97 GT Head Gasket Saga

[97gter]

Hello All, I have a 97 Legacy Wagon GT 2.5 4EAT and I am currently living in Switzerland. It is a US-spec car and I bought it from a friend (the original owner) a few years ago. It has been meticulously maintained and has about 171k miles.

 

It had been having the sort of usual older car gremlins, so I thought, intermittent start issues, alternators/batteries going bad with electrical issue, and some weird idle behavior. Nevertheless, it ran strongly and was seemingly happy on the Autobahn and in the Alps. However, a few months ago at high altitude it overheated suddenly and rolled to a stop, with steam coming out of the engine compartment.

 

After letting it cool down, I noted the radiator and coolant overflow bottle appeared empty, with coolant sprayed all over the bottom of the radiator and undercarriage. Oil levels looked normal. It has never leaked before and hoses were in good shape, etc., although the radiator is original.

 

So, I tightened the hoses and replaced the coolant, hoping it would be able to limp home with the heat up. Unfortunately, the heat wouldn't come on at all and the car overheated after about 1 mile of driving. It had dumped the replacement coolant as well.

 

I had her towed to my preferred Subaru authorized shop, and they diagnosed a radiator defect, which they plugged, and replaced the thermostat.

 

Unfortunately, the fix lasted only a few days and it overheated again, dumping the coolant a third time. Whomps!

 

This time, a compression test and removal of the gasket cover revealed a toasted gasket. The gen II GT was not sold in Switzerland and it took three months to source the correct engine internals - I think some of them came from a donor car as head machining is not available in Switzerland, due to cost. All hoses and the water pump were replaced. I tried to source a rebuilt engine from the US, but I was told that running changes made in 1997 made finding a matching DOHC center long block donor slim.

 

However, she is back on the road and mostly happy, and pulls more strongly than before. I am awaiting a new radiator from the US as the US-spec radiators are larger (thank you AWD Auto!) and the only one I could find in Europe was $6000 for some reason. According to the mechanic, it is alright for now, but the plastic connectors at each end are starting to give up the ghost. I also need to replace the throttle position sensor as it does not seem to like the changed engine - they too were not available in Switzerland.

 

Anywhoo, probably all of the gremlins it had were due to a failing head gasket, in hindsight. It's lack of leaks and no prior overheating just didn't lead me to that conclusion. I guess it isn't bad that it made it so many miles and 25 years on the original!

 

A photo of the engine bay post-fix is attached!

[Osei]

Glad to hear you've had that major issue fixed

I would look into adapting a radiator from another vehicle. Perhaps someone who works on race cars.

All you need are tranny coolant lines and a way to attach the current fans or use others.

Will look to see if I still have a TPS laying around.

 

O.

[97gter]

Awww, thank you! I actually ordered the TPS and radiator from All Wheel Drive Auto in Seattle. As the work I've had done on the car here is done by Subaru of Switzerland, parts have to be OEM for warranties to apply. Pretty much anything that gets done here on a vehcile, if from an authorized shop, gets a 2 year warranty by law. Costs more to an extent, but generally means it will be done correctly.

 

Also the shop I go to only does Subarus and old British vehicles, so you know they are masochists!