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Just a thought... You might contact CCR Inc. I don't know if they would sell you a "kit", but you can ask. Or they may be able to direct you to someone. Commuter

Chip, Interesting. Yes, I've been looking on 1stSubaruparts and am highly considering going that route. NAPA here quoted me $115 Cdn for Gabriel (sp?) struts. Performance Improvements quoted me $140 Cdn for KYB GR2's. I'd go that route, except I do "not" want a stiffer strut. I'm going to talk to the dealer. They quoted me $280 for the rears. (I recall this pricing discussion in an early thread several weeks ago.) There is definitely something out of line with Subaru of Canada's pricing on these struts. I've looked at some of the other bits and pieces (springs, mounts) and they seem to be in line. Did you only replace the struts? What about mounts, springs, boots, etc? Commuter

Is there a service history with the car? One of my first questions would be, were the head gaskets ever replaced? Or any major engine or drivetrain work done? I have a 97 OB with 382k km now. Other than an engine failure at 260k km and a couple of rear wheel bearings, it's holding up pretty good. I'm in need of rear struts right now. I'm not normally scared off by high mileage, but I am leary of the head gaskets on the Phase I 2.5L engines. Commuter

Have the code read (somehow, someway, someone) first to see what the heck it even is. I bought a code reader on sale at Canadian Tire Corp last year for $150. It's more than proving to be worth the purchase right now as I continue to have an EGR code come up. Try and find someone in your area. Perhaps post on the Canadian forum of nasioc. There has got to be someone in your area. I know I'd read the code for you if you were near by. I had someone do the same for me before I got my reader. I'm surprised no one mentioned it as there was a recent thread on this topic. An empty oil filter while first cranking the engine over might have been enough to trip the knock sensor. Is it driving any differently? Feel sluggish at all? And I concur with the earlier comments. Pick another spot to have your oil changes done. Use a quality oil and filter. I know a guy in my city (not just hearsay) that took his Forester to one of those places. They drained the front differential in error. Half an hour later, the vehicle died. Messed up the automatic transmission as well. $10,000 bill (Cdn) at the end of the day to the 'quickie' lube place. Commuter

But the first engine in my car used 1L per 7,500km. The new engine is around 1L per 20,000 km. Both Phase I blocks from the same time era. Go figure. Commuter

99obw I'm not sure what you mean. Did you buy "Subaru" struts, or KYB aftermarket struts? I am in need of new rear struts on my 97 OB (7+ years and 237k miles). I've heard before that the KYB aftermarket struts are 15% stiffer as Nuwan mentioned. For my purposes, I don't want stiffer struts. However, Subaru (Canada) wants a ridiculous price for the OEM struts. Twice as much or more than aftermarket. I'm actually considering ordering from Liberty or 1stSubaruparts as it would still save me considerable money, even with currency exchange, shipping, brokerage, etc. I'm currently in contact with KYB trying to confirm the 15% stiffer bit. Commuter

I bought a decent one off of ebay over a year ago. New... probably just surplus stock. Shipping was a third of the cost! I only paid $18 I think for the wrench. Pleased with it to date. Commuter

I have not gone thru a lot of tires, but I have some experience. I don't have any experience with Dunlops or Pirelli's though. I've probably had the best luck with Michelins. I wore out a set of X-Ones on my 97 OB. The Toyo 800 Ultras on there now have been good, but I've had to battle a slight vibration issue with them. When they go (this coming winter), I'll probably take a serious look at the new Michelin Hydroedge. The early reports on them seem to be good. I like Yokohama too. Some of the best tires I've had have been Yokohama. But... I was counting it up recently. Out of 10 tires over nearly 20 years, I've had 2 bad ones. Not exactly good stats. Take a look on TireRack. You can probably get a good idea of what the tire will be like by reading the reviews. Commuter

Can't beat an upgrade for $15. But wasn't there a generation change from 94 to 95? I'm surprised that the Outback bar fit. I upgraded my 97 Outback to a Whiteline adjustable bar. Tightened things up nicely. Commuter

I would think that would be a bit of a reach, to the rear seat transmission tunnel. You must have flexible arms. When this came up a couple of years ago, I know one person reported that they attached an aftermarket fold down cup holder to the passenger side of the shifter area. Seemed like a reasonable solution, and within decent reach. Commuter

"bump" Just wondering what the outcome was. Commuter

One thing that has been brought up is that the 2000 model used the prior generation's brake set up. Apparently it is marginal for the size and weight of the car. Subaru went with the bigger system (larger rotor, etc) on 2001+. Whether it will mean anything to you or not will probably depend more on how your drive and how much stuff you carry around (or tow). There are prior posts about this that you could probably find by a search. Commuter

Pick up a used Double DIN unit from the Imprezas and Forester from recent years. 6 CD, tape, radio. It's what I did for my 97 OB. I believe there is a different model again now in the past year or so. I don't know about it, but the P123 fits right in (you lose the cubby hole) and plugs right in. No adaptation needed. Commuter

I don't know... People seem quick to want to blame GM for ... What, shall we call it? A slump by Subaru? GM just simply hasn't been involved long enough to be (much of) a factor. With car development cycles being what they are, we are "just" reaching the point where there may be some GM influence. They only own 20%... of the parent company... One thing I would say is growing pains. Subaru has set a lot of new sales records over the past few years (in North America). My 2 cents. Commuter

There was a rash of rear wheel bearing problems a few years ago on the Impreza platform (which includes the Forester). It is known to happen occasionally on the Legacies too. I've recently had to change the right rear on my 97 OB for the second time. Then again, I've got 380k km on my car. However, both time, it's required a new (remanufactured) half shaft since the seal area was pitted. As far as I know the other 3 wheels are all still running on original bearings. (I got the car with 66k km on it.) Commuter

Original battery? If it is... the drain might have finished it off. Commuter

Don't consider yourself home free yet. My 97 OB failed at 160k miles. And my dealer admitted to performing a lot of head gasket jobs that same year (2002). Commuter

Yeah... been there too. I don't know if it changed at all with the 2000 model (unlikely), but in my 97 OB, it is slightly off center towards the passenger side. By 8" maybe? I hadn't flipped mine in years and was cursing the thing... Couldn't recall just how it released. :lol Commuter

I know I've had mine off. If I'm not mistaken, it is possible to lose the wire inside the framing. Hang onto it with something. Commuter

The original Phase I was a 3 layer affair. It had some black stuff on it around the cylinder holes (and some other places I think). I'm not sure what the first and second revision of the gaskets were. I believe they were all 3 layer affairs. There was a detailed thread on this on i-club a couple of years ago. The 3rd revision (and still the current one I believe) is a 4 layer affair. I saw the Phase II head gasket when my engine was done (nearly 2 years ago, so it is probably not the current one). It was a single, thin, one layer metal gasket. There appeared to be something "extra" on it around the cylinder holes. That is, there was a slightly rough band with a slightly different metallic color at this point, about 1/8" wide. I've just got my fingers crossed that mine will hold up. 120k kms now... so far, so good (97 OB). Commuter

Try randomly wrapping hose clamps around various shields. You might get lucky. I've noted that there are some strategically placed screws wedged into the ends of sheilds on my header. It would seem that the dealer of the former owner knew something about quelling these rattles. My 97 OB has not had an issue with heat shields. (Knock wood.) Commuter

I'm not one to advocate just replacing parts as a method to solve a problem, but... I don't think the knock sensor costs very much and you can change it yourself. They do age/fail. Why not just try replacing it? Commuter

You are on the right track. Sounds like you have done your homework. I have a 97 OB with a slightly revised version of your engine. I have never suffered the 2500ish hesitation problem, but I have suffered the carbon problem. The carbon problem was only noticable at idle on my car. That is, when starting off from a stop. It was between 600 and 1000 rpm. As it got worse, it crept upwards to 1500 rpm. Rather, I should say that the range it affected was 600 to 1500 rpm. A MotorVac cleaning took care of my problem for quite some time. I'd be more suspicious of the knock sensor. My understanding is that the replacement units are not so sensitive. Perhaps someone could confirm. One way you should be able to tell is by resetting your ECU. It takes a few times for the ECU to learn the knock problem. Therefore, it should feel fine the first few times you accelerate thru the problem range after a reset. I'm sure others will have more feedback for you. Commuter

Check your mounts too. Especially the tranny one. Commuter

The dealer did the work and I had other servicing going on. I'd have to dig up the bill. It wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a little either with parts and labour added up. I think it was around a 2 hour labour charge, but don't quote me on that. If it hadn't been so cold, I would have wiped the thing down and done more investigation to find the actually leak. Interestingly, my dealer told me that Subaru doesn't recommend synthetic gear oil! Seals tend to leak. I was running synthetic at the time. Don't know if I buy that one or not. Commuter