Commuter

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

Check that the arm is not loose. Sounds like the nut holding the base of the arm to the pivot point has come loose. There may be a plastic / rubber cap over the nut, I'm not sure. There is on my 97 OB. Years ago, I discovered that one of mine was loose, but it hadn't started to slip yet. I just happened to catch it. Commuter

Another option... Buy a late 90's Outback or (GT) wagon with a blown (headgasket) engine for a song. Call CCR and order an engine. Poof! One nice ride with a rebuilt engine with a 3 year, 36k mile warranty. Commuter (97 OB, 300k miles, but second engine)

AFAIK, the 98 is the same as my 97. You go at it from the front. 2 screws above the light hold the housing up into the bumper. Watch that the metal inserts in the bumper don't turn as well when you start turning on the hex head screw. That happened to me once. If it does, you can get a hold of the insert with a thin head wrench. It has a hex head as well. Once the 2 fasteners are out, you can take the entire foglight out of the bumper. Change out the bulb, and put it back together. Not difficult. One may be able to access from the backside, but I've never tried. I think there are shields etc in the way of doing that. Commuter

Yeah, it's just a combination of the particular grating and the tires. If the tread pattern block size is close to the grating opening size, you can get some weird effects. I occasionally go across one of these bridges with my 97 OB. The grating is not perfectly aligned with vehicle travel, and it (the angle of the grating) varies about 3 times in the span of the bridge. My car always 'squims' as it crosses. Commuter

Cam and/or crank position sensors maybe? Coolant temperature sensor maybe? Check connections on these at least. Other will have better direction for you. Commuter

When I did mine on my 97 OB, I stuck with OEM struts. Bought them from 1stsubaruparts I believe. (Canadian dealer's prices were outrageous on the struts, but in line on the other parts eg. mounts, rubber bits, springs etc.) You can buy KGB struts as an aftermarket item. They make the OEM ones. The aftermarket ones are 10 to 15% stiffer. I had that confirmed directly from the company. The only other brank I found (specifically for the Outback) was Gabriel. Price was good, but I didn't want to chance it. Commuter

Toyota Motor Corp. announced it plans to build up to 100,000 Camry's a year at a Subaru plant in Lafayette, IN. The move marks a shift in that most of the production of Camry's sold in the U.S. will, starting in 2007, be built in the U.S. The production line, which is to be operational in a year, is expected to add 1,000 workers at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. plant, which now employs 2,300 people. The move is in keeping with Toyota's strategic plan of producing its vehicles in the markets in which it sells them. The partnership with Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars, brings to eight the number of North American assembly plants operated by Toyota. The Camry's made in the Lafayette plant, in which Toyota plans to invest $230 million, are now produced in Japan and shipped to American dealers. Production will begin with 30,000 to 40,000 Camry's in the line's first year, and capacity will grow to 100,000 vehicles after three years. Subaru Automotive of Indiana Inc. began making vehicles in Lafayette in 1989. In Tokyo, where the U.S. expansion was announced, the companies also said they will work together to produce Fuji hybrid vehicles using Toyota's technology. http://www.toyota.com http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/

Second the comment on the Bosch 4's. Consider a MotorVac treatment or some sort of good combustion chamber cleaning. The Phase I 2.5L engine runs rich and has some carbon issues. Also, have you ever changed the O2 sensor? Mine was weak (no codes) and was aggrevating the carbon issue by throwing off the fuel maps even further. Been there twice with the "off idle stumble" on my 97 OB over the years. Commuter

Mine has never been very good in my 97 OB. Just marginal. I only get about a 9 deg C drop in temperature as I recall. And I do have them check it every spring. I'm looking into switching to Duracool this spring. I've read good things about it. Commuter

I know that the Outback has a 2 stage booster that causes some of that mushy feel. I'm not sure what your Legacy has, but I would think that it would be the same. I added some stainless steel braided brake lines to my 97 OB. It helped considerably in reducing that mushy feel. Commuter

What Legacy777 is alluding to is that the "burnt coolant" is one of the symptoms of head gasket failure on these cars. Combustion products are pushed into the coolant. The coolant is pushed into the overflow bottle. If bad enough, the coolant overflow bottle overfills and splatters coolant in the engine bay. Look for bubbles coming up thru the coolant in the overflow bottle. Look for an oily scum in there as well (by-product of the combustion gases passing thru the coolant). Good luck. Commuter PS - The thermostat is not symmetrical on these engines. Stick to the OEM unit and make sure the notch is aligned in the housing properly.

There were 2 flavors of 98 Outback; Outback and Outback Limited. The base model did not come with heated seats. That was part of the All Weather Pkg (previously called the Cold Weather Pkg I think). It also provided heated mirrors and a heated windshield strip for the wipers. I don't know if the Limited came standard with the heated seats or not. Check www.cars101.com for info. I can't comment as to why you seemingly have non working switches. Are the seats still original? Commuter

I don't think I've seen this problem before. Is it broke, or just stiff? I know that in my 97 OB, it is stiffer than any other vehicle that I can think off. Still, it works. Sometimes the mirror moves a bit when I flip it and I have to readjust it. I've gotten in the habit of putting my thumb on the lower edge of the mirror as I pull the lever towards me with my finger. Works well for me. You might try squirting a bit of some lubricant up in there. I like to use Rust Check for stuff like that since is creeps and doesn't damage plastic. I fixed a slightly sticky wiper stalk this way. Not sure what else to suggest. Commuter

Refer to the "Sticky compilation" thread at the top of the page. You will find a link to all the information you need. Commuter

Can someone verify for me, one way or the other? Thanks. Commuter

What about coolant temperature sensor? I've read that they mess things up like this if they are shot. The ECU thinks the engine is still cold even though it has warmed up. However, you are not getting a code for it, so I could be off base here. Just a thought, since you are getting different behaviour between cold and warm engine. Commuter

I'm just wondering if the early 90's Imprezas that use the H4 bulb have a glass lense or plastic lense. Thanks. Commuter

The fuse box (near the battery) should have 3 spare fuses in it. There are slots just for that purpose. I put a little fuse puller in the box myself. It can be hard to get a grip on those fuses with just your fingers, especially if it is cold, wet, etc. Commuter

I'm not sure of the exact nature of your moulding ("hollow D shape"), but on my 97, I'd call it more of a "U" shape (in the mirror area). In the past, people have played around with slipping "something" into the U to 'puff' it back up. A strip of wire has been used. You might try some small rubber hose (like vacuum line hose, etc) that would have some give. Maybe a strip of the adheasive foam one can buy in strip rolls of various sizes for various purposes. Etc. Even if is is an enclosed shape, you might be able to make a small hole and shove something in. Riskier though. Commuter

This question comes up a lot. The post by ferret in the following thread sums it up quite nicely (at least for North American 4 cyl engines). Thanks ferret. Is my engine interference, or non-interference? There are other posts that go deeper, ie whether pistons hit valves, or valves hit each other, or both. I don't have a link for that, but if someone knows of one, msg me and I'll add it to this post. Commuter

Allow me to introduce you to the "Subaru Virgin" switch. There is a rocker switch on the top of the steering column. It is labeled with a P and some dashes indicating lighting. This switch turns on the parking lights even if the ignition is off, headlights are off, etc. This is a code/regulation requirement in other countries. What usually happens, is that the unsuspecting owner will bump this switch while cleaning the dash. Don't feel bad, it's happened to many. Commuter

This little strip of metal which is above the license plate and backs the latch and license plate lights is prone to rust. Replacement is fairly easy. There are other ideas inside about different paints and treatments for this bracket. Replacing rusty hatch latch bracket Commuter

One of the more extensive threads on replacing the tiny bulbs that burn out in the late 90's Subarus. Replacing climate control and switch bulbs Commuter

You never changed the transmission fluid? hmmmm I'm not a fan of flushes personally. They can stir up the gunk and cause more problems. With an 8 to 9 yo tranny that has never been changed, I think there is a good possibility of this happening. You could try changing the fluid again. If the mechanic only did a drain and refill, you will have only changed out about 4L of the 10L capacity. Therefore, there is still 6L of old original stuff in there. Do another drain and fill and only 36% of the original fluid with be left. Do it a third time and only 22% of the original will be left. You might want to consider synthetic for the last go around. All of this would probably still be less than the charge for a flush. There are good posts here from Alias20035 (I think was the name) about the 96 and 97 Outbacks and the issues with clutch packs. You are right at the typical milage where they fail. I managed to get to ~400,000 km (~250k miles) before I had to change mine out. No external tranny filter on a 97 that I know of. Good luck. Commuter