Rooster2

The Gen 1, 2.5 motor blows head gaskets by allowing exhaust gas to enter the cooling system. So, you won't see any fluid leaks anywhere, or coolant in the oil. The bubbles in the over flow is a dead give away of HG trouble. The bubbles you are seeing is exhaust gas. Unfortunately, there is no magic additive to stop the force of the exhaust gas. Replacing the head gaskets is the only way to repair the problem. As mentioned, a new radiator cap may help some, but I don't know the logic behind doing this. Keep us posted on your course of action.

Agree, the light grey on dark grey background is not my first choice of color combo on this forum. It looks like Darth Vader chose this lay out. However, I am not complaining. Whoever runs this forum has done a terrific job of getting it back on line again twice in recent months. Thanks so much! I am curious, who runs this website? Does SoA foot the bill? Seems like a lot of the techies on this forum must either work for SoA or a Subbie dealer, because they know so much. Would like to know???

Hi, I am Rooster2, the guy who wrote the original thread. After 8 months, my trany continues to perform well with the Trans X additive to the automatic tranny. About 3 weeks ago, a friend of mine who ownes a 99 OBW was have the same trany delayed forward engagement problem. His was much worse then mine. He was having a terrible time trying to get his trany to engage into Drive mode from Park mode. I drained his trany of ATF, added the Trans X and new ATF, and he says his trany has worked perfectly ever since. Suggest draining and refilling with new ATF several times if your existing ATF is really dark and dirty, then on the last fill, add the Trans X. Further suggest adding really good ATF, as in synthetic ATF for best results.

super high milage and a bad motor means it is just about scrap value. A wrecking yard would pay $150, not much more. In my opinion, I wouldn't pay much more than that.

Glad you got the road wheel off. All the advise give to you was really good. I have used the sledge hammer approach in the past. To prevent this happening again, suggest smearing on anti-sieze compound to the facing of the hub, where the road wheel meets the hub. Works like a champ! I use the same stuff on the threads when replacing spark plugs to prevent them from galling and freezing up.

I have been suffering from withdrawls, not being able to read about Subies, and/or offer suggestions. I am praying that the hackers will just leave us alone in the future.

You might try adding a good quality fuel injector cleaner to a tank of gas. Use the good stuff that cost about $5 or $6/can. The cheap stuff is worthless.

like said all 95-99 should work.............front and rear bumpers are different, but should interchange.

Glad to hear that you figured out the solution. I can feel your happiness!

I have a 99 Leggie OBW that may have had the same problem. Car would engage in reverse just fine, but had a bad delay in engaging into Drive. I fixed it by draining the ATF, (there is a drain plug on the bottom of the tranny pan), and adding almost 5 quarts of synthetic ATF along with a bottle of Trans-X automatic transmisson slip-stop & Leak fix. Slowly top off with ATF, but don't over fill the system. If upon draining the ATF fluid, it appears really dirty black, then first add regular ATF, drive for a bit then change again. As draining, only drains about half the ATF out of the system. Then drain again, add the synthetic ATF and the Trans-X. After adding the Trans-X, I was surprised that the problem was fixed within 10 minutes of driving. That has been 6 months ago and 8K miles. So far so good. Much has been on this forum about this fix, so check the archives here for more info. Hope all this helps...............Larry

Suspect your key ignition is the problem. Try this.........insert the key in the ignition, start the engine, turn on the radio, then rotate the key to turn the engine off. Before removing the key, wiggle the key in the key cylinder, and rotate just slightly up and down, as you are removing the key. If the radio turns on and off intermittantly upon doing this, then I would suspect an electrical short in your key ignition. If so, replacing the key ignition should solve the problem.

My same thought, no need to hack saw anything. Simply use a large pair of slip joint pliers, I call them channel locks. Rotate what ever sticks out, your short extension, or the sparkplug socket in a clock wise direction to screw the spark plug far enough back into the engine so that you create enough room to remove the drive handle. Once you have done that, leave the socket on the old sparkplug. Use a very short extension, I used one that was barely an inch long or so. Enough of the small extension protruded, that I could get a couple of fingers on the end of the extension to unscrew the plug by hand. When installing new plugs, suggest using anti-sieze on the threads. It helps lube the threads upon installation, and prevents galling should you ever replace the plugs again. Suggest hand threading when installing the new plugs. You don't want to risk cross threading with any kind of wrench action. Only when hand tighened to the max, did I use a drive handle for final tightening. Snug the plugs tight, but don't super tighten to prevent damaging the threads in the aluminum head. Hope this advise helps. I have changed the plugs on my 99 Leggie OBW, to know what you are going through. It is a nasty angled job, but with patience, you will get it done.

Still sounds like you are low on 134 refrigerant. Air temp coming out the A/C vent ducts should be about 45 degrees F when system is on max cold setting, and the system is working properly. My guess is that system cycling should be about every 45 seconds, not 10 seconds, when working properly. Something must be wrong at the Subbie dealership in their service department for your to bring the car back 5, now maybe 6 times over the course of a hot summer, and they still don't have the A/C problem fixed. When a mechanic works on your system, he knows when his work has fixed the problem. A/C pressure testing instrumentation, and a simple thermometer placed in a vent duct will tell you that. If your A/C system is leaking refrigerant, it is not that difficult to detect that. Why the dealer would release the car to you, when they know that the problem is not solved is a mystery. You have a lot more patience then me to put up with this nonsense. It is time to really complain hard to the dealership, and Subbie factory rep guy about this on going problem. You may even want to threaten them with their replacing your car at no cost, or returning all your money under state "car lemmon law." Of course, they won't want to do that, but your raising a cloud of complaint may get them highly motivated to really fix the problem. If there is another Subaru dealership that is within reasonable driving distance, I would take my car there for a fix under warranty claim. Subbie air conditioning works great in both my Subbies, even on the hottest days. The design of the system is not the problem, just the repair clowns that you have been dealing with.

Some cars will run the compressor during defrost, even if the A/C is turned, but I don't know if Subbie does that. Suggest disconnecting the power wire lead going to the compressor at the connector right at the compressor. That way, you know for absolute sure that the compressor can't operate.

I have a 99 Leggie OBW with the 2.5 motor. I installed Bosch spark plug wires and Bosch Platinum spark plugs. 12,000 miles later, the motor still runs good. I also have a 98 Leggie OBW with the 2.5 motor with OEM type NGK plugs. I can't tell any performance difference between the two engines. Lots of people have written about trouble with non OEM plug wires and non OEM spark plugs, but I have not had any trouble with Bosch products. BTW, the Bosch wires were about the same price as Subbie OEM wires. I would suspect buying cheap plug wires and cheap plugs from an auto parts chain is where most people have problems, and develop complaints, and therefore sing the praises about using Subbie OEM parts for the ignition only.

$1,500 seems high for a car with 170K on the odo, and a bad motor. $750 or a few bucks more would be a good price in my opinion. Just my 2 cents worth. Lots written on this forum, and found in the archives about rebuilding phase 2 motors, or swapping in a 2.2 motor. You may want to read some of those earlier posts.

I had a Leggie that had a similiar problem. I pulled the blower motor, which is inside the cabin, in front of the passanger seat, behind the glove box, against the fire wall. I pulled out the blower motor thinking it was going bad, only to find it clogged with tree leaves and crud. I cleaned out the junk, reinstalled, and the blower ran fine again. I think you may have a similar situation. It was very easy to pull the blower motor on a Leggie, so prolly so an Imprezza.

When was the last time that the spark plug wires were changed? Also, maybe the PCV valve needs to be replaced? Maybe, the fuel filter needs to be replaced? These are thoughs that come to my mind. I have used Seafoam, and have been happy with the results. It does a good job of cleaning away engine deposits. Only negative that I have ever heard about Seafoam is that it is hard on engine seals and gaskets.

JB weld is an amazing product. It just might be able to handle the head of a cat converter. I have never tried this, but have heard that you can use JB weld to repair stripped threads. Try this..........clean out the hole the absolute best you can with solvents, light sand paper, etc. and dry thoroughly. JB weld must have a very clean surface to bond to. The cleaner the better. Apply a light coat of JB weld to the cat threads. Let it set up, but not get completely dry. Apply a release agent, something like anti-sieze or similiar to the threads of the o2 sensor. (This will prevent the o2 sensor from sticking to the JB weld, and allow you to unscrew the o2 sensor should you need to replace it in the future.) Gently screw in the sensor by hand if possible, but don't fully tighten down the sensor, as this will damage your newly formed JB weld threads. Allow the JB weld to harden over night, or better yet allow 24 hours before fully tightening up your o2 sensor. Be careful when tightening, do only a nice easy snug low effort tightening. Avoid a hard tightening effort, as that too could damage your new JB threads. Good luck if your should try this approach!

Same thought as previous poster.........your system is low on 134a refrigerant. If you are a good do it yourselfer, add a can of 134a to the low pressure side of your A/C system. The letter "L" is embossed on the cap of the port. Filler hose and refrigerant can is available at any auto parts store. The store counter guy should be able to give you advise, plus directions on the can should make this job easy for you to do. If this fix doesn't work for long, then you will need to find the source of the refrigerant leak. Any A/C work is expensive at a shop, so diy can save you some money.

I had a 91 Leggie with the 2.2 motor. The pulley kept coming loose and chewing up the end of the crank shaft. Several times, I tightened it up the best that I could, only to have it come loose again. Finally used some Loctite on the threads to keep the bolt from backing out. The Loctite really did the trick in solving the problem.

Yea, Andy, it sounds like you have a good attitude when buying a used car. Whenever I buy a used car, I try to remain emotionally detached from the car that I am interested in. Otherwise, if you fall in love with a particular car, you fee that you just have to have it, and with that mind set, you will pay too much for a car, and have just trivial thoughts regarding needed repairs that will cost you more. When I am in a car buying mode, I will look at several potential cars, and even if I find one that I really want, I try to never let on to the owner how much I like the car. I always say something like "it is a nice car, but it has these flaws, and I have others that I am looking at, and am more interested in." I always leave my name and tel number with the owner, and tell him that I might get back to him. Usually, they call me with a lower price. It is always a "sales game," to me, and as a professional salesman, I relish cutting the best deal that I can, or "walking away" if the price is not what I am willing to pay. This process drives my wife crazy, so she stays out of the picture. Just my thoughts, maybe it can be of value to you. Good luck!

Suggest adding a can of Techron or TL3 fuel system cleaner. It will cost about $5 or $6/can. Add to a full tank of gas. You will know within driving 25 miles if the additive is going to help or not. Run tank nearly empty before refueling to get the best use of all the additive. Don't waste your money on fuel system cleaners costing less then $5/can, as they don't work well.

A lot of good advise already given to you on this thread. Suggest you look up on line used car pricing on Kelly blue book and Edmunds used car pricing. Those two sources will give you advise on wholesale and retail Subie pricing. Like others have said, if you are truly interested in the car, offer a low price based on known defects that must be repaired like the clutch, and timing belt, and some rust. The dealer can't have much of an investment in the car, not with 200K on the odo. Also, this car can't be attractive to many people with that high milage, so the dealer will not have many people interested in buying this car. You have a lot of leverage on your side to buy this car at a low price. I have also learned to make low offers on used cars. If not acceptable, leave your name and number with the seller. Often, you will get a call back with a reduced price in a day or two. Good luck!!

I buy a lot from Walmart because their prices are low, but draw the line on using their automotive service department. Just getting a flat repaired there on my Subie was a Chinese fire drill in dealing with inept employees. A stupid manager ordering dumb people around is a sure fire formula for getting bad work done on your car. IMO, they hire the dumbest people that couldn't hold a job in a good tire store or oil change center, or be a mechanic anywhere else. My opinion is that this happens on a national scale with Walmart. When I had a card with Sam's Club, and bought tires there 15 years ago, their work was no better.