Commuter

The term "lifter" goes back to the old days of "non" overhead cams that employed the camshaft, then a (solid or hydraulic) lifter, then a push rod, then a rocker arm, then finally pushing on the valve itself. My first car, a 69 Pontiac with an inline 6 was of this design. With the Subaru 2.5L DOHC Phase I engine, the camshaft sits directly above the valve. There is still a "lifter" or more appropriately, a bucket tappet. This is a part that sits between the cam lobe and the valve itself. It has shims as well to adjust clearances. It is 'solid' piece of metal with no means of clearance take up like a hydraulic lifter. I'm not sure what Subaru is doing with the 2.5L SOHC Phase II engine to be honest. I know that it uses rocker arms. Is there a hydraulic lifter in there somewhere? Who can answer. My 85 Civic had an OHC and rocker arms. There was an adjustment 'screw' on one end of the rocker. While there was nothing that I would call a lifter, it was "solid" in the sense that there was no means of take up in the valve train. Many years ago, I read of one manufacturer (forget who) that developed a tiny hydraulic lifter that would have taken the place of that adjustment screw as described in my 85 Civic. The lifter was about the size of the eraser on the end of a pencil. In contrast, the hydraulic lifter in my 69 Pontiac was about 5/8" diameter and 1.5" long. (I recall quite well... I changed a few.) Commuter

Are you sure that you don't have a leak somewhere in the coolant overflow bottle, or the hose that attaches it? Also check your rad cap. If it is leaky (doesn't hold pressure), it messes up the overflow system. Still... if either of these were the case, I'd think you'd be slowly losing coolant. ??? Commuter

Well, I have a 97 now with 430,000 km on it. Second engine though. First the head gaskets went, then a conrod bearing failed. If you search on my name and Outback I think you'd find where I've posted before about the common ills of this generation. Headgaskets (lots of info here on that). Piston slap (annoying, but nothing to be done) Engines tend to carbon up. Will cause low rpm hesitation. Not difficult to keep in check if you know about it. Wheel bearings once in a while. (I've had 2 rears fail, same wheel.) Climate control lights (simple fix) Clutch pack (for AWD) tends to go around 120 to 140k miles. Expensive. But that was more of an issue with 96 and 97. I think they "fixed" it in 98. Front end clunk sound (annoying, but not much else) Gas milage... around 24/25 mpg... some get a bit better, but that's what I average with mostly highway miles. The cars are heavy and not quick. Acceleration is at the bottom of the pack. You are due for timing belt and related work. A fairly expensive service. Rust on the rear hatch latch plate (simple inexpensive fix) You are reaching the age where the O2 sensor is into the end of its life. Battery will be nearing end of life if still original. I had a pressure sensor go that didn't do much to the drivability, but sure cost a lot. And some other stuff I'm not thinking of right now I'm sure. Unless it is the Limited model, you sacrifice a few creature comforts. Eg... only a single speed intermittent wiper. The rear defroster does not time out and turn off. Some things like that. These things mean next to nothing to some people, and annoy the he!! out of others. *shrug* Overall, my car has been quite good. Rides nice enough, good low end torque, lots of utility. I can't comment at all about price. Commuter

What is the CEL code? I presume you have a 2.5L auto? These engines are known for running rich. I'd be interested too if there is an alternate ECU out there. I've never heard that before. Is your hesitation at low rpm, or mid range rpm? If the former, you might have a carbon issue. (Been there, done that twice.) Also, this will be aggrevated by a sluggish O2 sensor. If the latter, it might be a knock sensor problem. Good luck. Commuter (97 OB also, 430k km)

The same set. They are not "gappable". Very interesting plug. I haven't looked at their website recently (it was quite 'sparse'), but it does explain the design briefly. The main reason I decided to try them was to combat the carbon issue that the Phase I 2.5L engine has. *shrug* I may have helped a bit. Hard to know. Just tried to go the website and it seems to have disappeared... ??? Commuter

What car do you have? Check the rear sway bar. Make sure nothing is loose there. Also look to see if it is shifting side to side. If so, you will see shiny marks around the mounting points. It could be the source of your noise. Most (all?) Subarus use struts made by KYB. You can also buy aftermarket struts directly. However, I know that for my 97 OB, the aftermarket struts are a tad stiffer. Just something they chose to do. Commuter

I've seen peak hp and torque numbers here... But what do the "curves" look like? Does the Mustang have better numbers at lower rpms? In that more "day to day" useage range? I really wish they'd print the graphs in the brochures... or provide them somewhere so that you can get your hands on them. Commuter

Just to mess with everyone a bit... TorqueMaster. I've had them in my car now for ~200,000 km. Commuter

You might try a different oil as well. Some brands/grades will be consumed more than others. I don't know what grade is recommended for your vehicle, but if I owned a turbo, I'd be using more than an xxW30 oil in it. Try xxW40 and see if that helps. Or even xxW50. I've been using synthetic 5W50 in my vehicles for years now. Never an issue. Commuter

Lots of choices on bulbs. Without looking, I don't know which bulb yours takes. You can get ones like Sylvania ExtraVision (I think that is the name) or SilverStars. A lot of people have been pleased with these. If you want to get bolder, you can increase the wattage. (Note - for offroad use only. ) Try something like the SilverStars (or similar) first. Then go from there. Commuter

Have a MotorVac treatment done. (There are similar treatments under different names.) It worked for me. The second time it happened a couple of years later, the O2 sensor was aggrevating the problem (making the car run even richer). After changing it, the problem cleared up considerably right away, then slowly disappeared over the next several weeks. Over the counter stuff isn't strong enough if your problem is this bad. However, once done, the occasional bottle of something, or tank of premium does help to keep it from reoccurring. Check your tailpipe. I noticed that mine was blacker than ususal. Afterwards, it went back to more of a dark tan color. Commuter

Don't rule out the tires just because they are new. You could have a defective one. Rotate front to back and see if the problem follows the tire(s). Is the acceleration problem when coming off idle (eg 600 to 1000 rpm) or mid way thru (~2000 to 3000 rpm)? If the former, probably carbon build up. If the latter, could be the knock sensor. Also, if you haven't already changed out the O2 sensor, it is probably time. It will aggrevate the carbon issue. Commuter (97 OB, 2.5 auto)

I have a 97 OB. I changed the rear struts last year with about 375,000 km on them. The fronts are still original (altho' the one was changed under warranty when the car was about 2.5 yr old). The KYB struts are about 10 to 15% stiffer than the OEM ones (which they make). Very few other options. I was quoted on Gabriel struts, but decided to stick to OEM. Commuter

I'm not sure if your Impreza switch is the same as the Legacys, but... Do a search for "Climate Control Backlight" thread. Tons of info. Commuter

My guess is that this is referring to the flex plate (which fastens the torque converter to the crankshaft I believe). If this starts to fail, it can make one heck of a noise I've been told. Similar to the bottom end going out on the engine. Can't help you beyond that. Commuter

Probably the "silent" alarm feature as Nomad indicated. I've seen other posts where people have indicated that there is a tag with instructions on the battery cable concerning this very scenario and how to clear it. If you have the key fob, simply using it should work. Commuter

This has come up in the past. Usually not 100% conclusive I'd say. I'm quite sure that you cannot just change the "guts" of the differential. I've also heard that the splines on the half shafts are different... Maybe even the length too. You'd really have to find someone that has done it. Or a mechanic that really knows his stuff. Or be willing to research it yourself. I'm sure it is possible, but you might have to change out more than you'd first expect. Commuter

I think they changed from the H4 bulb to the 9007 bulb between 97 and 98. Whether that means that anything else changed (fit, mounting points etc.) I have no idea. Just a word of caution. Commuter

Everything I've ever heard suggests that the OEM wires are quite good. You could probably get better pricing from one of the online dealers. Or ask your dealer to match it. Some suggest NGK wires - apparently good as well. I've seen many posts over the years where people have had problems with Bosch plugs in Subarus. You'd think a plug is a plug... but it does seem to matter. NGK's work well. The cost is minimal, just more your time than anything. It's worth trying. You could try some kind of combustion chamber / valve cleaner. I don't think your 2.2 has carbon issues (the late 90's 2.5's do). I've seen recommendations of Seafoam... and some other product with a B... (BK, BG?). Someone will chime in. I have no experience with these products myself. Occasionally, the coil packs go bad. A crack could be causing a short to ground. It may be intermittent... or only bad if damp weather... or only if under hood temps get up to a certain point, that sort of thing. Just some ideas for you. Commuter

badrasta, At the time (1999), the Impreza based cars were coming out of Japan. The Legacy based cars were coming out of Indiana. (I think this is still the case, is it not?). Hence, the 1999 Impreza got the revised Phase II SOHC engine. The 1999 Legacies were still built with the Phase I DOHC engine. They got the Phase II engine a year later in 2000 when the model changed. Both have 165 hp. The torque went up a hint on the SOHC engine (166 vs 162 I think). However, the midrange hp/torque climbed significantly (up to 20% maybe) on the SOHC engine due to less valve train loss. Gas milage also improved. Commuter

Or... do what I did with my 97 OB. Put in a 100/80W bulb. Yeah... I know... off road use only... yada yada. No problem with wiring over 3 or 4 years now, but the connector has eventually failed from the heat. Low cost, takes a couple of minutes, and you'll probably be rid of the car before you suffer the connector failure. Commuter

I posted several times about oil filter magnets some years ago. As pointed out, most of the "wear" surfaces in an engine are still ferrous based, hence the magnets do work. There are several styles. One is like a cap that goes over the end of the filter. There is one that goes "inside" the filter. Several just grab onto the side of the filter. Some are made like a 'wrap'. The argument for putting them on your filter is that the oil is constantly circulating past that point. I have 2 different ones. The Bandit 2000 (no longer available I believe) has a couple of magnets inside a neoprene casing. It goes on the outside of the filter. I've never lost one, and the magnets do collect some material on the inside. (I've cut the filters open.) The other one I have is simply a small rectangular magnet. You put 2 or 3 of them together and apply them to the outside. However, the coating failed and they rusted on me. They also flew off once and I ended up finding them on my oil pan. I recently bought a bunch of small (eg dime sized, about twice as thick though) Neodynium magnets from a hardware store. I stuck about 8 of them around the filter and wrapped a worm gear clamp over them to keep them in place. Simple, inexpensive, and should do the job nicely. Just FYI. Btw... the "fine" particles that the magnets get are those that are probably going right thru the oil filter. Depending on how good your oil filter is (or isn't), it is these particles that cause the majority of wear in the engine. Most oil filters do not get the particle size that is the most 'wearing' on the engine components. Commuter

Not to hijack the thread, but I find the seats in my 97 OB so-so. I've been using an Obus Forme back support for many years. Driving 60k km a year, I need decent support. Not the most elegant... you do lose some thigh support... but they do work. At least for me. Just thought I'd give them a plug. Commuter

At the age of your vehicle, there could be many different things causing this. Spark plug wires if they haven't been changed. Sometimes the coil packs get a crack and cause trouble (but relatively rare). O2 sensors seem to go around this age. It may be weak, but not throwing a code yet. EGR circuits start to act up. (Not sure if your engine has an EGR or not.) I was getting a "pause" like you describe due to a little pressure sensor having failed. Not sure about the stalling. Could be pointing to wires again. Could be bad gas, or gas filter. And probably a few more things I'm not thinking of. Try to give us more info if you can. Commuter

In Canada, they spec the belt change at 96,000 km for this model. In the States, it is 105,000 miles (160,000 km approx). Go figure. Given the age, I'd do it now. I do a lot of driving. I've done mine at 100k km, then 225k, then 350k. I'm debating letting it go out to 500k. The belt has always looked in great shape. 150k km is less than 3 years for me. Commuter