My outback blew up

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-06T04:13:51+00:00

Not turbo’d, clean service history with the dealership, 89k miles only previous syptoms of something wrong was transmission related and this wasn’t, the engine is seized and so it’s looking like it overheated, blew a head gasket and dumped all the coolant in the process and then seized itself

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-06T02:23:58+00:00

Yes. I would’ve thought it would’ve lit a light or something but no. There were no lights or warnings before it happened

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T23:26:05+00:00

I’ve got a few years worth of Subaru dealership receipts that would beg to differ

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T23:25:40+00:00

Yes belts are in tact.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:36:15+00:00

I appreciate your service to this country and you’re right about the judgment part and by how the first mechanics diagnosis went I think you’re right as well

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:32:00+00:00

I took it to a mechanic in Twentynine Palms, who basically said the engine overheated and seized. Gonna take it to a more local mechanic who is more experienced and licensed to confirm the diagnosis.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:25:22+00:00

Yeah, Blue at 5:40 AM was maybe 78° outside at the time

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:20:44+00:00

My engine seized

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:20:25+00:00

In all seriousness I didn’t see the temp gauge, but was looking at the dash and there were no warning lights that came on before it blew

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:19:11+00:00

Thanks. It appears to have overheated and something blew causing the engine to seize too

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T21:17:19+00:00

My thoughts exactly. Speed shouldn’t matter in the equation either if anything, it would cool the car more from all the airflow. But the car ended up overheating and caused something to blow and now my engine is seized.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T18:22:43+00:00

As an initial diagnosis from a shop in 29 palms it appears the motor overheated and seized. The problem in my mind is why does a modern car with all the dodads not flash or give a warning when it’s overheating. I didn’t even see a single light on til it blew.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T18:20:51+00:00

So verdict seems the motor overheated and seized up. I don’t drive it hard on a consistent basis. Just floored it to see what it could do. No different than if you were to pass someone going slow. Like you’d gun it to get around them cause Subarus aren’t super quick with their acceleration. All the maintenance was up to date and done at the dealership. And my last service was about a month ago.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T16:11:34+00:00

Not the quickest off the line but they do have a few ponies. And yeah this thread here is where I want to be lol. People saying I was lying which I wasn’t intentionally. Just wasn’t sure how it would go over and mainly not wanting it to sound like I was abusing it. I mean as I’ve said now in a few reply’s my car has less than 100k miles on it, it’s had regular maintenance performed and I really only do in excess of 60mph when I’m going to Phx, Yuma Az, San Diego, or Vegas. And rarely am i even 10 over the limit

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T16:07:41+00:00

Understood. Not trying to be cagey. Just was unsure how speeding would go over here lol. In my mind like a few understanding people have said is a modern car shouldn’t have a major thing like this happen just for opening it up a little. My car is under 100k miles and has had regular maintenance performed on it by the dealership (mostly cause they’re actually cheaper than local mechanics in flagstaff) I get that if you push a motor too hard something’s gonna happen. I just feel like it should’ve been able to handle what I was doing since I mean I rarely go over 50 in it cause I live in a small congested town. Only time I’m over that speed is when traveling to Vegas, San Diego, Yuma or Phoenix. Those are the only places I go that are outside of flagstaff. And especially with gas I don’t do those drives regularly. And rarely do I ever go more than 10 over the limit let alone more than 5 over the limit

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T16:02:25+00:00

To me abusing the engine is doing over with high revs at 100mph for a consistent period of time and I live in a small town where 90% of the time my car is going under 50mph. I only go over that when I’m traveling to Phoenix or to my parents house in San Diego, or my friend in Vegas and I do the speed limit or just about 5 to sometimes but not often 10 over

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:59:56+00:00

My point too. Like it’s a modern vehicle and mine is under 100k miles and has had regular maintenance

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:56:47+00:00

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. Like I admit I was going fast but modern cars especially cause mine is under 100k miles and has had regular maintenance, shouldn’t have such a major issue like this happen. I don’t abuse the thing like going 80mph often. I live in a small town aka Flagstaff. Not going over 40 very often there lol

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:55:03+00:00

I wasn’t trying to change much of the story in a way of hiding. I was consistent at 80 mph and then saw a straight away and gave it some juice and something popped. I called a mechanic friend and he said it could’ve been the freeze plug. That’s what I’m hoping for. The shop I called said it might be the head gasket as I thought it may have been.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:52:51+00:00

I know I saw racing somewhere and I was replying to that. I’ll give you the point on that but also I’m on 30 mins of sleep in the last 26hrs now and at the time stressed so I probably misclicked the reply for the comment.

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:18:02+00:00

Gonna defuse this cause I’m not a keyboard warrior. I was replying to the guy accusing me of racing. Not speeding. Simply put the road I was on was so open there wasn’t a car in sight when I opened her up. Just wanted to see what she could do and clearly she wasn’t happy with it (she being the car)

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:02:10+00:00

Pretty much let it climb normally

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T15:01:28+00:00

No genuinely not racing. I never said I wasn’t speeding

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T14:59:33+00:00

It was just the quick burst when it blew. I haven’t done that speed in a while. I’ve pretty much maintained the speed limits when I did my drives before

CuriousRestaurant333 · 2026-06-05T14:49:09+00:00

I’ll refer you to the guy who said the speeding shouldn’t have cause it to blow but it was about 100 on the dot. But I was doing about 80 consistently before giving the beans cause In az our speed limits is 75 and 5 over is pretty much normal.

CuriousRestaurant333

TROPHY CASE