1997reduxe

just my two cents, but only because i'm gathering all the parts for my own change, though i get my mechanic here in houston to do it, i much prefer the continental (contitech) tb kits. the conti i believe is the best belt for a lot of reasons, but that kit also comes with the oem (i forget the name, aisian or some other) the original manufacturer pulleys and water pump, i believe, where from what i remember some of the seals etc you get in the cheaper ebay kits are lesser quality. but, i just got the conti tb kit, the one without seals, as i prefer to get my seals directly from subaru (that's a whole other argument, but i got this mentality from reading this forum a long long time if you want to find the one i got, search ebay for TB277LK2, i got it for 132 bucks. that is a steal. also, the alternative one with seals is there, i think it is part number L2 PP277LK2 to search. ask me if you'd like to know about my mechanic. since you're in texas.

thanks lot.

Hey all. I just bought a 99 Outback that needs at least one wheel hub. I just wondered, when I'm looking around at them it seems that they a pretty limited on the versions of that part, am I correct that all the 2.5s are the same axle and wheel hub? On brakes it varies from legacy models but the hubs seem to all be the same. Thanks for any help. '97

ok thanks gary. looking forward to a newer car.

Hey all. old '97 back again. My old Legacy died a while back, the trans burnt up due to all the old problems and unbelieveable amounts of commute. So, I am looking at a 2007 Tribeca with the H-6. It has I think 138K on it. Can anyone say or point to what i should be looking for as potential problems with this car? I am out of my element. Thanks a lot for any help. '97

thanks for the help.

the best tires imo are michelin. I used to live by X-Ones, then I changed to Hydroedge with they discontinued the Ones. But they may have other models out since the H's. But the warranties for them are 80 and 90 thousand miles, and there's a reason.

i suggest looking around for a while before doing the job. i got mine off of ebay, it was a continental kit which i think is the best for 200 bucks cause a guy got one and then didn't need it. the question is the pulley quality and the water pump from Aisin: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/128157-watch-out-for-oaw-branded-water-pumps/ Also important is the quality of the belt. In your case you say you don't care about the quality, but if you change everything with the better parts, all it does is prolong the time till you absolutely need to do it again, barring catastrophic filure, that is...

Yeah make sure the keyway is on correctly too. When I had my timing belt done by my mechanic he had his flunky brother in law do it, and about a month later the damn pulley unloosened and it was sheer luck (and AAA) that got it back to his shop so he could replace it.

Hey all. Here's my new Sube project. http://postimg.org/gallery/cix6535a/ Pretty nice for 700 bucks, of course there's no engine and the front's been damaged... But still, great interior, only 134K, so I can't wait to get to work on it. My only question is, it's a 2000 Legacy that had a 2.5 in it. Can you put the more modern H6 or 6 cyliner engines in this vehicle, or that's pretty much a fantasy? Just wondering if it's possible, while I'm shopping around for an engine. thanks. Any feedback welcome. Dan

On second thought, by now I'vge had a little time to search around and found out what a big hassle this would be. Cancelling my request for info. Will look for a similar engine to the one in the car if I do buy it. Thanks a lot anyways. Dan

[iGNORE THIS POST!!!] Hey all. I found a 2000 legacy that has a bad 2.5 engine. The guy says the shop they took it to sent it to a machine shop, and they said it has a spun bearing. But whatever, the engine is no longer in the car, don't know yet if it's even still available. Both cars, my present one and the one i'm looking at, are automatics. But I was wondering if it would be a big deal matchingwise to put the 2.2 from my 95 Legacy into this other car? My car is pretty much to the point where I don't want to put any more money into it, but I did have the engine serviced noit too long ago with timing belt etc and it is the one thing, other than the trans, that still has no problems on the car, other than an oil leak i have yet to track down. Is this a possible switch with not too much trouble? Thanks for any help. Dan

Yeah I already got the plugs from another older list on that topic. I just wondered if anyone had ever sprayed into the plug areas... I'm not even going to pull off the wires if I do it, I'm afraid they'll break too if I try to remove them.

Hey all. A spark plug question. I bought my legacy with about 125K on it, now it's got almost 200K, and I've never changed the plugs, nor do I know when they might've been done previously. So my fear is that when they are changed they might be sealed in there? Can I spray anything into the plug area to make them come out more easily? Wondering... '97

Hey all. This is on my 95 Legacy wagon. A month or so ago I had my mechanic replace the front disks and calipers/pads. When he did he said the abs sensor on the left one had broken off due to its being so corroded, which is probably true. It's a New Hampshire car originally. Right after he fixed it there was squealing and grinding from the front left brake, which went away after a day or two. But the ABS light comes on after driving it about a mile or so. And until the ABS light comes on there is hesitation in the braking when coming to a stop. But this morning I took it to the store, I didn't notice it before going in the store, but upon getting back in the car there was this droning sound coming from the brake hydraulic control unit, this was even before the car was turned on. It stayed on all the way home and after I turned the car off, till I disconnected the battery, then when I reconnected battery it wasn't there, nor when I restarted car. I just wonder what would be the best first thing to check on the brakes? I don't really know about the ABS of the brakes, so what should I be looking for in this situation? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks dan

I wish I knew where the forum was that i found once about oil tech, this was way back when i first found out about USMB, and I used to use Castrol synthetic, but then when i read about the background and makeup of oils I found that castrol was actually a blend of synth and regular oil, (supposedly and back then, this was probably 8 years ago+ now), and they had bad things to say about walmart synth, what it was made of and where, etc. Seems there were all these deeper properties to oil i had never heard of or imagined. One for example that seemed very important to me was in the capability of the oil to sustain or reinvigorate the seals and thus lengthen their lifetime. So back then i changed to Mobil 1 religiously for the life of that 97 legacy, and it really ran well to about 330 k till i sold it due to overheating. But then whoever bought it fixed it and resold it again and it's probably still out there. But sad to say after it did overheat and as i bought this new(er) older 95 legacy, i have just put the cheapest thing that will read on the dipstick in it, maybe foolishly. I buy those specials at autozone or whatever, right now peak for filter and 5 qt. jug for something like 14 bucks? You gotta check the sales too at Oreilly in the quarts section. They had this GREAT deal once where i think if you bought texaco havoline in the jug it was 10 bucks but they sent you a gift card for 5 bucks. shoulda cleaned up on that one, stopped at every oreilly i passed...But as for the age of many of these 90s year subys, i feel like it's the law of diminishing returns anymore, i mean how many years are you really gonna get out of them? (Unless you happen to find like a garaged one with low miles, and they are out there.) '97

do two searches on this forum for the words burping or burp and you should find your problem. the lack of heat is a big indicator. probably air in the heater core or engine. check it out.

Hi all. Anybody ever see this? It was relatively cold here last night (for Houston). I started my car this morning, and forgot something and had to go back inside, and when I came back to the car, there was a small amount of coolant leaking from or off the bottom passenger side of the timing belt cover. (Gotta look at that closer tomorrow morning), but I had to go to a job interview so I chanced it. This leaking was happening while the temp gauge was still very low on the temp, and a little ways down the road when the gauge got to normal running temp i checked it again and there was no leak. And I was able to drive it all the way to the interview and back, 1 hr each way, still no leak, no overheating. And minimal loss out of reservoir. Checked now inside the (new sube) rad cap, and fluid is right up there. It has been losing a small amount of coolant I've noticed over the past month or so, this is post my timing belt install when my guy did change the water pump and thermostat (but i used the new stant one) and i had another leak about two months ago which was the t-stat bypass hose when the shop nextdoor replaced the radiator though it was the bypass hose i found out afterward.. Can anyone suggest what this leak might be? Confused... Can't afford any more of these darn coolant problems.

Two weeks of cooling info packed into one here... (This is concerning the 95 Legacy and similar models)... So about two weeks ago my car overheats going to work, I had smelled coolant off & on, but since I had basically no choice it was dark and a panicky night...= I had it towed to the nextdoor shop, who diagnosed the problem as the radiator. I wish I had had the time or presence of mind to have thought, remembered the same thing happened on my old 97, but, and this is my newbie advice: WHEN YOU DO THE COMPLETE TIMING BELT JOB, AND YOU REPLACE THE COoLING HOSES, DONt FORGET THE SMALL ONE THAT LIES RIGHT BEHIND THE CONNECTION FOR THE BOTTOM LARGE HOSE TO THE THERMOSTAT!!! And my recap for the actual number of hoses on the cooling system, there are the two large ones off the radiator, (this is a question), the small one also attaching to the t-stat, and the two heater hoses, correct? (And for clarity, the heater ones are the two that attach to the metal pipes coming from the driver's side rear of the engine, one going basically right over the starter and attaching at the firewall, and the other about 8 inches to the left also on the firewall? So a total of 5 altogether? Thanks for any help. Dan

Hi all. Needed a radiator on my 95 Legacy today. The guy who's working on it probably isn't too Sube savvy, so I was wondering if anyone could go over the burping procedure again for me? Get the engine up, (is it necessary to use ramps or just an incline good enough?), and fill the engine through the top hose or filler hole on the radiator? and then run it till the bottom hose warms up and leave the radiator cap off running till there are no more bubbles? Thanks Dan

thank you all very much. That was what I was wondering. Oh, and just for future reference by others interested in this topic, I found that Autozone lends out torque wrenches, they "sell" it to you for 100 dollar deposit, then you take it back and they refund. (At least here in Houston). Good week, all. Dan :cool:

guess i better get that tune up and valve cover gasket replacement done soon. thanks. :-p

I know I recently replaced rotors calipers and pads on front, had originals on there and one bad caliper i think, and it's amazing the difference in mileage.

Thanks, John. It's not that loose, just wobbling somewhat. And it runs ok, just the noise of the belts. I'm gonna see if I can tighten it as much as possible and see if it tightens up and take it to him to retighten hard.

What I seem to remember was there was a hole on the engine which you could stick a screwdriver in to hold the engine? Pretty hazy on that though... Thanks though. I do have the HF chain wrench from last time I did it. Now for the torque wrench, I think my brother took his with him. Hmmm.