Rooster2

Thanks for posting your success story...........motor on for another 100,000 miles!

As others have said, $2,000 may be paying too much for this OBS. Looking at the photo bucket pixs, I would classify the body as in poor condition because of the nasty crease running down the side of the car, the rust spots, and plenty of dents and dings all over. The really dirty and stained interior further adds to the body being in poor condition. Dirt can be cleaned away, removing stains is really difficult. Saving grace is that mechanically you don't mention many problems that new tires and a front end alignment wouldn't solve. In my thinking, this "beater" could be an okay car as a daily driver to go to work, if it is not an embarrassment to be seen in something looking like this. Maybe do a little body work on the rust, I would leave the scrapes, dents, and creases as is, unless you just love to do body work. Paying to have body work done is so expensive, and not worth the investment on this bargain basement beauty IMO. From what you have described, my max would be to pay $1,500 for this ugly duckling!

If it were me, I would install a new PCV valve and fuel filter. Both are easy under the hood installs, and cheap products to buy at a parts store. Did your "roughness" start after a gas fill up? It is possible that you got a bad tank of gas, that has some water in it. If so, I would add a can of "dry gas" to your tank to see if that helps

I have never used a torque wrench to tighten plugs. Just snug 'em up tight, but don't crank down to try to super tighten them. Your 95 Leggie will have the 2.2 motor, which give a little more room to change plugs, vs the 2.5. You may want to purchase a stubby 3/8 drive extension that is about an inch and a half long. The shorter extension helps in tight spaces. Recommend using antisieze on the new plug threads. It helps to lube in rethreading the plug into the head, and also helps to prevent gauling (plug won't loosen) the next time you change plugs. Suggest hand tightening the plug first, before using the drive. You don't even want to think about the consequences of cross threading a plug. I have had a good experience with Bosch ignition wires and plugs. Yea, the cheapie wire sets from the discount car part stores are not a good idea for Subie use IMO.

The wires go to a connector. When you get a new mirror, it will have a wiring pig tail to plug into the connector. This wiring is for the power mirror. There is a separate wire connector for the heating element. I think it is a single wire that goes to its own connector. The replacement mirror that I bought from a wrecking yard did not have the heating element. Subaru makes both heated and non heated mirrors. The bottom line is..........it's okay to cut the wires on your existing dangling mirror. Your replacement mirror will come with replacement wiring.

I like your $75 car trailer opinion. The trailer is made for this work with tail and brake lights, and much safer. This approach also helps to keep the cops off your back.

I replaced the door mirrow on wife's 98 OBW. When the mirror is broke and hanging by the wires, you are better off cutting the wires to remove the mirror, so it won't scratch the door. No amount of glueing will repair the mirror, so recommend replacing it. If it is like my 98, it is held on with screws that are found behind the triangular shaped plastic trim directly opposite the mirror inside the door. Gently pry off the trim piece with a flat blade screw driver to access the screws. Some of those screws are a bear to loosen, because they are on so tight. I couldn't get enough leverage with a regular screw driver to loosen two screws, so finally resorted to using a 3/8" drive with phillips head screw driver attached to its tip. Replacement mirror from a wrecking yard cost me $75. Figure close to twice that amount for a new one from a Subie dealer. It is not particularily hard job, just annoying. Take your time, and you will do okay.

ditto on what nipper said. A few years back I changed my filter screen. Upon dropping the pan, I found the fine mesh screen to be absolutely clean. However, I replaced the mesh screen just because that was the job I set out to do. Cleaning off the old pan gasket, and replacing it was a bear. That hard caked, burnt on gasket is a bear to remove. After replacing the gasket, the pan had a slight leak. It never leaked before. What a total waste of time changing the filter screen, then creating the problem of a leaky pan gasket. I learned my lesson. If it ain't broke..........don't fix it.

I would be reluctant to use a Leggie Outback to tow another Outback for 400 miles. That is asking a lot for a car that is not designed to tow much at all. It will be hard on your tow car's trany. Yea, I guess you could make it work, but if you try it, drive rather slowly, like max of 60 mph. Your tow Leggie doesn't have the brakes to stop two cars traveling fast. It would be a lot better to tow with something like a full size American truck.... something with a big motor, and full frame under it. Good luck on what you decide to do.

Try a product called "Goo be gone." It is a citrus based product. Great for taking adhesive sales labels off newly bought retail items. Might work well with your application.

something as simple as tires wearing out?

$92 seems like a good price to me. NAPA always has good quality, but their prices seem to be 20% higher then other parts stores across the board. We don't have Schuck's in Indiana, so don't know anything about them. There are two Japanese manufacturers of Subie starters. They interchange with one another, so there is no compatibility problem, but they do look slightly different from one another. Just don't be surprised if your replacement looks different from the one on the car.

I suspect your starter is going bad. Starter strange noises are never good. Good chance the solenoid is sticking, so like you think, the starter remains engaged beyond what it should. Yes, it is possible for the starter to damage the flywheel. If it were me, I would replace the starter. If you are mechanically handy, swapping out the starter is an easy job. Just a couple of bolts and an electrical connection. Suggest you go to Autozone, or Advance Auto Parts, or similar type store, where a counter man is willing to go out to the parking lot to listen to your starter. Starters are rather generic amongst cars, all cars with bad starters sound pretty much alike. The counter man should be able to give you an honest opinion regarding your starter. Remanufactured starters from AZ have worked well for me, though I have heard a number of stories where guys have bought junk from AZ. Regardless, AZ has a good warranty program, and has been good to me. If their reman part is bad, it is not a problem swapping out for another one.

Always glad to hear a success story. May you drive your car with pride and pleasure for many many more miles.

Nice looking ride. I really like the new alloys. Also, nice place you live, very pretty country side. What part of the country do you live in?

A few years back, I had a 91 Subie with the 2.2 that blew a head gasket. I had about 160K miles on the odo. I bought a 2.2 motor out of 92 Subie with 112K miles on the odo at a yard. I shop at that yard often, and knew the 92 was still running. I had a buddy do the swap, and that motor ran great for many more years. The only snag in the swap, is the wiring harness connectors were different on the 92 vs the 91. The key is to buy a motor from a car that is still running if that is possible, or from a car that has been wrecked with damage to the sides or rear, not the front.

Any special tools or special skill needed to replace the boots and piston seals? I have never done this, and would like to learn when I do the brakes on my Subie this Spring.

Instead of hanging the caliper from a wire, I find a small cardboard box lying around, and just lay the caliper on top of the box. The result is the same. You just don't want the caliper hanging by the rubber brake line.

Florescent dye can be added to your A/C system by your mechanic to detect exactly where the leak is located. A black light is then used to find the leak by seeing where the dye is seeping out. Yes, it could be just a bad "O" ring, or the line could be bad. Finding exactly where the leak is located can tell your mechanic what needs to be replace. IMO, I don't think that a new receiver/dryer is needed. That gets replaced when the compressor goes bad, sending metallic grit through the system.

Maybe this is too simple..........but has your car ever been tuned up with new spark plugs and spark plug wires? If so, when, and how miles were roughly on the odometer? The vibration when in gear, low gas millage, and poor acceleration suggest poor combustion. A tune up with new plugs and wires may fix this.

The dealer said it was a "single owner," but car fax says it has had 5 owners! Hmmmmmmmm........maybe the dealer was really saying that the previous owner was not married!

That's a good tip regarding loosing the bleeder screw to let off steam and pressure when driving with a bad HG. I will have to remember that should a case of the HGs hits my phase one motor. Sorry to hear that your $200 special didn't get you home. You don't seem too angry about it, but still you didn't need that aggravation.

I drove my car up on small ramps, left it run at idle, crawled under the car, and with a hammer pounded in (wedged) good size bolts where I could detect shroud vibration. Worked like a charm.

I would disconnect the positive side battery cable for about 15 to 20 minutes, then reconnect, and hopefully the reboot will solve the problem.

So, did the yard pump solve your problem??