i just bought a 96 Subaru Legacy LSi its a 2.5L auto. my friend has had it several years and well, its seen better days. it randomly runs low on oil, cant find a leak and doesnt smoke like its burning it. well it started to overheat all the time on her so she has a new thermostat installed, new water pump, and had the cooling system pressure checked or something. still overheats after about a mile down the road, but it will sit and idle and never overheat. so since i have the time and a place to work on it she sold it to me. but before i really dive in and try to fix it i wondered it anyone had seen this problem before. i have heard 2.5 liter engines have head gasket issues but i wasnt sure which years it included. any help is appreciated!
Head gaskets
is there any way to really verify thats the problem before tearing into it? or is it one of those hard to diagnose things?
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i have heard 2.5 liter engines have head gasket issues but i wasnt sure which years it included. any help is appreciated!
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'96 is included 
have fun 
[quote=“Camaro079,post:3,topic:29594"”]
is there any way to really verify thats the problem before tearing into it? or is it one of those hard to diagnose things?
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Your description is all the diagnosis I need.
any idea how much rebuild kits are? or how much running engines (that would be a direct fit) are selling for these days?
ur probly puking oil out of your cam and crank seals behind the timing cover. its about 300 bux in gaskets (head, valve cover, intake, exhaust, etc) and in my experience you should get the heads resurfaced to ensure that there is no warpage when you put it back together. about 500 bux should cover you if you do the work yourself.
It certainly sounds like head gaskets. You could do a leakdown test to be sure. I’d get a complete engine gasket kit and replace everything as long as you have the engine checked for warpage and it’s all good.
i know this thread is rather old, but i’m finally getting the time to work on this problem. since im going to be pulling the motor apart to do this does anyone have anybody they would recommend for checking the block/heads for warpage? resurfacing the heads? does anyone do rebuilds on these for cheap? i’m willing to try it but if someone with experience with them has a good price…
anywhere specific that gives a good price on gasket/engine sets for these? thanks
just as a side note, a reman’d long block is just a hair under 2k. if this engine has been run like this for a long time you may need one.
im not sure if you know this, but you need to drop the engine to do the headgaskets, its a 12 hour job (actually i think alldata says 11.5)
I have to do this now also. Here’s a list of what to buy, and a step-by-step writeup with photos.
http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/Head_gasket_replacement.html
get the heads machined or you will b wasting your time
why is there an oil pump o ring listed, and no oil pump?
add that to the list too.
good call
Thumbs down to the 2.5L headgasket problem if only they kept the EJ22, if you would of brought a 1995 LSi then u would of been all good. hahah
This is correct, if it a 2.5L DOHC it has to be removed to change head gaskets, if its a SOHC it can be done in the car