# Subaru Outback **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** outback, subaru\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912 "2011-03-23T17:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thomas\_Moreti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@Thomas\_Moreti](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Thomas_Moreti)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/1 "2011-03-23T17:38:11Z")
My 1997 Subaru has 160,000 Miles. Mechanic A replaced my old engine with one with 50K on it. After 4 weeks the car heated up. It was out of coolant. I took it to mechnic B for checking, he said that it was the headgasket. He checked it for hydrocarbon, and it was positive. I took the car to Mechnic A for explanation. After two days I picked up the car and it has been fine for the past 7 weeks. I am puzzeled. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/2 "2011-03-23T17:46:42Z")
Offhand, sounds like Mechanic A did not top off the coolant. Maybe Mechanic B’s test for hydrocarbons picked up residue from the original engine. Any reason why you’re inserting Mechanic B into the middle of Mechanic A and yourself? This muddies the water when it comes to a problem. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/3 "2011-03-23T17:55:20Z")
When you took the car back to Mechanic A “for explanation,” what did he say? What did he do in the two days he had the car? ---
**Author:** ![Bladecutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bladecutter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Bladecutter)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/4 "2011-03-23T21:15:27Z")
Why are you puzzled? You gave the car back to Mechanic A, told him that Mechanic B diagnosed it with a bad head gasket, and Mechanic A replaced it. What’s so hard for you to understand about that? BC. ---
**Author:** ![Cougar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cougar/32/21348_2.png) [@Cougar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cougar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/5 "2011-03-23T21:17:38Z")
Unless the headgaskets were replaced I would be surprised if this problem doesn’t reoccur. The shop may have used some type of sealer in the coolant to put a temporary fix on this. I recommend you keep a very close inspection of the coolant level to make sure it doesn’t go down. ---
**Author:** ![Thomas\_Moreti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@Thomas\_Moreti](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Thomas_Moreti)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/subaru-outback/62912/6 "2011-03-24T00:11:31Z")
The coolant was flushed clean by Mechanic A. I got the feeling that Mechanic A was not trustworthy. I used him as a default.