the_bard

My gawd... I've lived in Herman-Dekalb (near Degrass), Oswegatchie (St. Lawrence County), Elmira (not that far from Endicott), and now I'm in Albany. Heck, I drive past Endicott every time I go to visit my parents (once every couple/few months). I'm even driving up to Star Lake later this July, for our (wife and I) belated honeymoon. There's enough of us coming out of the woodwork. It's awful hard getting timing right... gotta make sure I've got the vacation time, the wife is ok with me taking off for a couple days, and I've got the extra cash. Add that into coordinating with every one else, and it makes getting together a right pain in the arse. Some people with older Subies in the Capital District think they're worth gold, too. And the people that don't seem to toss them out to the junkyard before finding out if someone wants them.

You know, now that I think about it, Dad used this stuff when he rewired the electrical box coming into the barn back home. Silver/grey stuff, looked like NeverSeize, if I remember right. Never thought about using it on a car... Edit: This is what i get for leaving my computer in mid thread, and coming back to it later... resurrecting a three month old thread

Looks to me like a lot of expensive parts just itching to break down. Besides, that setup comes with the preprinted speeding tickets, right?

I had the garage/dealer who sold the car to me handle the swap (may as well, if he's gonna do it under warranty). I believe he simply plugged the vacuum lines that would've lead back to the charcoal cannister. This should eliminate that CEL from popping up. I don't know anything about swapping the exhaust headers though...

I'd suggest seein' if one of the guys located in PA could hop on over to Harry's U Pull It, grab one for you, and then mail it out, figuring out payment as appropriate. I haven't seen any of their locations, but from what I've heard, they should have it if anybody does. They're "U Pull It", not "We Pull It For You", so you'd need someone to grab the part and mail it down to you.

99,910. Drove it down to Goldstein Subaru, about five miles away. I told them what I found, in simple terms (wife smelled sweet smell, I saw coolant leak on driver's side rear of head).They looked up the VIN #, and supposedly the coolant conditioner (and the undercarriage rustproofing) recalls were still open. Service guy asked how many miles were on it, and said to get it in there *now*. We've got it parked 'til the appointment on Tuesday morning. He says they can cover it under warranty, as long as I don't hit 100k.

My wife's been complaining about a sweet smell whenever she stops at a light during the last week or so. Taking advantage of the 50+ degree weather, I took a look underneath, and saw this: I managed to point the camera right at the rear of the driver's side head: I figure that's a pretty good indication of an external headgasket coolant leak. Plan of attack: Gonna drive down to the Subaru dealership, find out if the original owner ever had SOA throw that coolant conditioner in there, whether that extended warranty would transfer over to a second owner, and see how much the wife is gonna freak out tonight .

I'd approach this like it was a potentially rabid bear. The kind with teeth and claws. Salvage title isn't good... it brings the resale value down like a rock, from what I've heard. Banks usually won't finance it, either. Salvage title usually means that it's been rebuilt, which brings into question the skill of the rebuilder, and what's been done. For all the buyer knows, it could've been a major rebuild... not just "oh, the computer got wet." I'd also have to wonder about any car bought on a credit card because the interest was (much) lower...

http://cars101.com/ says the '95 Legacy Outback used the 2.2L, not the 2.5L, so it should not have the head gasket problem common to the 2.5L's.

The manual's probably not recommending offroading the Legacy, due to its decreased ground clearance. They recommend limited offroading with the Outback, so if some idiot decides to take it up the Rubicon and trashes it, the guy can't point to the offroading line in the manual to Subaru and make some unreasonable demand.

Depends on how fast he was going and what the visibility was like. I had a coworker go through a huge "puddle" (more like a pond) last winter with his Pontiac Bonneville. Going in to work, there's a bit of a dip in the road, with a pond nearby. The pond overflowed, dumping its excess contents into that dip. Must've been a few feet deep at least. The speed limit through there is 45... coworker said he was going about 50-55. 5 AM in February, so it was pretty dark still. Couldn't see the water, since it was relatively still and was "level" with the road, so he drove right into it. He managed to motor his way through, but soaked everything bad enough that it wouldn't start later that day. About fifteen minutes after he past through the water, mall security came around and put up those sawhorse road blocks. 'Course, the rest of the article makes the newscaster sound like a certified "panicker". At the least, someone who's never looked up/heard/read/saw how to get out of a submerged car.

As stupid as this may sound, it happened to me once... check for snow/ice stuck in the inside of the wheel rims. I hit a snowbank a few years back with the right rear of my Old's Cutlass Calais. Pushed snow through the spokes on the rim, into the inside where it melted and refroze into ice. Messed up the balance on the wheel, and made it vibrate like crazy around 40 mph or so. I imagine a smaller amount of snow might have the same symptoms, only to a lesser degree...

Why can't the Capital District get hit with 8" of snow? . I wanna play too. All we ever get is only three inches or so. I did get to play around with the AWD that first snow storm though (had to work this morning, so I couldn't play in the ice/sleet/rain/snow mix). I love power sliding by spinning two (not four, right? AWD, no LSDs, so one front wheel and one rear wheel spinning, no power to the others). It's fun

Can't say I'm gonna get my hopes up... granted, the old 2.5L was spittin' bubbles into the coolant reservoir, but this is how its symptoms started, too.

Boths fans are operational... one comes on as the temp rises, the other seems to come on only when the A/C is on. I fired it up this morning, and took the air bleeder plug out. As the engine ran for few minutes, it started pushing coolant out that hole... I assume that the coolant is moving, then. No bubbles, either. The way I was parked, that corner was higher than the rest, but not significantly. I've got room enough to feel a few inches down inbetween the radiator and the A/C condensor. Took it out for a 30 minute drive today, with no problems... drove over to CVS (five minutes away), and left it running while my wife picked up her medicine. Temp gauge was at normal op. temp, the upper radiator hose was warm (grew hotter as I waited) and was very firm with pressure. Radiator was cold, both fans were not operating. Lower radiator hose was cold. Drove over to the library (ten minutes away, roughly), and drove back. Got stuck behind a school bus on the way into the apartment, so I ended up doing a bit of stop and go driving. Temp gauge never budged. I checked the radiator when I pulled in... the right fan was on, left was not (looking at the engine from the front of the car). Left side of the radiator was slightly warm, the right was cold (same side as the running fan). During all of this, the temp gauge never rose above normal. No bubbles in the coolant reservoir, either. I swear Serenity's trying to drive me insane ;o)

Bump for updated info /\ |

Haynes Repair Manual says there are two... located behind each headlight. Should be fairly obvious... I remember seeing my right one. Circular, a few inches in diameter. Does the alarm system use the horn for the "notification" beeps? I was under the assumption that it used something besides the horns, due to the difference in sound. 'Course, I haven't paid all that much attention to it, too... Update: I went out the this morning to check it... the alarm system does use a different horm for the notification beeps. Stand at the bumper, looking towards the car... it'll be located on the left side of the car, on the left frame area, pointed downwards. Hit the 'unlock' button on the keyfob, and that should point you to where it is if it's kinda hard to see. Fairly obvious on my '97 OBW, though. The horn does point downwards, and it looked like mud/snow might have a chance to spray upwards to hit it..

I love this question ;o). Doesn't have the reputation for the headgasket problems like the Phase 1 EJ25 does. More "reliable." '95 EJ22 has a non-interference design, so if the timing belt dies (or the tensioner, etc.), the engine shouldn't thrash itself. There is a loss in power going down to the 2.2L (duh), but the way I drive, I'll never notice it. Sure looks easier to get to the spark plugs .

I'll give radiator.com a call tomorrow morning... got a quote of $87 & $174, if I remember right. They threw up a notice recommending I call to verify the fit. Dealer claims he swapped out the timing belt and water pump. I'm not noticing any coolant leaking onto the ground. Haven't looked for any seepage directly on the pump. It's not making any unusual sounds, either. Just out of curiousity: If the car has been running for a half hour or so, at normal operating temperature, and the upper radiator hose is hot to the touch... shouldn't the radiator at least be warm to the touch?

Got the '97 OBW back from the garage a couple days ago, after they swapped out the 2.5L for the 2.2L. Been fighting with the missing air bleeder cap from the radiator, but I managed to get a "piggybacked" oil drain plug in there. It's a drain plug which screws into a larger plug... the largest plug matching the size of the bleeder cap. It leaked, but a little J.B. Weld on the large plug and some Teflon pipe thread on the small plug, and it doesn't leak any more. The original problem manifested again today, however... even after two engine swaps. If I drive for an hour or so, stop at a light for more than fifteen seconds or so, the temp. gauge begins to rise. Get back on the gas, and it usually drops temp. back to normal. Seein' as the only component of the cooling system that isn't integrated into the engine is the radiator, I'm bettin' it's a partially clogged radiator. Best price I've found around town & online is about $170. I've always been told it's not worth the trouble to hunt down a used radiator, since I'll have no idea what kinda of condition it's in internally (the current one looks to be in pristine condition, externally...). Sound right, or should I consider a used one?

1. I'd try to locate where that "sparking" sound comes from... might be something as simple as "static" in the speakers, or it could be something more serious, like an electrical connection actually shorting. 2. That happens to me all the time, in just about every car I drive. Wife says it's 'cause I slide my rear along the seat when I get out, instead of standing up "like normal people." *shrug* 3. Might be a good idea to have the battery & alternator tested. Advance Auto will usually do this for free, and they're fairly prevalent in NY (at least 'round the Capital District and the Finger Lake Regions). 4. Bad sensor, bad connection, bad ground? Got me... 5. What's it sound like? Knocking, banging, thumping, "tinkling"? 6. Bad ground? Just my thoughts...

Shouldn't be. I'll know better myself, first hand, when I go get the code(s) checked tonight. Second hand, the ECU should handle it fine, and all the wiring matches up exactly. Update: Got the code checked... bad "O2 sensor heater". Nothing related to the engine directly, more likely caused by whatever oil and gunk my old 2.5L puked out the exhaust. Got a little braver on the pedal tonight, too... the 2.2L might have less pickup, but I'm not missing it all that much.

Dealer just got finished with my 2.5L -> 2.2L swap. Said it went it really easy. Purrs like a kitten. CEL is on, though... gotta go get the codes checked. I'm betting/hoping there's a vacuum line loose, or he forgot to plug the lines leading to the now-nonexistant charcoal (EVAP) cannister. Mine was manual, btw... used the 2.5L clutch rump roast'y & flywheel.

I know the feeling (lonely NY'ers)... according to Frapper, there's two other guys within a ten minute drive of me. One I think I know, who's into the fast side of Subaru's (WRX, STI, etc.), and the other I have no idea about. KevinSubaru's probably the next closest... 75subie is rather close, too. There aren't many of us. I wouldn't mind hitting a rally event later this year... and Pine Barrows is on my list of gotta-get-there's, too. Wife's got a conference in April that I hope won't conflict, but nothing else has priority, now that I've got an actual up 'n' runnin' Subie.

I wouldn't knock it (no pun intended)... my wife definitely describes her cold engine start-up piston slap as the plethora bit versus the wooden thunk.