timintc

2000 legacy 130K, abs light comes on and stays on when i drive with my headlights on, anyone with any ideas or insight would be greatly appreciated, oh original battery was replaced yesterday with no change in condition.

I bought a 97 outback impreza for my wife this spring and she loves it, it has 116K on it, and the guys we bought it from, Subaru Guys, in Traverse City MI, did the head gaskets, timing belt and all the parts associated with that before we purchased it, and we paid 4500 for it. Id recommend doing a carfax on it and if everything checks out with that id say go for it, its not a great deal but its pretty much market value for that car.

thanks i do intend to call SOA again for what good it will do i dont know.

While doing my second head gasket replacement on my 2000 legacy, the first performed by the dealer on the extended warranty plan in Dec of 2003, my Subaru specialist informed me that the gasket that was used for that repair was in fact the original style gasket. As the dealer only replaced the side that was leaking, the drivers side, the two gaskets that were replaced yesterday matched, telling me that the old style was used and not the updated version. My question to anyone out there is when was the newer gasket available and under the extended warranty was the newer and improved gasket supposed to be used. The longer this headgasket issue goes on the worse Subaru looks, the coolant conditioner is just a bandaid intended to get those at risk vehicles past the extended warranty period at the least amount of cost to Subaru.

Nah thanks for the suggestion but id just as soon get it done and get it done right and hopefully be done with it.

well heres my story, 2000 legacy wagon, bought used from a dealer in traverse city, Cherry Capitol Subaru, in april 2003. Smelled antifreeze most of that summer and finally had it pressure tested in December, when it was determined that it was the head gaskets, i immediately called SOA I was pleasantly surprised that they extended the warranty for me, and had the dealer fix the drivers side head gasket at no charge to me, Soon after wards the letter came out informing everyone of the extension of the warranty and the coolant additive etc etc. The mileage when this service was performed was 68K. Jump ahead to July 2007, and the smell of antifreeze is back, only this time, with the experience and the knowledge gained from this forum, I knew instantly what the problem was. So today the dealer pressure tested my cooling system and sure enough they gave me the bad news, I was expecting. Only this time it is both head gaskets. This time with 127K on the odometer, no one wants any part of warranty extensions or backing their work. It just kills me cuz i love subies and own two currently. that they cant get this head gasket thing corrected. Twice now in 127, 000 miles on my particular vehicle. The dealer quoted me 1437 dollars to replace both gaskets, but after the first head gasket job failed after 60K miles why would any one in their right mind let them try it a second time? I am off to the Subaru Guys who quoted me 800 for the whole shebang and i know they will back their work. Sorry i know its wordy and not very good punctuation, been a frustrating day. thanks for listening

I had the first HG repair done at 77K and now have 127K i should think with the new updated gaskets it should last more than 60K miles!! i will have it looked at first thing in the morning at the dealer, what a drag.:-\

well im getting that sweet sickening smell again from somewhere in the engine compartment with no visible signs of hoses or radiator leaks, and just had the timing belt and water pump and all that stuff done within the last 10K miles, soooooooo, i got under it last night and see it dripping from the back of the engine somewhere so im surmising head gaskets again. this is on a 2000 legacy that has already had the head gaskets done under the extended warranty at around 75k a couple years ago. So ive got an appointment to have it pressure tested on wednesday and im sure im going to have to go thru the flush and goop process first, my question is has any one had the head gaskets go a second time after having them replaced under the extended warranty and if so do they warranty them a second time as well?

after dealing with the 420 code on and off for a couple years i decided to finally have the O2 sensors changed on my 2000 legacy with 125K on the odo. after about a week the code came back so the shop took the exhaust system apart and blew out the cats and reset the O2 sensors. before another week went by the CEL came back on again, this time he swapped my cats for some that he had gotten off a salvaged legacy with under 7K, the sensors are denso and now with nearly new cats the CEL came back on again , his recommendation is that he has done all he can do, and to just take it to the subaru dealer and have the code erased from the computer, anyone with any ideas or like experiences on this one????

yes just go to the autoparts store and ask, i was looking for something different and when they pointed that out to me i thought EUREKA!! ive found just what ive been looking for. It did make the job go a lot easier and it still took some doing to get it off and subsequentyl another on the used one that i found. but a follow up to the last post, i did manage to break the shaft free on the siezed motor and i will be putting it back in today as opposed to the used and older one. and obviously i will be lubing it very well, and hope for another 7 yrs of service but at least i will know how to fix it and what to look for, i just gotta wonder how many rear motors Subaru must sell and replace when the solution ended up being so simple.

How oh how does the shaft in the housing manage to freeze up? After not working for awhile i decided to tackle this job on my own, last weekend took it apart and sprayed it with penetrating oil as much as i could, after a week of head scratching i decided more drastic measures were going to be needed, so i went to the autoparts and found much to my joy a special windshield wiper arm removal tool. Ok now im really getting down to business here, so after finding another motor off an older vehicle i swapped them out even switched motors back and forth and have determined the cause to be that the shaft is frozen stiff inside the housing of my newer 2000 and who knows how old the other one is but works fine. so pretty much everything matches up but am having problems getting the arm and a retaining nut off the older motor and another problem which i dont hope is a problem is that the older set up has a sprayer mounted in the base of the wiper arm housing as opposed to having it above as it is in my car. oh well i know this may have rambled a bit and i hope everyone who is interested can understand what i am talking about, if anyone else out there has any similar experiences please feel free to jump in, and if anyone has a motor that doesnt currently work id guess it is probably the shaft that has siezed up not the motor itself.

while checking my tranny fluid i noticed that neither of the two fans was operating is this normal? i have had an issue with the one fan kicking on usually at a stop light and more often in the winter than the summer but i always figured one fan was always operating and the other just kicked in for AC or overheating, other than that car runs great except for the annoying 420 code that i still havent been convinced what the correct remedy is or if it really needs a cure, btw its a 2000 legacy with 125k and head gaskets replaced at 77k under the extended warranty program.

just give me the vin #'s my subscription expires on 4/20 so hurry please

most of the time the records just indicate a change in ownership or title change, for some reason unlike other states that list the mileage at each change in title the only indication of mileage was way back at 18K so hard to say how many original miles are on this car

wow this cars been all around N Idaho, , Moscow, Lewiston, Troy, Sandpoint, and one accident 9/28/1990

ran a carfax and everything checks out lemme know if youd like me to forward it to you

Sounds like you have yourself a good little Subie my friend 3 owners and only a failed emissions test back in 2006, ill gladly send you the report.

Tomorrow the wifey and i are going to the Subaru Guys here in Traverse City and looking at a sweet 97 Impreza, and hopefully we will be driving away with it and adding it to the 2000 Legacy that i drive, cant wait to own a 2.2 again, the 2.5 even with 125k on the odometer has never idled as smooth and as quietly as the 2.2 in my previous 91 Leg, too bad Michigan's salty roads ate the body away on that one otherwise we'd not even be talking bout the 2000. Ill keep everyone posted, oh btw, im subscribed to car fax for about a month now if anyone needs any help, i recently received some help from a member here and will gladly help anyone that needs it.

thanks all i will pass on all the info and see if she listens to me for once in her life

1999 Outback 5 speed manual transmission, has a couple red flags but my sis-in-law is bound and determined to buy it, first off its from a dealer and the check engine light is on, second its has a new odometer that reads 76K but the guy cant say when that was put in, did 99 outbacks have any speedo problems that anyone knows about? and lastly she did take it to her mechanic who quit the diagnosis after determining that the battery was on its last legs and the alternator was bad. i believe theyre asking 4900 or so, to her credit she is a diehard subie gal who is reluctantly replacing her 92 legacy cuz some mechanic told her it was more costly to replace all that was wrong than the car was worth, i find it hard to believe but cant convince her of that, oh btw the vin # is 4S3BG685XX6605819 thanks in advance and much appreciated

Im lucky here in Northern Michigan to have an outfit called The Subaru Guys who do nothing but Soobys and at a far more reasonable rate than the local dealer and who is kind enough to always answer any questions that i have concerning my 2000 legacy or others that come up from time to time on this forum. I have been dealing with a cel and 420 code for probably a year and a half now, it comes and goes, it was on for a week or so then on a trip to Detroit over the weekend it reset itself on its own and now is off again. On his recommendation i have thus far chosen to do nothing insofar as replacing any o2 sensors, his opinion is that after seeing a number of these situations hes not so sure which sensor front or back is the culprit, but his current theory is now that it is the back sensor, and when he replaces them he welds in a small spacer where the sensor goes in to back it away from whatever it is that it is monitoring, his reasoning being that Subaru set the sensitivity in a manner that any little glitch in the system would trigger a cel and thus a trip to the dealer. I am tempted to test his theory and let him have a go at it cuz the cel is annoying specially with the kids always having to tell me " hey dad your check engine light is on". i have had auto zone type guys tell me after reading the code that i have to have my cat replaced, i pity the poor uneducated folks who would follow that advice, my car runs the same weather the light is on or now and with the price of oem o2 sensors why replace something that doesnt need be.

UP in the northern part of Michigan you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a Subaru, they are definitely the most popular car on the roads here, and the best place to have them worked on is The Subaru Guys here in Traverse City, subies are all they do and very reasonable, oh btw way welcome cowgirl

you need to read the thread just before yours RE: what now? sounds like you have the very common 420 code which more than a few of us have seen and nobody can agree what the proper solution is if any at all, i have it pop up all the time and my car continues to run fine and ill be darned if im gonna let a dealer take a couple grand out of my pocket for a light that keeps coming on. i just either cycle the ignition or disconnect the battery or sometimes it just goes off on its own only to pop back on a few months down the road.

ive had the code read about 3 or 4 times already and i do know what you mean about it possibly being another problem, but i feel that i know my car so well that im not worried too much about that possibility, now if it were running poorly then id have cause for concern.

ive had an on and off again 420 code going on for about a year now, it comes and goes for seemingly no good reason, tho it did come on once while climbing a grade between marquette and munising with 4 passengers and some hockey gear recently , but other than that one time of being under a full load it just pops up randomly, and sometimes disappears just as randomly, ive read just about every post on the subject and the solutions run the gamut from replacing O2 sensors to replacing the cats, to just doing nothing, as there are no emissions tests in michigan i am content to just monitor my gas mileage, between 23 and 30, and just live with the code popping up now and again, last night i made the check engine light turn off my cycling the ignition 4 times before starting, so i guess if it aint broke ill keep the money in my pocket until such time that it really needs it.