Just purchased '98 LGT Wagon, coolant positive for hydrocarbons.

Just joined the ranks of LGT owners yesterday.

 

(See thread: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/wa-pdx-pnw-wtb-97-99-legacy-gt-wagon-black-150181.html )

 

 

Was able to strike a deal with the LGT owner in my neighborhood after putting the car on the lift at the shop yesterday. Excited to get it cleaned up and on the road. Other than the floor being soggy (quite possibly from the cracked windshield), it is in very good cosmetic shape. Hope to clean it up to the 8.5+ condition mentioned above. As it stands now it is a dirty, mossy 7.75

 

There is no external sign of HG leakage. A test drive by one of the shop techs saw the temp gauge go way up, but couldn't get heat in the cabin... until the car was back in the shop and then heat worked great. Possibly water pump or T-stat problem? A hydrocarbon test of the coolant today is positive for HC, so looks like I've got some work to do

Edited December 7, 2010 by camroncamera

these are classic head gasket symptoms. if the car has not been overheated severely and the bearings cooked, you can replace the HGs and go. but if there is a concern about how much over heating the engine has been through then i would suggest you replace the block.

 

any time, money and energy spent ''investigating'' the problem will be wasted.

 

good luck and congrats.

Thanks for the tips. As it was explained to me by the previous owner, at the moment the car overheated, he immediately pulled over and shut down the engine. The car was transported home. The owner was so appalled afterwords when he learned about the notorious Subaru 2.5 HG problem (and he was out of money after spending cash on the car that he couldn't fix it) that the car sat at his place for ages... about a year and a half, I think.

 

The good news is that the car starts up and runs great, no "peanut butter" or "mayonnaise" in the oil. But the coolant HC's were a bit on the high side (6-8ppm I was told by my local Euro/Japanese parts and service shop). I wheeled and dealed with the owner (I bought for more than I was hoping, he sold for less than he wanted So I talked it over with the guys at my shop, and I've decided to do the labor myself for a winter project.... for "fun" I guess

 

I'll also be lightly upgrading the brakes (EBC slotted/dimpled rotors, some upgraded street pads, SS brake lines), changing all the fluids, waterpump, Evans NPG+, T-stat, oil pump, seals, timing belt (of course), etc. etc.

 

A lot of work, but I will have the confidence that everything is fresh and that this notorious headgasket problem is dealt with right off the bat.

 

In my other thread mentioned above, I explained that I had done all this work on my Scirocco 16V last winter, so I sort of know what I'm getting myself into. In that case the block stayed in the car, but the Subie engine is coming completely out.

 

I am determined to keep the original block if at all possible. I believe it belongs to the car and will help it's resale value should we ever sell the car down the road.

 

Stay tuned!

suggestion: change the oil now. the oil should be changed any time the car is over heated. it will be cheap insurance against oil failure.

 

if you drive it before you start the project, and it over heats, change it again.

^^ this. That's exactly what you want to do if it overheats, you do NOT want oil failure.

 

Congrats on the purchase! It looks like a clean, straight wagon that will run for awhile. If you want to do brakes, I'd suggest a wrx swap with those calipers/rotors. I hear that they fit right behind the snowflakes. Also, upgrading the suspension will be your best friend in the long run; I put fresh kyb-gr2s on mine with higher spring rate h&r springs, and it's night and day from stock looking into a rear sway for the spring!

 

Knock out the HG problem before starting everything else. Sounds like you know what you're doing...good luck!

Love the input, thanks everyone! I will be starting the rebuild project almost immediately (next week, anyway), so no worries about driving on bad oil... EXCEPT I do need to get it 2 miles to the glass shop and home again to get the windshield replaced. I was going to have it done via mobile service originally, but it was explained to me that in-shop repairs would be optimal. Quality local shop, no cheap glass from China.

As long as you don't beat the hell out of it, and don't drive beyond the 4 miles that you intend to, you should be ok as far as oil is concerned. Awesome! I wish you were closer, I'd love to see something like this being done to learn about it and everything, but it's whatever. Good luck with the project, then pray that the mod bug doesn't bite too badly

Looking good in black with tints

 

Good luck with the repairs.

Just finished a much-needed pressure-wash of the exterior and door jambs. Relieved to find a Legacy GT under there Full wash and wax after new windshield installed. Cabin floors are getting soaked from the crack in the glass, which is at the base of the windshield. Water is trickling down behind the edge of the dash to the floor The door seals look like they are in really nice condition, but I'm wondering if the window glass is being fully seated against them... the back seat driver side floor is wet as well, not sure exactly what is going on there. The moonroof looks like it seals great and it operates perfectly, so that is good.

Dry everything off, then give it another rinse down and see if you can't find the cause of it by checking for leaks everywhere. Hunting down leaks is a bitch, sorry to hear about that.

Oh, as for as the mod bug is concerned, that's mostly out of my system already on the Scirocco. Besides, the Subie is really my wife's car.

 

Well, I might slip a few things in... **COUGH**customstainlessexhaustsportsuspensionnicerbrakes**COUGH** ...we'll see what happens...

umm...you might want to get that cough checked out sir

Even though your sun roof seals properly water still finds its way in. In the sunroof assembly you have water trays that collect the little amount of water and send it down hoses on each a-pillar, front and back. Those lines have been known to clogg or become disconnected. Its a b***h to take apart and check but if you have water in the front and back I would look into it.

Reminds me of clogged sunroof drains (and wet seats) on one of my old Sciroccos. I'll be sure to look into it further.

Drove the LGT to the glass shop and back home again without incident. New OEM windshield installed A-OK. The glass guys didn't feel that I was getting water in through the cracked windshield since the 2nd-layer laminate was intact. I'll be investigating the sunroof drains as well as the cowling at the firewall below the windshield for debris and clogs. Will be out of town till Monday night so everyone have a great weekend!

Spent most of the day researching, and finally got out to the garage to do some work. Took off the windshield wipers and cowling and cleaned up some muck that was clogging the drain holes by the hood hinges.

 

Next, I opened the sunroof and started investigating the water drains there. The front passenger side would drain, but water would dribble into the footwell by the dash. Found some online resources describing a problem where the drain tubing shrinks and shortens with age. Sure enough, after removing door trim and unfastening the headliner near the passenger side door, I could clearly see the the drain tube was no longer connected to the sunroof drain spigot. Water was just pouring directly into the A-Pillar and then into the cabin behind and alongside the dash. D'oh!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oE1tSizlHPRZ8zX8a46V8yCFOfHyB0eeXUFf92WmuZo?feat=directlinkhttp://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oE1tSizlHPRZ8zX8a46V8yCFOfHyB0eeXUFf92WmuZo?feat=directlinkhttp://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4248

Had to wrap up for the night, hope to investigate the three other drains and find a solution tomorrow.

 

 

http://www.camroncamera.com/p13166574/h2d4ea1c7#h2d4ea1c7

Edited December 15, 2010 by camroncamera

Interesting, might have to keep an eye on this for mine too. Right at the top corner of the headliner by the driver's side, I've noticed a tiny bit of moisture very rarely. It'd still be a good idea to check out though.

 

I'm sure you can pick up some hose from a local hardware store that will have it cut to the right lenght and be the exact size you need. Good luck!

I found that the hose was somehow attached inside the A-pillar, such that removing the old and replacing with new hose would be more work than the solution that I tried: I gently heated the existing hose with a blow dryer while carefully stretching the end until it would refasten to the sunroof drain spigot. I then cinched a zip tie with a bit of silicone over the hose (behind the barb on the sunroof drain spigot). Seems quite secure now.

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4252

 

The front driver and passenger side drains each exhibited the same problem, but fortunately the rear drains were connected just fine:

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4251

They were free from clogs as well, too bad I had the tear into the car so much to find out for sure.

Good idea with the hair dryer! Now just steam-clean the carpets and you should be free of water forever (ish)

We had some nice sunshine today so I pulled the LGT out of the garage into the driveway for a proper wash:

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4260

 

Before:

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4261

 

After (still drying, and I lost my sunshine):

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4262

 

It got nicely clean, but it still needs some light polishing compound to really make it sparkle. That will have to wait until the engine work is finished.

 

I ran out of daylight, so I put the LGT back in the garage and will finally get to the carpets ASAP. We have a Bissel spot carpet steamer, I think it will do just the trick.

 

My uncle has an old-skool engine stand that I can borrow. Do Subie boxer engines require a special stand of some sort?

Ha sunroof drains got another one lol. When i fixed the sunroof in my white subi all the lines were tight but just to be safe I zip tied them just like you, my hoses were in good condition still though.

Zip-tying your tubes sounds like the best preventive maintenance you could have done while the sunroof was apart.

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4272

 

Here is the engine stand I will be using for the headgasket project.

I hope to start working on the engine right after Christmas. So I've got a few questions...

Would there be any benefit to a lightweight crank pulley on this Automatic wagon?

Also, should I consider having the cams reground for a little bump in HP while the heads are in the machine shop getting checked?

Thirdly - my garage is not really that large, an oversized one-car garage. Would I be able to hoist the engine straight up out of the car, strap the transmission somehow such that it does not hang free from below, and push the car straight out of the garage so that I have some working room to get the engine on the stand and disassembled/reassembled? Not too sure what happens when the engine is shut down for the last time before removal, and the trans left in Neutral. Guess I'll have to leave the key in the ignition Can I even get the timing belt off if the trans is in neutral?

Do I want to remove the timing belt while the engine is still in the car, or can it be accomplished just as easily once the engine is out of the car and on the stand? Seems I won't have anything to resist (un)torquing crank and camshaft bolts once the engine is out...

Do I want to remove the timing belt while the engine is still in the car, or can it be accomplished just as easily once the engine is out of the car and on the stand? Seems I won't have anything to resist (un)torquing crank and camshaft bolts once the engine is out...

 

good question. it will be easier to break loose the crank and cam sprocket bolts with the timing belt on the engine ans probably in the car. (certainly true for the crank bolt). you can use the t-belt to hold the cam sprockets so you can break them loose. do not remove any untill all have been loosened. do the crank last. you can use the starter bump method for it if you have not removed the battery.

 

or use an impact wrench / gun after it is out.