1 Lucky Texan

do your next TB service at 60k or 75k miles.

you said they were worn but, are all 4 tires identical? brand/model/size? If not, red flag. as said, make sure the car is warmed up fully when you test drive, and after it's warm, take it to flat dry pavement and see if it smoothly does tight circles at idle or just above - any jerking grabbing is likely center diff binding, manuals may not show a problem when cold. - red flag never trust the o'flow bottle to reflect cooling system volume, look in the radiator. And, if it has a typical parts store rad cap instead of Japanese, that could be an issue - maybe the thermostat isn't OEM either. everyone expects a car to have working brakes, but flipped cars often have the cheapest pads on them. expect them to be poor performing or, at best, they will wear-out quickly. Timing Belt systems service schedule is 105monts or 105K miles w'ever comes first. Toothed idler is the weak spot but tensioner can be problematic too. Belts hardly ever break unless something else fails first. if you have a soob-friendly independent shop near your city, consider paying them for a prepurchase inspection.

www.crutchfield.com , for ideas even if not purchasing from them

double check crank/cam timing, maybe off a tooth ?

does it idle OK? any backfiring?

a 3rd gen 6cyl. with the 5EAT could work, but you'd really need to find a cherry one as they are getting old. maybe lease a CPO 2016 or 2017 ???

first start - keep your foot off the gas pedal. If there's a 'zero' position being recorded, it should be accurate that way.

try 3 drain/fill cycles on the trans - with a little driving in between. On the final fill, try a bottle of Trans-X . I have read a few reports of it helping with 'delayed engagement'. I'd use Valvoline MaxLife ATF

car ever set a misfire code? that cylinder's bank would be my best guess. wonder if you could idle or even drive until system is bubbling, park and idle engine, then quickly pull and replace plug wires 1 at a time while monitoring the bubbles? when you kill combustion in the leaking cylinder, bubbles should decrease right? Or, killing the leaking cylinder would affect idling the least? may need a helper to keep the engine running?????

I'm still resisting the allure of FB. I may give-in at some point . I dunno how groups even 'work' on FB. I check subaruoutback.org several times a day. I have felt that a good merger could be USMB and Scoobymods . I occasionally look-in at NASIOC I also check the newsgroup every month or 2.

+1 for RetroRoo

some good info here; https://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99-do-yourself-illustrated-guides/43428-diy-c-air-conditioning-leak-refrigerant-repair-5-less-15-minutes-less.html

yeah, even cardoc used it on his supercharged outback here's part 1 of a diff-s[ecific repair -

^^^ those kind of tips can mean a lot to us DIYers, thanx

yep, not saying it's 100% but, BOTH of your symptoms could be aweak/blown-out tensioner. there's a youtube video of a knock sound caused by a weak tensioner.

any sound with it? you might check for a wobbling crank pulley. Old ones sometimes delaminate and can even slip. At least look at all the pulleys while someone else revs the car, in case something is going on there.

another option would be using Window Weld - there's at least one guy on youtube that used it to beef-up his original bushings and it seems to be lasting for him. I read of one other person that has used it. I think it can be messy, and there's some period of time required for it to cure. might be worth looking into

wonder if the heads were decked or some odd size gasket was used?

crossover? you can get a rig to pressurize the system while you look for the leak

swap tires front to back inspect suspension and steering parts look for frozen brake caliper

if you want to hassle with further diagnosis - swap axles left-to-right and see if the problem follows. factory manual says not to torque axles nuts with weight on the wheel - in the air, put a big screwdriver in a rotor vane and buck-up against the brake caliper, or, find some way to torque axle nut in the air.

it's so old, I wouldn't necessarily expect original axles on the front and you said it clicks so, get a green-cup axles from car-part.com or maybe LKQ w'ever, regrease and boot it if you want . (subaru boot or, maybe, beck-arnley kit) coin toss risk would be a new aftermarket axle like FEQ or maybe EMPI a real roulette wheel spin risk is typical parts store rebuilts. I'd only run one in a dire emergency.

have the battery tested? use an ammeter to check for 'dark current' - if it's high, pull fuses to find the system causing it. Might be a stuck CD in the head unit or bad wires in the hatch boot or ??? interference engine and you probably have original timingbelt - books says 105 months or 105K miles so, it's due. you WANT all japanese parts and to do rollers and tensioner with the belt.

you probably have as good or better ideas as I do then. certainly on the mechanical side. but seriously, tint and other little things that make the interior more comfortable can really make the difference between a road trip being nice vs a chore. Even finding some decent sunglasses - I'm partial to the 'blue blocker/shooting glasses' type of color. Keeping the a/c in good order, etc. maybe other folks searching in the future will find a good idea in this thread. let us know what you buy and how you mod it.

the engines have good torque I think so, even loaded, they do OK. Even my 03, while slow off the blocks, has great highway passing power. the maintnance schedules have a TIME side so, if the car doesn't get used much between 2-3 long trips, it still needs servicing. you MUST take care of your tires and drivetrain. don't let yahoos monkey with the car - fairly easy for inexperienced folks to drain/fill the wrong fluids. The front diff throws foks off, the need to keep tires identical gets lost over thime/thru multiple owners. The thermostats are different from many aftermarket parts listed for the cars, NEVER let it overheat, , synthetic/upgraded lube in the front and rear diffs might be a good idea. use the fuel recommended in the manual - my 03 has only had premium. Subaru has dropped the ball on headgaskets for a decade or so from late mid-late 90s thru early 2000s, shop carefully, and wheel bearings seem to be a weak spot I guess. Dunno what generation you're looking for - the 5EAT seems to be a great transmission so, maybe a gen3 ? there are many 300K miles Subarus, and, Subarus are often the only cars that go out in conditions where other cars stay parked so, they are tough in a general sense. others will have good ideas I guess - the older a car is, the less the brand matters, it becomes IMPERATIVE to cherry-pick because of prior maintenance, certainly a one-owner cream puff with meticulous records is going to be much less risky for cross-country jaunts. shop carefully.