I own a 2005 Subaru Outback R. L. L Bean 3.0L H6. I've been having overheating problems, and nothing I've done seems to work, but I'm doubting it's my headgaskets like the Subaru Mechanics said. Let me know if I'm crazy and I should just buy a new car.
About two weeks ago, my car engine started heating up while idling but would regulate to temp after driving.
I drove for about a week before having the money to buy a thermostat, lower radiator hose, and thermostat housing unit. After I fixed it, it drove fine for roughly 72 hours. Until the temperature gauge started climbing again. I then took my car into Greg's Japanese autobody. They tested my headgaskets and saw nothing wrong with them. So I thought I must've burped it wrong. It was my first time burping a car and I didn't do it properly.. the next day, after driving it for 32 minutes from home to work, I had my co-worker properly burp it with a burp kit, and we got all the air out. It drove fine for the next two days. Then it started climbing again. I took it to Subaru, and it was extremely low on coolant. The technician said he suspects it's the headgaskets but would need to do a full coolant flush to get a better guess but is confident it's an internal headgasket. They quoted anywhere from 4.5k - 10k to fix it, so I filled it with coolant and drove 30 minutes home. It only started rising once I exited the freeway and pulled onto my street home.
Questions I have:
Is it normal for a 1.5qt coolant fill to keep the radiator cool throughout a 30 min drive with a blown headgasket?
Can a bad water pump/ bad radiator cause coolant to evaporate extremely quickly?
How often is it that Coolant leaks into the internal headgasket with these models, and is milkshake coolant required to be seen when your headgasket is blown?
How long does a headgasket replacement last once it's replaced?