97 Legacy GT wagon, what to do......

So the old girl has 186K on her and we have the dreaded head gasket problems. The car has had the oil changed every 3 to 4k miles its entire life. I have done all the maintenance and she still runs fine. I cannot knowingly try to sell her to someone without disclosing the head gasket issue. I would like to keep her and have the following questions:

 

1) Is it better to replace the gaskets and associated parts or get a second hand engine. I'm leaning toward the repair.

 

2) I read about a new six star gasket to use. Does anyone have any experience with these?

 

3) The auto transmission binds a bit at the stop signs. When you put her in neutral, the idle is freed up. What part has worn on the tranny that needs to be replaced? The tranny fluid and filter are serviced every 30K miles.

 

4) Intermittently, she will not start. Enough screwing around with key and shift lever and she will start. Is this something in the ignition switch or gear shift cable?

 

Thanks for the help on this.

double...

I have an 06GT wagon that rocks as well as the 97. I do read a lot here but seldom post.

 

BTW, this is my third Baru. (86 GL, 4x4 with low for climbing in the dunes, 97 GT wagon and 06 GT wagon.)

 

I"m just trying to figure out if it is time to part out the 97. I have a fairly new set of tires on the 16" rims and a set of snows on the 15" rims.

 

Anyone know if the Gen2 wheels fit on the Gen4 cars?

The stock 16" rims wont clear your brakes on the 4th gen.

Thanks. What about the new gaskets? Anyone tried the Six Star?

If you know that the engine is otherwise well cared for I would go for new head gaskets.

 

And when you have the cylinder heads off it's a good time to check out the valves and also replace the valve seals.

 

Which gaskets to go for - well, as far as I know the newer OEM gaskets are improved to cover for the risk of blowing them, but you can of course go for alternatives too. Check with fredbeansparts (not sure about exact spelling), since they usually provide good stuff.

Fel-pro gaskets are the way to go from what I hear. I'm hoping someone will post up about it because I've never done it. I've been affected though: mine has a 2.2 in it now, swapped in by the previous owner. Love the 2.2 but wonder what a 2.5 would be like...

the risk to doing the head gaskets on a 2.5L engine is generally due to the overheating and cooking the bearings. the oil should be changed everytime the engine is overheated to help prevent permanent damage.

 

so if you have NOT cooked the engine i would do the gaskets, assuming you didn't buy it like this.

 

and i would use SUBARU gaskets. but don't take my word for it, go over to www.ultimatesubaru.org and read for yourself. subaru only on the gaskets.

 

the no-start problem could be the neutral safety or inhibitor switch or something like that. but i would bet that you are not getting enough juice to the solenoid on the starter to engage the contacts. replacing the contacts in the solenoid may correct it but adding a relay is an easier solution.

 

when it will not start, you can test it by jumping power directly from the battery to the small connector on the starter. if it starts then, you need to add the relay.

 

basically, power from the ignition switch (wich is currently on the small connector on the starter) is used to activate the relay. a NEW fused power wire is fed from the battery to the relay and then a wire from the relay to the solenoid small connector on the starter. you will also ned a ground wire. the relays can be generic, 5$ at the parts store.

 

hope this helps.

I'm getting on the solenoid issue ASAP.

 

Thanks for the all the feedback. It looks like we will do the heads.