Dammit! My 97 Subaru Outback has a cracked head gasket.

[grateful581]

and it going to cost me $1,200 to repair
It has 136,000 miles and this is the first major engine problem I had.
got it 3 years ago

anyone know if thats a fair price?
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Richard Steele]

1. Not sure what you mean, exactly....

You could have a cracked HEAD,
or a BLOWN head gasket....
but not a "cracked gasket".

If it's the Head itself, 1200 doesn't sound unreasonable.

[grateful581]

3. Well I was told

The head gasket needed to be replaced. $1200 was the quote.
I don't have the money and I am looking for the best deal.

Thanks for the input everybody!

[Richard Steele]

5. It's starting to come back to me now....Subaru engine layout...

I had an '87 XT for awhile...great little car,
but completely WORTHLESS for climbing telephone poles at 55mph...

Yeah, you might want to shop around abit, but it's not gonna be cheap.
I just did a quick Google, and folks are mentioning numbers like $900 and $1100
for this type of thing.

The gaskets themselves are under $100 for the pair,
but you almost have to disassemble
EVERYTHING in the engine compartment to get those heads off.
And then re-assemble it all.
Lots of hours of expensive skilled labor.

[KitchenWitch]

2. 1200 sounds about right

Replacing head gaskets is very labor intensive. Years ago I did one by myself (using a Chilton's manual), and it took me the better part of a week to do it.

[Dave Reynolds]

4. Yeah, that is about the going rate.

Not an easy job on anything later than 1980 or so.

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Ask if they're gonna mill the head

For that price, they damned well ought to. It should be done when a blown head gasket is changed, anyway. At the very least, they should Magnaflux it and check it for warpage.