1998 Subaru Outback from North America - Comments

Add me to the list. A 1997 Outback with almost 124,000 miles and the temp needle suddenly just went through the roof. Same old story... Head Gasket. I did love the car, but this kind of thing isn't supposed to be a built-in problem for 7 years of production!!! Should be the exception, not the rule.

Subaru should step up and do something. They are squandering their fine reputation. It's obvious that the pride Subaru owners had in their vehicles is giving way to contempt for the corporate machine...

98 Outback Legacy with 155k miles and it appears the head gasket is broke while driving to the Subaru dealer to look at 2008 models. I don't think I am going to get a Subaru this time sadly after reading all the comments.

Well. I have a 1997 Subaru Outback. 2 months ago it randomly overheated and I replaced the radiator. 1 month ago it randomly overheated and I replaced the thermostat. This Saturday it randomly overheated and the engine died. Towed it to a shop to hear about a bad head gasket. Checked this site and felt my wallet hurt.

Why doesn't Subaru at least warm you?

I own a 1998 Subaru Outback, and it is without a doubt the worst vehicle I've ever purchased. I still remember the salesman saying "these cars go 300,000 miles." I bought mine new, and it immediately had a burning smell when sitting after driving. Turns out it was one of a small number that got recalled due to the wrong grease being used somewhere. Next was the alternator recall, then the radio failed. Next it developed an oil leak. Then the transmission (or differential?) clutches started binding (car would jerk-jerk-jerk when turned sharply and driven slowly. The engine sounded like it had valve noise or knocking almost from the time it was new. They always claimed that was "normal for the boxer engine" (never did anything about that complaint). Repairs to that point were covered under warranty, but of course I knew I had a lemon.

The oil leak returned just after the car was out of warranty. Because they had to go into the engine anyway, I went ahead and had the timing belt replaced. Those cost about $1200. Brakes had also been a problem. It seemed to go through brake pads about every 20,000 miles. The car was seven years old, but only had a little over 50,000 miles on it.

Last year, on a short trip, it suddenly dumped its coolant and overheated. Ends up it was the head gasket, and the engine was shot as a result. The car had 74,000 miles. I've had it serviced religiously at the dealer from whom I bought it, and used synthetic oil for all oil changes after the first couple.

$5400 later the car had a re-manufactured Subaru engine with a three-year warranty. The dealership offered no help, even though I bought it from them and have had all work done there. They said there's a special additive for the coolant that keeps the head gasket in shape, and I should have been using that. I pointed out that they were the ones who had always replaced the coolant. Didn't matter. I really debated the value of doing this, but the body of the car was still very sound, and it is very good in the snow when I go skiing. The car has been fine since. The new engine is quieter than the old but doesn't do any better on gas (about 16 around town, as much as 25 for all highway). I just hope it holds up better than the first.

Like many others on this board, I will never buy another Subaru. I own a 2000 Honda Odyssey that has had no major problems until the transmission just went at 86,000 miles. This is a well-known flaw, and even though it was out of warranty, the dealership, without my prodding, got Honda to cover it in full. It saved me $3000, and I didn't even get the car at that dealership.

I have a 2002 Toyota Avalon with 53,000 miles. It has needed nothing other than very minor routine maintenance.

Same thing, I hate subaru.

Well here goes my Subaru nightmare. I purchased a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon from a dealer in IL for my Son who needed an AWD car. The car was in great shape no oil leaks. Everything checked out Carfax, Consumer reports. A no brainer right? Well here we go. On our drive home I make sure to tell my Son to watch the gages to make sure the car is handling the drive home with no problems. 211 miles into the trip average speed 65 mph the temp gauge shoots up then comes down. Then shoots up and stays up. My Son lets me know and pulls over. Yes it is late on a Friday before a holiday weekend in the middle of nowhere. I called a tow truck and had the car towed the rest of the way $430. Called the Dealer he was shocked. Well we all know what happens now. I Googled 98 Subaru overheating and here I am telling my story. $1600 to fix head gasket and water pump seals and hoses. The car should be done next week.

How can we do something to go after Subaru? How can we start a class action suit? I was going to buy a new Tribeca in 2009, but now I would not drive a Subaru if you paid me. I will make sure to warn everyone I know about this.

Same problem with a 99 Outback: overheated, stalled out on the DC beltway, towed to garage, blown head gasket. Definitely not putting any more money into this thing. It has had chronic oil leaks for 3 years before this, with expensive repairs to replace seals. Very, very disappointed given its earlier reputation.

As I write this our 2000 Outback Wagon is in the shop with... wait for it... leaking head gasket! (Surprise, surprise.)

We bought the car in 2004 with 42,000 miles... live in Mass. -- owner told us it had "brake problems" so we deducted $500 from the price. Unfortunately, it needed all new rotors and the bill came to $800 (went with "heavy-duty" rotors).

At 63,000 miles the check engine light came on and it needed a new ECM (replaced under recall) and an oxygen sensor. Also a donut gasket. $460.

At 65,600 the car was smoking, but it turned out to be only a hole in the oil filter. However, both double offset joint boots were "dry-rotted and cracked" and needed replacement. Also the drive belts were replaced. $500.

And now the head gasket, at 77,000 miles. At least it didn't blow -- maybe we caught it in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the clutch also needs replacing -- a while back, we had tried to get on the top deck of a ferry boat and the clutch just slipped and slipped, so we knew it was a matter of time -- and, annoyingly, and brakes are shot again! Was originally told I'd need four new rotors, but after telling them I just had it done 35k ago, they will "double-check". If they replace 'em, I'm looking at close to $2,000 (with a new timing belt -- on $90 more since the whole engine is out anyway).

Oh, and there's an "exhaust leak" underneath -- $700 if I replace the mid-pipe and muffler; the dealer actually suggested I try to get it welded and save the money.

So all in all, somewhat disappointed with the car, although I've owned worse.

I bought my 97’ Subaru Legacy Outback from my family last year after my grandmother passed away. Everything seemed to be going fine until I got the coolant changed. I drove from Seattle to Spokane and then back for a weekend trip. When I got back the following Monday the car started to overheat. I took it back to the place where I got the coolant changed and asked, “What the F***?” They said that my radiator needed to be burped or the thermostat needed to be changed. OK. Then the next day was going to Tacoma and the car did the same thing. As I’m reading all of the above posts I’m worried. I still owe about $3000 more on the car. Should I even open the can of worms to fix the car or just trade it in? Please Help! shmeggiepie@yahoo.com.

I guess I can count myself incredibly lucky after having read this thread.

1998 Forester, *salvage title* (tree branch damaged front driver side badly). The car was fixed up and (poorly) repainted, bought it for cheap ($6K) in 2005 with 95K miles on it. Was almost exclusively an around town beater car (I worked entirely from home for a few years).

This past spring, I started commuting to a new job, 68 miles round trip every day. Ran like an absolute champ - getting 27 to 30mpg pretty consistently, happy happy! However, the brakes squealed and juddered pretty badly, and by this past week I'd ridden the mileage up to 114K. I knew I'd better get the brakes done and the timing belt changed before it was too late. The dealer quoted way high for the whole job, naturally (more than $2K), so I went to the local privately owned repair shop - who quoted about $500 for the brakes (needed new rotors) and $800 for the timing belt (with water pump replacement too, and if needed oil pump).

A day later, it was done - but they said they had to replace some expensive belt idlers (understandable), and that "the radiator gets hot on one side but stays cold on the other, so you might need a new radiator). Wasn't happy about that, the whole bill had come to $1500 by then. they said to keep an eye on the coolant temps, but that there was definitely something goofy with the radiator.

Now, understand - my coolant gauge had, before this maintenance, always been absolutely *nailed* just below the halfway point between the high and low markings. Rock solid. We had a heat wave here in the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago, and it never wavered, in bumper to bumper freeway traffic or at 80mph. So what that said to me was, 'your radiator may have problems' translates to 'we managed to screw something up with your cooling system and are blaming it on your radiator'.

I had picked up the car in the morning, and promptly drove it from the shop to my job - and the temp gauge (on an otherwise pretty cool morning) was all over the place. Steady 65 or so, it seemed fine - but then it would start gradually rising, then fall a bit. If I coasted on a long downhill stretch, the temp would shoot up, to less than a quarter inch from the 'red zone' on the gauge. This is not good!

I drove it home in the evening, and the temps stayed pretty steady - on the high-ish side, but not enormous. I called the shop while on the road and said I thought that whatever had caused the radiator to act goofy probably worked itself out - maybe a bubble or some debris.

When I got home, I let it idle for a minute - and the temp shot up. Shut it down, opened the hood - and totally cold on the filler cap side, hot on the other. Nope, not good.

Called him back and told him I'd bring it in - asked if they could just flush it or something, but he said he was pretty certain I just needed a new radiator. Sigh. I was angry.

I found this thread that evening, and I started having visions of disaster. This was the whole phenomena described over and over, sudden bad temp problems, warped heads, and thousands and thousands in repairs. Oy vey, I was panicked!

I had dropped off the car the previous evening after they closed. in the morning, they said they'd get to it right away. About 2pm, got a call - new radiator in, temps are rock solid. I breathed a tentative sigh of relief - the real proof would be the commute.

And the verdict? Rock solid! The needle stayed nailed in place, both ways on the commute, just like old times.

I am one happy, happy camper - and relieved. Yeah, it cost another $300 for the new radiator, so it came out to be nearly what the dealer wanted to charge for the whole job. However, I was supporting a local, independent small businessman, which I like to do. And, I wound up without the head gasket disaster so many have experienced.

So, yeah - this turned out really long. I wanted to give a detailed story that didn't turn out a disaster. I've owned subies since the mid 1980's, and they've always been highly reliable for me. and at least in this instance, even though it spelled disaster - it wasn't. So there's hope, I suppose!

98 Forester. 103,000 miles, driving across country, broke down in Kansas where they don't know Subarus. They diagnosed a new water pump/radiator needed. 3 days and $400 later I'm off. Within a few hundred miles the temp gauge is shooting up. there is oil in the anti freeze reservoir and I am stuck for a week during thanksgiving waiting for a $1500 head gasket repair. The trip cost over $3000 with towing and hotel expenses. I should have sold it in NY like I wanted to.

2000 Forester with 67K miles. No issues for 8.5 years. Until now. Oil leaking from head gasket. $2000.00 + 400.00 for additional parts. SOA will pay 50% for head gasket replacement (~$1000.00) with 1 year warranty.

Another 96 Subaru Outback Wagon 2.5 - 148k miles overheated, radiator fluids coming and going, thermostat riding up and down, baffled multiple mechanics with the cold /hot radiator issue.

Gases seem to be in cooling system. Nothing out the exhaust or in the oil. Car runs perfect otherwise.

They wanted to replace radiator, water pump. I said to wait after I look it up on the internet. Found this site.

Is there a short fix to seal the seals?

I'd like to drive it 100 miles to Subaru mechanic.

August 22nd 2008. My outback from 1997 at 187 k miles is at the workshop for you know what. It all started with the needle unexpected in, and out, the red and loosing coolant.

Did anybody had the exhaust checked for back pressure?

Choked up cat's and dampers are known for causing overheating.

2001 Forester S - We just had both head gaskets replaced under warranty by the dealer at 79k miles and 8+ years (purchased in May, 2000). The dealer also did the timing belt (due at 8+ years) and the clutch (because we had the engine out not because it was shot) for the cost of parts only, at my request.

All in all not the worst experience we've ever had, given that the dealer honored the extended warranty on the car with no questions asked, and was extremely responsive. I was given a brand new car to drive for the couple of days that they had it at no charge.

Subaru has an extended "campaign" on this issue for EJ251 (phase II) engines (not the older EJ25D phase I engine to my knowledge), which is well documented elsewhere, but curiously not so much on this site. If you have a car in this program, Subaru will pay for the repair.

All in all, we've been treated about as well as you could hope. While I'm not happy about the experience, it certainly could have been much worse. Our total out of pocket was a few hundred dollars, because we had credit through the Subaru Master Card program. Pricing for parts at the dealer was competitive, and they resurfaced the heads while they had them out.

For what it's worth, the new head gaskets are said to completely fix this issue in the EJ251. I can't speak to the older phase I engine.

Good luck to those who have been struggling with this issue. Needless to say, we'll be watching our coolant levels very closely going forward.