1999 Subaru Forester head gasket

MSBLIZ

MEMBER
1999 SUBARU FORESTER
4 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
12,800 MILES

Id like to know if a major tune up was done on my car, would any indictions of head gasket problem have been detected at this time?

I brought my car in for a major tune up as it was due technically. My mechanic, at the time, told me none was needed but went on tell me axles, rotors, brakes were needed.$1500 worth. Three months later Im having trouble and bring it into another guy. This guy replaces air and fuel filters, trans filter, tran pan gasket, spark plugs and wires. Shouldnt have these things been done or have shown as needed to be done a couple of months earlier at my other mechanic?

I ask because as these problems added up, I ended up with coolant problems, an oil leak and then all of sudden, my car overheats and my head gasket is blown. Could this have been prevented in any way if the original mechanic would have done a major tune up?

1 Reply

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

Hello
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First off, if an experienced mechanic did a tune up on your vehicle then he/she should have noticed signs of a faulty head gasket at that time. If it wasn't completely bad at the time, then it may not have been very noticeable.

You know your car better than your mechanic. What I mean is that, you know how long it has been since you last changed the oil or got new spark plugs for example. The mechanic may think he knows by looking at the components and how they are operating, but if you bring it in for a tune up then the mechanic should have replaced the obvious. This includes what you have mentioned (fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, fluids, wires, plugs etc.)

Your coolant and oil leak problem was a result of a bad head gasket. If the original mechanic you speak of would have performed the tune up that the second mechanic did, then he might have noticed the gasket was in need of change. This doesn't necessarily mean that if the tune up were to have been performed by the first mechanic that the gasket would not have blown, it just means that it could have been replaced before it completely blew out and gave you the coolant and oil leak issues.

I hope this helps.
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