Suzam

I agree, get them to put the proper tires put on. You ordered a specific size and they didn' t deliver them. They can't tell you if it will change the handling of the car or increase your stopping distances. I know Costco will not put any size other than the manufacturer's recommended size. I can't get tires there for our MY97 Legacy wagon because I have 16" WRX wheels and SOA recommends only 2 sizes on 14" or 15" wheels. In the days of $4.00 a gallon of gas, every little bit helps. Smaller tires are like an increase in the final drive ratio which is less MPG (although it's probably not much).

Yeah, that sounds about right for cat-back installation. I had a 98 Outback done and as I remember it was below $400

I had a bad coolant temp sensor that had similar symptoms but never threw or caused a code. Not sure it that would make the computer throw a TPS code but replacement put the the idle back to normal.

I not sure if it can do what you are asking. Have you tried a fuse in the FWD socket in the engine compartment to see if the symptom goes away?

Sell it on eBay!

If you are near the PA-Del border you can try: B&D Automotive 7901 Governor Printz Blvd. 19703 302-798-1993 and talk to Dave. They are off of Philadelphia pike (Rt 13). They service all foreign makes and know all our Subaru's and quite a few others as well. I trust them for any repairs and diagnostics.

The flashing means the last time the transmission was in operation there was a problem. The codes are store and you need to pull them to find out what the issue is.. also you have another post which could be related to this one. Search this site for "Flashing AT light" and another for "torque bind" and see if your symptoms match any of those threads,

After reading your other post about transmission trouble you may have a bad UV joint.

First, if this is an automatic transmission locate the FWD fuse holder under the hood and insert any size fuse and drive the car. If it goes away it's torque bind (you can search the site for this, you will find TONs of info). Also, make sure all tires match and air pressure is correct.

Before I worry about replacing gaskets. I'd consider a can of the subaru "conditioner" recommended for the 2.5 engines.

Still sounds low, if the high pressure side isn't getting cold enough. Maybe another set of gauges would confirm the correect pressure.

OK I'll concede that Nipper was correct in asking about the wobble, but he looses points for not explaining the reason why he asked the question. I'll treat it as a "follow-up" type of question in two parts.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Sorry Folks, time is up and we have no winner. Seems the harmonic balancer which is made of a harden rubber(?) has decided to disintegrate. This allowed the pulley to move in towards the engine thus shredding the AC belt. The noise that was left over was from the other belt being off center and the pulley itself rubbing into the plastic timing belt cover. Since he's in there I'm having him check my cam seals etc. while the cover is off. Anybody heard of this before?

No noticeable pulley wobble, the car has only 68k and the crank pulley hasn't ever been removed. I suppose it could work it's way loose on it own but it would have been from the assebely plant that way back in 2001. I looked some more in the daylight this AM and see nothing else. The AC belt drives only the AC. The other belt is turning normally and drives the PS and Alt. but the noise still seems to be around the crank and not from the accessories. I'm gonna drive it over to the mechanic and let him deal with it today.

I just checked etrailers where I bought a Class II and they want $153 for a Class I Hidden Hitch with free shipping. I'd tend to buy from there instead of eBay, with shipping and handling it's almost the same cost.

Hi all, my 2001 OBW 2.5 with 68K is sick. The wife came home tonight saying the car was making a scraping or swish-swoosh noise. I popped the hood to see the AC belt in shreds. I figured I'd remove the leftovers and replace it this weekend since it's been cool here this week. After cleaning it up (part was wedged behind the AC pulley) the AC pulley and the clutch spin fine so that didn't seize up. I started it up and it's still making the noise and it's relatively loud. The swoosh-swish noise kind-of follows the rotation of the crank pulley but I could be wrong in the dark. I can't see anymore of the broken belt anywhere with a flashlight. My first thought was water pump failure but I don't think it could break the AC belt because it runs off the crank pulley. Although the noise seem to be in the center at the crank pulley. Has anyone had anything similar happen? Could a piece of the belt be lodged behind the double pulley somehow? I going to try driving it to my mechanic in the AM, he's only about 2-3 miles away. Hopefully I won't be damaging anything on the way. Thanks!

Hold on a minute, if it has a 2.2 it's a MY95, the LSi from 96 on came with the 2.5 which could explain the "needs a head" statement. zukiru, If it is a MY96 with a 2.5, do a seach around the board for "headgasket" and research if the car had an overheating issue and for how long before you buy it. You could be looking at other repairs and not just a gasket. Or at least give us more info on why it "needs a head".

We had that problem waaaaaaayy back in 2003 on our 2001 OBW, http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4857&highlight=gusset That's jut one link. Do a search for "gusset" and you'll see a lot of them.

Try plugging in the FWD fuse and see if it still makes the noise.

+1 on the coolant temp sensor I had a 95 Legacy 2.2 that did something very similar. And Emily is right! It is hard to reach!!!

Anybody tell me where I can find a copy of this TSB? My 01OBW has started leaking after a heavy downpour. I either drips in the front by the drivers pillar or out the opening for the center sholderbelt in the cargo area roofliner. Depending on which way the car is leaning. I wonder if the TSB would cover it?

Welcome to the board. Subaru went AWD in all models after 1995 so that limits some of your options. You can search the board for answers to a lot of questions. Here's some short answers. 2.5 DOHC should be avoided, but not run away from, if it has original headgaskets. 2.5 SOHC until 2002 had extenal headgasket leak issues. 2.2 engines are great motors but from 97 on they are interference. Other members will have more to add but try the search option for torque bind & head gasket to start your research.

gritle, I would make sure the second belt you didn't replace was in good shape also. They are usually replaced at the same time so your second belt may be on it's way out too!

I put in 5 and will do another 5 at work tomorrow!

You checked the condition and tightness of the drive belt, right?