Commuter

I know that the 2.5L of this era runs rich. I'm not sure if the 2.2L has the same issues or not. In general, I have not heard of it. Some of us (including me) have had carbon build up, leading to a hesitation or stumbling when starting off from a light. It is only in the low revs, from idle to (say) 1000 rpm. If you put your foot into it, it acts just fine. I had a MotorVac treatment done on my car and it solved the problem. (These treatments go by various names, usually running $75 to $100.) Over the counter stuff usually doesn't help if the build up is too severe. You could try Seafoam. It seems to do wonderful things. I have no experience with it myself. Personally, I was shocked when the dealer offered up this explanation on my 97 OB (some years back). I do mostly highway driving and would not have expected such a problem with today's fuel injected computer controlled MAF sensing etc etc etc cars. Go figure. I just re-read and noticed that you say only when cold. My problem was regardless of cold or warm. It could be several other things if it is only a situation evident when cold. What lead me down this path was your comment that the fuel injector cleaner seem to help. Let us know what you find out. Commuter

Caution. People have had hit and miss success (no pun intended) with Bosch +4's in Subaru engines. NGK is recommended and never a problem. The multiple grounds on the +4 plugs can actually interrupt / interfere with the development of the flame front from the spark, leading to poor(er) combustion. That is one explantion I've heard. Your car recommends the platinum plugs for 96k km interval. (I have a 97 OB as well and just had the plugs changed today.) Commuter

Do you have the 2.5L engine in that car? Or is it the 2.2? Is your hesitation with light acceleration, or moderate to heavy acceleration? Commuter

See the thread "Climate Control Backlight". Lots of info and links. It resurfaced recently, I saw it around page 4 I think. Commuter

No change that I noticed (with the larger OEM bulbs compared to the original smaller ones). Brighter without the green condom (on the RS bulbs), but not by much. Obviously, white light instead of green as a result. Commuter

A 97 auto is prone to clutch pack failure and torque bind as the years / miles rack up. Normally, I wouldn't describe torque bind as a "thunking". No limited slip rear diff that I know of in these cars. (99% sure) Check that you don't have a bad endlink or something as well. Could be that simple. Commuter

Yeah, I noticed that the second time I replaced the bulbs a few years back. The bulb was quite a bit bigger. However, it didn't really last any longer. The last time I replaced the bulbs, I used the RS 7219 bulbs. Since the green condoms wouldn't fit, I didn't bother with them. I have a white light instead of green, but no big deal. Interestingly, the bulbs have stood up twice as long and are still going. I used the same RS bulbs in the dash switches, but was able to use the old green condoms. They have eventually burned out. Someone had theorized in another thread that the condom increases heat in the bulb and leads to the failure. My experience would support that theory. Commuter

I have the same car. Heat in the seat and the back. On low, it is barely noticeable that there is heat, but there is. Commuter

OB99W is on the mark. I've been using 5W50 oil in S. Ontario for years now. No problems. In general, it is ok to go "outside" the manufactures recommendation (below the W number, or above the higher number). What you don't want to do is to go inside. Eg, don't put 5W20 into an engine that lists 5W30. If you go lower, the oil will flow freer for cold starts etc, but the engine might be a little noisier. If you go higher, you are giving yourself more of a safety factor. It's not so much that the oil is thicker, but rather that it doesn't thin out as quickly at higher temperatures. And that means better protection. Have you ever seen oil at 200F or so? It is like water! Even the 5W50 stuff. (I was playing around with a few ounces of different oils in tins in the oven a few years ago, but it was stinking the place up at 300F and I had to abort.) Ford and Honda switched to the 5W20 stuff a few years ago. Apparently, they both dropped their expected engine life numbers considerably in their government submissions (some EPA thing I believe). So why did they do it? Because you get 0.1 to 0.2 mpg better gas mileage. D'oh! A friend of mine went through quite an ordeal with Honda to finally get a letter from them saying that it is "ok" to use 5W30 oil in his new (2002 or 3?) Civic. Hmmm. Commuter

I've posted before on this, since I was looking at doing the same thing a few years ago with my 97 OB. There use to be a guy on the board who did exactly this with a 97 GT. He ran into a number of issues. He used the original wiring and ECU. Off the top... Can't swap manifolds. They are different. TPS and/or IAC were different. Sensor wheels for crank and/or cam were different. Power steering lines had to be re-routed slightly. Constant EGR CEL (the SOHC engines don't have one). On the plus side... The exhaust bolted right up, no problem. A few other things too I think. I have his full run down somewhere (but not at home just now). It turned into more work than he anticipated. He was actually able to steal some of the needed / different parts off an old 1.8L engine (IIRC). It CAN be done, but it has some headaches. I ended up just fixing my gaskets... (but then a conrod went...). Commuter

In the late 90's, they switched from the adjustable 'stream' style nozzles to the non adjustable 'fan spray' nozzles. I was going to upgrade on my 97 OB until I found out that they were not adjustable. The mechanic said some people had complained about them (usually too low I think), but nothing they could do really. I added some adjustable fan style ones from CTC. Very easy to do, very inexpensive. The only problem was that they flowed more than the original ones. When I first replaced just the driver side one, it was ok. Once I replaced the passenger one too, the spray didn't have enough "oomph" anymore. The issue is that the greater flow results in lower pressure, therefore the spray is pushed down quicker / more easily by the wind when driving. I noticed that the ex's Honda had a narrower slot and finer spray. I found a Honda nozzle with the correct "bend" to the hose connection and put them on. I did have to do a tiny bit of filing of the notch in the hood, but with a drop of Rust Check on the metal, I wasn't too worried (about rust). They work very well, and are adjustable. I'd say that they still flow more than the original nozzles did, but not by much. It's acceptable (to me). Btw, I also added a top mount spray nozzle on my hatch (again, one from a Honda that fit perfectly). That however, was a little more work, but worth it in the end. Commuter

The 98 and 99 are less prone to this problem than the 97 and 96 were. My 97 OB failed around 400k km, about twice what they usually fail at. I'm not sure of the failure rate or mileage for the 98+. It's not very frequent though, that is for sure. Still, the fluid change may have only bought you some time. The clutch packs do give out on these vehicles, but usually at quite high mileage. Commuter

Interesting. I can't comment on this particular discussion, but there are schemes in use out there to "warm up the cats quicker". Several years ago, the owner of our company was telling me that he thought something was wrong with his car the first winter (I don't recall if it was his Audi or Mercedes) when it wouldn't upshift until high(er) revs when cold. Turns out, part of the warm up scheme. Holding the lower gear longer so the engine revs higher, thereby warming the cats quicker. Commuter

I had a valve job done when my HG's were replaced on my 97 OB. They milled the heads, did the valves and did the shims to set the clearances. Even with all of this, it was about $1500 Cdn, which was around $1000 US at the time. (Today it would be more.) I didn't need seals or water pump or any of that stuff, since it had all been done at the prior major service for T-belt. As has been mentioned, it's almost a "wait and see". If they heads are flat, then fine. If not, machine them (more $$). If the valves are good, fine. If not, then a valve job (more $$). Etc. You need a shop / mechanic you can trust. Commuter

~ 3.5 years and 210k km on the replacement head gaskets. 97 OB. Commuter

97 OB. HG's failed at 260k km. Replaced. Con-rod failure one day later. Short block replaced. That was April 2002. Everything is still running good right now (knock wood) at 470k km (210k km later). Commuter

7219. There is another "part no." on the pkg... some 6 digit no. I believe. I think you will find it in that lengthy "Climate Control Backlight" thread, if needed. They are 12V bulbs, 60 mA. I'm sure the friendly sales people can help you. Commuter

Why? Who knows. One of those Subaru quirks. Someone missed somewhere on the specification of these bulbs it would seem. You can also try this link. Lots of info. I put the RadioShack bulbs in the last time. They've gone over 3 years. The OEM bulbs (twice replaced) lasted half of that for me. Commuter

You know it is a Phase I by the year. If you haven't damanged the engine (yes, no positive way to tell), it is worth fixing. You should be able to get it done for less than $2000. $1200 to $1500 is more typical. Other choice is to buy a rebuilt engine from CCR. You get a 3 year 36k mile warranty. Not inexpensive (about $4k overall for engine and install), but you will have piece of mind. And consider that vs new car payments. Sorry to feel your pain. I have a 97 OB too. My HG's also went. (My tale of woe is on the site.) I've got 3.5 years and over 200K km now on the replacement engine. Commuter

There is also www.magnetbra.com if you want to consider something a little different. I've had one for a few years now. It's ok. Commuter

The "deflection" method is affected by the distance between pulleys. I know on my 97 OB, the distance between any of the pulleys is not that great. 1/2" deflection with moderate pressure on the belt was closer to correct for me. I still had to tighten a hint after that to get rid of a little start up squeal. It seems quite tight to me, but still was not as tight as the mechanic had done it to after my engine work a few years back. Commuter

Not to usurp answering, but it is Krown. And yes, they drill holes (last I knew, and so does Rust Check). Krown actually started in the late 80's from a bunch of disgruntled Rust Check dealers that felt the franchiser was getting too greedy with what they wanted for the oil itself. I had just started with Rust Check myself at the time. Since Krown was an unknown, I decided to stick with Rust Check. From everything I hear, they are good. Quite comparable. Commuter

The early / mid 90's Subarus were noted for having the contacts in the starter fail / wear out. There were quite a few posts about that a few years back on the board. Inexpensive to fix if you are willing to spend a little time opening up the starter. Given the passage of time, it could now be happening in the late 90's vehicles. Granted, I haven't seen too much mention of it, so I suspect that the late 90's starters are better in this regard than the early / mid 90's ones were. Commuter

This topic has come up a couple of times this year in the Toronto Star newspaper, Wheels (automotive) section. In Canada, they have investigated and shut down many of the outfits that were selling this kind of stuff. There was a question raised on Nov 19th about this topic. I quote the following. "Randy Peek, President of Canadian Auto Preservation (www.capfinalcoat.com) In Concord (near Toronto Ontario) marketers of the Final Coat module, says scientific evidence shows that cathodic technology doesn't work. He stresses however, that his product is not cathodic like certain other anti-rust devices banned by the Competition Bureau, and that the agency terminated its investigation of CAP after being satisfied of that fact." So... if interested, you may want to check out this device. I was looking at the site briefly today, but didn't notice a price. Personally, I'm a big fan of Rust Check. It has served me well for nearly 20 years now. Commuter

nipper, what is the connection? My rod bearing failed on no 3, that cylinder exactly. Bradsit, when you say left side, do you mean when facing the engine? That is, passenger side? Commuter