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Subaru 06 head gasket/brakes/oil/timing belt questions
Hi!
I’m in need of a bit of advice. My wonderful Subaru Forester X (2006, 2.5L, 93,000 miles) is having a few problems.
1. Head gaskets are leaking oil (my guess is about 1L per 2000 miles? Honestly though, I have no idea)
2. I was told my timing belt will need to be replaced soon
3. Pretty sure my brake pads need to be replaced (have only noticed a little grinding/squealing in the past 2 weeks or so – planning on getting it checked out soon)
All in all, I’ve been told the above repairs will range from $2,100 - $3,000. As a recent college grad living at home with my parents, I’m not exactly flush with cash (as in I do not have $2000+ dollars, but I could potentially borrow from a family member with a low interest rate) but I don’t want to delay fixing problems and risk causing irreparable/superduper $$$ damage.
How long can I wait to replace the head gaskets if I keep monitoring my oil level?
Should I be getting regular oil & filter changes still, even though the oil is kind of “changing itself”?
What price range should I be expecting? The 2 places I’ve done to so far (dealership & local mechanic) have quoted me $2100 and $2600 for head gaskets & timing belt (respectively). Is this basically on point?
Also, I added 10W-30 oil to my 5W-30 engine last night. From what I’ve read, this should be OK until it gets cold out. Next time I need to add oil, should I switch back to 5W-30?
Sorry for the long post. Any advice on any of the above would be super appreciated.
I’m in need of a bit of advice. My wonderful Subaru Forester X (2006, 2.5L, 93,000 miles) is having a few problems.
1. Head gaskets are leaking oil (my guess is about 1L per 2000 miles? Honestly though, I have no idea)
2. I was told my timing belt will need to be replaced soon
3. Pretty sure my brake pads need to be replaced (have only noticed a little grinding/squealing in the past 2 weeks or so – planning on getting it checked out soon)
All in all, I’ve been told the above repairs will range from $2,100 - $3,000. As a recent college grad living at home with my parents, I’m not exactly flush with cash (as in I do not have $2000+ dollars, but I could potentially borrow from a family member with a low interest rate) but I don’t want to delay fixing problems and risk causing irreparable/superduper $$$ damage.
How long can I wait to replace the head gaskets if I keep monitoring my oil level?
Should I be getting regular oil & filter changes still, even though the oil is kind of “changing itself”?
What price range should I be expecting? The 2 places I’ve done to so far (dealership & local mechanic) have quoted me $2100 and $2600 for head gaskets & timing belt (respectively). Is this basically on point?
Also, I added 10W-30 oil to my 5W-30 engine last night. From what I’ve read, this should be OK until it gets cold out. Next time I need to add oil, should I switch back to 5W-30?
Sorry for the long post. Any advice on any of the above would be super appreciated.
0
Comments
As far as the leaking from the head gaskets, that's just a known issue with these engines. The good news is that an external oil leak isn't really cause to replace the head gaskets on an emergency basis, as that leak doesn't tend to cause any catastrophic issues (like overheating or coolant in the oil) associated with failures of the gaskets' coolant passages.
A quart every couple thousand miles isn't terribly bad, to be honest. I mean, it's noticeable, but not horrible. Plan for it and save the funds over the next year or so (I'd plan on $3K).
In the meantime, the cold-flow rating of your 30-weight oil is more a function of the climate in which you live than anything else. 10w30 isn't going to hurt the engine, but I'd recommend using 5w-30 if you see temps lower than about 10F on a regular basis. If you see lower than -20F, I'd go with 0W-30. If you're changing from 5w-30 to 10w-30 in order to reduce the leak, though, I strongly suspect you are wasting your energy on that.
Save up your money and monitor the leak and your oil level until you're ready to repair it or it worsens to the point that you don't want to live with it any more.