subarulegacy

I sure hope that I can get the brakes + leak fixed for 60! What I really need is a garage and some time. I have neither. Hopefully I can take a good look at it next weekend. (doubt it'll happen this weekend) If I had a nice garage + tools i'd just spend a weekend and just go through everything on it. Ill get around to it soon enough. I wonder where I can find a garage of some sort. . .lol thats a hard one. Anywho your right I need to make sure exactly what the problem is before I throw parts at it, it can be tempting.

I can feel it pulse just during normal braking. Its not really when its buzzing. When it buzzes, the brakes pedal just feels kind of soft, or maybe im making that up in my head because im freaking out about the wierd buzzind noise lol. Actually I need to pay attention to if it buzzes at any time during a turn when I am not braking. And no, its actually not been snowy here except for once so far, but that was fun gotta love driving home in the snow on a road that runs through a swamp, water on both sides.

So, for now I have just been driving it with the exhuast leak since thats a project, and its cold! But today I took it by Orielly's to see what the "check engine light" was all about. It said the knock sensor was going out, and 3 other things that had to do with the exhuast leak. Also, the brake light has came on, it turns on about every other time that the car is driven. I can tell something is up because if I make a sharp turn or have to slam on the brakes it makes a wierd buzzing sound. Also with the windows down you can hear a "click click click click" when you hit the brakes. And the other thing, when I was checking the check engine light I looked at the ground and there was a nice puddle of green liquid, antifreeze. Sooooo I was actually getting motivated to get this all fixed and keep the car. I am actually starting to like it. But, really, do you guys think that this car is worth fixing? Also, any idea on what the issue is on the brakes + coolant? I probably didn't give enough info on the coolant issue. . . So I kind of want to fix it up, but I would also love one of the newer legacy's. But these subaru's seem to be very expensive cars, unless you get mine lol. So at this point fixing it could cost thousands. But maybe still cheaper than a newer one? Maybe I should give into car payments. . . Ok hope that makes sense, thanks!

hmm heres a link I found - http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f145/diesel-swap-60513/ I find it somewhat depressing. . .

Good point about the auto trans. Guess ill have to go to manual! I definetly prefer manuals over auto. I was driving a manual for a year before I got this and now it feels like the thing is driving me!!

because i know the engine has been pulled out before.

@red92 i would bet on this-

So, I was driving home from work today and I suddenly had inspiration. What if my subaru had a diesel? I started thinking about it after seeing an old 80s mercedes diesel today. I love diesels, they last forever, and get good gas mileage. And since the future of my boxter is. . .uncertain (it gets me to work but i wouldn't drive it far), i thought I would throw the idea around. I have an uncle with a shop that could help me out with it (4 hours away) or my old auto tech class sometimes lets students/ former student bring stuff in. So, wouldn't hire a mechanic. I was thinking an old mercedes diesel, or something out of a vw. Not going to ship any subaru diesel from overseas. Any idea what it would cost in parts? Is it possible? I found a guy that put a buick v6 in one, so i would assume its possible. This would be in the future, so I can rebuild my savings account. . .to respend it on the car.

oh ya. . .i wondered the same thing as to how i got this username:grin:.

could you explain the heli-coils to me? I know what they are, but don't you still have to re-tap it first? i thought the only point of those is to have the same size thread as originally? Of course my mechanical experience is limited to auto-tech in high school and working on my car and my friends thunderbird so please help me out, i don't know much but i want to learn

yea. . 2500 is probably . . . hopeful. But that is for the odometer 160,000. But anywho, I don't know what to think of this mechanic. He is really fast compared to the shop I used to go to (got all the work done in 4 hours, other place couldnt even look at my car for a week). I thought it is really cool that he actually brought me into the garage and showed me what was wrong and how/ what he was going to do. But then on the other hand when the exhuast leak came back they start talking all this stuff I don't understand. Is it true you cant re-tapp aluminum? Also the guy said the head unit costs $1000. (not a chance im doing that, junk yard!) As far as the flipping cars thing goes. . . this is my third car, and ive gone through all of them with the same $1000 bucks lol. Now ive spent more than 1000 on this one, no big deal if it keeps working. The only reason I would get rid of it is to get a truck because i am looking for a better job, im a janitor now but i make alot more money doing landscaping like I used to in Oklahoma. It is kinda bad i'm on my third car and i'm only 16!

A little update on the car- I went out of town for a week (not driving the subaru!) but i put some more in it right before I left. When I came back, it still had most of the oil. I put some of that stop leak in it just to see what that will do. So the oil leak isn't as bad as i thought. I went back to the mechanic to see what he said about the exhuast leak coming back. As soon as I described what happened he immediatly knew what car I had. "Oh ya, you have that one car with all the problems" lol. He said that the car has a problem with the headers. Something about there is no gasket there, so he put the exhuast seal glue on it. Also since this is also caused by the previous owner messing stuff up, there is a good chance that if I mess with it I will end up breaking the whole thing and have to take it to a machine shop. He said that he cant even tighten the bolts on it. So. . . the car is at least running pretty reliably now. Any advice on what I should do about the exhaust? I am trying to do as much work as I can myself. I am hoping to kind of "restore" it to the point that I could sell it for the "fair" kbb price of $2500. That is, if I don't decide to keep it once I get all this fixed.

You got a very good reliable car that should make it at least 300,000 miles. I got a 96 with 160,000. Unfortunately mine probably wont make it that far. But mine is a rare experience. I say just keep up on the maintenance like it seems that the previous owner did and it should run forever.

I might add that the person I bought this car from only had it for 3 months. The person he got it from supposedly rebuilt the whole engine. So im guessing this guy really didn't know what he was doing. Because of the oil leak, and how he messed with the suspension (parts missing :0) Any advice on how to find the oil leak, I cant just tell because there is oil everywhere you look under the car.

Thank you for all the responces. Yes certainly have learned alot from this experience. 1. if the title isnt PERFECT don't buy it. 2. don't look at a car at night. 3. don't take the sellers word for anything. I actually have done as much of the work myself as possible. I only brought it to a mechanic because i don't have a welder to fix the exhaust leak. I would have done the cv axle myself but did not have the tools for that either. I did at least do the starter and battery myself (well of course battery) Unfortunately I am limited on what tools I can have being in an apartment. Oh ya, sorry I didnt know what lemon meant, that's just how Ive always heard it used. I want to keep this thing working but its not really driveable with how fast its leaking. I actually did know about the exhuast leak and I knew it would be a cheap fix, and for $800 who cares? The popping and jolting, well I knew it was there but I didn't really know about what it meant. I figured it was because the AWD wasn't working quite right because I had a ford explorer at one point that did the same thing, only when in 4wd. Guess I was kinda stupid on that part. (or the whole thing) I totally wouldn't care if I hadn't spent $600 in repairs.

Ok so a few weeks ago I bought a 1996 Subaru Legacy Lsi from a guy in Topeka Kansas that totally lied about everything on the car. Basically everything about this car has been a problem. First off the Odometer say 160,000 however the title says 260,000. My mechanic said that you can troll those back but now im thinking there is no way this car only has 160,000. The day after I bought it I took it to get the oil changed, the oil change went fine but the mechanic called me up and said "Would you like us to put an air filter in?. . . because you don't have one." Who does that?No air filter?? The within the next week it left me stranded twice. I had to replace a battery and a starter. After this I decided to get the really bad exhuast leak fixed because it was getting to my head (literally). The car also pops, jolts, etc when it make sharp turns so the mechanic fixed the exhuast leak and replaced the cv axle that was the worst. The guy actually kept the old part because he said he wasnt sure if I wanted to have him put it back on because the car has ALOT of problems, he suggested I junk it. That wasnt an option because I have to have a car, and at least this one runs. So i had him just keep the new one on. Well a couple days go by and I realize that the CV axle did not fix the popping and jolting while turning problem, and the exhuast leak is COMING BACK. On top of that, I went 1 day without driving it, and while I was de-icing it I checked the oil, almost ALL the oil had leaked out in 1 day. It looked like oil pan gasket (of course on this car you have to take the engine out to fix this) but Ive heard on this car its probably not? Also, the tranny looks leaky. Now I have spent $800 to buy the car and $600 in repairs, and I have literrally $0 left until I get paid on saturday (which wont be much) I dont even have any money to put some more oil in it. So its just sitting there. What do you guys recomend I do?? My uncle said I shouldnt drive it to aspen but maybe trade it for a scooter (lol) I thought about parting it out, at least some of the main more expensive parts. I cant just sell it for $500 or whatever, because I go to school in KC, have work that makes me drive all over town, and everything else. I want advice on what you think is the real problem with the oil leak, popping jolting? Also what to do with that mechanic? (get my money back?) Where it may be leaking from? Any way to at least slow down the leak? And lastly, how to get as much money out of it as possible? By that I mean should I part it out? (at least partially, i live in an apartment complex, neighbors would hate me if i have a shell sitting outside) Or just fix everything and sell it later?