ThosL

I had to drive a few miles with it but the transmission would not work when I started it up! Is there any way to get the tranny to work even in the case of a tow?

A guy came down from Derby earlier, said he needed it for "his daughter". Apparently does the F and S thing, buys for resale. Since the strut tower is gone, clean broken through into the rear compartment, it should not be driven though I have driven it 50 or so miles like that.

I've run Subarus with head gasket issues for a while after the problem gets noticed. Is it overheating? The Subaru approved treatment may help a little. Other fixes in a bottle usually do little. You could pull out the thermostat or run with less pressure. The experts can of course correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for the feedback on this; I listed it yesterday on CL; someone was looking for a 2.5 engine and I had to be honest, though it doesn't have a head gasket issue, and runs strong, it does leak/burn oil. A friend had these recommendations: Can u jam a block of wood in the strut tower? Jack car, reset strut? Metal strap? Angle iron, hacksaw, drill, bolts, back in business. The damage was probably related to the blowout the day before, same side of car, hit the curb at a high rate of speed, around 25 mph, I hadn't slept well previous night.

So I have to find a shop that does welding and is not that expensive as I am looking to sell the Subaru with 293K miles or so. This is not terribly dangerous to drive? Or should I keep it parked until I can have it towed?

This was a shocking thing to happen. As I was finalizing a deal with a 2002 Forester, the problem was how to bring up the owner's car and drop him back off in New Rochelle, NY. On the way my 1997 Subaru Outback's rear driver's side strut broke through the wheel well and is a foot or two into the rear compartment. The car will still drive at lower speeds. I tried to just take a couple pictures but am having trouble with my digital camera. Is there a remedy for fixing the suspension when the rear strut breaks free?

How was the 2002 Forester when it gets over 220K miles? Did those have HG issues?

I knew a guy who would, on major purchases recommend the trick with the check written out and cut in half, good for a half hour. So let say someone wants $3000, write the check for $2000 and tell him he has a half hour to make up his mind. Old lady creampuffs are hard to find. An old Hippie lady might be driving one in northern New England, but we don't have many Hippies around here, mainly corporate fascists, or as my brother says, smiling assassins...

I'd avoid dealer sales, high retail usually.

I always had Uhaul do my hitches.

My 1997 Subaru Outback limited is getting a little tired, burning some oil at 292,000. I started using 20W50 oil and Lucas stop leak. I've done body work, changed out parts; had an exhaust leak in the last few days I was able to address with parts store high heat epoxy and wraps. I have been using it as a work vehicle. Here are three I checked out on CL: https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/d/putnam-valley-2002-subaru-outback-h6-30/7372165334.html https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/d/garnerville-1990-subaru-loyale-wagon/7371349596.html https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/cto/d/new-rochelle-2002-subaru-forester/7368939567.html The challenge with used Subarus that pop up for sale on CL is to find one that is a good deal. Any recommendations on searching? How do dealers do it? Johnny on the spot with cash?

Ok, thanks. You are so helpful here!

Is there something good to cover the car seat with when the leather seat for a Legacy limited from 1997? Thanks.

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?