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  #16  
Old 07-13-2014, 12:53 AM
Cotton's Avatar
Cotton Cotton is offline
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Location: Quakertown, PA
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Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

The gunk inside was more like peanut butter where this is simply that copper product.

I am going to make sure it is flushed several times. I just hope it didn't cause any damage. It didn't peg red to overheat, but close enough.

I contacted Nate and he is close enough. He could do everything correctly and thensome for a fair price, but truth is I just don't have the money to spend right now. This all came during my 4.44 swap where I had several other items replaced that equal to over $3K out of pocket that I paid a week ago. I don't know if you are a married guy, but it is not easy to convince your wife to put another 2-3K into a 20 year old car that you literally just put $3k into and had painted it last year (that got tree sap on it) along with new brakes and tires. It is just awful timing. It sucks.

Thankfully I have another car so transportation isn't the issue, but funds are. I am going to have it flushed and confirmed what is going on and after that I am likely to sit on it for months to save up regardless what I do.

I can DIY some things, but this is way over what I am able to do.

Thank you very much for the offer on the gaskets. That would really help because I am going to have to save for this anyways. That is very kind of you to do that.
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  #17  
Old 07-13-2014, 04:33 AM
Tapani Tapani is offline
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Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

One thing to check if You Are trying to flush before major surgery... If the bypass lines are plugged the engine WILL overheat - these are the only source for the thermostate to get "signal" when to open. The bypass lines are small hoses and pipes, outlets from both sides of the cross flow channel. The heater flow is one of these. Quite tricky to get to w/o taking the inlet manifold out, but can be done. You can do this yourself, I am sure.

Just a thought,

T
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  #18  
Old 07-13-2014, 05:35 PM
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Cotton Cotton is offline
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Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

So I checked the radiator cap today. It had a little bit of that copper, but not much. I cleaned that off and what I could of the reserve tank with a vacuum to try and get some of it sitting there and wiped the inside with a paper towel as best I could. I checked the oil cap and dipstick and there was none of that mixed in. Also the oil or radiator cap did not have those signs of "milk" or anything like, which is good, I guess. Reserve tank is bone dry. Would I be safe driving it 3-4 miles to a shop with adding water to it and if so how much? I had no leaking except from the overflow tank when it was hot. If I can add water to it to drive it to the shop I would save myself a tow, so that would be ideal. Other shop should call me tomorrow and I can take it from there.
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  #19  
Old 07-13-2014, 09:09 PM
Tapani Tapani is offline
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Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

Yes, it's ok to add water - just remember to replace with appropriate coolant mix before the winter comes .

Good luck, don't forget the bypass lines if you try flush the system. The Subaru cooling system is a bit different from the conventional set ups and the bypasses have a critical role.

/T
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  #20  
Old 07-23-2014, 04:07 AM
Chucksta Chucksta is offline
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Wink Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

Well Cotton, I feel for your problem. No, not the ones your having with the mechanics of your car, but rather the one your having with wrapping you head ( and the head of your significant other ) about the money you've spent on it. Well, actually, I feel for all the headaches you've had from not having a great mechanic has caused you as well.

I sometimes get people asking me "What did you buy THAT for?".. And, I assume, that they ask me that for two reasons. One is that they know I could afford something much more expensive, much newer, and two, that it will require a fair amount of money to keep it in great shape. It's fairly self evident that maintaining a twenty year old car, of any sort, let alone something as rare as an SVX, isn't going to be an easy task. Nor a cheap one. I guess that they don't know that I can also be a cheap bastard who's looking for a kickin' "bang for the buck" ..

My usual response is "$300 a month", which usually gets a bit of a blank look. You see, there's a whole whack of cars you can own or drive for that dollar figure. At the low end of the scale, you can get a Hyundai Accent for around $200 a month. You can give it back to the dealership after four years, and provided you haven't put a ding in it, or a chip in the paint, or a stain in the carpet or a rip in the seat, you can get another one for the same kind of money. Oh, that is unless, God forbid, you drove too many miles. And it's not like you get a rebate if you drive less miles than the contract.. Nnnooo.. it's "sorry about your luck", you should have picked a different package. So, after four years, you paid $9,600.00 plus maintenance, tax, non covered repairs, and the same "consumable you would've paid on any other car, (oil changes, wiper blades etc.) . And, oh yeah.. you can't "mod" anything.. not like you'd want to... You also are required to carry the additional expense of collision insurance.. and you spent four years driving an Accent

Higher up the food chain, there's way better you could have driven in the $400.00 a month range, the only difference is that you would be you'd be out twenty grand instead of ten. In either scenario, you would have nothing to show for the money you spent. Buying new and keeping it doesn't compute much better financially either. A lease usually closes out with the buy out being equal to the street value, just in time to need a $1,500.00 timing belt in the major service schedule. An outright purchase usually leaves you owning something that's about to start needing money for repairs. A purchase usually carries a significantly higher monthly payment Four years old or twenty years old, brakes, tires, transmissions, batteries, rads, etc., have a similar cyclic replacement schedule.

For me, my SVX budget is $300.00 a month. I can't see it eating 10 K in repairs in the next three years. Right now, after spending a grand in "stuff" since I bought it last fall, I've got a couple of things I want to take care of, but they're not pressing drivability issues. And, if it snotted something major, I'd let some minor stuff wait until the $300.00 a month envelope had enough in it to deal with whatever it was. Quite literally, I was tired of losing $300.00 a month on depreciation, and gaining no equity. Maybe the SVX will one day be worth a shi** load of money, maybe you wouldn't be able to get $4,000.00 for a pristine example. Either way, that's not why I bought one. I bought mine because it was the car I wanted, and i figured it was the best $300.00 a month bang for the buck ( possible) collectors item I could ever own. No regrets. And, at $300.00 A Month, no worries.

Anyways, I guess my point was ... don't look at the money from a short haul.

Can you keep it crisp for $10 K over the next four years? Or, would you ( or your significant other) prefer a brand new Hyundai Accent? Or, if you were near the end of the lease, a three and a half year old Accent?

Oh yeah.. IMHO.. Women find a guy with an unabashed passion for something geeky, hot as hell.. they love the "alpha male" aspect of not worrying about others opinions.
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  #21  
Old 07-24-2014, 01:09 AM
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Cotton Cotton is offline
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Re: Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and new engine questions

As of right now it is sitting my driveway, mocking me daily. I am just leaving it alone for now. I am going to just save up and do that work at that point. I have other cars so I don't need to do it right now. I would like to, but I would rather put money aside for this over a few months so the wife can ***** less about it when I do get it done.

I want to thank Tapani for sending me a pair of OEM head gaskets from Finland for free. That is the kindest things a stranger has ever done for me.
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