ThosL

My guess is the high heat conditions blew this one; Considering the heat these engines endure, it is amazing that does not happen more often.

I'll try to scrutinize the hoses for possible failures and make sure the oil gets soaked off; the major hoses were recent. What are the most caustic substances that degrade hoses?

The one that blew was the oldest as far as I know and changing all the hoses is just unrealistic unless specific ones show signs of distress. And that raises the question why most work by mechanics has become after the fact and why it seems mechanics don't look for potential problems? The alternative to my working on the car was a tow to a mechanic with problems getting my insurance company tow service to do that with typical 2-3 hour waits, with a shop that may not be able to get to the job for several days and a likely $100 plus charge.

Frankly I think a comparable straight, not molded hose would have served just as well. Is there any evidence to the contrary? At any rate, I went down to NAPA in Norwalk after calling them that said that they had the Dayco #87964 in stock which ebay listed as the right part. Their computer however showed a different part they did not have in stock. I worked on the car down the road in a parking space at the library. Pulling the main hose going into the thermostat is essential. The hose clamps you get off with pliers can be hard to work with. I replaced one with a standard hose clamp from NAPA. I'm not sure I got the orientation of the hose accurately aligned, I have never been good with that sort of thing. I put in a gallon of Auto Zone antifreeze, I will watch it more closely for future leaks. Would it be good to spray down other hoses that may have been compromised by oil leaks falling on them?

I was planning a 60 mile or so trip earlier and unfortunately I noticed temperature indicator going up. After pulling over to the side of the road, it looked like the 1997 2.5 was down a lot of coolant. I stopped at a convenience store and filled up a gallon jug with hot water and poured it in after letting the car cool down. I checked underneath and sure enough the one inch or so hose coming off the thermostat housing had sprung a leak. I'm glad I caught it and was still able to drive it back to parking to address it in the morning. The smaller hoses can be hard to catch; I had one less than finger width go in a 2.2 engine on top of the engine and blew the engine. More likely in the hot weather we have been having. The hose looked like it has a curve in it, anyone know the ID on that? Thanks. is it the engine coolant bypass hose? If I duck tape it up will that buy me enough time to pick the part up and install it?

The cans of mixed paint did not go too far. My brother is a house painter so used some of his gloss black. 97 Subaru looks a lot better now, Bondo work then sanding, a lot of rust in the usual places, finally hit those with a rust counteracting agent before the painting. Trim paint was hard to find on the silver metallic.

I was doing some body work on my 1997 Subaru Outback Limited. Though it has 280K+ miles on it, I want to keep it and not turn it in for a newer Subaru with the usual challenges entailed in getting a new used vehicle. Yesterday I was trying to get a match on the two main colors, one is a black slate color, the other is a slightly metallic grey. So I went to an auto paint store that whips up $20 cans of custom paints. I gave them the two colors under hood on a side plaque. An half hour later, the young guys who were recent hires come back with two cans of the same color, the slate black. I found that out when I got to my brother's place who was doing the work. I called them somewhat upset and then went back to the auto paint place, diverting on the way to the local Subaru dealer. Fortunately someone in parts at the Subaru dealer knew how to find the grey color as they did not come up in his database. He went on the internet and found the right code. I'm a little shocked that it has gotten so difficult to get the right colors on the older cars. You used to be able to go to a local auto parts shop with a paint section and look at their chart and pick out your colors.

The price for the tire, 15 inch actually as quite good. 4 for $300 or so and got the tires mounted and balanced elsewhere cheaper.

I picked up a set of Toyo tires at Town Faire. They have a deal where buyers can try out tires and if they don't like them within a month, come back for an exchange for a different set. Got the four and then had another shop mount and balance them for around $300. You have to put in a request for the size you need and you get a call and they ship them from another shop.

Ordinarily I would be doing that; I have another garage, but their wait times are a week or so and they have very limited parking. Frank Longo who runs this shop is an old timer lucky to be alive; a couple years ago he had a smoking related disaster with months in the hospital and nursing home. If I went to the state about him it wouldn't do much good. The way it works, the mechanic is in charge; he said he could fix it right away but it would "cost" me. He had some friends around the shop; had I said he needed to do it without cost it would have just antagonized them.

I tightened it by hand as much as I could as I don't have a 1/2" ratchet or a conversion connector. Another thing I messed up; I thought on the alternator there was a tensioner to make the second belt that rides on the Harmonic Balancer work. So I tried it both ways with a 12 mm ratchet socket. The bolt head broke away. So I had the important belt on, not the one that drives the power steering and alternator. I drove down to the mechanic. This makes three times it came off with the same shop!!! The mechanic said I had not tightened the Harmonic Balancer shaft right. He said he had a used one also said it needed a new bolt and tensioner. So he said it would be $250 to do the job right away. I saw that I had no choice if the old unit was damaged, though as I said this is 3X it failed from the same shop! If this fails again I will have to play hardball with them, call the police or something.

Ok, I'll be walking down to the local hardware store to buy this. Are the belts complicated at all?

Ok, thanks. I don't have the tools to torque this down right, just very basic ones, I don't have a large 3/8" driver for the nut, though the 7/8 driver seems to fit, what is the metric on that?

Hi--the Harmonic Balancer loosened and started coming off today. Lucky I wasn't on the road when this happened. Is this simply a matter of tightening? I just tighten the bolt as hard as I can? I could have the shop where this was done tow it back and make sure it gets fixed.....I will call them anyway.

I assume that the gas leak around the fill tube is not uncommon on mine as well as similar era Outbacks. How about a front leak? I have noticed a small leak when I fill the car up in the passenger side front, where is the likely origin on this? I did not see any gas related fixture in the front of the engine compartment.

Thanks for the advice on this; changing this unit stopped the oil leaks.

It depends on the parts, how many there are and prospective demand. Sound 2.5 engines from the 90s, etc. are hard to find, the 2.2 engines seem to be more available.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ngQAAOSw5Xtc5ux0/s-l1600.jpg The claim on the unit I put in yesterday was it was OE Subaru, not sure if that is accurate. You don't have to pay $90 for an OE knock sensor like Auto Zone quoted. Absolutely no reason to. There were other OE units on ebay for under $20 delivered. If a mechanic were to charge $90 or more for one and then another $75 plus for installation, that would not be fair. We are over 20 years into when these cars were produced, parts also are old, even if OE and new. If I were selling them, I would be looking to get what I could for them before the market for them collapses.

New unit made all the difference! Lots of power now, no problems. Two different units on ebay: The OE unit: https://www.ebay.com/vod/FetchOrderDetails?itemid=192926413511&transid=1781703698009&ul_noapp=true Bad unit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Detonation-Knock-sensor-for-1997-1999-Subaru-Legacy-2-2L-2-5L-KS96/353064994578?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I got an oe knock sensor today, and put it in with some difficulty again. Will see if that was it.

That was what I feared from the beginning which makes it a real mechanic's job, but cel went out yesterday, so will keep monitoring it.

Overheating, not checking the oil; headgaskets. Not many lemons, but surely there are some.

Mine was a little tough to get out too. It felt a little like it may have been crossthreaded but it wasn't. Went in with a little difficulty and does not sink in all the way anyhow.

Someone mentioned this as a possibility for excess oil consumption. I went to Napa and I pulled out the old one after 80K miles or so, it still had a rattle but had gunk inside. When do you change these out. 97/Outback 2.5.

No to both questions. Should change the pcv.