1st Legacy GT and I have some serious ????

So i just purchased (well my gf just purchased) a 2008 Legacy GT with 71k miles. After purchasing it i found the last owner and contacted him. He claims he traded it in with blown headgaskets at a nissan dealer (antifreeze in the oil) Before purchasing it i did drive it, checked all the fluids, didn't see or smell anything weird in the anti-freeze or oil. I am going to call the dealer he traded the car into and see if they fixed anything along with the dealer i purchased it from. if i conclude they are bad, i'll just fix it, cant be any harder then cab off headgaskets on my 08 ford 6.4 if they are good though, is there anything i should do to prevent issues. (like on a 6.4 they are far better off tuned and deleted then kept stock...yes i know i am talking about the diesel world lol) this is the first subaru i've ever worked on besides my bosses 9 SVXs... but the automotive world is no new experience for me lol. Thank you ahead of time for everyone's input and help! i really do appreciate it.

 

-John

I hate to say it but this is a common mistake in the subaru world.. I hope you have a decent savings because you're probably gonna have to put out some serious money to make sure the car you bought isn't a grenade. Take it to a subaru specialist and have them check over everything, and start reading up on here and searching as this has been covered who knows how many times. Best of luck to you and your car!

Get the car off the factory MAP. It has a flaw that will cause burnt valves.

 

Cobb AP or open source tune from a great Tuner on here.

 

Tell us where you live, we can tell you the best Tuner close to you.

 

Learn how to check the oil and always keep it topped off. Use good oil, keep up with all the required maintenance.

 

BTW, Welcome, you've come to the right place.

Get the car off the factory MAP. It has a flaw that will cause burnt valves.

 

Cobb AP or open source tune from a great Tuner on here.

 

Tell us where you live, we can tell you the best Tuner close to you.

 

Learn how to check the oil and always keep it topped off. Use good oil, keep up with all the required maintenance.

 

BTW, Welcome, you've come to the right place.

 

 

i live in the northwest corner of CT! (barkhamsted to be exact)

so can i just order a tuner or do i need to get it custom tuned on a dyno or something of those sorts. don't worry, maintenance is always top priority on all my vehicles. thank you for your help!!

I hate to say it but this is a common mistake in the subaru world.. I hope you have a decent savings because you're probably gonna have to put out some serious money to make sure the car you bought isn't a grenade. Take it to a subaru specialist and have them check over everything, and start reading up on here and searching as this has been covered who knows how many times. Best of luck to you and your car!

 

 

I'm going to go put the car on the lift tomorrow and do a compression test and a thorough look over. like i stated, ive been daily driving and repair my diesel trucks for years. i'm sure no subaru repair can even come close to a diesel repair! haha can't be any harder then cab off head gaskets by myself on my 2008 f250 thank you though! i'm hoping for the best and appreciate everyones input!

can i get away with just buying a cobb V3 and running an economy tune for the leaner fuel curving? (which i am guessing prevents the valve destruction)

I'm going to go put the car on the lift tomorrow and do a compression test and a thorough look over. like i stated, ive been daily driving and repair my diesel trucks for years. i'm sure no subaru repair can even come close to a diesel repair! haha can't be any harder then cab off head gaskets by myself on my 2008 f250 thank you though! i'm hoping for the best and appreciate everyones input!

 

Best of luck! Subaru engines are just a different animal. After you read up on here you will see that something as simple as changing spark plugs takes 2 or 3 hours. all In the boxer design. banjo bolt filters gotta be removed, cat out of the uppipe (edit you have an 08 cat is already removed from uppipe)and get off the factory tune asap as its a good way to fry your engine as well.

Max Capacity likes Tuning Alliance in CT. Can't go wrong with EFI. I like BrenTuning in MA.

Max Capacity likes Tuning Alliance in CT. Can't go wrong with EFI. I like BrenTuning in MA.

 

I also like Bren Tuning. Been running his etune for 40k miles+ and still running perfect with good gas milage and power/reliability

Yep http://www.tuningalliance.com Mike Kinsman, hes just off exit 65 on rt84. He was one of the first to find the timing flaw in these cars. His brother had one when Mike was working full time at a dyno, he spent many hours with that car.

 

You can tell Mike I sent you.

 

Start saving your money for a turbo and a short block in a few years. The timing belt is do at 105,000 miles.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/ilh/vacation/

can i get away with just buying a cobb V3 and running an economy tune for the leaner fuel curving? (which i am guessing prevents the valve destruction)

 

 

I know thats one way of getting rid of the oem tune. Not sure about economy mode...perhaps stage one.

Yea, stage 1 is what you want to run, until you go stage 2.

Welcome to the forums! Don't let our horror stories turn you off from ownership, just don't be naive thinking "nothing" can happen and just go out beating on it like you seen others on YouTube do in a field of grass or semi wet parking lot.

Thank you everyone for your input! this is actually the first vehicle i've ever jumped into without doing a ton of research before hand. i guess you just hear everyone brag about subarus so much i felt itd be a good reliable long term vehicle for my gf. then you do some research and read about all the naturally aspirated 2.5 head gasket horror stories and such (granted this is a different motor).

 

Thank you for the link to the manuals Max Capacity (i absolutely love in depth repair manuals) and i sent an email to tuning alliance!

 

I am going to look into EFI also and i'm going to send an email to BrenTuning (since you seemed to have good luck with them! @mike). Since the car is stock i would guess its all plug and play without much customization...unlike when you start to change turbos, cams, injectors etc you need the tuning more specific for the build. Which i'm also guessing the tuning is like with a truck, you buy a tuner and it comes with "canned" tunes in which you can replace with someones elses? perhaps?

 

And yeah i figured the boxers can be more difficult for "Simple" stuff like plugs. i'm guessing it doesn't have access holes for the coils/plugs like the SVX with the H6 had. I am planning to do timing belt and water pump at around 90-95k miles!

 

Also, no worries, every vehicle has its horror stories. it really all depends on the driver and whether they maintain the vehicle so i'm hoping for the best!

 

Thanks again everyone though, it's just sometimes easier to ask others for info based on their experience then scanning forums so i appreciate everyones help!

 

-John

^I like this guy! And yes if you have pulled the cab off a 6.4 or basically anything on a 6.4..lol you can do anything on these. Its only for those who have done it understand the work involved, enjoy

As someone mentioned make sure to remove banjo filters. A thread in here has all the details, the 08 location is not same as 05/06-- FYI.

Be sure to look at the Tactrix vs. Cobb AccessPort. Open Source tuning is less expensive.

 

Hope the car treats you well.

 

If there was oil in the coolant, check the turbo FIRST. Been there done that with another LGT only to find the head gaskets were fine. Did all the work myself so it was not a big deal dollar-wise.

So i pulled the plugs tonight and did a compression test. came out with 138-140 on all four cylinders. from the manual it said you want 142-171 but i'm guessing my gauge could have been a little off along with I totally forgot to hold the throttle wide open in the heat of the moment wanting to see these results. lol also, visual inspection i saw no weeping around the gaskets. oil still is perfectly clean along with the coolant. i am going to change all the fluid tho just because i dont trust the previous owners that they actually stayed up to date on the maintenance and used the correct fluids! plus it'll give me a starting point to observe it all. i'll probably even send oil from the second change to blackstone and get it analyzed. also, plugs were very easy to get out... only took about 20 min from opening to the hood to last plug being pulled out. so much room compared to what i am usually working on! thanks again everyone! tuning is definitely next!

 

-john

Those compression numbers are good.

 

You can use Peak Long Life for coolant, Rotella T6 for oil (I got some at Kmart for $15/gallon on clearance), the Subaru blue filters are just fine, and the best transmission gear oil can be a Redline + Motul cocktail or Subaru Extra-S.

I agree. Most important is that the compression numbers aren't too far from each other. But if they're consistent, I think anything above 120 should still be okay.

 

Note that Extra-S ain't what it used to be, so this may require a little more research.

Yep, Peak Global and/or Prestone is what's in my wagon. Been using them for many years now.

 

PM "underdog" and ask him which fluid he uses in his customers cars. Buy from him, its easy, just ask him to send you what he would use in his car.

Why would you call the previous owner after your purchase?

Why would you call the previous owner after your purchase?

 

If I had that info, I would too. In my experience, dealers tend to toss all the maintenance info (especially if it isn't that fantastic), so they can tell you whatever B.S. story about how great and reliable it is etc... I would see calling the PO, to ask about the general condition of the car and what problems it had etc. Things the dealer wouldn't know/wouldn't tell you. I find it very odd that multi layered steel head gaskets failed that early though!

 

Anywho, welcome, jkeselis! I see you're going about this properly, and you have your priorities sorted. Welcome to the community, and prepare for the tomfoolery of Mr. Tris.

I was wondering why I haven't seen him chim in lately, what he get banned for this time?

It's actually been since late April. Likely more of the same I suspect. I'm sure we all get the idea even if it we don't know all the details. I have my suspicions about which thread it was, because it has been liberally cleaned up since it occurred. I saw some of it unfold, but not the last bits, which were probably the offending posts. What I saw was not really all that egregious, but it could have been something I didn't see at the end or it could have just been a case of last straw. I didn't realize it was the perma variety though. Oh well. He will be missed. He was obnoxious, but he was also knowledgeable and shared that knowledge often and openly. I can put up with a whole lot of the former to get access to the latter. Which is pretty much how I felt about bmx and his permaban too. In the end, not personally my posting style, but I kinda liked them. I don't advocate newbie bashing in general (unless it is really, really warranted, which we must admit that sometimes it really is called for), but they always kept things interesting. As sigma stated above, I'm sure we'll find a new mascot soon enough.