"Right Side Head Gasket Seeping Oil" Found on Inspection

As some folks on the forum know, I'm in the process of buying an 06 Wagon 2.5i SE, MT up in Denver (though I'm down in Tucson). Today the owner took the car to Groove Subaru for a pre-purchase inspection, and the mechanic -- who I will call tomorrow -- wrote, "Right side head gasket seeping oil." He told the owner that such seepage is normal on most Subies, and I don't know the degree of "seepage." But it makes me nervous.

 

Thoughts from folks here? Is this a looming head gasket problem, or truly a fairly common occurrence not worth worrying about?

 

Thanks much,

 

Simmons

A friend of mine has an 05 and apparently the car is seeping oil everywhere and she has also been told (repeatedly) that it is normal. One of her friends was involved with rallying subarus in races and was a big shot, and he told her the same thing. Personally it would drive me a bit bonkers and I would want to fix everything. But my subaru body of knowledge is limited to first and second gens, so I am basically worthless in this department.

i'm not sure if it's common but i just had mine replaced @ 95k miles. RH side gasket was leaking considerably (enough to cause oil to burn and smoke). Runs fine now.

What's the cost, generally, for replacing it?

Talked to the mechanic who did the inspection and he said it is an early indication of head gasket failure, which is fairly common. He loosely estimates it'll last another 50K miles (no guarantees, of course) which would put it in line with the timing belt and related service. $2,500 down here at Tucson Subaru for that repair, which includes the full gamut of related replacements and services. From what I've read elsewhere, that's about right.

 

I suppose that head gasket replacements have to be considered normal wear and tear items on these Subies, eh?

My second gen subie has 256k and has had no HG issues. But the EJ22Es are the exception. I just had to replace the HGs on my first gen and it has 160k. You could save a lot and do it yourself if you feel like it. I didn't have a choice because I am a poor schmuck, lol.

 

That $2500 includes both HGs right?

Yes, both HG plus timing belt and a bunch of other stuff. I'll just have to plan accordingly and hope it holds out for a good long time first!

Well, if they are going to have the engine out make them replace the rear main seal too if they aren't already. They can last forever, but might as well replace it just in case. The oil separator plate is also a good thing to replace. The old ones were plastic and sucked, then they went to aluminum and they sucked but not as bad, and now they are made of steel and hopefully don't suck.

 

Your wagon should go a long time after you get all that done.

Well hopefully that's still many many moons from now that I have to do that -- but thanks for the great advice!

 

Make sure he wasn't referring to the valve cover gasket as seeping oil - that is normal, problems with the head gasket are not (not saying that Subaru engines haven't had their fair share of HG failures, just that the ones that do are in the minority). There are a lot of used cars out there - personally, I would walk away from a car with known headgasket issues. It could last 50k more miles, or it could let go on your way back from purchasing the car, and there are many other cars out there which won't have the same issue. (my 02 WRX had oil seepage/leekage from the valve cover gaskets (easy to replace - takes an hour or two) and the oil separators on top of the valve covers (another very easy gasket to replace) but never a single issue from the head gaskets - and many other drivers are the same.

Definitely the right HG according to the Subaru mechanic. And yes, after much thought (and disappointment to the seller) I did decide not to purchase the car just today.

 

Not sure what I'm going to do now, but it just never sat well that a car with 51K miles was having this problem, even if it is "common".

 

Will keep tracking cars here, but I may just lease a new car instead....

 

Thanks for your feedback.

Not sure what I'm going to do now, but it just never sat well that a car with 51K miles was having this problem, even if it is "common".

 

 

It is NOT a common issue on 05+ Subaru's. There was a batch of Subaru's with HG issues (about 98-02?), but since then the issue is almost completely gone. Having that issue at 51k definitely seems odd.

just f.y.i.

the reason, afaik, for the oil leaks on the subarus, is because of the horizontally-opposed ot 'boxer' layout. The oil sits on the exhaust side of the heads and cylinders, because of them being on the bottom. Oil has a tendency to be corrosive or harmful to some degree to the rubber oil seals, like the valve cover gasket and the o-ring seals around the spark plug holes. As the seals lose their 'vigor' they do not have the resilience to resist the oil from seeping past the seals, especially warmed up oil after a nice drive. I think its just the cost of using an awesomely torquey motor for these cars.

 

Wes.