Killed it now what? Subaru Forester

This is one case where craiglist can be your friend, if worse comes to worse. The trouble is that the '98 was a one year morphedite as far as 2.5s go. I searched the list and ended up finding one in Poughkeepsie for $500. Rented a van, drove the five hrs there and five hours back. The guy claimed he replaced the head gaskets but couldn't prove it, so I did them. The heads were good, but the gaskets were old.All he had done(or someone) was coat the old gaskets with copperseal and bolted it back up.The timing belt was new as was the waterpump(receipts), so I replaced the idler pulleys-didn't want that headache. All told, I had about $750 into it. I drove it for another year with out an issue and sold it this fall for $3500, with a clear conscience. If I had sold it needing engine work, I'd have been lucky to get $1K. The heads don't usually crack and don't even warp unless it was really, really cooked. Pull the motor, replace the head gaskets, torque it up well, and drive. There's always K-W block sealer. Just remember to bypass the heater core and make sure ALL the air is out when you refill. BTW, if you need a good clutch and flywheel, I got them. I figured I'd replace them while it was apart because I was going to keep the car.

Here's the photo of the AZ t-stat and the Subaru one. The Subie one is on the right:

Picture looks about right but i think the gates one is closer to in the middle of the two.

One the plus side it only took 1/2 quart tonight to top it off and i ran it untill warm then drove around the neiborhood for about 10 miles it did fine. but never got over 40mph or about 2500rpm.

Time will tell.

Well other then running the car for over an hour while i presure washed it on sat we didn't use the car at all this weekend but she made it to work with out a problem this morning.

Great to hear!

Well it tossed out all the coolant again on her way home tonight. Crap.....

Did it lose the coolant on the highway or in traffic? Are the fans kicking in?

If the fans are working I'd pull the spark plugs and test the compression.

If the compression is good, fans are working, the only sign of a problem is the loss of coolant/boiling over, and you don't want to tear into now...I'd give GM cooling system tablets a try (the nut shell ones).

It may be losing it slow enough to not be easily detected, but enough to overheat after a few days. If it's like my 03 was,it's amazing how much fluid the insulation on te splash shield can hold.

I would just replace the head gaskets and call it done.
The HG kit is only about $200 at NAPA.