Rooster2

Suggest you go to a wrecking yard. Cut out a radiator support from any Leggie 95-99, then swap it into your car. You will need to have it welded in. Package the rad support with other items you need replaced on the front end, shouldn't cost much. Don't be surprised that you find you may need to replace the radiator as well, since it got pushed around as you described. Very easy for it to leak.

I had same problem on a 91 Leggie years back. The bolt kept coming loose. Finally, got it to stay on, when shop used a good thread locker compound, and tightened up to spec.

I have found ONLY Advance Auto Parts to offer continuing on line discount coupons 365 days a year. The other parts store you mention don't have any on line discount codes that I have ever found. Add a discount coupon code to an on line Advance order, and the discount amount is automatically deducted from the order. If possible, I order on line from Advance; upon check out I look to see if any of their near by Advance stores have the product in stock. If so, it works out great to buy on line, then simply pick up the product at the store. If not store available, and delivery must be made to your home, it is still nice to know that if the product is the wrong part, you can very easily return to an Advance store for complete refund. That return is a lot easier, then having to mail the product back to an on line parts house, that is likely many hundreds of miles away. Once you order on line, you give them your e-mail address. Advance will send you coupon codes good for in store use only. That comes in handy. I just received an in store coupon good for $10 off, next $20 purchase.

All of the above is great advise. Being a stick shift, I would pay attention to the clutch. When changing gears, is the clutch action smooth, or is there some chatter?? Ask owner for receipts on car repairs and maintenance. That will give you some idea of how well it has been maintained. Ask at what mile reading the timing belt was changed. If beyond 60K miles, then the belt needs changed ASAP. Failure to change the belt, is inviting it to break. Which, will bend the valves. That is expensive to repair. If possible, put the car up on a lift. Check underneath for torn boots on the half shafts, Also, torn boots on the steering rods. Look for rust, particularly if you live in an area where a lot of salt is applied to the roads in winter. 200K miles on a Subaru is not that much of a turn off. For example, my 99 has 231K miles, my 98 has 178K miles. Both engines still run strong. Pull the dip stick for the oil. Does oil look fairly clean?? Any sludge or crud on the dip stick?? If so, that tells you the oil changes have been neglected. All Subarus with either AWD or 4WD handle snow well. Have good tires on, and take on the winter with confidence against snow and ice.

fuel filter, or fuel pump.........maybe both??

If it is in good shape, then simply replace the bent valves. There should be no more damage to the rest of the engine. Used heads from a wrecking yard can be had for cheap.

Yea, that is what happened to my steel terminal. Seemed like the battery post was too small in diameter. Tighten the clamp as much as I could some time ago, but ran out of room to tighten any further. Clamp had not been real tight for some time.

not seeking advise.......just a quick story. Went to Advance Auto Parts to buy parts for my RV. Upon leaving the store, my 99 OBW would not start. Just "click click click" upon turning the ignition key. Before this, car had not presented any starting problems. I went back in the store, and got the counter guy to bring out his Jumper Box to see if that would start the car. In hooking up the cables, he noticed my negative battery cable was loose at the battery post. He tried tightening up the cable, but that didn't help. It just sort of bent the terminal, and would not tighten up The OEM terminal just isn't made very well. So, I bought a new cable terminal, and now all is well. Just a "new first" for me, to break down in the parking lot right in front of an auto parts store front door. Best place ever to have a problem.

To quote One Lucky Texan's earlier post................get another opinion - post your city in a new thread asking for a shop recommendation. maybe there's a cracked ring land and the heads are OK? you need precise info to decide how to proceed. Subaru engines are unique. You need to find someone, or a shop, that knows how to work on a Subaru. A shop working on Fords and Chevys all day, is not where you want to go. The shop quoting around $5,000 to do a valve and piston job seems awfully expensive.

So, I am guessing I sold it to you. It has been a while..........knew I sold it to someone on this forum. Yea, air tools make a huge difference. I don't have air tools. Doing the "Armstrong Method" to work the Tammer got really old in a hurry. Glad it has worked out well for you.

Not sure on newer Subarus, but on an Audi I owned, it had a wear sensor attached to the brake pad. When brake pad wore down, a metal clip with an electrical connector would rub against the rotor. When this electrical connection happened, a brake warning light would appear on the dash. Another thought is that the ebrake handle needs a cable adjustment. With handle down, a loose cable isn't turning off the electrical connection, so light stays on.

+1 on above JT95's post. I too hate doing work on wheel bearings. Tried it a couple of times with poor success. Even bought, and used something called a Hub Tammer to swap in replacement bearing. After replacing wheel bearings twice on same front wheel, I figured out that the hub was bad. I went to a wrecking yard, and bought a hub, with what looked like a fairly new bearing, as it looked rather clean. That was the best wheel bearing move I have ever made. That has been about 4 years ago, and replacement hub is still going strong. I sold my hub tammer, and in the future will only use wrecking yard hubs.

My 99 OBW has 231K miles on the odo. I have replaced the right front wheel bearing, actually the entire hub. No need to replace the remaining wheel bearings until they start giving you trouble. It would be an unnecessary expense.

I guess I am confused..........since you live in PA, a state you say has no laws on diminished value claims, what legal ground can you stand on to file a claim?? I am not giving you a hard time on this, but I don't see where you can go anywhere with a claim.

Another possibility is a bad spray of the injector. Add a can of fuel injector cleaner to your gasoline. Get the good stuff that cost more then $8/can like Techron. The cheapie stuff doesn't help much.

Check wiring for a bad ground may help.

Measure with a tape measure, that should work pretty well.

Glad to hear you got your car back, and still runs. I have had two cars stolen over the years, and it just makes you just sick, so I can feel your pain. Glad your car still runs. Suspect same as you, that thief was trying to unplug the radio wiring. Usually, a thief is in a hurry, and simply cuts wiring. That has been my past personal experience, not as a thief, but as a victim. Stealing fog lights from a 98?? Where could they be used............except on another Legacy?? Go figure?? Prolly best to use cable ties and rebundle all the wiring. Let us know if you need help on wiring issues.

Telling the rest of my past story..........I finally gave up trying to find the leak myself, so took to a shop, where they diagnosed with the dye. I asked to see where they found the leak, so they showed me. The shop wanted to replace the bottom tube that connects to the condenser, (where the leak was discovered) and the condenser. Total repair bill was pushing $600. I said "no thanks," paid them about $80 for the diagnosis. After looking best I could at the leak, it appeared that my problem was simply a pin hole leak in the tubing, and that is what it turned out to be. I went to a wrecking yard, and secured the tubing there from a Leggie like mine. Swapped the tubing with new O rings on both ends. Added a half can of 134 to the system, then vented out 134 to get rid of some of the atmosphere and possible water in the system. Didn't feel good about venting intentionally to the atmosphere, but that is what happens when you have a leak anyway. So, what the heck. Then added 2 cans of 134. A/C has worked great ever since, and that has been 3 years ago. Bottom line........you may want to go to a shop, and get their diagnosis only, then do the work yourself, and save some money.

Have you use the florescent dye in the system to detect a leak?? It has helped me in the past.

That is a good price, and with a 3 year warranty an even better deal. Just be sure to keep your sales slip and warranty info in case of a problem.

I agree with you re form vs function, never liked the idea of splitting a single pipe to go to two mufflers to create duel exhaust. Just more pipe and an extra muffler to go bad and needing replacement. Convert to a single exhaust, if you can find a mom & pop exhaust shop that custom bends pipes to get the job done. Engine performance will not change.

That totally makes since.... I know the timing is on and that the wires and plugs are good. So i would say that I have a valve problem on number 2 that is causing problems on number 4 cylinder as well. Sounds like a good theory to me. I will try and pull the valve cover off today. I am sure that isn't going to be a fun job considering how much fun changing the plugs was on that side. I have done it years ago on a buddys and remember having to jack the engine up to get the cover out. I will report back once I get it off. I don't have hands on experience, but recently had a buddy replace the valve cover gasket on my '99 with 2.5 motor. He said the job wasn't bad at all. Got both valve cover gaskets swapped out in not much more then an hour. Said he went to u-tube to see videos on how to do the job. You may want to see the videos as well. Hope these thoughts help.

I would suspect the coolant temperature sensor.

The known head gasket problem that you are considering buying affects all Legacy models during the model runs of 1996-99. It always presents itself as an engine over heating problem, as the head gasket fails, resulting in exhaust gas entering the cooling system. Initially the problem is an on and off problem, that only gets worse. It does not result in oil mixing with coolant or vice versa. It is pretty much a given that all 2.5 engines of those model years will suffer a head gasket problem eventually. Sometimes it strikes with less then 100K miles, or could strike later. In my case, my 98 head gaskets broke about 165 miles. The head gaskets on my 99 broke at about 190K miles. Once repaired with better designed head gaskets from Subaru, it is pretty safe that the repair will last for another 100K miles. Otherwise, Subarus are rock solid reliable, and will run for a long time. My 99 model has 231K miles on the odometer, and the motor still runs strong, with no squeaks or rattles from the body. I expect to drive more then 300K miles with this car. I am confident I could drive a 2,000 mile round trip, and not have any motoring problems.