nickb21

I've driven through standing water a little over halfway up on the wheels a few times (someone didn't engineer the drainage at work correctly). The plastic "skidplate" on the OBW seems to push the water pretty well. I'd be worried about prolonged driving in water that gets near the radiator fans. If they kick on, they'll spray water all over the compartment.

Do a search for 'heat shield', 'exhaust rattle', or a combination of those, there are a fair amount of comments on the subject. here's a good thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20411 You could bang on the shield with a rubber mallet, see if you can find where it's loose. And if you can't tighten it down, pulling it off will definitely cure the rattle for good!

158k on a 2001? Someone did a lot of driving.. You'll probably also want to check the front diff oil. Dipstick is on the passenger side, right under the airbox. It's a yellow handle too. Oh yea, and you have to fill the oil and ATF via the dipstick holes... better get a long skinny funnel.

I would think that you would only cause damage if you have a limited slip rear diff. Since the more recent sube lsd's are the viscous type, i bet you would just lose the limited slip function. depends on how sensitive the fluid is..

Does it do it when you start off in first gear too? Here are some related threads: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12131 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6251 How many miles? If it's under 60k, you might be able to get them to replace it under warranty... I've learned to live with it, even though mine does it warm and cold, but only when starting out in first.

Hey all, i'm getting a bit tired of having to put a tarp down in my backseat to keep the bike mud off the interior, not to mention it kills my cargo space. I did some looking and I think the full crossbar/pillar kits are a little more than i need (plus they're a bunch more loot). I was looking at two different racks, and was wondering if anyone had used either and had any recommendations. Thule 889 - Velo Vise Fork Mount Rack Pack http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/images/products/889.jpg Subaru OEM Fork Rack (made by yakima from what i've seen, hard to find accurate pictures though). About 25 bucks cheaper and comes with the carrier for the front tire. Both say they'll mount to my factory crossbars (oval) '02 Leg. OBW. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks. --Nick

I hadn't looked at endwrench for a while, but I noticed this was on the "current issue" http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/TBeltEWWin05.pdf hope it will be of some help. I won't need to do a tbelt for ~35k. theotherskip (i think) has a nice guide for t-belt/headgasket/clutch replacement but it's for DOHC. --N

Flushed the fluid in my 2000 legacy a month or so ago, should have done a writeup, but alas, no camera. You should be able to find a haynes/chiltons for a '96, it would be a big help. I decided to buy a mityvac vacuum bleeder, so I could do it myself, worked out very well. Picked it up for about 25 or 30$ at harbor freight, comes with all the hoses and stuff. I believe the correct order is RF, LR, LF, RR, i'll double check though. I pulled the bleeder screws and wrapped the bottom of the thread with some teflon tape, gave things a better seal. Other than that, just go in order make sure the brake fluid reservoir stays full, and bleed until the fluid changes color, then tighten up the bleeder. I think the torque is ~8Nm, but i'll double check that too, my books are downstairs. You might also take a look at these: http://www.speedbleeder.com/ pretty cool. Hope that helps some.

You'll need 16" wheels to fit the 2001 (larger) rotors+caliper setup. I recently put new front rotors on a 2000 Legacy. The aftermarket Bendix rotors were actually a bit smaller than the OEM! So far they are solid though, I guess sometimes it's quality not size.

Do you know if the new gauge pack comes with the temp sensor? The outside sensor on my OBW is right in front between the horns, don't know how tricky it would be to relocate it inside somewhere.

This guy sells some pretty decent looking "under armor". http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/skid.htm Thinking of picking up one myself for the OB.

Not a big fan of the platinums for these motors Thawa? I didn't realize ngk had double platinums.. I'm using the cheap ($2.50) regular one's (G-power) and they've been fine so far, maybe in 15k i'll throw in some of the v-groove's.

I believe the phaseII 2.5's came with Champion copper plugs from the factory, at least my '02 OBW did. (Replaced with plat. NGK's). Let me know if you need the part numbers, I probably still have the old boxes around.

Do you have alloy's or steelies on the forester (i'm not sure if it matters or not). I torque the alloys on my outback to ~68 ft-lb's. I believe the appropriate range is 65-72. For the pattern (5-lug), I start with one and then move accross the hub like you would draw a 5-point star. I do this in two or three stages, snug 'em up first, then tighten to about 45 ft-lbs, then 68. I've also found it better to torque them with the wheel off the ground, or just barely touch for the final tightening. I put a dab of anti-sieze on there too, esp. for steel wheels.

I believe there is a flange a foot or two before the muffler, was it smoking out of that? This undercoating you mention, was it applied by the dealer or an independent shop? The reason I ask is that there is a recall for the northeast (and some other states) where the dealer will apply undercoating to the rear subframe. They definitely weren't going for accuracy on mine since they got a fair amount on the exhaust/muffler which produced some heavy fumes/smell, but no smoke...

To my knowledge the rear diff is not a limited-slip version, I would imagine that the only way to damage it is to run it with little to no oil in it. $2500 seems a bit high to me for the major maintenence items you list, though I don't know how much bearings go for.. If you are so inclined you could save some money by doing some of the smaller things yourself, plugs, filters, even brakes with some help from this group. Is the car driveable? Do you seem to be getting some wierd noises and shaking? Have you gotten a second opinion? I'm sure others will chime in with some help.

I think in '03 they re-revised the headgaskets, but I'm not positive. The '02 will have bigger front brakes like commuter mentioned, it also has the in-glass radio ant., 2 trip odometers, a outside temp gauge, and the cool delay off dome light (yea little stuff). I believe the Limited comes with a sunroof, cold weather package, and I believe the side airbags. It's a close call, but seeing the price and mileage about the same, having a car that's two years newer is a definite plus.

The phase2's came with copper champion's i believe, i swapped mine out for ngk g-power platinums which are pretty cheap, and i've noticed better throttle response. Others have recommended the ngk v-power plugs (copper).

I'm sure most of the little stuff is included. How about a coolant flush/fill? The main belts look alright? Front/Rear gear oil change maybe. With any luck you'll see another 150k.

2000 is the first year of the phase2 2.5l in the legacy line, but you might want to check for external headgasket leak on the driver side rear cylinder. When you take it for a ride i'd do some tight turns to see if there is any sign of torque bind, and make sure the tires look even. 2000 also has the smaller brake rotors, so you might want to do some ~50-0 braking to make sure you don't get any shake. Might also look to make sure the valve covers and the timing belt cover aren't leaking any oil. You can pull the spark plug cable off and see if there is any oil on it. Not real major stuff, but may you could get them to knock some money off of it. Like mattocs said, I'd do a 60k mi. tuneup if you pick it up (do a search for items to change). Good luck.

FWIW.. I would assume the cooling is pretty similiar between the legacy and the forester. Bot the left and right side fans in my '00 legacy go on when it gets hot and when the A/C is enganged. You might want to check out the fuses/relays in the main fuse box, I seem to recall there being 2 fuses and 2 relays that are listed as "fans". Hope that helps some..

What year? I noticed that in either '01 or '02, they added the temp gauge, and the clock and odometer stay on all the time. They don't pull much power at all, it isn't enough to kill the battery.

thanks for the reality check, not sure why i didn't try that. switched the rears to the front and the shake went away almost completely (could just be my imagination or the cruddy road that there is still a little shimmy still present), i'll take it to work tomorrow (not my daily driver) and see how it does. when i first got the car I broke two studs taking the wheels off!! i wonder if the excessive torque could cause the wheel to become out of round... anyone want to get rid of any 15" alloys??

The steering wheel in my legacy (65k) use to shake a little in the past, but over this week it's gotten a lot worse. Just noticeable at 55-60mph, very noticeable at 65-75. I've re-torqued all the lugs to no avail. tires and brakes (rotors too) are new (3k). I pulled the wheel and yanked on both tirerod's which seemed to make a slight noise (maybe it was the rack moving?), but it was hard for me to tell if they moved much. Are there any other likely culprits? When I recieved the car the front rotors were trashed, could that cause an inner tie rod failure? Thanks for any help...

or maybe one of those Endeavor's? not very attractive car's in my opinion...