AdventureSubaru

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/79130-how-to-seat-your-torque-converter-by-mnwolftrack/?hl=%20seating%20%20torque%20%20converter There's the thread for seating the converter. I had a post in there from the swap I did on my wife's car a couple years ago. It was the first time I'd swapped an automatic trans and the instructions got me right through. Check, double check and re-check. And just be sure it stays seated as you install. Not as bad as it sounds, just an easy thing to miss with some dire consequences. Pick N Pull and similar yards are fantastic to keep cheap older cars on the road. I think a trans is around $100. these days. Follow up with any questions. You can pm me if you get stuck somewhere.

97 Impreza outback - 5 speed manual -276,000 miles. My wife and I took the car to El Dorado National Forest yesterday for a day trip of hiking/exploring. As we headed up into the mountains, the trans popped out of 4th gear twice. Behaved normally otherwise. On the way back down, I kept my hand on the shifter when in 4th and the next time it popped out of gear, it was quite forceable. About yanked the stick out of my hand. The trans has always been just a little growly in lower gears, but I noticed it seemed louder than usual when we pulled over for a dinner stop. Checked the gear oil and it was low. Stopped at a walmart and topped it off. A little quieter again, but here are the symptoms I can identify. - A few days ago the speedo needle will occasionally wiggle. Reads the speed but wiggles at times. - Considerable shift in the trans forward and backward. I notice this mostly in third gear. The stick pulls quite a bit when you accelerate. - Kinda growly as it's been but a little louder. - Pops out of 4th gear every once in a while. (I mostly skipped 4th gear on the drive home, but it's still working okay.) - Feels just a little harder to shift into 4th. I researched past threads to see if I could get a match. Similar I guess to http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/135910-clutchtransmission-noise-97-obs-5mt/?hl=%20popping%20%20gear%20%20transmission http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/80790-driveline-issue-with-98-impreza-outback-sport/?hl=%2Bpopping+%2Bgear+%2Btransmission&do=findComment&comment=674702 I did a visual check on the tranny mounts and the pitch rod stopper and it looks okay. I feel my first step is to figure out why the trans moves so much when I accelerate. Am I likely looking at the input shaft bearing? Any way to check and see?

I was one for most of my life before I moved out west. There are some around. Couple Brats around Hamburg area. I think there are a few members in the Philadelphia area. Saw a lifted Brat in the mountains near my cabin in north central PA a couple years ago. They're out there, but old subes are getting pretty rare in the east.

Here's a link on the 300HP wagon. Probably some info to be gained. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/67203-allied-armament-update-300-hp-wagon/

Nice car! You can get the added ground clearance if you want it by swapping Forester or Outback struts into it. Looks really clean and straight for a first gen legacy.

Welcome. It's been done I'm sure. Somewhere, someone put the 300HP WRX engine in a GL. I think it snapped 3 axles in it's first 20 miles or something like that. If you're looking for a good power upgrade, most will probably steer you toward an EJ22 swap for simplicity and reliability. Personally, I wouldn't want much more power than that in a GL without beefing up axles etc to match. If you've got a killer deal on that motor, I'm sure it can/has been done. Adapter plates are offered for sale. Do lots of research!

I'd be willing to bet money that individual blocks + thrashing = broken links. I'm looking to do about 2-3 inches of body lift on mine and still going to tie it together. That's a pretty good stress point and probably one of the weaker ones, so I'll bet a few bucks worth of steel and an hour of welding will solve the breaking problem. The wagon is looking great though. My sister is going to school in east L.A. Sometime when I'm down that way, you interested in taking the wagons out for a romp? Maybe even get a gathering together like the guys in the northwest do. Gotta be some other trail ready subes in southern California.

Got a hole cut through the fender and some fiberglass that is becoming more snorkel like by the day. I'll get some pics up soon. Starting to kick around the idea of a d/r and small body lift again. Some of the mountains out here are really inviting. Probably just 2-3 inch body lift, and would add similar strut lift as well. I like the ground clearance this has with above stock angles.

Great car. Wife and I have a 2000 Legacy outback and have loved it. Very dependable - even with high mileage. Welcome to the board!

383 is pretty respectable. Not surprising though since these are some of the most reliable machines ever made. Welcome to the board! This is a great place to learn and share in the Subaru love. Pics would be great! More is better! Welcome to the board!

Agreed. I do all my own work, but don't have the equipment necessary for tire changes. I've been quite pleased with the overall tire services there. Cheap and usually friendly. And if the rims and tires are carry in - they'll mount them regardless of what it's going on. If it's on the car, it needs to match factory specifications. Just covering their own butts. Tough to fault them these days.

Tire and Lube Express - they usually mount and balance for about $10-$15 per tire. Another $2. each for valve stems. Way better than many shops charge.

I've had this trouble before when I got a great deal on some lightly used tires for my parents Honda. Simple solution though. Buy the tires, take the rims off the car and carry them in for mounting. I used Walmart TLE because they are generally the best value.

Almost the entire car can be taken apart with 10mm, 12mm and 14mm sockets/wrenches. No engine removal necessary. For the air filter - just get whatever brand for whatever cost. No tools necessary. Jsust unclip your air box and swap the filter. Spark plugs will require a 5/8 spark plug socket (Around $6. at most car parts stores) and an 89 cent gapping tool. (an a pretty long socket extension) Took me about 20 minutes to do the plugs and wires on my wife's car last week. Will take a bit longer if it's your first time, but it's a good habit to have to save yourself money over time doing it yourself. For the timing job (which would include coolant and thermostat) read this - http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t154453-diy-sohc-timing-belt-change-w-pics.html it's pretty well detailed and lets you know the job involved. I'm sure there are similar (or better) write ups on here, but I am doing the belt on the wife's car next week and it's what i had open on my computer. If it seems like biting off more than you can chew, you can always leave this part to the mechanic but still save yourself some $$$ by doing some of the simpler maintenance yourself. But yes, any and all information you'll need can be supplied on this board. I've learned from the ground up using this forum and a few others.

I shipped EJ22 heads about a year ago by fitting them in 2 flat rate priority boxes. it's easier than you might think. Cost was like $36. total.

My estimate came from Pick N Pull's website - which is self service. But yeah, the Portland Pick N Pull yards are 66.99 per head with a $10. core. My only uncertainty would he how many 2.5s would be available in the area. Pick N Pull has an inventory and listed a 2000 Legacy in the Sherwood yard. Whether the heads are available or not - who knows? But self service yards are in that ballpark. Double that price if they pull them. And craigslist - anything can happen.

$1000. seems kinda high to me. Several items on the list are very simple little maintenance things that most anyone could do with a little instruction. Focusing on the timing belt because it's the one that would seem "necessary" as it's probably a little past due and is a needed preventative maintenance before the belt snaps and the car no longer drives. Timing kits on ebay are around $125 on up depending on brand. A good mechanic shouldn't take more than a couple hours to put it in. I'd avoid the mechanic pricing and order the parts yourself and just pay the mechanic for labor at best. Any thought to doing some of this work yourself? This board contains more than enough info to teach someone who has never even heard of a subaru to perform the maintenance listed. Spark plugs, wires, thermostat, fuel filter and air filter should take maybe an hour total to do.

Used heads for sure. Cheap and fairly easy to do. Get a decent head gasket set and of course your timing belt. You can change out the heads without pulling the engine if you want. There's a good write up on here somewhere for changing heads in the car with this motor. Pick N pull keeps an online inventory of cars (not parts) and charges about $65. per head. (with a $10 core.) Or, as mentioned, hunt Car-part.com and craigslist, or a want ad on the board here. ballpark el-cheapo fix (gets the car back on the road, no other maintenance) $60 headgaskets from ebay, $30. timing belt only (rockauto or ebay) $150ish for used heads. - so about $250 and some wrenching can put the car back as a daily driver. Spend a bit more and get the full timing kit (with water pump) replace some of the seals up front while you can and get the Subaru brand head gaskets and you'll spend a bit more but have much more long term reliability (and/or peace of mind) The good news is, you'll come out of it with a motor with a freshly redone timing belt and head gaskets, ready to go another 100k. Good opportunity to have that motor in ship-shape. Sorry to hear about the trouble. You're in the right place to get the best help and answers to get the outback running well again.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/129404-pulling-engine-etc-through-the-eyes-of-a-noob/?hl=%2Bthrough+%2Beyes There's a good writeup on pulling the motor and heads for the job. I think it can be done without removing the motor, but it's cramped working. Take it slow, these motors are pretty easy to work on.

http://autos.aol.com/article/coolant-color/ It sounds like that, but I've only ever added green stuff.

Whatever it is developed fairly recently. We've had the car for a few years now. Always quality coolant and never any additives. Definitely going to swap the thermostat when I do the timing since there's gunk in the system. Hope it flushes out easily.

Was doing a check on the wife's car today (2000 Outback, EJ25 SOHC 333,000 miles) and found the timing belt is showing some cracking, so I'll be doing that job next week when parts get here. I had to remove the coolant overflow tank to get to the timing cover and found an inch and half of this at the bottom of it. Never seen that sort of stuff before. Pulled the radiator cap and found a little more sludge. It's like a fluffy sponge cake consistency. Not oily. Radiator took maybe a quart of fluid to top it off. It has been performing normally and running at normal temperature. Any thoughts on this? Car seems perfectly fine. Just due for a new timing belt and found this weird stuff. Since I'll be draining the radiator anyway, I'm planning on a good flush at the very least.

Have you contacted your dealer that installed these? I would think they should be under warranty at 12000 miles. Should at least be able to get a replacement - probably out the labor though. I'd see if they still have that info. or if it came attached with your receipt.

I drive a 97 with 276,000 miles and can highly recommend the car. Wouldn't be bothered by the titling either unless you plan on re-selling the car soon. It makes it a little tougher to sell. But in this area, these cars are hard to come by. I would use that title as a negotiating point. Most dealers will come down on price, and will price a car based more on what they hope to sell it for than what they would be willing to part with it for. Without seeing pictures and all, you're probably looking at a car worth 1700-2500 in this area. (Everything costs a bit more in CA I've seen.) If you end up getting it, I'm just over the hill from you and could give you an un-biased view of the timing belt and such to see if you wanted to replace that or if it's been done recently. It's tough to find a more dependable car. And Subarus can do a lot more than their toyota/honda counterparts.

Glad to hear it! I've never known someone to regret buying an old subaru. Probably happens somewhere, but not that I've seen it.