Commuter

Over 300,000 miles now (just shy of 500,000 km) on my 97 Outback. But... (big but)... second engine. And I'm not convinced that the second engine is going to last a whole lot longer than the first. Oh well... It's a little tough to swallow at times when I put 712,000 km on a 1985 Civic and never touched the engine other than a timing belt every 100k. (I know... I had an exceptional car. Sometimes you get lucky... sometimes you get a Subaru where head gaskets and con-rod bearings fail.) Commuter

Was that the "cutting off the tow hook loops" under the front bumper to prevent curbs from triggering the air bags? Just guessing... Someone will know. Commuter

I have the same problem with my 97 OB. It appears that whoever changed the windshield during the first 2 years of the car's life nicked the paint in a couple of spots. When I cleaned up the rust last summer, I discovered I had holes. I patched and painted, but one of them leaks a little bit now. I had 2 shops quote on it. They wanted $750 - $1000 Cdn to fix. About 1/3 or more of the price was to remove and replace the windshield. I'm glad I didn't do it, since I now have a cracked windshield. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about it, but since the crack is starting to run into my vision area, I will have to address it. I hope to find someone less expensive, as I really don't care about the cosmetics much these days. The car is almost 10 years old. (One of the shops wanted to get a few of the rust spots (from stone hits) back of the windshield... which would lead to having the whole roof done... I said no thanks!) Commuter

Speed does make a difference. The drag coefficient is not a constant. At lower speeds, it is roughly proportional to the square of velocity (vel^2). At higher (eg highway) speeds, it is roughly proportional to the cube of velocity (vel^3). For example the drag at 70 mph is double that of 55 mph (applying the cube factor to both). Drag from air is just one factor in gas mileage, but you can see the potential impact. The best mileage I ever got was a hot summer day, driving on paved country roads around 55 mph. There was some traveling thru towns and I was running the A/C. Even at that, I was about 15% over my usual "summer highway" mileage. Commuter

I have a 97 OB (essentially the same mechanicals). Overheating: Hard to know if there is any damage, since you don't know the extent of the overheating. Open question. If it is performing fine and gas mileage, oil consumption etc is in line, then it "probably" is ok. Shifting: Don't know. Has the ATF been changed recently? That would be the first thing to do. Have the clutch packs ever been changed? Another weakness of this model year. Radio: Weird. Check connections. Buy a used 6 CD changer / tape / radio from a recent Subaru. Early 2000's (not sure of the latest ones) plug right in. Brakes: Replace the fluid. Make sure they are bled properly. These models do have a squishiness to the brakes. Mine improved a lot when I put on stainless steel braided brake lines. Bumper: Not sure. I haven't had to touch that area, thankfully. Timing belt would have been due at 105k miles. Was that done? Fairly expensive service. Given the known issues with the late 90's Legacys with 2.5L engines, the uncertain history of the car, the mileage... I don't think I'd put too much into it. You might be better off selling it to someone who loves that particular model style and is willing to go thru the steps to get it up to snuff again. Commuter

Just a long shot, but I recall a recent post where the person said that a dash rattle problem they had ended up being the edge of the dash at the base of the windshield. You might have a passenger reach their hand up into that area to test. Or wedge something up there if you are on your own. Good luck. Commuter

I had to replace a Toyo 800 Ultra tire with more than that on the set. The wear rating is very similar to the HydroEdge. I think I was around 25,000 km. I drove with the FWD fuse in for a few days until I could jack the car up and wrap a tape measure around the tire. The new tire was about 0.20" to 0.25" more than the others. I pulled the fuse and never had a problem. You should be fine. Commuter

This comes up from time to time. In North America, none of the first generation Outbacks (96-99) offered rear LSD to my knowledge. I don't think any car in the Legacys of this period had it. As mentioned above, it started to creep back into the line up with the next generation of Legacys (2000+). Commuter

I'm going on a trip this summer and will probably take along a friend's laptop. I just picked up a 240W inverter. Some years ago, I bought a 300W unit for my ex's Honda van. It just kept blowing the fuse with the cig lighter outlet. I had to install a separate outlet. IIRC, it would blow from just turning the inverter on, even before I hooked anything up. So... what is going to happen in my 97 Outback? Is there any difference between using the dash outlet, and the one in the back? With the dash outlet, will I just blow a fuse, or will that fusible link (that I have heard about) in the back of the socket blow? TIA Commuter

I've been using full synthetic for years in my 97 OB 4EAT (mostly Mobil 1). Synthetic lowers operating temperature which is usually the killer for automatics. Heat breaks down the ATF, transmission failure follows. I have not had any issues. In fact, after the clutch pack replacement recently, the dealer just put in dino oil. I can tell. It's a bit sluggish. Manual transmissions need some friction for the synchromesh units to function correctly. I've never heard the comment before that automatics need friction. Commuter

Subaru supposedly resolved the head gasket issue on the 2.5L engine in 2002. The newer cars don't have enough mileage on them really to know if this truly is the case. The engines were revamped in 2005 with some variable valve lift/timing features. I'm not really up on how extensive the changes were. That is, whether anything was done to the block or heads in the head gasket area. Again, these are just too new to know if there are any undue issues. The H6 engine came out (with limited application) in 2001. It is just in the past 6 months to a year that we are starting to hear of some timing chain / tensioner issues. The problem with asking whether a problem is resolved on newer engines (cars for that matter) is that there simply isn't enough history to know. And one can never rule out that a new problem hasn't crept in. One that won't show it's head for several years to come. Commuter

I see this (DRL's on, no tailights) quite frequently myself. Rarely at night time, but in low light conditions (dawn, dusk, heavy overcast/stormy weather), a lot of people still run around with just their DRL's. We've had DRL's since the late 80's in Canada. I thought for sure that "tail lights always on" was going to follow within a few years, or a decade at most. It never has. I've one of those that always drives with lights on. I've been doing this since about my second year of driving (and that precedes the late 80's by quite a bit). Commuter

See the FAQ sticky at the top of the Forum for more ideas. Commuter

I have a 97 OB and the a/c has never been stellar in it. IIRC, about a 20F temperature drop is all that I get. FYI Commuter

I have a 97 Outback. Leave the cable attached to the back of the climate control unit. Under the dash (down by the passengers left foot), slip the cable out of the C shaped holder and slip the eye of the end of the cable off the damper mechanism. That's all you should have to do. I do not recall having to deal with any circlips. Did something change in 98? I haven't heard of this before. You might want to mark / note the cable position in the C shaped holder. If you don't reposition it the same spot, you may lose a little of the damper travel. That is, it may not open / close 100% afterwards. Commuter

The link is in the FAQ sticky at the top of this forum. As to the circlips, you shouldn't have had to touch them. (I'm not sure what car you have.) I suspect you are referring to the cable between the heat control lever and the damper under the dash. Remove the cable under the dash - not at the back of the climate control unit. Much much easier. You may have twisted the little bulb base too far and lost contact with the electrical feed on the socket. The first time or 2 I changed them out, I used dealer bulbs. They lasted about 1.5 years each. (But, I do a lot of driving and my lights are always on.) And the second time, they were the larger bulbs. The last time, I used RS bulbs, without any green condom covers. They are going on 3 or 4 years now. I don't have the right tint, but I don't really mind. I think the condom makes the bulb run hotter and it fails sooner. I've use the same RS bulbs in the dash switches (with the condom) and they fail after a couple of years. However, they can be changed out in just a few minutes. Commuter

97 Outback. No idea. Both sides were replaced. I recall looking at the old gaskets - both looked the same to me. Sorry. Commuter

Lucky Texan is most on the mark IMHO. Per Subaru... 1/4" of circumference. This equals 1mm tread depth. A little more than 1/32nd. 0.040". 40 thou. (thousands of an inch). No, it is not much. Yes, it probably is a 'safe' number. If a tire has an 80" circumference, this is 0.3% Eg, one tire rotates 1000 revolutions, the other tire rotates 1003. I have a different take on auto vs manual. One hears many more cases of torque bind with autos than with manuals (like 10 times). Just from that, I would say that the autos are more sensitive to tire matching. However, I know that some of the issues with the 96's and 97's had to do with a weakness (bushing) in the design of the auto clutch pack. So... hard to really say. I read some years ago of a guy that had 2 VC's fail and the third one was failing. They discovered that he had 1.5" difference in circumference, front to back! Even at that, it took months (I believe) to kill the VC. It was not instantaneous. The real point is, the tires have to match in circumference (within the tolerance). Even further, one should say "effective" or "rolling" circumference. Strictly speaking, they do not have to be replaced as a set. Circumference varies by brand and model, tread wear and inflation. So by playing with those parameters, one can find work arounds. For example, shave the new (single) tire as was mentioned. Perhaps play with pressures (but this will only get you so far). Or... you might find a new tire that matches the circumference of the old ones. Replace 2 now, then in a few months, replace the other two. That would take some doing, but it is theoretically possible. My 2 cents. Commuter

Some ideas inside. Ideas to quiet noisy heat shields More ideas to quiet noisy heat shields Commuter

You might want to review this thread as well. It pertains to the 2.5L DOHC solid valve lifters. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10217 Commuter

Repeat from another "tire" post... ------------------------------- I have a 97 OB with almost 500k kms now. I put 160k kms on a set of Michelin X-Ones and there was still tread left. Very good tire overall. I put ~220k kms on a set of Toyo 800 Ultras. I pushed them a bit distance wise and there was not much tread left. Very similar to the X-Ones, slightly better grip, but slightly noisier and slightly harsher. I also battled a slight highway vibration with these tires for most of their life. Balance was fussy. Last year, I put some Michelin Harmony's on my car. Very similar in feel and handling to the X-Ones. I like them so far. I opted not to go with the HydroEdge for a few reasons. I was informed that they might be even harsher than the Toyo's, and I didn't want that. Some reports on TireRack by Subaru owners confirmed this. Some also complained of noise. The dealer said customer feedback on winter handling was mixed. And all else being equal (which it never is), I'd rather not have a unidirectional tire that doesn't allow me full flexibility with tire rotation. My experience to date. Commuter

It's been discussed before. Yes, it's normal. With light throttle, the first to second shift is a bit harsh, especially if you are lifting off the throttle a bit as the shift happens. With moderate or more throttle, you don't notice it. Just a Subaru quirk it seems. I have 490,000 km on my 97 OB now and the shift is still the same as always. I haven't had to touch the transmission, other than the clutch pack (for AWD). Commuter

Second coat is the same material as the first. I found an Ontario dealer (in Peterborough I think) that I ordered from. As I said, I only did a few small spots. I'm no 'car body' guy. The work was rough and probably not prepped as good as it should have been, but it's been 8 months and seems fine. I did paint over the spots. The total area that I did was in the order of 5 square inches. Whatever works for you. Commuter

I switched my 97 OB to the "Orange" anti-freeze years ago with no problem. It it kinder to bearings, etc. I used (Texaco) Havoline brand as it was recommended by someone I trust. However, do not let it go for 5 years. You are pushing your luck. Some of the brands don't even have enough additives to meet the specs I've heard. If you are switching, it is imperative to get ALL the old anti-freeze out. Do 2 or 3 flushes. If you have more than 10% of the green stuff left, it will cause a slimy gooey gunk in your cooling system as the 2 don't mix well. Commuter

I've heard great things about POR 15, and was almost going to use it to do a little touch up work last summer. I stumbled upon Rust Bullet. It is easier to use, application wise. It seems to have done the job quite well, but my work was very limited. You might want to investigate. Commuter