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Great, thanks!

I haven't been back to Autozone since I cleared my codes. The check engine light did NOT come back on after I cleared, and I drove multiple trips, on & off the highway. Are there codes thrown that don't light the check engine light? I originally got a PO303 (misfire in cylinder 3), does that light the check engine light? I replaced the plugs & wires so that may have cleared that one. Thanks for the other tips about checking the coil. I did just buy a manual, I think it was Chiltons not Haybes though. I'll look in there to see if they have any methods to check the coil.

How do you test that? I did the only thing I knew, popped the hood at night while the engine was running rough and looked for arcing, didn't see any.

Thanks, this is a good tip. Several clues have pointed to a problem in the fuel system. My car usually starts easily and idles OK, especially if it's been off a while. Several times it has stalled (after I've been driving it a while) and then it's been impossible to start for about 5 to 15 minutes. I was thinking it was related to some overheating condition, but the temp gauge is always normal. Could it be flooding caused by a bad fuel pressure regulator I wonder? Should I be smelling unburned fuel if this was the case?

The body is not in good shape, but it's cosmetic and I'm not seeing any overt rust. Interior is OK though. Because I put about 28K/yr on a car, I'd rather find a car with 60 - 80K on it, and not more than 8-9 yrs old; that'll give me a few years to run it into the ground Unfortunately for me, those kinds of Legacys all fit into the dreaded head gasket failure territory. Unless there exists somewhere a low-miles '99 or 2000 legacy with the 2.2L motor it looks like I may have to bail on Subaru if I ultimately decide not to fix this car (which is where I'm leaning). If I fix my car I'll just be putting off this issue for a little while. Best of luck with your hunt. The '96 with 95K sounds pretty good if you can deal with getting a new tranny in it. Hope it doesn't have the 2.5 though...

The closest store is about an hour away. Maybe I can find this at a local auto parts store though?

Cool, thanks! I hope the instructions are designed for noobs like me! Also the description says it doesn't work with several brands, I assume the Sub is not one of those (Bosch, CIS-Jetronic).

Thanks for the input and the tip regarding the fuel pump. Someone else mentioned the possibility of a sticky fuel pressure regulator. I've been driving the car and it's getting worse. It runs rough almost all the time, and the incidents where it loses power (are these misfires? shows you what I know!) are still happening, maybe 4-5 times during a 20 minute ride. The check engine light has still not come back on since I cleared the codes. Is it possible the ECU is throwing any of my original codes (PO420 -- cat converter or o2 sensor, 400 -- EGR, 303 -- misfire in cylinder 3) and the check engine would NOT light? BTW the car, when cold, always starts up right away and most of the time it idles nicely, but when these issue start I do notice sometimes the tach going up & down a bit (and this is when the car is likely to stall)...so the fuel pressure regulator, or the pump itself, is sounding more like the culprit. I wish I had the test equipment to check this out but I don't. And again, when I made it home tonight, both fans are going, which may or may not be normal. Temp gauge never gets beyond the middle though. Now, the missing gasket: you'll notice that BOTH the plugs on the left don't have them. As I explained in my original post of this thread, those came out separately -- I guess they were stuck in the spark plug well. I got them out before installing the new plugs of course!

Slim pickings right now for Legacy sedans with 60-75K miles in my area. Most are wagons, and it seems like I would need to go for a '99 or '98 if I wanted the 2.2L. That's a little older than I like, but I haven't seen any of those anyway. So maybe I'll be forced to re-think my plans and fix mine, hope it holds up, and keep an eye out for one that best fits my needs.

Thanks John, I appreciate the reply. I can see that in the short term fixing this car is cheaper than buying another one but -- unless I'm completely misunderstanding here -- after this car is fixed I'll be down probably $400 or more, have a 15 year old car with 206K needing a timing belt and probably other stuff, and if I'm lucky I'll get another year or two (I put about 28K/yr on a car). Cost per mile-wise, I can see how I'd be ahead if I fix this one -- I paid $3400 5 years ago, that was a serious bit of luck. But the simple fact is that I want peace of mind too. I'm a musician and I drive a lot to gigs, late at night. I carpool kids to school every day and take care of my 9-yr-old after school. I'm not in the position, financially or time-wise to deal with an older car prone to issues. Car repair in my area is very expensive. I know I could get lucky, fix the current problem, do the timing belt and get another year or two but I've been buying Legacys mainly because they've been trouble-free (all of them had the 2.2 engine though, something I may have to give up if I get another one). My first two Legacys went to about 180K each, cut short by accidents. This is the most miles I've ever driven a car. So yes, even if I pay $600 to fix this car and it dies one week later, my cost per mile is still low -- but then I have $600 less towards my next Leg!

Thanks, yea I was thinking about having a Subie shop look at the car. The question is not if a good shop could diagnose & fix the car. It's whether it's worth it for me to fix a car this old with this many miles. If I made that commitment, I would then probably need to do a second timing belt, and then there's potentially more that can start going wrong on a car this old. If I had the knowledge and mechanical aptitude of many on this forum I'd probably go for it, but that's just not the case . I think it may be better for me to take the money I'd put into repairs and put it towards a new(er) Legacy. I would up selling my previous Legacy (a '92 FWD) to someone on this forum who saw my posts here 5 years ago when I was asking the same type of question -- fix or move on -- although that one had been in an accident and had some major cosmetic issues (the engine was doing fine though). Anyone wanna make me an offer? It has some body damage and the engine leaks some oil, but the heads seem intact and when it's not exhibiting its current symptoms it runs as fine as any car with 206K can (imo of course!). Unfortunately it looks like the end of the line for me being able to get a Legacy newer than '99 or so with a 2.2 engine. Do they exist?

Thanks for these tips but my check engine light has stayed off since I cleared the codes last night. And I just recently changed the plugs & wires. I did a fair amount of driving today, some around town & some highway. I know the EGR code is a "multi-trip" but I really think I satisfied the criteria for triggering the check engine light (two trips going 55 mph for a while) and it's still off. The car is still -- intermittently -- running like crap. Tomorrow I'll get the codes read again at Autozone -- in case there are codes thrown that don't trigger the check engine light -- and depending what is read I may just call it a day and start looking for another car. I can't afford to go on a $400+ fishing expedition with a 15-year old car with 206K, and start replacing parts simply hoping I luck out and fix the right one. Today I brought the car to a buddy's house to put on his ramps so I could get a better look underneath. The O2 sensor is not very accessible at all, I'm not sure I could tackle this. I also brought the car to my wife's mechanic who warned me that it was probably not going to be cheap to fix -- about $200 to read the codes and spend an hour diagnosing. And that's before any parts & the labor to install or replace. I trust this guy, he's honest but not cheap (car repair in general is very expensive in the northern NY suburbs. The local Sub dealer gets $104/hr labor). The bottom line is that I've gotten way more than my money's worth from this car. Bought it five years ago with 60K, for $3400! Show me any Legacy today with 60K on it for that cheap, I don't think one exists. Thanks to everyone who's spent the time reading my super-long posts (this one being no exception ) and trying to help me out. I may have a few more questions after tomorrow, but it does look like the end of the road is approaching!

Thanks! Your post came in while I was composing my last reply. I will attempt to do as you suggest -- I have a small multimeter. Not sure how I'll put 12 volts to it though. I can tell you this: before the engine was at temp, opening & closing the throttle had no effect on the EGR piston. After the engine was warmed up, doing the same thing, I could see the valve move in & out. Does this indicate correct operation?

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess that's good news that the odd-looking spark plug doesn't look that bad. It seems strange that it wore differently though, unless it it was gapped differently from the others as your reply suggested. To complicate things a little more, I just got back from running a few errands. About six trips in all, three of those on the highway going 55- 60 mph, and the check engine light has stayed OFF (as I said in my first post, I reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery overnight). So now I'm getting no codes at all. The first trip I took, driving my daughter to school, the rough running returned almost right away. However, every subsequent trip the engine behaved well (or seemed to anyway). One weirdness (which I've mentioned in my previous threads) is that when I got home I noticed the radiator fan running. I waited a while for it to cycle off but it didn't. The top radiator hose did seem pretty hot, but temp gauge never went above normal. I'm on my way to a friend's place, he has ramps. Gonna put the car up and look underneath for any clues (I also want to see how many wires the O2 sensor has, in case I get an aftermarket. Yes, I've read the posts saying to use OEM, and I might still do that if I'm reasonably sure it's part of my rough running issue. My local Subie dealer wants $145 for it). Still grappling with the question of when I should cut my losses with a 15-year old car with close to 206K on it.

Interesting, thanks. I did expect it to be #3 since that's the code I got for the cylinder misfire. Back to the drawing board, I guess.