Hi Guys,
Car: 2013 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium with 94k miles.
I have a problem with the coolant overflowing to the reservoir on long drives. 1-2 hour drives will do it. I have not had any signs of overheating (no light, checked my OB2II reader in realtime with a phone app.) The coolant does seem to flow back down once it does sit overnight or so. All signs kinda point to a head gasket, I know.
I have ran a combustion tester, BT-500 from Amazon. Came back negative and I used basically all of the liquid. I have replaced the rad cap and the issue still persist.
I have taken it to a shop that specialized in Subaru. They also ran the combustion test it came back negative and they replaced the rad cap. They suggested I replace the thermostat and serpentine belt (i was at 90k at the time). So I replaced that, replaced the coolant and even added the coolant conditioner. Same results. They then said the next step is to replace the head gaskets. I agreed to and and a few days before my appointment they realized that my car was a chain driven CVT and not a belt driven CVT. They do not have the tools for it and it was irregular to see a head gasket problem on that car. They then sent me to the local Subaru dealership.
Here's the reply from the dealership: "So I talked to them about it, your particular car can be hard to diagnose head gaskets. It is not uncommon for them to pass hydrocarbon tests, which your's has, and there are no other signs showing up. We listened for the gurgling noise from the dash area when hot but did not hear it. Have you tried listening for that after a long trip? We also checked the oil and coolant for signs of intermixing but didn't see it. So it is hard to say because we have not confirmed it, but head gaskets would be the direction we are leaning. I asked about doing the radiator & water pump, the tech said if it was his car he probably wouldn't spend the money on those things because he doesn't think they are the problem, but again hard to say. The only sure way to know about the head gaskets would be to start disassembling the motor, or wait and see if more symptoms start coming up in the future. Let me know if we can help with anything."
Would it be worth replacing the radiator and water pump or do all signs definitely point to head gaskets? Could it be a cracked head?
Thanks for any input and i hope this has enough detail