Olnick

Have you considered going to a salvage yard and getting a used one?

Your choice, but listen to what davebugs is saying. The copper spray is what did it for me--that's considered a no-no here. And what about the heads, you'd be foolish to do a HG job and not send them out to a machine shop for checking and resurfacing.

Hey gang, would appreciate any input, observations, feelings (pro or con) on the '08 Forester. My sister-in-law in Tennessee is considering buying one, LLBean model with 69k miles. The '08 is SOHC 2.5 liter, right? Still have HG concerns? How about the Forester rear wheel bearing problems--solved? Anything in particular I should warn her about? Thanks for any help.

From my underwear drawer. Soft, clean, white, sweet-smelling . . . and full of holes and shot elastic!

Okay, let's start with some basic information (what I should have done to begin with!) How many miles on the car? How long has this been happening? Did it start suddenly or just slowly get worse over time? Does it idle okay? Any work done on the engine around the time it started? Had a tuneup recently? New plugs and wires? Filters? Thanks, Athowhen.

Very subtle change in the grill insert. Difference in the red plastic plate on the trunk/rear hatch too. Just cosmetic changes on the same body, '89 thru '94.

Wow, you sent me on a search way into the past! Came up with this oldie-goldie: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89128 But now that my memory was jogged I realized that my symptoms were different. Car would stall when warm in traffic but would refuse to re-start. Also cleaned the IACV at that time and the problem went away. In short . . . I may have been of no help to you! Sorry.

I had a similar stalling problem years ago. Replaced the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (ECTS) and it's been running smoothly ever since.

You'll probably get more response if you post your question in the Older Generation Forum. Good luck.

Good eye, TheLoyale! I think you're right.

Congratulations JB . . . and Mrs. JB. The '95 Legacy is a wonderful car--"bulletproof" non-interference 2.2 engine with OBD-2, relatively easy to work on. The key to longevity is preventative maintenance. Catch things before they go bad, or at least before they go too far bad! Haynes manual is good to have, it'll point you in the right direction and help you find things. But there are places where it is weak and even a few where it's wrong. Best resource of all is the "search" function here on USMB. Learn to use the "advanced search" to narrow things down. Just about every question you're going to have in the next year has already been answered in the past--with great guidance and helpful tips. That's not to say you shouldn't ask questions--ask away! Great bunch of folks here who'll bend over backward to help with a problem. By all means keep us up on your progress, maybe show us pic of your ride! Good luck . . . and enjoy!

Re-align your belt then turn the engine over 422 times. It should line up again! You might enjoy this for a little light reading: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74629&highlight=timing+belt+line

Hey, Spark--good to hear from you. Was a bit worried that you'd driven too far east!

WOW, that's a treasure! I assume he's your favorite uncle?!!

Congrats, JB--there's nothing better than a good '95 Legacy (Okay, so I'm prejudiced!) Hopefully your shifter problem is just a broken or missing spring. No big thing to replace. Not sure if parts stores carry it or not--OEM shouldn't be wildly expensive. But it could be worn shifter bushings. They're do-able but it's a PITA job. Try a search on here for "shifter bushings," there were several writeups a while back. Good luck.

Sorry to disappoint but the '95 Outback was just a Legacy wagon with a fancy paint job. (Not that there's anything wrong with being a '95 Legacy wagon!)

Welcome Cal. You've found a great place here. That's a sweet looking ride--happy to hear you're gonna be taking good care of her.

Welcome, Josh. Great resource here for anything Subie--but I suspect you know that already!

Hope it goes well for you and that it's a simple fix. Please do let us know what they find out. Good luck.

I'm sure others will chime in with real world experience, but in the meantime you can play with the Tire Comparer on this site: http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp On one side you can plug in your existing specs, then try variations on the other side.

Welcome aboard, Jeff! We'll forgive your addiction since you have excellent taste in DDs! I was born just across the bay from you in Hamilton. Had an uncle and aunt who lived in Burlington.

Good going, mwangix! Congratulations! Do you do your own work on the car? Is it difficult to get parts where you are? Would love to see pictures if you have any.

Please let us know when you're safely out. We worry, you know.

Sounds like you've done a pretty thorough job under the hood! You might want to replace the fuel filter too. Maybe run some Seafoam through the intake, maybe add a bottle of Techron to the fuel tank next fillup (although I wouldn't do both at the same time.) You say "You have to drive it quite a while before it is warm enough to quit the stuttering." Does this correlate to the temp gauge reaching normal operating temperature?

That's what I love about the USMB--lotsa' technical help and some very practical "real world" suggestions too!!!