Bushwick

Seems the seller took the time to be thorough with a reply. I'd meet up with the seller and take for test drive. Take a vacuum gauge with you and connect it clost to throttlebody (avoid fuel pressure regulator vacuum lines) and see if if it's holding steady vacuum. Google "vacuum gauge test car engine" for other links, but check this one out: http://www.gregsengine.com/using-a-vacuum-gauge.html Vacuum tests can detect everything from weak valve springs, sticking valves, incorrect ignition timing, worn piston rings, incorrect plug gaps, etc. Takes about 5 minutes and gauges can be had for $15. The link provided has a rather simple table graph that you can view from a phone (or print it) and any issues with the engine (seller would probably NOT be aware of it) that might appear, would be to your advantage if you wanted to negotiate the price a bit. If you go there and seem like a legit buyer, and he's watching what you are doing, there shouldn't be any issues, as it'll either help him sell it, or at least make him aware. Being a 96', you know it's a prime ej22 swap candidate, so if the engine was in poor health or had a serious issue being masked, you could outright say "Well, I'd be interested in swapping in another engine, but price has to be right, can you work with me on the price a bit?". Then again, if it seems like a really good deal and vacuum is saying something like weak springs, you could still drive it.

There's bound to be someone here that might be interested, especially with 93k miles. I'd suggest adding interior/exterior pics if you want serious online attention, and explain exactly what it needs and what's been done to it. Also, there's other areas of the forum for listing cars for sale, I suggest posting pics there with full description and price.

Glad to hear it worked out and is back up and running. Stainless will probably outlast the car In my experience, resonators typically smooth out a droning increase that's often present around 2500 rpm in Ford V8 cars (been awhile, pretty sure it's 2500 or very close to that). Basically, if cruising and the engine is holding that RPM, it can sound a tad louder to very loud depending on how quiet the factory mufflers and sound deadening are. IIRC, 2500 would be the "peak" where it'd be quieter at 1500, then gradually peak at 2500, then mellow out above 2500, when running a freer-flowing muffler. On smaller engines, it may or may not be noticeable. Either way, you'll save $$ not replacing it, and that's just one less area to fail.

Good to hear you found a shop willing to do actual repairs. Here in the US, you wouldn't believe how difficult that can be as so many places just outright refuse to either weld anything, reset air bag lights, etc. that when you do finally find a shop willing to go the extra mile and not soak you with up-selling lower-priced junk to avoid an actual repair, etc. it's such a relief. Wait and see how it runs after the repair. If it feels like it did before the pipe failure (dunno if the ECM needs reset [disconnect neg- battery terminal for a few moments to clear it] in case it's overly sensitive, or not) or really close, and isn't struggling anymore, you are probably OK. It might take a couple days of driving if it tried to adapt to sudden decrease in back pressure. Not really sure how involved their ECM's monitoring is to be honest. If it feels way down on power still, even after a day of running, a $15 vacuum gauge "T" into an engine vacuum line, then with engine idling and warmed up, it'll tell you right away if any cats are clogged, as well as basic running health of engine. A blockage in a cat for example will decrease vacuum. Here's a couple helpful links: (1st link covers testing to eliminate clogged cats or collapsed mufflers) i.e. excessive backpressure; http://www.gregsengine.com/using-a-vacuum-gauge.html http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2011/05/check-your-engines-health-with-a-vacuum-gauge/

Didn't mean to dissuade you. Hitches are nice for towing, and you'll FIND reasons to tow stuff around, but the dead weight was a real surprise when I ran one. Hadn't even thought about it being in the way of the hatch, but that's good point. I gotta admit though, anytime I see a tire on a roof rack mount it conjures up off-roading images. If mine ever got lifted, I'd plop one up there too. GL.

I bought a class 2 from U-Haul and installed on my old Mark VIII, which was unibody. It used the factory holes and came with bolts. If they offer one for your year, and say no drilling, then no drilling. If only a tire or very small trailer will ever get lugged around, you don't need a bigger class 3 or up. Class 2 would do it. For what it's worth, the entire hitch assembly is NOT light. They weigh 75-95 pounds, plus what the ball and receiver weigh. My car had 290 hp and I could tell the added weight was there. It was also a PITFA to get up as it required dropping the mufflers as it connected to a shared point. I needed a jack to get it up there after the 37th try to fit it. Think I even busted out my jack stands for extra help. Legacy should be similar. Why not mount a roof rack tire holder instead? I've put around 450 pounds on my rack and probably had it closer to 1k pounds with the force the ratchet straps were pulling down to keep everything in place. Should be able to carry a 45 pound tire with ease. Plus they look nice on top of our cars for some reason.

You'll need to inspect a spark plug after it's been sitting "awhile", then check it again after it'd been running. Basically you want to see IF the plugs are wet and wreak of gas between when it'll actually start and when it won't. If they are dry in both cases, then it's not injectors. If they are wet either after sitting overnight, or 10 minutes after shutting it off, then it's getting flooded. Holding the pedal down might be coincidental in that it might have started anyways. Crank sensors can give erratic starting issues, as can neutral safety switches. Corroded wiring or damaged wires can as well. Would also be helpful to know if it's actually getting spark during the no-start cranking or not. If plugs are not wet whatsoever after sitting, try a spritz of starting fluid and see if it wants to fire or not. If it suddenly sputters then dies and only cranks, that's most likely a fueling issue. If plugs are dry and it does not fire off a short burst of starting fluid, look at ignition including the crank sensor, coil, and wires.

Rock Auto is the defacto site. They have a wide variety, carry hard to source bits, and typically have excellent prices, even after shipping is figured in. They even run rebates with some items. Monroe likes to offer discounted incentives. https://www.rockauto.com/ Other site I'm fond of is tire rack. They sell brand name tires w/o the middleman. They also sell rims at extremely affordable prices w/o crazy mark ups. If you buy tires for example, keep in mind you still have to pay for mounting and balancing locally, but many local shops have a working partnership with tire rack and will honor the install. Can see on tire rack what local shops will. http://www.tirerack.com/content/tirerack/desktop/en/parts_accessories/suspension.html

Cat is probably OK. If you take a flashlight and shine it into the hole, you should see a white colored "screen", just like your screen door or windows. If it looks like a screen, it's probably OK. If there is a blob of taffy protruding instead, or an entire section missing i.e.a big hole, then it's bad, and some cats are dual or triple layered, meaning they have 1, 2, or 3 "screen bricks" stacked in the casing, with a small gap between them. It's possible the front stack can be damaged, with others OK. If the car wasn't down on power BEFORE the hole occurred, chances are the cat is OK. As mentioned earlier, the loss of exhaust backpressure, coupled with the excess noise, could make the car feel slower vs. how loud it is, as well as actually loosing low RPM torque, which would make the car not pull as well. Some cars are sensitive enough that even removing the muffler and running a straight pipe instead, can drop low RPM torque and tank MPG (might sound cool until you get tired of it). I remember a friend had an early 90's Bonneville with the bigger V6 and his pipe dropped right after the cat, and it lost a ton of power. My other friend somehow got the idea to stick a sock over the opening and the back pressure that sock created actually restored power, albeit briefly until it burnt a hole (this was back in high school mind you)

Just make sure the pipe to the right of the hole (as seen from pic perspective) with silver resonator won't fall and drag on the ground. If it dropped and hit a hole in the pavement, it could potentially break and puncture the floor of the car. I bungee cord or metal coat hanger can hold the rear section enough to avoid a $100 tow bill. Just attach around pipe and twist ends into something firm on the body. Since it's pretty well broken, the rear pipe shouldn't get to hot, allowing a bungee cord to hold it, otherwise a metal coat hanger works great. Considering the break is under the passenger area, leave your vents off and keep windows down so fresh air is cycling through the cabin. Wouldn't drive anymore than needed to get it fixed, just due to the possible fumes, but with windows down and avoiding them up while stopped.

As looking at the pic, on the left, the larger round thing is the cat. On the right, the silver-colored long appears to be a resonator (they typically smooth out some noise in the exhaust). It looks like the pipe attached to the resonator rotted, and appears to be aftermarket (remember when I said muffler chains push "cheapo" piping? All that rust is o a cheaper pipe). Look online for your city and google "custom muffler shop" and see what appears. If you have to travel 20 miles, it'll be worth it. My go-to place is roughly 20 miles. Call them and say "My pipe rotted AFTER the last cat flange, and I'll need to have a small section of pipe welded in. CAN YOU make the type of repair?" They'll most likely say yes, but need to see it before committing to a price. If they say they need to remove the resonator (unlikely) it won't really matter, but the pipe that resonator is attached looks heavily rusted near the back, and might as well replace the section with a straight pipe, or whatever you are comfortable with.

Like I said above, a "custom muffler shop" will almost always fix a broken section. I think our cars have a common failure after the last cat, as many seem to bust the weld and the pipe pulls out of the casing. THAT can be fixed fairly easy by any competent welder, and often runs $35-55 for them weld back and maybe takes 15 minutes. I've gone this route on my personal vehicles for last 10 years and always love saving hundreds of dollars. A "Midas" or similar chain muffler shop, almost exclusively push pre-made sections and charge $300 and up to replace, but they'll stick in cheap piping that can rot out in several years. EX: I had a Lincoln Mark VIII with dual mufflers. Bought some better flowing Summit Racing mufflers and went to a muffler chain years ago, asked what it'd cost to put newer mufflers on. Guy looked me dead in the eyes and stated "those aren't factory, they won't work". He went on to say they weren't the same size, but he could get factory replacements for me instead. Needless to say, this was utter rubbish as the mufflers were eventually installed and were still on the car when it was sold. The factory piping is better steel and it often behooves you to patch it up as it'll probably still outlast the replacement. If the actual flange busted out, they make repair kits that have a new flange that clamps to the pipe, then fits right up like the stock part. Post some pics and you'll have a better idea of what it'll cost and how severe it is.

Here's tire rack's info: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSize.jsp?autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Outback+Wagon+2.5I&autoYear=2005&autoModClar=Base+Model Select the drop down boxe ("Don't see your tire size") and see what they are saying will fit. Expand the custom size under 18" and 17", and enter 16" with tire size. If it works, they'll sell it. I entered 05' Outback 2.5L base. Correct if that's not what you have. They'll list every size tire that FITS with that rim. For what it's worth, I bought tires from them before and they were extremely quick shipping them. Got an excellent bargain too. Plus you can actually compare wet, dry, snow performances and better tires have tons of legit reviews, both bad and good. Make sure to select appropriate tire i.e. all season, winter, summer, etc. with whatever you get. They have a master warehouse in Indiana.

I 2nd Texas cars. Often, the older cars are so common and are actually cheaper as everyone drives newer, and the older ones aren't in as much of a demand. BUT, you might have clear-coat issues and faded paint from all the sun, so pick your poison as paint jobs can cost more than the car. Also, Texas is fairly central in the US, so you could fly in, and drive it home easier than CA or AZ, and with gas being at all time lows lately, it'd be cheaper to drive it back assuming it's 100% road worthy. If it were me, I'd run up to an Auto Zone and buy fresh synthetic oil and filter, air filter, new fuel filter, top off coolant, check power steering fluid (if steering is excessively hard, it might need fresh fluid; mine was this way. I used a turkey baster to remove old fluid, then topped off with fresh, results were instant. Then 50 miles later, did it again; easier than unhooking lines), inspect brakes are OK, check AC while at it as it can be a price negotiator, and make sure tires have even wear and aren't dry rotted and cracking. Reason I say driving it back is cheaper is because shipping companies are still charging pre-oil price drop rates, so they might be charging almost a $1 to $2+ more per mile than they would have if this was still the 1990's with same gas prices. Also, if driven, get specifics about timing belt last replacement. If you change the belt and pulleys in a parking lot with basic tools, plus other stuff, car should give a good idea how well it does on ride home, and you should still be under what shipping would have cost. Other option is borrow a pick up with a class 3 or better hitch, and rent a U-haul trailer in the state closest to the car's location. You could drive in, get the trailer, then head over to the car. I dunno if you can use a car dolly with manual trans or not? I'd recommend an actual trailer so the rear tires, bearings, etc. aren't getting a couple thousand miles of unneeded wear

I'm not sure how reliant EJ22 and EJ25 are on exhaust backpressure as I've yet to try and drive mine with an unbolted pipe, but some engines really need it. Without the backpressure, the engine can loose a bunch of early rpm torque and requires a heavier foot on the throttle to get it moving. MPG will also tank. It's quite possible the exhaust just separated at a flange, and the extra loud noise is giving the false impression you are going faster than you really are. Also possible your cat was clogging and there was too much backpressure at the flange and it just gave up (rust being a driving factor). Get an actual mechanic to inspect your cats for blockage while also determining where the hole or separation is at. Make SURE you explain to them you only want an inspection. If cats are OK, and pipe just needs welded back, see if they are able. If you go to a Midas or similar "muffler" shop, they will most definitely say "the entire pipe is shot, it must be replaced" then they'll try and sell you an ultra expensive "cheapo" Y-pipe with cats, which is dishonest. A "custom muffler" shop (if you have one locally) are the places that will actually FIX the pipe with a $50 weld job and you'll be on your way. IF mechanic states cats are bad, ask them to SHOW you. The substrate ceramic inside a cat looks like a screen on your house windows, only instead of being 1/32" thick, the cat can be 8-10" thick, but you can still see all the little screen holes- WHEN the cat is OK. Should be able to see right through it. When they fail, they tend to melt like raw glass and will look like a giant blob of taffy. Often, only part of the cat fails, allowing leaving some of the "screen" holes intact, but a giant blob beside them. IF your cat failed, you'll need the mechanic to explain WHY it failed. Chances are, the CEL you ignored was more important than you gave it credit. I think overly lean conditions can result in overheated cats. Also, if you get the cats replaced, ASK FOR YOUR OLD ONES! You can get roughly $75 for them at a junk yard, or possibly more from an actual core place (the place the junk yard sells their cats to). If you just let the mechanic or whomever take them, they'll make money off them, and NO, they won't tell you this. They'll act like they are doing you a favor. As LuckyTexan stated, a vacuum gauge can help diagnose a clogged cat if they are clogged, and you can google sites that cover where a healthy engine should be on the vacuum gauge, as well as how steady the gauge should be.

Go to tirerack.com and enter your vehicle in. They have a conversion of what will work. As long as you don't exceed width and height of a 17" rim and tire you should be OK. If you want wider, consider spacers. As far as coil overs go, do get crazy with a daily driver. Eibach makes a great lowering spring for basically any car, and are popular with Saab coil-overs. Saab weighs about the same as a comparable Imp/Leg. Might want to run better sway bars and even consider solid end links to get the most out of the suspension. WHY they use plastic end links is a true mystery as they are not as strong as aluminum. Might want to run urethane sway bar bushings at the body too, as that should tighten up handling. I run H&R springs on my Saab as they dropped a tad more than the Eibachs advertised drop. Need NEW struts to compliment them but are a decent spring nonetheless and with my rear tower mount and stiffer rear sway bar, I can cut corners hard, even on bad tires. Usually the BMW crowd run them. Seems every "crowd" leans towards one spring set and all but ignore anything else. Sometimes it's due to availability though, as more niche cars have less options. Other times it's due to car weight and what's working best for a daily driver w/o being too harsh or bottoming out.

Look for an aftermarket hitch, as that might indicate someone did a bunch of towing with it. If they towed w/o a trans cooler, the excess heat on any auto shortens their life, and autos that are in the mountains or desert areas have a harder life as well. Conversely, adding a small trans cooler to even a daily driver can extend life, much like an oil cooler can help turbo'd engines. My 4EAT is getting close to the 188k mile mark and I changed fluid out (didn't touch converter) after getting it, somewhere near the 175k mark. Amazingly, the fluid wasn't wreaking like a 1980's hair perm. I've seen same era GM autos with 75k miles and they needed a complete trans overhaul. Ford's AODE was slightly better, but you had to be proactive with fluid changes. I'd bet money my trans was never touched before I bought it, though it was regularly maintained at a dealership, so it's possible. All I know is it's as tight as any newer trans. Pulls correctly and haven't noticed slipping yet. It's OD works correctly, which is pretty amazing considering it's basically a FWD trans with a rear shaft. If you can find one in good shape, you can't go wrong with a 95' Legacy. If aesthetics aren't to your liking, you can upgrade with JDM exterior bits and install some nice BBS rims and not worry about car payments

Did you replace ALL vacuum lines under the hood? Even small sections under intake manifold runners? Did you inspect the brake booster hose too? Think mine revs to 1500 rpm briefly when cold, but doesn't hang there too long. And mechanically it's running as good as it ever will, but it's had IAC cleaned, throttle body and throttle blade cleaned, accelerator cable lubed as well as the linkage, ALL vacuum lines replaced, including the hard to reach sensor under the passenger-side intake runner and EVAP hoses, fuel filter changed, plugs/wires, air filter, etc. Basically anything that improves the engine's ability to go w/o issues. Your IAC may be sticking or getting an incorrect signal to up idle more, or you might have leaks around fittings going into it.

Lift up your seat rear seat bottom. It pulls forward from the seat belt buckle area and rests almost touching the backs of the front seats, and is meant to allow the rear seat back to lay flatter, giving a flat cargo area. May take a little finesse and I can't remember if there are locking clips or not, but once pulled forward, lift the matting that rests on the metal floor where seat bottom was. Look on driver-side area for fuel lines that enter the vehicle through a rubber grommet. The fuel lines enter through this area for some goofy reason, and you might have a tiny pin hole in the rust, or someone might have mended a bad section with rubber hose and now that's failing. Mine did this on a rusted section and was leaking under the car, but the section that was actually bad entered the car through the seat hump grommet. As soon as you lift the seat, kneel down from driver side and see if the gas smells raw or gets stronger. I mended mine, but am getting a small leak pass the rubber section I double-clamped and it'll sometimes be a faint smell in-car when stopped and colder out. Also, there should be not wet puddles under seat. If there are, smell it as it'll either be gas or water entering. Could also be possible the gas line is leaking elsewhere.

Heli coil would be an option if most or all the threads were destroyed. It sounds like you had it unthreaded, most if not all the way? If it was all the way unthreaded and plug hit cement, that could prevent that plug from threading back in. A mirror could tell you if the threads in the head are even damaged. Not sure why you'd want to heli coil if it's a couple threads or none at all that are damaged. Heli coil is a wire that coils into what's left of a severely damaged hole, and tries to provide something for the new plug to grab. It's not a permanent fix. Chasing damaged threads is the correct method. Any of this being done by a shop, will cost more than it'd run to replace the entire head with head gasket and fresh coolant. But if you don't want to even see if the head threads are damaged, then you'll pay $$$ for that.

Can you set a camera up in the car and record the sound, then post on you tube and link it? Make video at least 60 seconds. Some people make a clip 5 seconds long and it's nearly impossible to hear anything. If pads were "wedge shaped" you should have replaced the rotor while you were at it. It's also possible your dust shields are bent, and might be touching, or you installed the pads incorrectly, their spacer shielding is broken and dragging, etc. If pads are dragging, you'll smell them. The odor is right up there with a slipping clutch. It's noxious, and permeates the car like skunk urine.

Try and wedge a mirror between the valve cover and frame rails, tilting the mirror as much as you can, while shining a flash light into the mirror. One of those hand mirrors women typically use with a handle works. Try and see if any of the threads are actually broken out or not. If it's only a couple rows of threading, there will still be enough in there to get the plug secured. Run up to a Harbor Freight and buy one of their thread tap kits. If need be, run up to an Auto Zone 1st and go to their nuts/bolt aisle, and look for a hanging bolt thread identifier. Thread your good plug into the holes until it threads all the way through. If they have mounted to a shelf and you can't get threading through, find an actual nut (can very easily slide small carton open, pull nut out, see if it fits, make note of size and thread pitch) and compare until the plug threads all the way through, then you'll know which tap set to get. Since the taps are similar in length to a drill bit, and have a " T " style attachment, it's quite possible you can start the tap by finger, then attach the handle and have enough room to chase the threads. If you use a rugged paper towel (the blue paper towel rolls you buy at Auto Zone work great and won't disintegrate) rip a section off, then very carefully stick in the hole, just enough to clear the bad threads. I strongly suggest hand turning the engine FIRST (use mirror and light for ease) and get the piston to the top of it's travel as that'll limit the paper towel falling to far in. Once the piston as the top, and you've plugged the hole, apply some oil to the correct tap and very gently start chasing the treads. I suggest removing the chase after every 1/4 turn just to be sure you are NOT cross-threading. You'll be looking for clean, consecutive threads, as you'll want yours to perfectly match with what's there. Once the chased threads match to the existing threads, remove the tap, and spray it down with WD-40, degreaser, or whatever you have on hand, apply fresh oil, and just keep threading (it shouldn't provide any new force) it and unthreading it, and wipe off again. Hopefully you'll get most of the metal bits sticking to the tap. If you can get the opposite side of the car raised high enough, you might be able to spray some WD-40 in and have it drain out on it's own, as the spray + gravity might be able to get most of the loose debris out. Otherwise, if you have a shop vac, you might want to put the hose on the exhaust port, then ram a 3/4" heater hose onto the end, and bend that somehow (stick a coat hanger end into the hose doubled up and the heater hose should hold form) and starting from a distance of maybe 6 to 8", start blowing toward the TOP of the valve cover where the hole is. The idea is the turbulence across the hole will hopefully dislodge any material w/o moving the paper towel. You can carefully move closer to the hole, and anything left should be ejected. From here, if it were me, I'd apply light coat on another section of paper towel, twisted down to size of hole, and try "threading" that into the hole, taking caution NOT to push the paper towel plug in further. Then unthread that, and inspect if you are getting any more debris sticking to the paper towel. Once that appears really clean and it looks like you got everything, carefully stick a small 45 degree pick into the hole (can grab a set of cheap picks for $5-8 anywhere; Harbor Freight sells them cheap too) and turn it counter-clockwise so it grabs your paper towel "plug" and unthreads that. Go back with the mirror and inspect you got all the crud out. If you apply a small dab of anti-seize on new spark plug (just apply light coat on threads, as it's threaded in, it'll coat the entire plug; too much and it can get on the plug tip, which you don't want; keep it roughly 3 threads from tip of plug). Thread that in by hand then unthread. Wipe it down and inspect for any foreign metal. If clean, reapply and thread plug all the way in, then carefully tighten to spec, but do NOT over tighten. That might seem like a lot of work, but the main concern is keeping the shavings out of the combustion chamber. A small dusting might not hurt anything, then again a section of threading can potentially damage a valve. This option is cheaper than pulling the head and less work, though you do have the option of pulling the head, chasing the threading out with head on a table bench, wiping everything down, then reassembling. The hardest part for you will probably be the timing belt if you never did one before, plus you'll have coolant everywhere, will need a new HG, might need new head bolts, etc. If it were me, I'd try and repair the threads with head in place if possible as that'd be the cheapest path, but it depends mainly on how many threads were damaged in the head.

Water vapor out a tail pipe is NORMAL. That's part of what the cat does. It's typically more noticeable after idling a warm engine on a mildly cold morning, and often drips out when you drive away. Some cars seem to have more water than others (Ford V8 cars), to the point you can see it exiting the tail pipes as they pull away from at a stop light, etc. $750 or b/o isn't a bad deal, especially if they are willing to basically do whatever to get rid of it. A faulty crank sensor can cause engine shut downs, but w/o more info it'll be guess work. Could even try and offer $600 cash, then part it out, or even do trades with another Subaru owner to get parts for your car.

Why did you try cranking the engine with a plug almost out? A "cylinder sleeve" is a sleeve used in aluminum blocks so the piston has a harder material for the rings to seal to. Plugs just thread out of the head. If you are lucky, the plug was basically all the way out and the force from the compression blew it out, w/o damaging the threads or worse, ingesting small amounts of aluminum. Inspect the spark plug's threads for damage. If it hit the ground, it might have cement damage. I suggest gapping a new plug and threading it by hand, and see if it'll actually seat or not. Use another plug as a reference for how many turns it takes BY HAND to seat it. If your new plug goes 1 turn then no further for example, chances are the threads in the head were damaged and need chased with a tap, which won't be easy due to tight confines, plus you must be careful not to drive any bits into the combustion chamber.

Think he's planning on running an aftermarket ECM. Running a turbo creates no issues when a safe tune is applied and you aren't exceeding what the engine can handle. As mentioned further up, a supercharger is an option too. Retro fit a supercharger from something that came with one, and they can be had for several hundred dollars in take-off condition.