system is strong and serves without fail.

Same problem as every one else, but worse luck. I bought the car from a dealership and then shipped it over to Turkey where I am currently working- hoping for a good reliable car to get me anywhere in any weather. Trust me, mechanics are not easy to come by over here as most people ride mopeds, camels, goats, horses, whatever... so I am at a loss at what to do. Was driving fine, then noticed it was hot- no early indications (like stalling, steam, check engine light, knocking, etc) drove like normal so I thought maybe the temp gauge was broke, but decided to turn around and get back to my apartment (about 10 miles away). After about 8 miles at least of running hot or possibly warmer, the upper radiator hose burst and sprayed coolant out my right wheel-well... all of it. I pulled over and let the electric fans cool it and did that a few times until I made it back home without letting it get hot again. When it is cool or before it jumps above normal- the car still runs and drives great... I am just afraid to drive any more than a few miles... there is oil in the coolant, but no coolant in the oil- probably due to the pressure differences. The oil level hasn't gotten any lower though?? Most likely a junk engine now, but still gets me a few miles performing like a new engine. Any pointers or help is appreciated. Also, if any recalls, lawsuits or organized complaints come up- be sure to add my name to the list! Thanks- cdemp@snowboard.com.

Add me to the list: 1998 Legacy Outback, blown head gasket at 110 K miles ($1400 repair), then the same thing again at 121 K miles. This time, it won't be worth it to fix it, given all I've just found out about within the last week. Not quite what I expected from Subaru, was planning on being a lifelong customer as this was my 2nd car and 2nd Subaru; will definitely be looking at Honda or Toyota this time around.

Sharerb@msn.com

Oregon.

Add me to the list of 98 outback owners with a blown head gasket $1300 repair along with a new wheel bearing (unrelated).

Question for fellow subaru owners: Is this likely to just blow again in a few K miles or will I be OK for another 90K? Should I sell the car as soon as it gets fixed?

Thank You.

Best regards from Finland!

Have 98 Outback STW, once the HG's are replaced they should be OK for good. The design was changed somewhere 2003 - 2004, I have hold both of the HG's old type and new type on my hand. And there really is a difference! The new type "sides" are stronger.

Have the new types installed - and have no worries.

So nowadays all the HG's you buy are new types. Except if somebody really has a old stock!

So get them installed and drive without no worries!

In the LA area, there are several vendors or what they say are low mileage Japanese engines. I am installing one on my 1996 Legacy, 2.2. I will let you know how this works. I bought the engine for $800 delivered. I am putting new timing belt, water pump, tensioner and other idler pulleys. So far, another $400. I will try to report back later.

98 Subaru Forester -- 92000 miles. Bought two months ago, just started driving two weeks ago. First trip past Sacramento, climbing foothills, same as above: extreme overheating. Had towed to shop, spent night in motel, bad $10 burger and fries. Next morning diagnosis: blown head gasket, maybe more. Today engine is out of car, at machine shop for pressure tests, etc. Yes if any class action, include me: karaj22@yahoo.com. Gracias.

<<98 Subaru Forester -- 92000 miles. Bought two months ago, just started driving two weeks ago. First trip past Sacramento, climbing foothills, same as above: extreme overheating. Had towed to shop, spent night in motel, bad $10 burger and fries. Next morning diagnosis: blown head gasket, maybe more. Today engine is out of car, at machine shop for pressure tests, etc. Yes if any class action, include me: karaj22@yahoo.com. Gracias.>.

I find it hard to believe you had this car inspected before you bought it and then these problems suddenly popped up. ALWAYS get your car inspected before purchasing it used.

I feel for you all as my 96, 2.5L Outback has cost me over $9500.00 plus all the grief. To make the long story short, my trusted mechanic told me these engines are hard to get right (rebuilding). That is how my problem started up I5, on the way to Ashland with my 2 daughters. I found a used engine for $2200.00 and by the time I got out of the shop I counted 4 Gees. Since then, the car has been leaking oil, doesn’t start when it gets hot and check engine light is always on. It used to refuse to shift gear till I figured that one out. At any rate, I refuse to spend another dime on this rust bucket till I someday push off a cliff. Needless to say, never again will I own a Subie.

I purchased a 98 Forrester for my wife 2 weeks ago in Phoenix from a 'wholesaler'. After picking up the car at 5pm, we traveled 2 miles in stop and go traffic and the car overheated. Tested the car the next day and it had a blown head gasket (take the radiator cap off, and just barely start the car: coolant gushed up and out of the radiator. Also, even though the engine gets hot, the radiator may remain cold to the touch).

I should have been more alert, because on initial inspection, the car had a new radiator and a funny smell to the exhaust.

We were fortunate to get our money back. My wife was bummed, because even though this was the first Forester she had driven, she really like the car.

Be wary of who you buy from: broken cars like this typically end up at the Auto Auction where used car dealers pick them up.

Steve...on Ebay as Hardrockcorp.

Bought a 99 Outback 2.5L in Dec 06, it is leaking coolant and makes an interesting smell. It has 100K.

I stumbled accross this site and am absolutely horrified.

Hopefully I can trade before they blow. I was under the impression Subarus were fairly bombproof. Evidently NOT!!

My 97 outback wagon is in the shop now, blown head gasket. My ordeal started last week, the usual, over heating. My mechanic said it need a water pump, and while we were at it, change the timing belt. Didn't help, overheated on the way home. Next we changed the radiator, didn't help, now it is the head gasket. I thing it's warped because I drove it for 5 miles over heating. $1600 in plus the head gasket, which the mechanic says is going be be $700, not a happy camper. Going to sell the thing soon. Count me in on the class action. Something needs to be done.

We are a two Subaru family with a ’98 Outback and a ’99 Forester. We have owned the Outback for 8 years and the Forester for 4 years. Both have run great until this year. We just returned from a trip to Colorado with our young children where we left in the Outback, overheated in the mountains, and returned in my sister’s truck. After having a small shop in the mountains install several new thermostats (none of which fixed the problem) and a new radiator (which together cost over $600 and did not fix the problem), we took it to a Subaru dealership in Colorado Springs and then raced home to beat a blizzard. By phone we learned that our head gasket was blown and we had that fixed for $1800. Due to a combination of weather and enormous inconvenience, a month later we have still not picked up our Outback. These repairs came within four months of replacing two wheel bearings which together was another $600. As the icing on the cake, our “Check Engine” light is on in the Forester, and I am afraid to have it checked! As stated by others, if there is a class action, please let us know. ssharp@usd232.org.

~~~Breakthrough~~~

Well, hi there everyone, I own a 1997 Subaru legacy outback. From what I hear it is very similar to the 1998. I had the same overheating problem all of you described. Well, here is my story. Bought a used, 130000 mile, 1997 Subaru legacy outback and drove it home. Radiator cap leaked because of a dry rotted seal. Fixed the cap and didn't have any problems for about 2 months. I went into a spell of overheating / loosing half of my coolant. Figured out it wasn't air bubbles, it wasn't the coolant. I then proceeded to take it to a local mechanic (Mr. Chapman) who is a 60 year old mechanic who has seen and can fix about every normal car. He did the standard test drive, seeing it overheat, taking it back to the shop deal. He then proceeded to installing a new thermostat, and flushing the radiator out VERY well several times. He also removed a bunch of leaves stuck between the air conditioned radiator, and the car radiator. It still overheated on long trips, but he noted the work so far slowed the overheating down a little. The next time the needle began to rise; he promptly opened the hood, examined everything, and saw the problem. The hose coming out of the radiator on the left hand side had collapsed and was restricting airflow severely.

~~~The Remedy~~~

Mr. Chapman put a brass spring into the hose, the spring they used to put into ALL cars. Now they simply use a higher pressure rated radiator cap that supposedly fixes that problem.

~~~Conclusion~~~

This has fixed my car thus far (3 months). The needle now stays WAY down, and usually never goes above 20%. This may not be the cure for your Subaru, but the $8 used spring is a whole lot cheaper than 1300 for a new head gasket. A simple way to check for the spring would be to squeeze the large diameter hose coming out of the left hand side of the radiator. If it seems to collapse under moderate pressure then maybe the spring just might be you fix too. Good luck to you all and I hope you end up being happy with your Subaru in the end (like me).

~~~ update as of 2008 ~~~

Well it's December 2007, (I'll count it as 2008) and the car is still beating. After about another 6 months (after the 3 above), the overheating problem slowly came back. The next fix attempted was one of the "Steel Seal" "Liquid Glass" "Water Glass" fixes. It helped for about another 6 months, but has since stopped helping. It now regularly reaches high temperatures, but no engine damage thus far. I have gone over the whole car once more, and done basic preventative maintenance. I cleaned the fuel injectors, replaced air filters (premium), replaced spark plugs (Bosch +4), and also, replaced a dead spark plug wire that was cutting my gas mileage in half (Bosch wires). Now when the oil gets changed, shortly there will be another treatment of the liquid glass. Well, I am beginning to wonder if the engine temperature is even getting that high. With all the computers in cars these days, the thermostat could be going up because of a detected change in pressure in the radiator, not the engine temperature. I wish I had a temperature probe laying around...

The radiator has been emptying into the reservoir allot recently, but after being left to cool, there must be some vacuum pressure sucking it back in. The car needs to be topped off about every 2-3 weeks, but thats not nearly as bad as some of these posts.

Well if the car didn't drive so dang good in adverse weather, and get decent gas mileage, I would hate Subaru's. But this one isnt that bad.

And for $3600 wasn't a bad price for this car.