2009 Outback Rebuild or Replace?

Asked by Chana Eliana Jun 14, 2018 at 04:07 PM about the 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5i Special Edition

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Head gasket leaking internally. No warning, so cylinders are bent. Dealer is
quoting $3K+ for the head gasket replacement and $1K for the cylinders (if
they can be machined). I know it'll end up being a few more K on top of that,
in the end.

What should we do? Rebuild? Buy used engine?

2009 Subaru Outback, 4cyl 2.5i Special Edition- non turbo, almost 57K
miles.

Subaru of America/Dealership has no intention of taking any responsibility
for the faulty head gasket that caused the mess. They say the car
overheated which caused a whole host of things to fail. Problem is, we had
no warning. Took it for regular, non dealership, maintenance (They don't like
that). One day, no A/C, then "is that sound from the car?", then check engine
lights, then HOT.  

3 Answers

F_O_R answered 5 years ago

Cylinders do not get "bent". Are you talking about valves bent due to a broken timing belt? If the heads are warped they must be machined flat before installing new head gaskets. Shop around as those dealer prices should not be hard to beat.

2 people found this helpful.
Mark helpful

Chana Eliana answered 5 years ago

Yes, warped is what I should have said. They want to check for warping on the cylinder heads and the short block.

Mark helpful

F_O_R answered 5 years ago

Overheating does warp aluminum heads and possibly the block too. Why do you think Subaru owes you anything at all on a 10 year old car? The warranty was only 3 years and 36,000 miles.

Mark helpful

Your Answer:

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