SuBrat84

It's conceivable that there is a clog in the system somewhere.. If you do end up draining it.. try running very low pressure water through the top and make sure it comes out the bottom.. do the same with the radiator.. make sure everything is "flowing." It might help clean out some gunk too...

I think he means the old pump/belts were having the problem. Anyway.. Did you get a genuine subaru t-stat? Did you fill it up with the car running and the heater on full blast? You definitely need to have that bleeder open as well.

Time for a tune up? Genuine Subaru Plugs(NGK)/Wires? Fuel Filter? PCV Valve? Air Filter? Start with the basics and work your way out of it. I HIGHLY recommend using the genuine subaru parts and the NGK Plugs that the owners manual calls for.

I've always wanted to try the Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread but I could never afford them.. heh.. they seem like really good all around tires to me.

Hate rock auto. Might as well go to autozone or some other crappy "general parts" retailer. Rock sells BS Parts. They have cheap parts because they are made cheaply from cheap materials. IF You don't care about quality, order it up. I just placed an order from SubaruParts.com for: 4x Spark Plugs (NGK PFR5B-11) Platinums 1x Spark Plug Wire Set 1x Fuel Filter 1x PCV Valve SubaruParts.com price WITH 2nd Day Air Shipping: $138.70 Local STEALERSHIP Price (Would have had to order pcv valve ANYWAY): $218.72 This is a savings of $80 !!! Are you kidding me? The only bad part is I ordered on a Friday evening so I wont get them until Wednesday at the earliest.. But, to me it's worth the wait!!! I checked prices from 5 or 6 different online Genuine Subaru Parts suppliers.. and SubaruParts.com was the cheapest I found and got tired of looking. Google "Genuine Subaru Parts" and you will get a good list if you like to shop around.

I had a '98 GT that developed an odor similar to what you are describing. It only smelled bad if I ran the air on recirc with the AC OFF. I think there may be a filter or something that got wet and molded.. Hard to say.. but I would definitely be leaning towards the ventilation system as the culprit. You could try getting a bottle of Ozium.. turn the vents on recirc full blast with no ac.. roll the windows up.. blast the ozium in there for about 5 seconds and then shut the door.. DO NOT BE IN THE CAR IF YOU DO THIS. Ozium is a bacteria eater and can be seriously harmful to you if you breath it in!!! Make sure you get original ozium.. as the scented ones are not as powerful as a bacteria eater.

I have heard that the angle and torque of the knock sensor can effect our engines in this manner.. I haven't found the spec for it yet though. Did you do it yourself or a shop?

I'm going through this same problem on my 97 Outback right now. Did you use Genuine Subaru Wires? I'm told that can make a huge difference because of the "wasted spark" system these engines use. Did you get the NGK Platinum (PFR5B-11) plugs? They are a must have for these as well. It's hard to spend ~10-15 per plug.. but you gotta do it. I'm also told the knock sensor can be a culprit. Or fuel injectors. (Fuel Filter?) Cam / Crank sensors Timing Belt Slipped? If you get it figured out PLEASE let me know! I'm waiting on Plugs (NGK PFR5B-11,) Wires (Genuine Subaru,) Fuel Filter, PCV Valve right now.. if any of that helps mine I will let you know. If none of that helps I will be inspecting my timing belts.. because looking at them is the next chepeast (free, my labor) thing. If the belts are fine then it's time to start replacing sensors (even though I'm not getting sensor codes.) And then fuel injectors... Please don't be fuel injectors.. lol.

I may have missed it. Did you say what year yours is? I think the only interference engines Subaru made were the 97-99 2.5l.

Oil + Filter Change every 2-5k miles depending on your driving habits and climate. Air filter as needed 10-20k miles. Fuel Filter ever 30k at the MOST. PCV Valve is very simple it's right there on the intake manifold. Do it every time you do the fuel filter.. helps to clean the connecting tubes as well. ($7-20) Spark plugs (NGK PFR5B-11) Are good for 50-60k $10-15 a PIECE. (MUST HAVE!) Spark Plug Wires (Genuine Subaru!) Are probably good for every other plug change.. but might as well do them. ($50-100 depending on where you get them.) Serpentine Belts as needed 30-100k miles.. If you start to see cracking in the ribs it's time to change those babies! Timing Belts / Tensioners / Pulleys / Water Pump / Thermostat every 60-100k. I think that pretty much covers routine maintenance. I'm sure if I missed anything someone will chime in.

My local stealership parts dept. wants $135 for a knock sensor for a 97 Legacy 2.5l!!! You can get it for ~$70 from some of the online places. I always try to get OEM stuff when I can. I can't believe ANYWHERE will charge to read an OBD-II code.. that is insane. You don't even have to bring the car in the shop. Just walk out there.. plug in the scanner.. "Here's what the code says." and your done. 2 minutes. Shops should do that as a good faith/courtesy gesture. It seems like they would be more likely to get your business if they didn't seem like they are ripping you off? Any place that tries to charge for that I just walk away right then and there.

funny because you can order the primary and secondary for $65 each....

Can't afford the knock sensor right now anyway. I'll check the torque.. does anyone know the spec? I ordered Plugs, Wires, Fuel Filter, and PCV Valve.. But, I have to wait for them because they were over $60 more expensive locally.. I guess we can live without a car for a few days. I have looked very extensively for vacuum leaks.. as near as I can tell the whistling sounds like it's coming from inside the heads or block. Like I said, it is most audible coming from the exhaust. So, I don't think it's a vacuum leak. It doesn't SEEM to cause any performance issues.. it's just annoying. The weird thing is the car was running PERFECTLY 90% of the time.. just the occasional annoying misfire at idle that would go away right away and wouldn't even throw a code or anything.. until yesterday it just became undriveable. We have our fingers very very crossed that the "wrong" plugs/wires is the culprit. and it is just time for the filter and pcv. If this doesn't fix it the plan is: Checking Timing Belts "Test" coil pack (swap with someone elses, hopefully) "Fix" injectors Replace knock sensor and if none of that works: Set Car on Fire. Subaru bonfire anyone?

The wires are "Super Mag" as far as I can tell. They came apart in pieces. Rubber boots got stuck on the plugs.. It literally took me 6 hours to get all 4 plugs out. For three of them I could shove a 13mm socket in there and somehow manage to pull the rubbers out.. for Cyl #2 i was actually able to get a pair of needle nose pliers in there to grab it. The socket wouldn't "grab" that one. (The "rubber boot" sat all the way down on the plug and only stuck about half way up the plug.. not past it!) I am worried that it is an injector/injector wiring problem since it is on one side of the engine. Also, since elevation / temperature seems to effect it. Coil pack is 1/2 3/4 front/back and the resistance is the same across both. Although I'm not sure what spec is. Basically I'm going to replace the plugs (with oem PFR5B-11's) and the wires with Genuine Subaru. I will also be doing the fuel filter, pcv valve, and knock sensor since I'm in there anyway. If none of that helps the next thing I will be doing is pulling the timing covers to check the belts and inspecting the injector wiring. Does anyone know if you can clean injectors or if you just have to replace them? Also, if anyone has any thoughts on why it would make a high pitch whistle that gets louder (starts around 3800 rpm) the higher the engine revs? (Louder under load too.) It is most audible out the tail pipe. But, it is definitely being generated in the engine somewhere.. I thought it was an exhaust leak.. but I dropped the header pipes.. and amazingly I could still barely hear it over the open headers! Anyone who worked on this engine adamantly denied it being a problem and professed that it was an exhaust leak.. even though I told them it still did it with NO EXHAUST HOOKED UP.

+1 for thermostat. Make sure you get a Subaru T-stat (Need the Jiggle Valve!) Good time to replace upper and lower hoses.. keep engine running and air bleeder screw cracked open when you re-fill the coolant to eliminate air bubbles! (Air bubbles can cause intermittent over-heating!)

Whenever I have ea81s I like to wire up both fans to come on when the vehicle is running.. or put them on a switch.. (just don't forget to turn them on if you have them on a switch.) A switch is good for off roading.. because you can turn off your fans for deep mud / water crossings. To attempt to answer your question.. You really only need the one fan.. the secondary is the "ac fan" or "emergency fan" (if you're getting too hot, or the other fan stopped working) You can hook up 12v directly to it to test it. If you like your fans working off the relays.. it is okay to hook the secondary fan up to the same power supply as the primary fan. Then they will come on/off together and cool a little more quickly.

So... This 97 Outback 2.5l DOHC has been misfiring again. 1&3. At first it only did it traveling to higher elevations.. then it went away for a long time. (BG Fuel Injection Cleaning Kit?) Then it was VERY intermittent and mostly only did it when starting the car with the AC on.. then it would go away right away. Today it started doing it pretty consistently even with the AC off. I did a lot of searching and there is a LOT of possibilities of what it can be. This joke of a shop that I stupidly let work on my car (Thanks CCR for choosing a CRAP shop for me, you suck, BTW.) Put BKR5E's instead of PFR5B's. And generic plug wires instead of my OEM wires So they could make an extra 80 bux off of me and make sure their work was "covered under their warranty." What a joke. So clearly I need to get OEM plugs and wires on there again. Does anyone have any thoughts why the AC would make the problem worse? Should I get another new knock sensor?(~25k) I'm going to change the fuel filter again as well. I am scared as hell it's the injectors/coil pack/something worse. The timing belts are fairly new and all the pulleys/tensioner were replaced together. By the way this is a CCR rebuilt engine (3 times) with under 30k on it. Almost everything was replaced. (Not the coil pack, Not the injectors, Not the MAF/MAP(?)) I will go after my "warranty" as a last resort / worst case scenario. If I never have to deal with CCR again I will die a happy man. Thanks for your time everyone.. I hope I'm not beating the proverbial dead horse with this topic.

My 97 Legacy Outback was doing this.. it was driving me nuts.. I finally dug into the tank/fuel pump.. The fuel pump had become dislodged from it's bracket and was "floating" in the fuel.. Right hand corner would make the fuel level dip below the fuel pick up and it would suck air for a second.. then run normal again.. Hope that's your problem because it's an easy fix!

My legacy did that... the stuff inside the catalytic convert (the stuff that converts the catalyst) was broken up into pieces and causing vibrations at certain rpms/loads.

It could be the place his is checking his vin against. Are you using carfax or something like that to check your vin? Mistakes happen, even with Subaru. I get sent wrong parts and stuff like that because of "VIN Accuracy." E.G. I order a timing tensioner for a '97 Legacy based on the VIN and they sent me a once piece.. When I opened up the timing covers it ended up being a two piece. Check your dash VIN, door VIN (drivers side door), and firewall vin (may be covered in grease, etc) and verify that all your vins are the same. If all of your vins are the same it is unlikely anything has been changed.. however it would be very easy and cheaper to replace a bad 4wd tranny with a good 2wd tranny. I seem to think that all "4wd" loyales have some kind of badging/decals to that effect..

It seems to me that the damage was probably there but covered with carbon. The machinist has 26 years experiance. He also did the valve job, etc. He even replaced parts that needed it, and gave back the old ones. He assumed that a piece of a spark plug or something may have come off and banged around in there. He was confident that it wouldn't cause any problems and that none of the gasket touched the pitting. I checked and he was right, none of it is touching the gasket. It's all in the combustion chamber and it's only on the #1 cylinder. Getting intimate with this car it is obvious that it had a HACK mechanic working on it. I forget who said it.. but they said "The only thing that will truely ruin these cars is bad mechanics." LoL isn't it the truth!

It's my mothers car... may be mine some day down the road... We would like to see it make another 100k at least without anything else too major going wrong. It was supposed to be a winter/family car for the snowy roads, etc.. at $3k with no apparent problems (except a minor run in with a deer, that got repaired) it seemed like a deal. With-in a week it started pushing coolant out and i tried a couple fixes but it was just getting worse so we've spent nearly another $2k to get all the stuff to "fix it right" ... half this motor is going to be new.. oil pump, water pump, belts, pulleys, plugs, wires, filters, seals & gaskets, knock sensor, radiator, mirrors, etc, etc. I guess I'm going to put it back together and hope it doesn't blow any time soon. We'll be sure to be prompt with maintenance.

SO here's the story: There was a lot of carbon build up and blow-by from the head gaskets being blown. I do NOT remember seeing any pitting or damage to the heads. The machinist said (and I verified) that this pitting is all inside the combustion chamber. NO part of the headgasket touches any of this pitting. Anywhere the gasket touches the head is smooth and freshly machined. He said 1 in 5 aluminum heads that he works on has some pitting in the combustion chamber in this manner. He claims he has been a machinist for 26 years and this should pose no kind of problem. I do not see any pitting or damage on the respective piston.

Yeah it's the larger inner ones.. i knew that the outter ones were smaller. The dealer up in Rapid has some im getting. I hope they are the right ones!

I hope this pic works .. And if it is ruined shouldn't the machine shop guy have said something about it?