Rooster2

Good advise here. my instinct says to replace the thermostat with a good one, either from Subaru, or the most expensive after market from a parts store, or on line. Cheapie thermostats don't work well in Subarus. My temp guage when fully warm is just slightly below the middle mark. As said, if your coolant level is low, then your heater will struggle to put out hot air. I would be inclined to peal back the duct tape, and see what is going on behind that tape. Have a roll of duct tape available in case the tape there replaces broken plastic.

Very nice looking car. Looks new. I have a 99, but not that clean or nice. Your's is the Limited, so you have the comfy heated leather seats. Be aware that your car's transmisson is a candidate for "delayed forward engagement." All the 99 & 00 models can have the problem. It is easily solveable with Trans-X. Much written here about using that product. My auto tranny continues to drive on using Trans-X.

In his original post, he states his car is a 2000 OBW, so 96-99 motors won't work for his car. He needs the newer motors with the 2.5 SOHC design.

I live in Indy. What shop in the Indy area charges $400 for duty C replacement? Just good to learn for future consideration.

same thought as others...........bad alternator. Output should be around 14 volts.

Use a mechanic's stethescope to listen for the sound. My guess is a bad bearing in the alt, or in one of the pulleys.

If it were me, I would go to a wrecking yard, and pull a replacement pump, then swap it in for the one that is giving you trouble. WY sourced pumps don't cost much. Long ago, I replaced one on a 91 Leggie that broke. Pretty easy to swap out. Replacement pump worked great. That was a lot easier then trying to repair a pump that I didn't know what was wrong with it.

Used cats are hard to come by. Wrecking yards can't legally sell them to anyone. I got lucky once, and had a yard worker I know give me one "on the side." I tipped him well for his work, and made sure no one in the office saw what we were doing.

Fill P/S reservoir with ATF, then as stated above turn steering wheel lock to lock to price the system. Check for fluid lead at the reservoir. There is an "O" ring that can break on the reservoir unit, and cause fluid leakage. That is what happened on my 99 OBW.

For what it is worth, the front knuckle assembly housing the wheel bearings is the same on 99 OBW and 99 Forester. I know this, as my OBW is using a knuckle from a Forester. Perfect interchange.

I think you may be better served by finding a Nissan forum. People there will surely know Nissans better then us here at Subaru. Hope you find some help.

If you can find a cut, bend, weld muffler shop, they should be able to fix your exhaust for a lot less then $600. Usually they are a family owned muffler shop, not your Midas, Car-X chain store shops. Both my OBWs had the pipe break at the resonator. My shop torched out the rusted pipe, welded in a new pipe, and I was out the door for about $45. Suggest you look into it.

Recommend to check further for a bad electrical ground.

Ok, learned what Spec B option packages can be. Sound nice!

For starters, what is a 2006 spec B? That is a new one on me. In my experience, "jumping" a really dead battery takes time. I have had to keep the jumper cables on a dead battery a good 5 minutes, before the dead battery receives enough juice to be able to turn the starter. You may not have waited long enough. Also...........you could have prolly turned off the honking horn using the fob, as that sounds like an alarm function. With the new battery, are you sure it was charged up? Usually a new battery is sold fully charged, when purchased new, but not necessarily. Even a new battery can be bad. If new battery has removable cell caps, remove the caps to see if battery is full of water. If me, I would turn on the head lights to see if they work. If not, then I would assume the new battery is dead, then use a battery charger, or try a jump start again. Just give the jump start some time to charge up the dead battery. I would be surprised if a fuse is blown. Sounds like a battery problem only.

My experience in buying a TB, water pump, and pullies from ebay has been good, at a good price. Prolly only a 60K mile belt, but for money spent it is a good value.

I think all Subies went to obd2 starting in 1995. Ball joints and tie rod ends wear out just like on any other car. Originals should last 150K miles. Easy to replace. Since you have good mechanical experience, you won't find anything unusual. The boots on ends of the half shaft wear out eventually. Nothing difficult to swap out a half shaft. Much written in the archives of this forum under "search" on how to do this job any all other jobs.

The 2.2 motors were in Subarus throughout the 90's only. Most were non interference motors, except the ones sold in cars in roughly the 97-99 time frame. The 2.2 was in both the Impreza and Legacy lines. Same motor in both. Like others have said, motor is easy to work on to replace fan belts, starter, and alternator. All components last a good long time, with all parts readily available. Spark plugs rather easily replaced on 2.2 motor, but difficult on the 2.5 motor, as there is limited space to work with the wheel wells in the way. For a 4 cylinder, all Subaru boxer style motors are exceptionally smooth running at any RPM, compared to in-line 4 style motors. Notice this when you test drive one.

I have used AZ reman calipers on several occassions without problems. And should any problem arise their warranty is excellent.

If you learn for sure that the heater core is leaking, you could add some "stop leak" to the cooling system. It could fix the problem. Just don't use more then manufacturer recommends, or you could gum up the cooling system, or plug up the heater core. If your heater core is the leaking culprit, you don't have anything to loose.

Both car forums that I post on have had numerous posts over the years that Fram oil filters were not the best, so I have avoided them. I, too, am surprised that Subaru would sell rebranded Fram filters. Seems like they could have done a lot better.

If by universal, you mean one where you splice wires from old one to new one, then I have to say that in my experience I have never had one last very long. Going after market is good, if no wires need to be spliced.

Yea could be, there is no warning when a timing belt breaks. Works one second, motor totally quits the next. Hope his knees recover completely. Makes my knees hurt from just looking at the accident pictures.

Thanks for the forum's "New Look." I like it. It will take a bit of getting use to, as things are different....................Rooster2

I have both a 98 and 99 OBWs, so my car knowledge is somewhat limited to the car that you drive the 97. They are all the same. In 2000, the Legacy and Outbacks, went to a slightly different motor. It is more reliable in regard to head gaskets. If and when they go bad, they simply weep coolant out of the motor, and not cause over heating problems as seen in the 96-99 Leggie models. If there is a slight leakange, it is just a matter of making sure the motor doesn't run low on coolant to the point of over heating. The vehicles are virtually the same, except for ground clearance. The GT wagon is built lower to the ground, so it will handle and corner better then an Outback, but not have the ground clearance of an Outback. However, it will be at a disadvantage in really deep snow. Gas millage will be the same between GT and Outback. Being built lower, it will be a little harder to get in and out of the driver seat. Don't know if a GT or Outback is more expensive as a used car. The car price books can tell you that. Happy car shopping, that is always fun!