112K on engine. Burn 3 qts oil in 600 mi. highway trip but if use ‘Restore’ only use 1/2 qt. After last 600 mi. trip started car next day and anti-freeze blew out tailpipe but not much antifreeze gone from tank. Assume head gasket going. Should I consider having engine rebuilt for $2800?
Define “rebuilt”…
I would prefer a salvage yard engine instead of most “rebuilds”…Or a Subaru factory long-block…
Subaru dealership would do the rebuild and warrantee for 12 mos./12,000 miles
The answer to this question is pretty much always found in the condition of the rest of the car. So over the next 1-2 years what major issues are next? If you routinely keep everything on the car in order then it is often a good decision to keep a car on the road. I’d probably pay a local transmission shop some $$ though to do a full check up on the transmissions condition.
As Caddyman says, define rebuilt. There are variety of rebuild methods, only one of which is technically correct.
It’s possible to rebuild an engine, have it run great for 15k miles while exceeding the warranty period, and then go downhill fast.
Some consider bearings, rings, and quickie valve job an engine rebuild. There can be much, much more to a rebuild than that.
A few examples are inspection of valve guides, cylinder boring, careful inspection of cam lobes, cylinder head surfacing, inspection of crank end play and connecting rod side clearance and that’s just scratching the surface. Many rebuild jobs ignore or overlook things like this.