Possible Head Gasket more permanent fix

[98outbackpdx]

the local Subaru dealer said a trick to not having to do the HG's again is to use the Head Gasket and put on the gasket maker on to the HG and put it back together. one of the techs will guarantee the HG job for the life of the car if done with the HG and the gasket maker. just thought i would put the HG trick out there.

[chuckthefuk]

Your honestly going to tell us that using "liquid" gasket over the OE H/G is going to prevent H/G failures forever.

I call SHANAGINS!

Life time combo I;ve seen is:
-STi H/G or Revised H/G for DOHC/SOHC
-ARP Head Studs
-Proper coolant and schedule flushes.

-Chuck

[harrymaneuvers]

Meaning that the tech himself will guarantee it or the dealer that he works for will guarantee it?


If he is under 40, I question his ability to warrant anything for life... How many 20 year olds were doing multiple HG's in 1990 and are still in contact with the current owners to know if it is still holding up.

[phi11]

my buddy did this to my car,
he sprayed some gasket sealer on my Head Gaskets,

but guess what, my heads where warped, so that didn't work.
I ended up doing the job twice, lesson learned.

[chuckthefuk]

phi11 makes a good point.

Does this subaru tech send the heads out for machining/reconditioning?

[Dead91silvia]

I spun a rod bearing before I needed gaskets again... The new motor needed a head and I got lazy and just bolted it together. 35K later still going good.

I have one customer that has 190K on the ORIGINAL ej25 HG's with there 1998 BG... I keep reminding them to keep an eye on the temp and they do. They said they will have me do them when they go bad... haha... I just did a water pump, flush and t-belt kit... Hoping it last them a while.

[98outbackpdx]

idk if it actually works because the dealer did not do my HG's but that is what i was told. i asked about it because the dealer had a 2006 or 2007 LOB 3.0 LLBean with a blown head gasket in the usual spot for the 2.5, that was leaking oil badly, the service adviser said it was "puking oil", so they had the motor apart when i was in there. i am guessing that they send them out for machining, because when my HG's were bad at 183k i went in to the dealer and it was $2,200 for proper HG job and the timing belt kit.

[98outbackpdx]

****changed the title to make less confusing****

[ouch1011]

Any "tech" who claims anything to be a guaranteed lifetime fix is talking out their ass. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, he is doing something that Subaru says pretty clearly not to do. The updated oe gaskets have a very thin rubber coating on them, and they are to be installed dry with no sealants. If a guaranteed lifetime fix for the Subaru head gasket problem was as simple as sealant on the gaskets, the new gaskets would come wwith this sealant applied already :smile:

[Huffer]

^^ or instructions on how to add said sealant.

Besides, there's NO such thing as a permanent fix unless the HGs are installed and the car is never driven again. Think about it.

[dodik]

when we did hg in my brother volvo about two month ago we sprayed hg with copper spray although i doubt it will be a lifetime seal from the "feel" of it i think it will last longer as there is less gap/imperfections inbetween the mating surfaces, copper is somewhat malleable material so i'd say it probably better to use than nothing IF you do not resurface the heads.

[Reuben]

Your honestly going to tell us that using "liquid" gasket over the OE H/G is going to prevent H/G failures forever.

I call SHANAGINS!

Life time combo I;ve seen is:
-STi H/G or Revised H/G for DOHC/SOHC
-ARP Head Studs
-Proper coolant and schedule flushes.

-Chuck

I couldn't have said it better myself.

STi HG for me, ARP headstuds too, and a closed deck 2L block. Hell is more likely to freeze over, than for me to get an HG failure (It's far more likely for me to pop a big end first :P)