Stelcom66

Wow, 260K, and blue 2002 - now I'm really wishing I kept this! It's a 2002S 5MT. The air conditioning was shot, quoted around $1300 to repair. It was around 130k miles, (cool you and your partner have well over 200k) so I was thinking it was going to need head gaskets soon. Traded it in 3 years ago. Interesting the newer 3.0 has more issues. I miss my Forester.

Interesting - then an EJ25 with the timing belt replaced may be a better bet. There's a dealership in my state that claims to replace the timing belt and head gaskets on every Subaru they sell. By default the statement is on the 2011 Forester I saw with the FB25. They warranty the Subarus 6 months bumper-to-bumper and 1 year on the engine. Since I have a company vehicle I typically put on only a few thousand miles a year on my own car and truck. From my experience older EJ25s may leak oil but not necessarily burn oil so much. Currently I have an older Honda Accord, 5MT. I don't know when the timing belt was changed, probably can't be inspected and considering the labor to make it visible might as well have it replaced. It's a great car but I can't ignore the appeal I still have for Subarus. With proper care I've seen (although maybe rare?) examples of EJ25s out there with over 200k miles. Older Subarus are what I'd consider since I'm a manual transmission fanatic. The heated cloth seats also make them unique and appealing to me, I don't like leather. I'd be fine with a CVT - had a company vehicle with one which I was fine with and very fuel efficient - but I'm beginning to see reports of some failures on high mileage CVTs. Maybe it's a small percentage, I don't know. I'd go for a 2010+ Outback with the 6MT but there's that procedure for changing the front low beam light bulb...

Doing some research I've found the FB25 engine does not (yet) have a reputation of head gasket failures. Of course there's the oil consumption. I do like that it has timing chains. I wonder if these are also prone to ring bearing failures? Only found one mention of that on an FB25, and it was on a turbo Forester. It seems most ring bearing failures are on high performance vehicles like the Forester turbos and WRXs, same with the FJ25. I don't have Subaru now although I've owned many over the years, they still appeal to me. If I ever did get one with the FB25 I'd know to be diligent with checking oil. I was always able to do oil changes on all the Subarus I have, I probably still have a Fram PH3593 oil filter in the garage. Was even able to change the oil on my son's'95 Legacy without jacking it up. It appears on the FB25 the oil filter is on top of the engine.

Interesting, maybe a common GM thing - bought my '67 Caprice in 1974. I'd sometimes start it before letting my friends drive it and remove the key without telling them, It was funny to see their reaction when they tried to turn it off. At least the 04 Outback being a manual if you absolutely had to you could stall it out easily - but then is there still power being applied to various circuits? During the situation with the key removed is there power to the radio? I'd guess yes.

Have no idea why that's happening, but it reminds me of my first car. It was a 1967 Chevy Caprice - when the engine was running you could just pull the key out of the ignition. That was on the dashboard, not the steering column.

Don't know what I'm doing wrong, it'll go to the site and play when I click on it. https://youtu.be/RdgKxvWbfjU

I made the noise happen today. I attempted to attach a link to a video. When I recorded it the AC ran OK for a while, the noise occurred when I turned it off. When turning it back on it would occur as it did before, also the compressor sounds like it's cycling off.on. I released a bit of the refrigerant - same thing occurred. https://youtu.be/RdgKxvWbfjU

Nothing wrong with a caveman method! I have a caveman cellphone (flip phone). I haven't tried the AC since I brought it home from the shop. Good to hear of someone else having something similar. I just hope it works when I need it. The other shop gave me a detailed document for the repair proposal, about $1,100.

The shop had it all day - like me, they were unable to reproduce the trouble. Turned on the AC on the way home for a while, worked fine no noise. I'll just have to hope that'll be the case when I need to use it again. Back to 'normal' springtime weather here.

Not that I need one, but for the heck of it I searched for EJ22 engines online. Several offers were actually a 2.0L. Don't know if they could be installed in place of yours, from what I saw so far looked like only 1999 models. I wonder if they'd be compliant in the U.S.? I believe the 2.0 was/is standard equipment in some foreign markets.

Thanks for confirming, a hooting noise is an accurate description. Was going to try to record/post the noise anyway, but I couldn't make it happen this morning. Maybe not good news if some refrigerant leaked out. I saw the cap labelled H. I know the refrigerant shouldn't just be released, should be recycled. I'll let the shop that worked on it do what's appropriate. Thanks to whoever deleted the duplicate post.

That seems to be the consensus - no one has heard of the situation, just my luck! Next week I do plan to bring it back where it was recharged. Maybe tomorrow I'll try posting a video with a link, not sure if that can be done on this site. The O2 sensor, which was causing the check engine light was replaced. At least it passed emissions the next day.

Had service done for a few things, the AC wasn't as cold as it used to be. The national service shop I brought it to evacuated and recharged the system. When I left I turned it on for a few seconds until I felt cold air. This week turned it on and kept it on because it was a warm day. The air was cold but after a few minutes this strange horn like sound would occur every few seconds. During that interval the engine felt loaded down, almost like applying the brakes. Turned it off for fear of something breaking - and the fact that one of the belts had been squealing intermittently. Took it to a local shop (typically cost would be less) for the belt and to check the noise. I would have replaced the belt myself the new noise didn't occur. They didn't get to it until late in the day so there wouldn't be time to replace the compressor, receiver dryer and other associated parts. For now the wire to the compressor is disconnected to prevent it from running. I was told there's debris in the system causing the noise. It wasn't the compressor as I thought - but the hoses vibrating. If I could somehow record and post the noise later I will. Before the system was recharged by the other shop, the AC ran without any noise, just not very cold. I'll try to get it back for them to diagnose what's going on. I asked - could have the system been overfilled?.. was told it is a remote possibility. I wonder if anyone has experienced this?

That is an amazing amount of miles, another tribute to the great 2.2L engine.

In my experience, that applies to more than vehicles. I've replaced a refrigerator and top of the line clothes washer when they were about 5 years old, major repairs required not worth fixing. Referencing Consumer Report's survey, for what it's worth - the annual 2016 auto issue doesn't show any reported engine (or any other significant) failures 2010+ years. Then again, that's the case with most other brands. For 2009, big time (solid black mark) engine failures likely from you know what. If/when the time is right - I'd still consider a 2010 era Outback, I can only hope the head gasket failures reported on the newer ones are exceptions.

It does look like stats show an increase in quality. I guess I keep thinking of my second Subaru and 2 my sons had without any major trouble, and they weren't prone to the typical head gasket trouble since they had the 2.2L engine. I wonder what difference made that engine so reliable - was it a closed deck.. and if it was, could that be a factor? Both 2002s I had never had major trouble, the Outback I traded in for the Forester (wanted a manual trans.) at 142k did likely need new head gaskets. On my Forester normal replacements like axles and the clutch (that may have been early). I read some owner's reviews about how frustrating it is to figure out the climate control and audio/navigation systems on newer vehicles. Makes me grateful mine are basic and mechanical. Honda is touting the 2017 CRV now has a volume control for the audio systems, and owners are praising reverting back to that control.

I have a 2002 Forester, only about 125k miles. Except for the Check Engine light being on, and the air conditioning being weak last summer it runs great. When it is time for head gaskets, I will consider having the repair done rather than purchase a newer Subaru - because I still want a Subaru, I've been doing a lot of research, and I'll read about various types of failures and defects that I've never even remotely experienced with mine. One surprising report is the lack of heat in the newer Foresters. Maybe that's inherent in newer engines like the FB having less friction and putting out less heat? I'd gladly sacrifice a mpg or two for adequate heat output - which my '02 has plenty of. Another concern is that even after switching to the MLS head gasket in the 2010 model year Outback there are still failures (still the EJ engine). But ironically, at typically less than 120k miles, usually less than the typical EJ engine mileage. So it seems maybe the head gasket failure was caused by overheating, which in turn damaged the gaskets? There's a Head Gasket Failure Log on subaruoutback.org. I didn't expect to see any newer models, but there's some 2010 + models on the list.

Nice setup. looks factory on the console! Soon I was going to do something soon with my 2002 Forester with the 6-CD changer/cassette. I wish I had something more basic as in the '97 - I'm planning on interfacing directly to the volume control (if possible), but then there's the requirement of being in CD or cassette mode. Or - maybe lift the audio pairs from the volume control to a toggle switch, The vol. control may be mounted on the printed circuit board making that not an easy option. I actually have one of those cassette audio adapters, I assume the quality wouldn't be good. If by chance it was, I'd probably install a switch to disable the tape player motor.

0 to 60 in about 23 seconds, testing for the best times resulted in 21.5 mpg. p://

That 2005 Outback is nice - I see why you want to drive it often. I like the color and tinted windows - which look like they were a factory option (don't think they were offered) or professionally done. As other posts mentioned, insurance cost is a significant factor. My son traded in his '95 Legacy for a 2011 Maxima. He didn't have collision on the Legacy, does of course now. He was paying about $70/month for the Legacy's policy. With the Maxima his monthly payment more than tripled. I'm perfectly fine with my 2002 Forester, but I don't drive it for work.

My son bought a '95 Legacy almost 5 years ago. While it's been in the shop a few times, as of this summer he's now driving it to work which is a 40 mile round trip. Bought it was about 149k, now I'll guess it has 185k. Having the S AWD model, when he was in college his was the only car that could make it up the hill reliably to where he was staying during winter storms - his roommate and friends had trouble with their newer FWD cars. Repairs have typically been wear and tear, although there's a significant oil leak in the engine. Being the 2.2, at least there were never any head gasket related trouble. Overall, he and I think it was a good purchase, He'll probably get something else soon since there's it may not be worth getting the oil leak fixed. Another strange thing, it's been loud for a few weeks. Yesterday I found it was from the passenger side of the engine. Looked underneath, one bolt was missing from one exhaust stud, the other stud was gone! No idea how that could have happened. I assume vibration but he never mentioned that. Cool the one you have your eye on is a 5 speed manual, that's what I'd prefer, You don't see many 20 year old cars on the road here in the Northeast. I did a makeshift rust repair around the wheel wells just so it wouldn't get worse. With the low mileage of the '95 Legacy you saw, I'd say it would be a good purchase if the price was right. There are many experts here (I'm not) that could tell you what to look for/expect. I've always changed the oil in the Subarus I and my sons have owned, easy to do. The PH3593 filter is a common item in my garage. Nice you've got an 82 F150. Don't know if it has the 300 cid 6, that was a great engine.

Good information/video. I didn't know that could happen on a 2.5, I had a '92 Legacy as well as my son with the 2.2 years ago and both had the trouble. Before getting it fixed we went through several belts.

Thanks for taking the time to post this, very good information and to include part numbers is a big help. I remember years ago breaking a bolt when replacing a thermostat on an '89 Plymouth Voyager V6. I had to make a new tap, but it wasn't that bad since the thermostat was easily accessible on top.

Great purchase, my '02 Forester S, also a 5 speed manual has almost exactly 100k less miles but of course I paid a lot more for it 4 years ago. It runs great, I enjoy driving it. Encouraging to hear there's 200k+ mile 2.5s out there.

Holy smokes, almost 600k miles! Those 318s were great engines.I see several 1980's vintage Dodges around town. Too bad about the leak, hope you can get that resolved soon.