Rooster2

My vote is you have a leaking valve gasket. Really pretty simple to replace, and no, the engine does not need to be pulled out.

Your 2002 has the gen 2 motor. Don't know that I have answers to any of your questions. A bad head gasket on a gen 2 motor is seen with a coolant leak leaving a spot on the pavement or garage floor. Subaru sells a coolant product that is added to the radiator. It is basically a stop leak chemical product that works well.

Look further at the timing belt, I bet it is broken. Same happened to my 95 with 2.2 motor.

If the problem is a leaky/failing head gasket, is it possible that the engine would only overheat sometimes? Yes, with my 3 Subies, "sometimes over heating" became the start, that became worse and worse over heating over time. Seemed like adding stress to the cooling system as in freeway driving, or climbing hills would cause over heating. Little stress like idling would not cause over heating. All 3 of my cars would idle forever, and not over heat, but bring on the stress, and the temp gauge needle would climb in a hurry.

Agree with others that it is likely bad head gaskets. My own personal experience with 3 Subarus, they eventually all blew their head gaskets. Typically, the problem starts with just occasional over heating, which leads to worse and worse. What ever you do, don't drive the car when it starts to over heat. Turn off the engine, and let the motor cool off. Continue driving while over heating will warp every piece of aluminum in the motor, plus ruin the main bearings. If and when it starts to over heat, immediately check to see if there are bubbles in the radiator over flow tank. The bubbles will look like bubbles produced from a fish aquarium aerator bubble system. If you see that, then it is a lead pipe cinch guarantee that you have bad head gaskets. Game over, replace the head gaskets. The bubbles are caused by exhaust gas being forced into the cooling system through the bad head gasket. Bad head gaskets on Subarus never show oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil. If bad head gasket is determined, you can still drive a bit longer before repairing by loosening the radiator car to relieve the air (exhaust gas) pressure. This means constantly replacing coolant, but it lets you drive the car for a while. Just don't run low on coolant.

Nashville TN is a good size city, so there is probably a small muffler shop that dos the cut, bend, weld approach to repairing a muffler system. If like where I live in Indy, the small shop is generally family owned, and located in a lower middle class neighborhood. They do a good job, fix what is only broke, and charge for only the work that needs to be done. It is the big chain muffler shops that want to replace everything from the exhaust down pipe to the end of the tail pipe, no matter that much of the exhaust system is still in good shape. I am guessing your quote of $750 is from one of those chain stores. Suggest you shop around. Likely you will find a good cut, pipe bend, weld style muffler shop, and be happy with their work for hundreds less then $750.

All Subarus are well made, well built cars, that don't break much at all. 2009-2012 have minimal head gasket problems, if any at all. I wouldn't concern myself with that issue. $15-17K will buy you a nice well maintained car. Not really any items that can't be detected before purchase. If you buy directly from an owner, ask to see maintenance records on the car. A dealer will not have any maintenance records. Members on this forum are loyal to Subaru because they have, and continue to have, great service from their cars. Most everyone on this forum owns more then one Subaru, which tells you they are really sold on the quality of the car. What is particularly nice about Subarus is that they are easier to work on then other cars. Fan belts are right up front. Major components like the alternator and starter are readily accessible. The engine being a flat boxer engine is nice and smooth in operation with good pulling torque. Subarus are "all wheel drive," which means great traction in snowy icy conditions, and even great traction during heavy rain. Subarus are made to run for a long time. My 99 Outback has 235K miles on the odo. It still runs strong, with no oil burning. I would not hesitate to drive it on a 2K mile vacation trip, and feel confident that it would make the trip without a break down. Join the Subie ownership club, you will glad you have.

My experience.............probably 5 years back my 99 OBW developed a bad right front wheel bearing. I bought a hub tamer, and pressed in a new bearing with much cussing. The new bearing lasted about 6 months, and it went bad. I got to thinking that something was bad about the hub, so I went to my favorite yard, and bought a used hub. I installed the used hub easily, and it continues to work well up to the present. I sold the hub tamer, and vowed to only use wrecking yard hubs into the future. Update...........my bearing kit was from Harbor Freight, not a Hub Tamer, but think it was a Chinese copy of it.

Perhaps the push buttons are sticky from soft drink spills onto the buttons. I have a 98 and 99 Outback with the same climate control as yours. I spray Windex at the buttons, push all the buttons repeatedly, while drying off the buttons off. See if that helps. At a later point, climate control panel in both cars developed some buttons that wouldn't work any longer. So, I finally bought replacement units off either e-bay or Amazon. I may have gotten one from a wrecking yard.

My same thought, more likely a squeaky/creaky bushing, not the strut. Had this very same happen on daughter's car. Replaced the control arm with built in bushings on the front of the car, fixed the problem. I think a rear control arm, or something else with bushings in the back is giving you trouble.

Sounds more like an engine problem, not a tranny issue. Have the code pulled that is presenting itself as a CEL. Once you have the code, you can identify what the engine is trying to tell you what the problem is. Many auto parts stores will pull the code, at no cost, and tell you the code reading. Autozone will do this, Advance Auto Parts has stopped pulling code.

Replaced both covers on fuel fill pipe on my Outbacks. You need to get under the car to remove the cover. Also, need to remover the road wheel to get it out of your way. Replacement fill pipes available on line at various auto parts stores. After replacing the fill pipes, I left cover off, didn't see any real need for it.

+1 on what is written above. I have had that happen, and remember how the A/C would work, then evap core would freeze up. Like said, pretty certain that adding some refrigerant will fix this problem.

I had the same problem with my 99 OBW. I replaced a broken bushing with a parts store generic bushing, but that did not last long, as it came apart from the wiper transmission arm. I tried to fix several times again using parts store bushings, but came up with same negative results. There is no bushing available from Subaru, only they will sell you the entire wiper transmission unit for good reason. Apparently, when the wiper assembly is manufactured, the bushings are machine pressed in, and cannot be repaired or repaired very well. I finally replaced my wiper transmission assembly with a new one. Think I bought it from Rock Auto. Cost was $39-$59, something in that $ range, and now it is fixed. Trust me, replacing the wiper transmission assembly is the best repair for a permanent solution. I think the problem begins when wipers get frozen with ice to the windshield. Turn on the wipers, and they won't move. Something has to give, so it is the bushings that either break, or get loose. Good idea to free up the wipers from the windshield, before ever trying to turn on the wiper switch.

I have been running Ohtsu tires on my Jeep, daughter's Hyundai, and my 98 OBW. I have been happy with the price, performance, and wear. Ohtsu is made by Falken tires,or maybe the other way around. It is a Japanese tire. They perform well, and cost about $80/tire. I highly recommend them. Michelin tires are all good, wear like iron, but are at a premium price. Seemed like after running them about 25K miles, the rubber gets hard, so performance falls off, but that hard rubber lasts forever.

Will this car run 80-90 MPH in 100F heat with the ac on and a load? That is asking an awfully lot for a 17 year old car, with I bet it has a lot of miles on it. Don't think it is wise to push your car that hard. Don't think your head gaskets are bad, as your car did not over heat.

For what it is worth, I replaced the front (upstream) 02 sensor with a Bosch sensor on my 99 OBW. I bought it from Advance Auto Parts on line. Listed for $78, with coupon discount, price was $54. It works just fine. Car runs great, and no check engine light coming on.

When changing the rear diff oil, be sure to pull the top bolt first. Otherwise, pulling the bottom bolt first will obviously drain out all the oil. Then, pulling the top bolt can sometimes be a problem. It won't want to come out. Then Houston, "we have a problem." You are stuck with no oil in the diff, and finding it difficult at the moment to add replacement oil. You are also stuck in not being able to drive the car until that top bolt is removed.

Did you order the adapter kit in addition to the radio from Crutchfield?? If so, are they back logged??

Suspect tail gate hatch door light is activated with a spring loaded button "push-in switch." When hatch is closed, the switch button is pushed in. Suggest using a piece of tape, or a tooth pick to keep the button switch pushed in, when you want the light to go out, and hatch to be open.

A company called Crutchfield Electronics sells car stereos and etc on line. I have bought their car radio adapter kits in the past. So much easier using their interface, as opposed to cutting wires and making wire connections. They also have great customer service techs to help you solve your problems.Their website is: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-f49TZ8azzAE/

This sounds like a wiring problem, most likely a bad grounding wire. The check engine light will not come on with a problem like this. Check for any rusty wire connection from the gas tank going forward. Easiest to do this, with your car up on a lift. Not likely this is a sensor or fuel pump issue, simply a wire going to ground that has a bad connection.

Regarding potential head gasket issue, I would not worry much about it. On later models 2002-2010, the potential to leak is not something that leaves you broke down and stranded on the side of the road. It presents itself as a very slow coolant. The coolant level should be well monitored, and keep an eye out for coolant leakange on your garage floor or driveway. Subaru sells a "coolant conditioner" to address this problem. It is simply a "stop leak" product, and works well. My preference is an Outback over a Forester. The Outback has a longer wheel base, so rides a little better, and drives smoother on rough roads. Cargo area is much larger on an Outback

I am guessing you have a ton of miles on the 2.2 motor, less miles on the 1.8, so a good reason to swap.

bad cold start sensor?? Acts like a carb choke.