Commuter

Sorry to hear your pain. When the head gaskets went on my 97 OB, I was sure there was oil in the coolant. In hindsight though, I believe it was just a byproduct of the combustion gases pushing out thru the cooling system. The sludge came from that, not from engine oil. Are you getting any bubbling in the coolant expansion bottle? After hiway runs, or towing? Something that puts a load on the engine for a period of time. Commuter

Hate to say it, but these are classic symptoms of the 2.5L Phase I headgasket failure. Go thru the checks, but I'd give odds if I was a betting man. Sorry. Commuter

I can't recall the exact numbers, but speedometer readings are one of those things where they run the statistics such that out of 10 cars, one will read (slightly) low, 3 will be right on, 5 will be high and 1 might be 'quite' high. (Don't quote me on that, but you get the idea.) I think they have to be within about 5%. It would seem that you are right on the boarderline. Tire wear alone can make 1% or 2% difference. And be sure you have the proper tire pressure. I doubt that you'll get anywhere with Subaru on the matter. It's probably within specs, but at the limit. You may want to carefully select the size of your next tire. One way to compensate a bit. Commuter

Diameter and circumference are directly related (via pi). What matters with a tire is the effective diameter (or circumference). Also called rolling diameter (or circumference). The earlier post of info from mysubaru.com mentions "rolling or outer circumference". A tire is flexible, so this dimension changes with tire pressure and load. Yes, it's entirely possible that a low tire for many miles could have damaged the clutch pack. The AWD system thinks that one wheel is slipping and engages it. In fact, you know this was happening since the AT fluid heated up. I've picked up nails and have also had a slow leak happen a couple of times. Knock wood, it seems that it didn't do any permanent damage. I don't think I ran for too long in that state, so I got away with it. Commuter

NO! Circumference. (Repeat over and over and over... ) This equates to 1mm (sorry for mixed units) of tread depth variation. (1/4" divided by (2 x pi) where pi = 3.14). If your tire has an 80" circumference, 1/4" represents 0.3%. Another way to put this - Over a given distance, one tire would rotate 1000 times, the other tire would rotate 1003. It is probably conservative, but it is Subaru's official statement. "The Beauty of AWD." In my travels on message boards over the past few years, it certainly appears that the automatic's clutch pack is more sensitive than the manual's viscous coupling. Commuter

Technically, the donut spare could go on the front or the back if the center clutch pack is disabled by the fuse. I do recall reading somewhere (SOA site I think) where it is "strongly recommended" that the donut go on the back. The front tires are doing all the work to move the car as well as steer it when the fuse is in. Additionally, the front tires do most of the braking too. Since the donut spare is just a short term use tire with minimal capability, it makes the most sense from a safety perspective to keep two full sized tires on the front when you have a flat. Commuter

I agree with 99obw. However, the H6 engine only came out in 2001 (in North America). It's not very long in the tooth yet. And there are not a great number of them out there. Let's hope it holds up better for Subaru than the 2.5L. IMHO, the car is rather heavy for the 2.5L. I think you'll find it at the bottom of it's class for acceleration. If that matters to you. Commuter

Gee... I thought cute little short skirts were good for the image. You see lots of them at the car shows. Sorry... couldn't resist... Com'on Friday! Commuter

Yeah... been doing it a long time. Some of you will have heard me say this before... I put 712,000 km on a Honda Civic over 14.5 years. Probably the best car I'll ever own. Virtually no problems. The engine was never opened and the clutch was original! Commuter

97 OB. HG's replaced exactly 2 years ago. 125,000 km (78k miles) ago. Still holding (knock wood). Commuter

I came across this as well once before. (Perhaps we read the same post.) It seems a stretch that a state would mandate something like a timing belt interval... Oh wait, this is California we are talking about. Commuter

I suspect that you could find an "LED" style replacement for this bulb if you really wanted it. Specialty shop, performance store, places like that. If that helps at all. Commuter

Cookie, Weather is a factor. It was one of the reasons stated by the dealer. Still... Is Windsor that different from Detroit? :-p I just found it a bit curious, even humorous. Commuter

I think the jury is still out. It's tough to rate the reliability of a generation (2000-2004) when the oldest vehicle is only around 5 years. Front seal leaks... known issue. Starter and battery sounds a bit odd for 40k. Batteries can be done in quite easily though. Starters tend to have the contacts fail after several years. Clutch... Can't really comment. Harmonic balanceer - Sounds like they did not get it on tight enough, or properly after the HG repair (5k later). There is an improper torquing spec floating around out there. It 'may' have contributed to the issue. Head gaskets - The achilles heel. Too many of us have been there. I'm fairly new to Subaru, but it certainly seems that the 2.5L Phase I engine has tarnished their reputation. The Phase II appears to be better, but is still suffering head gasket problems (of a different nature). As well, there seems to be some other lesser ills that weren't common on older Subarus. (Eg dash lights, wheel bearings, front end clunk.) As far a 2005 goes... Who knows. There is no track record. I'm guessing that this is the new 2.5L Turbo engine? I've heard that it is new from the ground up and only shares its displacement with the old naturally aspired cousin. I really haven't read up on it at all. Whether it is similar to the 2.0L Turbo or what, I have no idea. Can anyone fill us in? Commuter

The SOHC engine puts less strain on the belt than the older DOHC engine did (2.5L). The valve train has less friction. It's strange, but with the 96 to 99 2.5L DOHC engine, SOA says 105k miles. SOC (Subaru of Canada) says 60k miles (96k km). It's right in my manual and confirmed by the dealer. :argue: Commuter

The 1996 OB engine had 10 less hp (155 vs 165). I don't know how many were sold, but I think the sales increased in 1997 and 1998 as their popularity grew. I haven't heard of too many failures on the 1996 model. But there is no way for me to know if it is simply because there are less of them around, or because the engine is a bit less powerful, or both. The Phase I head gasket failure is exaberated by "load" conditions. That is, hiway running, towing, etc. Operating that calls for more from the engine. The pattern often is that people can run around town all day long with no problem, for weeks or even months on end, then the one day that they hit the hiway, the car overheats. In the early stages, the "leak" that opens up between the combustion chamber and the coolant passages doesn't even exist until the engine is being pushed. Therefore, I would be "less" concerned if the car is about to see duty which is short trip driving. I'm assuming that these trips are not hard running trips (you don't say what sort of driving). There is credence to "if it aint' broke, don't fix it". Keep an eye on the coolant and expansion bottle. Watch the temperature gauge. You might install a more sensitive gauge if you like. Start a savings fund for the "head gasket repair" if you want. If it happens, you will not be hit so hard. If it doesn't, you have some cash that is still yours. Edit - I see you are in the Netherlands. I know that some of the world gets the models a year before we do in North America. Hence, I'm not 100% sure what hp your engine has. (And the standard for rating is a bit different in Europe too.) My 2 cents. Commuter

I still say it was simply loose and there is probably nothing wrong with it. The fact that you could undo the nut with your hand tells you it was loose. The shaft is knurled (I believe). The arm hole is not. The knurling is just a slight grooving, nothing more. The arm is made of a softer metal than the shaft. It will take on a slight 'impression' from the knurled shaft. This impression is probably gone from the slippage. But it doesn't mean that anything is necessarily damaged. Reattach the wiper arm to the shaft. Tighten the nut (but don't overdo it). Test it by pulling on it slightly (trying to turn it that is). If it slips, then reposition and tighten a bit more. Put the plastic cap back on and you are done. Commuter

The warranty only applies to the Phase II engine as I understand it. Mine went at 160k miles. So who knows. Commuter

Knocking wood... It's been just under 2 years and 120,000 km since my gaskets were changed on my 97 OB. If you want more assurance, put in a CCR Inc rebuilt engine. You get a 3 year 36k mile warranty... but it will cost you twice as much... Commuter

I'd say that the odds are that it is simply slipping between the shaft and the blade. This is a tapered shaft with a bit or knurling where the 2 come together IIRC. It's meant to be the weak point so that one doesn't burn out the motor or fubaru the linkage etc. Last year, I discovered that my driver's side was a bit loose. It hadn't slipped, but would have in the near future. It was just a case of tightening the nut down. I believe there is a plastice cap over the nut as frag mentioned, but I'm not 100% sure without looking. If you have run your wipers like this with the one slipping, you 'may' have smoothed off the knurling, or gummed it up a bit. Still, it may be fine. Just clean up the contact surfaces and tighten things up. See what happens. No cost to trying. Commuter

Sounds a little high. I've usually heard closer to $1000. That's about what I paid for mine. And that included machining the heads and a full valve job. You should have a 1 year, 12,000 mile warranty on the work if the dealer does it. Commuter

I discovered a while ago that I made it into that thread indirectly (Commuter of i-club). Thanks goes to people on this board however who put me on the trail of the 7219 RadioShack bulb. I didn't come up with it. The last time I did the climate control, I used the 7219 bulbs. They are smaller than the OEM replacements (which, I think have been enlarged from the very first ones I took out), so the green sleeve would not fit. As a result, I have 'white' climate control buttons instead of green, and they are a bit brighter as a result. Actually, I like the slight increase in brightness as I felt that the climate control was a little dim compared to the rest of the dash previously. Commuter (97 OB)

I think there is one on Scoobymods... Sorry, don't have the link right handy. Good luck... It's not hard. I've had to do it 3 times now. Commuter

He's asking about a 2.2L engine. I don't know when the "phase" change was for those. Were they not always SOHC though? I know that there were changes and the hp got bumped a couple of times thru the 90's with those engines. Commuter

You could also query about when the last timing belt change was. You are at 418k km. In Canada, the TB is suppose to be changed every 96k (ie last one at 384k). This is a fairly expensive service (add in crank and cam seals, oil pump servicing, possible water pump, idler or tensioner maybe... $1000...) This would influence how much I'd put out for the vehicle. Commuter 97 OB, 383k km and counting...