GreaseMonkey03

I forgot to mention that it is indeed a legacy OB and not a sport. When I'm ready for the bigger tires I may chop the spring seat and install coilover springs or extend the strut bottom. I haven't decided yet. I'll check out your website for sure thanks!

Does it have any aftermarket electronics installed? Like an alarm system? I would check all the grounds and then if those are good, start tracing the harness. It wont be fun. Also, check for draw at the battery when the car is off. youd be surprised the number of things that can pop up with even the tiniest brake in any part of the harness.

I also rarely see valve issues with these. If you have a compression tester or can rent one, do a base compression test on cylinder 3. Then spray some penetrant into the cylinder and run the test again. If compression goes up, its the rings. If it doesn't, its the valves, but they usually make noise when they're shot. make sure you disconnect the coil pack when you run the compression test. If you run the test and compression is normal, change the wires and then the coil in that order. Compression can be as low as around 100 without causing a misfire. I would definitely do your own compression test first before you make that call just to make sure your mechanic is on the level.

First thing I would look for is a vacuum leak. Especially if there is a random multiple or all four cylinders are misfiring. I wouldn't pull the trigger unless you check the codes. It could have other issues in addition to the rough start. A vacuum leak would be anywhere from cheap to free to repair.

After it dies the first time does it start right back up again? Any trouble starting after it's warm? I don't know the fuel quality in Slovakia, but you could just have some water freezing in your fuel lines. Try adding some dry gas if that's the case.

Hello from NY. I purchased my first Subaru for 100 bucks a few months ago and decided to do as much of a mad max impersonation with it as I can. Lift, Steel tube bumpers, cut fenders, etc. It's an ongoing project but it will have to be a daily driver for the most part so I have the incredible misfortune of having to do the work in short spurts a little at a time without immobilizing the car or taking a lift up at work past sunday. fun. so far its gotten new struts and springs up front with the rears sitting in the car waiting for install. OE replacement exhaust. Resurfaced front rotors and new pads and then my right rear brake line exploded so I decided the next step will be to start replacing all the corroded suspension components for safety reasons. I posted a question about that in the modifications section so hopefully i'll have that done this weekend with a full write up if I get some answers on that. I'm a mechanic by trade so hopefully I can contribute to the forum as far as repair questions go. The custom stuff is what I will be learning along the way.

Hello all. New member, hopefully new question. Cant seem to find the answers I need. I have a 97 legacy outback with a manual transmission. Everything under the unibody is severely corroded. The shell itself is in great shape (relatively) This is the car I'm keeping. My co worker's 03 forester AT just grenaded its motor, so its getting scrapped. Everything under that car is mint. I don't want this car, I like my OB TYVM. So here's the question.... I'd like to swap everything over. Everything that will swap, i'll mix and match as needed. But basically everything from the crossmembers out. control arms, axles, knuckles, brakes, the whole kit. front and rear. A strut/body lift may happen at the same time but possibly not until later in the game. so lets assume for now its stock height only. I have noticed a few small differences between parts from one to the other, but nothing that seems to interfere, especially since its getting swapped as a whole both front and rear. The basic architecture is the same. I believe the 03 forester does not use stub axles up front but I can just get 02 axles instead. Both are EJ25 with mine being a DOHC. I cant see any major hurdles with this swap and it seems straight forward, but does anyone know of any MAJOR issues that would cause me to hit the wall? Small issues are not a concern, its an ongoing project but if you know of any tips that would be awesome. I'm a mechanic by trade so difficulty or labor costs are not a factor. I work on a lot of subarus, I Just don't know individual component specs or interchange and the minor differences prevent interchange software from being of any use to me. I am running out of time to pull the trigger on the forester before I lose it and if I can get at least a half a go ahead that it will mostly swap over, i'll get this done in a day. (I have to put the OB running under the fozz to keep it mobile) Thanks in advance for any info. Lou