1997reduxe

Yeah, what exactly are you looking for?

God sometimes I really miss State College. It's weird here in Texas. Around Houston it seems there really aren't that many Subarus. But up in Austin there are tons. There must be some kind of lifestyle or demographic correlation, or their marketing to something-somethings really works.

To me, it only stands to reason that there are probably more sensors on 90s era cars than 80s. And that the engines' electronics are more sensitive. Also I would think that suddenly immersing the exhaust in cool water after it's been driven a while and is hot could cook parts there. (Not just sensors). this happened to our family station wagon once where we drove in snow for a looong time up near Erie and the inner jacket of the exhaust sealed almost completely somehow. In my Suby experience, shortly after I bought my 97 Legacy (used, 140K, no check engine light) I took it to the car wash (while hot) and sprayed down the entire engine area to clean it. Immediate result: Check Engine errors. I drove it like that for a long time. Autozone said it was i think fuel level and oxygen sensor and possibly needed catalytic converter/exhaust or whatever. Also, while living out at my sister's place when I first moved down here, when I didn't realize what the term "ex rice plantation" meant waterwise, after a previous nightong's intense rainstorm i came out to my car, which had been parked with the right side of it down over the edge of her raised driveway. I couldn't really see how deep the water was at first, but after starting it and backing up the length of the driveway i later realized it was inside the car and basically up into the glove compartment area. It died about two miles later, and needed a new computer. 650 dollars, and I was desperately hoping that would be all it needed. It was. Still runs good. I don't know about the 95, but the computer was right behind the floorboard behind a panel. now that's dumb! It should be on a tower 5 feet above the roof!

Yeah but that FWD fuse feature is sure something. Speaking from personal experience this week, I have been driving my 97 Legacy AWD for a while with varying levels/types of noise coming from directly under the car. I believe (hope) it's a u-joint, and on thursday it was getting much worse. (It seems like it happens mostly under early acceleration). but anywho, i put the FWD fuse in to check if it would change anything, and the noise pretty much disappeared. Wow, they made these cars with forward-thinking.

or better yet, http://www.car-part.com i've seen this posted before here, but not until i just saw it again did i ever look at it. zowie!, that's good stuff...

That really sucks. It reminds me of certain situations i was in when younger. And knew relatively little about cars. And, being in a place far out in the cold north somewhere and only one company store to depend on. Can you say, Altoona, PA Fiat? the vortex of misdiagnosis versus exponential money flow evil. My question is, they never found the dipstick? So where exactly is it? What a bunch of sheisters. You've only had the car 8 months and they come up with this continually changing story? It makes me think they knew the HG was bad to start with, even before you bought it, and looked for some sucker to "bless" with their 15% off "deal". Now that's service! 3000 dollars? More? There's a 2.2 on ebay right now with 89000 on it for 600 bucks. From a company in Ontario. Search: 220240762604 and you'll see it. Good luck with those heathens.

http://stores.ebay.com/FLATIRONS-ACURA-AND-SUBARU or http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ (if you want oem) otherwise, search ebay for aftermarket stuff. sometimes they sell stuff there that's (supposedly) made by the company that manufactures suby parts.

yeah. that kind of reminded me of back when i did that research. i earlier did a google search for the terms "synthetic oil seals" and came across a few good pages just like the old ones i'd looked at. i remember now that i read back then that not only does oil (any oil, of course) prevent dirt buildup and metal part wear, but in fact preserves and infuses life, short or long, into the seals themselves. i read that mobil 1 supposedly had a high amount of not just detergents, but the seal helpers. i remember now that after my ex girlfriend took her car to walmart once to get the oil changed and they filled the engine with so much oil (guess they couldn't read that funky stick) that it blew at least some of the seals, or so a subaru dealer said. they quoted like 3000 dollars for repair. a small shop run by an ex suby dealer mechanic said 1200. i started putting mobil 1 in it i don't know why, and it stopped burning oil. probably just coincidence.

I mean, excuse me, but 4200 dollars for a head job? wow, it's no wonder that you go to the dealer and see these 600 and 800 dollars for certain scheduled maintenance jobs. I really see people on here doling out the cash sometimes. I still remember that 97 legacy i saw last year in PA that was a nice bright red, the seller had maint. records, and had the timing belt and much or all of the service done at subaru--not that big of a deal in itself but showing willingness to take care of the car. cars.com price: 3000 dollars. mileage: 94000 miles. engine: 2.2, oh yeah, with the trans AND rest of the car attached.

oh, and if you do search ebay, look for them under both "hydroedge" and "hydro edge" don't know what your size is, but there are 4 15 inch ones right now for like 135 bucks. supposedly 10/32 rubber on them. good luck.

For years I wanted to go back to the XZ or XZX or whatever old Michelins they used to sell in the 70s and 80s. I had them on an old VW bug that got totalled, and a Fiat. Now they were tires! I got my 4 used (they were almost brand new) Michelin Hydroedges off ebay a while back (2007) at 177 dollars shipped. I swear by these tires. Look up the reviews on Tirerack.com. Someone's selling them now on ebay in my Legacy's size for 96.00 per with free shipping. I used to have the Michelin X-ones (even for my jeep cherokee, again from ebay, and then for this Legacy, again, ebay used) and they were absolutely great. 80000 mile warranty on those, 90 on the Hydroedges I believe. Most of the tires out there nowadays are just imitations of what used to be. Even the lower brand Michelins, like those sold at Sears, etc. Take my word for it--you wouldn't be disappointed. Especially when they have like 50000 miles on them (if balanced, roatated correctly etc) and still hardly show wear. Even my brother came over the other day, and I've had these on the car now for like 8-9 months, and he commented how they haven't worn at all! You really don't realize how solid and heavy a real tire is until you see and lift one of these. And the compound of the tire allows great handling and long wear. I don't know how they do it.

This is my tired old singsong, but... I bought mine with 140K on it. When I bought it I got a carfax report and it said it was a fleet car till like 55000 miles. I don't think the 2nd owners took that much care of it--a college girl drove it to school etc. Now it has 250K. Some issues, but amazing. No burning oil, no leakage. (Reminds me, got to change oil this week and check it today.) Of course, it's the EJ22 engine... I always recommend to people to take advantage of the like 200-250 dollar, in that range, checkover at Subaru, plus a compression check. Or something similar, and likely cheaper, at your trusty local mechanic. But 19000 miles is very low, and something very bad would have had to have been done to it to be significant... Good luck.

I researched this a while back. I bought my 97 Legacy at 140K. I started using I think Castrol synthetic, but then saw that Walmart had their own brand of it and was wondering as to the quality of that. Somehow I found a forum (don't know where it is anymore) dedicated to the makeup of oils. etc. (a quick search just showed now me there are many of these). The basic argument seemed to center about the value of paying for synthetic versus using a high mileage oil, but i thought that it kind of defeats the purpose using high mileage since you have all that dirt etc swishing around in the engine even though the oil is still viable. Basically also I learned that there are different grades of synthetic. Castrol i believe wasn't true synthetic, but either just adulterated regular oil or a syn/regular mix. Walmart was made by another company, but not Exxon as they seemed wont to claim at the stores to customers, but a company called Warren I believe, and not that high of quality. Mobil 1 was supposed to have been of high quality, and had certain qualities/ingredients that were good at preserving seals/engine etc (I forget now what these ingredients were). I changed to Mobil 1, and now have 250K on the car, with absolutely no burning of oil or leakage. One thing though--I believe you are unable to change back to regular oil once you go synthetic, and my car was I believe a fleet car before the second owner had it (I am the third), so it was probably taken pretty good care of in the beginning. It's probably been the reason it runs so well now.

What's an EG33? What type/year?

Seeing how similar the 96 & 97 are, (I have a 97 and it can be read by Azone), why don't you tell them it's a 97 and see if they can read it?

Oh, I can't seem to get the images to work...

Oh, the pic doesn't seem to work, so an attachment.

I couldn't really believe it, when i saw that "5" roll up. A quarter of a million. (Though I had the same miles a while back on my old Jeep Cherokee.) Just a working car, mind you. Although, ironically, the set of new (oem) mud flaps arrived on the same day. I had one destroyed when I blew a tire at 90 mph on the way back from San Antonio 2 years ago, and it shredded the flap. (Back when I bought used tires.) Now the Michelin Hydroedges run her fine. All thanks to EJ22 and Mobil One! Here's a pic of her.

My baby turned 250K yesterday. A few creaks and cranks, but still going strong...

wow, that's a nice looking car. i'd want to know how they know that it's the differential, though. (who diagnosed it?) i don't know if it's feasible, but get subaru to look at it if you can.

This is just my intuition, and I'm not a mechanic, but I've driven Legacys for like 9 years now, (only 2.2 engines, I forget whether yours was a 2.5 or not), but I've known them to be VERY stable tempwise. In my experience if they don't run with the needle right under that bulb on the temp gauge (99 % of the time) there's something seriously wrong. It would almost seem to me that with all those temp fluctuations there's some kind of blockage, maybe as others said the thermostat or water pump. Like the increased rpms make it possible for the fluid to get where it was supposed to have been. I had my t-stat water pump go last year. I should have noticed it earlier, but the symptoms weren't real obvious (which i need). First thing was that for a long time the car wouldn't warm up fast ENOUGH! In the wintertime I would start it early to warm up and defrost the windshield, and come out 5 or 10 minutes later and it was still very low on the gauge, wouldn't warm up till I actually got it out on road. Also in that period a about 5" hose off of the back of the water pump, down underneath, blew. By the time I finally got it that the pump was bad it was pouring water out the bottom (only moderately slower than I was pouring it in the top, jumping in and driving to get it home). Also had been knocking like a diesel. At that point I had no idea that it had a timing belt, which I'm now amazed survived the ordeal. '97

i know that a guy told me once that you should have all four of the same wear (and of course size) etc tires on these subarus. i used to buy used tires for a while when i had no money, so they were of all wear status, all same size, and had all kinds of noise and vibes. when i finally got around to buying my wonderful michelin hydroedges, all matching, most of the noises went away. now i can concentrate on the really serious stuff.

I'd say it's all up to the maintenance of the car previously. Treat it just like a car you're going to buy to drive (with all subsequent discounts for the roll, of course). Do they have maintenance records, oil changes, how's the fluid in the trans, etc.? Of course, I bought my 97 with 140K on it, they had none of the above, (I found out first on Carfax it was a fleet car before them (but never wrecked) so I guess it was maintained early--thus the fact that it now has 246K.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/search_results.jsp?ct=1&tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&cid=&dlid=&dgid=&amid=&cname=&mdnm=Legacy&mknm=Subaru&rd=250&ddrd=&zc=78350&makeid=45&modelid=410&pageNumber=&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE%20descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_45_|B-3000|D-_410_|N-N|R-250|I-1|P-PRICE%20descending|Q-descending|Z-78350&aff=national

That's ok. I was just kidding. With these cars we all win, eh? (To mimic EVOthis)