hohieu

I think there are at least 3 types of participants in this thread: 1) Those who drive their cars until the doors fall off (and do all their own work). 2) Those who get a new car before they ever hit 100K (maybe even 60K) miles. 3) Professional mechanics. If you fall in to the #2 category, it shouldn't really matter what you buy. I fall in to the #1 category. What gets me are the unexpected failures before the 100K-mile mark.

Agreed. Working on a V-8 stuffed into a passenger car is no cup of tea. GM 4.6s of '90s had the oil filter mounted on top of the block so there was no way to replace it without oil running all over the engine. But I was going a bit off topic here, comparing these jobs on a 2.5 SOHC to doing them on an I4 or even I6.

We're often up in Vermont, and Subarus are the de facto state car. This was especially true when AWD passenger cars were few and far between, but their prevelance persists. Cadillac electronic suspensions have been around for over 20 years, and they've always been a money suck, but what I couldn't stand were the premature water pump failures. I had one fail at 60K miles when the impeller shaft sheared in half, ball bearings flying everywhere. From what 86WW says, I'd probably never wander back in to Caddy country. As for Ford, I had the broken intermediate band on a 2nd gen. Explorer. No second gear. But the car was otherwise solid and the tranmssion went over 160K miles. We had a couple of these cars in the family. I have an '04 F150 w/ 195K miles on the clock that's needed nothing outside of the ordinary: alternator and ball joints, one coil over plug, rear axle seals, and regular maintenace. It's still running with the original water pump and all other cooling system components. As for ease of maintenance, it's a tradeoff. Flat layout eases timing belt work, but plugs & valve adjustments are more time consuming.

As easy as it might be on a Subaru, many people are afraid to touch cam timing. Wheel bearings and brakes while tedious, especially if you live in the rust belt, is more crude work. The design life of core components in a car should be at least 10 years/100K miles. I've had good luck w/ Fords and Subarus. German cars since the mid-90s seem to be the biggest hoaxes in the industry.

It's true that Subarus are thin skinned, but it's also true what Fairtax says, that this has no bearing on vehicle safety. Even with AWD, the laws of physics still apply and as a mass produced AWD vehicle, Subaru is about as good as it gets. Coupled with a flat engine layout, it's a lot of car for the money, but comparing it to a luxury car is absurd. Ever wonder why a 2010 C class 4Matic loses so much value? For comparison, I picked up an '02 BMW 330i a couple of years ago from a client for next to nothing. It's my wife's daily driver. It drives and handles great; body and hardware are very high quality, and the corrosion treatment from the factory is top notch. But some of the chronic issues are really unacceptable: elastomer choice is terrible and CCV system is over complicated and tedious to service to name only two. The enthusiast forums provide very good info. on these problems, but they're also filled with BMW apologists who think it's normal maintenance to perform a complete cooling system overhaul (belts, idlers, water pump, expansion tank, etc...) every 60K miles! I now have close to 180K miles on my '99 Forester 5 speed and aside from updating the rear wheel bearings, it's needed nothing but what I consider normal maintenance. Nonetheless, I would say that the drawn out head gasket issue with EJ25 Subarus has been disappointing.

I need to get me one of those. I have a crank pulley bolt on another car with specified torque of 306 ft.-lbs. I've found that the bolt gets corrosion welded to the collars of the lateral link bushings -- No way to even turn the bolt without trashing the bushings.

That lateral link bolt can bring a grown man to tears as it is often times be the most time consuming part of the job.

As Fairtax said, if there's play... If you're getting a used assembly, then I would also replace the inner wheel seal.

1999 Forester, 175K miles The original right ball joint had a broken boot at 160K miles. When I replaced the clutch at 168K miles, I also replaced both ball joints with Beck & Arnley parts, which were sourced from different suppliers: the aftermarket joints were different from one another. In any case, the boot on the right side was trashed less than a year later so I decided to clean it up with some brake cleaner and replace just the boot with a liberal application of Valvoline synthetic grease. I also replaced the right outer tie rod end boot, which had split along the seam. Energy Suspension Part Numbers: Ball Joint: 9.13103G Tie Rod: 9.13119G The original ball joints were still ok, no clunking or change in handling but after I finally got them out, there was a tiny bit of play in the original joint with the torn boot. Replacement boots should work with any of the following applications: SUBARU BAJA (2003 - 2006) SUBARU FORESTER (1998 - 2012) SUBARU IMPREZA (1993 - 2005) SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5 GT (2009 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5I (2006 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5I LIMITED 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5I PREMIUM 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA OUTBACK SPORT (2006 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA R 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA SPORT (2008 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA WRX (2006 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA WRX LIMITED (2006 - 2010) SUBARU IMPREZA WRX PREMIUM 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI (2006 - 2011) SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI LIMITED (2007 - 2011) SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI SPECIAL EDITION 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX TR (2006 - 2007) SUBARU LEGACY (1990 - 2011) SUBARU OUTBACK (2000 - 2011) SUBARU XT (1989 - 1991)

I have 175K miles on my '99 -- with all the information available on the internet nowadays and coming from Toyotas and Hondas I was at first skeptical about its long term reliability. It has surpassed my expectations and if the body doesn't rot out, I'd like to turn 300K miles. Yours should last a while. Why did you replace the t-belt at 85K, and what was replaced (e.g, idlers, H20 pump, cam & crank seals)? Belts rarely snap -- it's usually a bad idler, usually the cogged one that fails and shreds the belt in the process. Ball joints and steering linkages are pretty solid on these cars -- no need to replace unless there's play in the joint. The next major foreseeable expense might be the struts -- not too bad if you do them yourself. I just replaced them on my car, and the original ones were just starting to go bad -- not fully blown but definitely on their last legs. Wheel bearings can go on any higher mileage car. You can help prolong the life of front ones by replacing the inner wheel seal when replacing your CV half shafts. I replace the coolant every 60K miles/4-5 years -- most of the stuff on the market today is long life. I just do a drain-and-fill to refresh the corrosion inhibitors but on a neglected cooling system, you may need to flush. I have a manual, but would do as others have suggested with your auto. On the older Denso starters, replacing contacts is very easy and definitely worthwhile. Forester starters are equipped with a sealed solenoid, on which It is possible to replace the contacts, just a more delicate and time consuming process. As usual, great advice from grossgary -- you might have better luck with a used, lower mileage alternator from a junk yard, which can be had on ebay. As mentioned, the CV half shafts made by NTN Bearing Company of Japan will last the life of the vehicle if boots are replaced in a timely manner. The front inner one is usually the first to go, especially on the right where it's directly above the catalytic convertor. I bought a used OEM unit that I rebooted and rotated into the mix. This way, I have a good one ready and can reboot the spare whenever I have the chance.

Alright, it seems the opinions of my respected forum members are unanimous. I'll just focus on all the things mentioned by Gary, and agree with his reasoning, especially now as my wife no longer uses this car as her daily driver (I get all the hand me downs). The head gaskets are definitely original -- I bought the car from the original owner. Thanks to the info. on this forum, I did all the things you mentioned at the 1st timing belt service. Moving right along, I can satisfy my curiosity about just how far the head gaskets can go on this car. I must add that coming from Toyotas and Hondas, I was a bit skeptical when I first purchased this car in 2004, but it has been rock solid. SOA resloved the the rear wheel bearing issues when they updated them to tapered roller bearings, and beyond standard maintenance, I've had to replace nothing out of the ordinary beyond wear items such as suspension parts, CV boots, tires, brakes, and a knock sensor.

From the photo, it looks like the composite coating is has separated from the metal. Mine looked more or less intact the last time I was under the car. I've been running the SOA goop in my cooling system since I purchased the car at 72K miles. When pulled the trans to do the clutch, I sealed the back of the engine. It's been mentioned that these engines can be nursed along indefinitely even with an external leak. I guess I'm just wondering if any 2.5 Phase II engines have made it past the 300K-mile mark on original head gaskets. I understand that mileage isn't necessary the best barometer but since there's no gauge that tracks the number of heat cycles, it's the only measure we have.

99 Forester, 172.5K miles I bit the bullet and bought some KYB struts, mounts, and related parts so as the title suggests, I'm all in for the long haul. I'll drive this thing until the rear quarter panels rust away. I replaced the clutch and ball joints about 5K miles ago so the next big repairs on the horizon are the timing belt and head gaskets. The car has the original head gaskets - still no coolant or oil seepage, let alone leaks. Assuming they're still holding at the next timing belt change, should I preemptively replace them?

You haven't mentioned longer term fuel economy trends, but it may just be a difference between winter (gas) and summer fuel mileage. A 20% reduction during winter would be typical. Oil is more viscous at lower temperatures and takes longer to reach operating temperature. Also, ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline.

saw a tool on the snapon truck to do exactly that job was about 200$ i whould put it back on car and i use a old axle shaft and a big hammer and pound the lower arm downward to pull on the ball joint out of knuckle I used this method. When I replaced mine, the right one came out with relative ease. The driver's side was a bear -- snapped the pinch bolt as well. I had some long solid bars laying around and whacked away with a 3-lb. hammer on the control arm until the sucker finally popped out. In order to create a better working angle, you'll want to turn the steering wheel full left or right depending on which side you're doing.