1998 OB limited opinions

[sooberJay]

I am looking to upgrade from my '88 GL 4WD wagon, awesome car for where I live, but getting up there in miles. I'm lookin at a 98 OB Limited wagon, good looking car, but I want to hear from drivers of this model if there are issues to watch out for (heating/overheating, cooling issues, ?). Late nineties models look good to me b/c of affordability. What sayeth anybody?

[Rooster2]

I own a 98 OBW limited, and a 99 standard edition OBW. Both much the same. If you are new here, it is worth reading up on potential head gasket problems that affected Subie Leggies from 97 thru 99 models with the 2.5 DOHC phase 1 motors. Revised head gasket design pretty much cured the problem, if the replacement is a Subaru OEM head gasket. My guess is that the head gasket has already been replaced on the car that you are looking at sometime during its lifetime. You may want to ask the owner if the head gasket has been repaired, and if so, a receipt verifying it.

 

I have never had head gasket trouble with either one of my cars for what that is worth.

 

I have had no issues with either of my two cars. They just keep racking up the miles as dependable transportation.

[idosubaru]

having an old car you should be well aware of stuff like CV axles, brakes, timing belts, water pumps, alternators, etc. that will all apply to this car too being 10+ years old.

 

one HUGE difference - the 98 OBW is an interference engine, if the timing belt brakes your expensive engine is hosed. i replace the timing belts with kits off ebay with all new pulleys - around $150-$200 for all new pulleys and the belt. i don't trust the 10+ year old pulleys unless they're in really good condition which is rare. they're 105,000 mile timing belts, so you're expecting them to go much longer than the older style like yours which is only 60k.

 

headgaskets and torque bind are you major issues. those motors have quite a few headgasket issues, i don't even know how many EJ25's i've bought with headgasket issues.

 

lots of headgasket and torque bind information on here.

[bossingawagin]

brother had a 98 OBW that had the head gasket issue, other than that it was a great car while he had it.

[sooberJay]

I will have to read up on those issues. What was the engine they put into the limited OBWs? Is it the EJ25 mentioned in the replies?

[bossingawagin]

I believe only the earlier OB had the ej22, '98 and '99 definitely had the ej25. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

[revox]

Just had my 98 OB in the shop for a blown head gasket. I had the gasket, water pump, timing belt, idler gear, tons of seals, bushings, o-rings, etc.. replaced. They also found that one of my fans wasn't working so they had to order a relay for it. Total cost = $2400

 

This is 2 weeks after I bought the car for $4500 (it actually looks and drives like a new car). The seller put some kind of "fix it" into the radiator to seal up the head gasket. That lasted about a week and then the overheating started. Yup, I got screwed, but I'm hoping that, after all this work, my car will be a dependable vehicle.

[Rooster2]

I believe only the earlier OB had the ej22, '98 and '99 definitely had the ej25. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

Your above info is correct.

[bheinen74]

save up for the routine EJ25 headgasket job and all associated stuff. about 450-550 worth of parts by the time you figure new T belt, water pump, tensioner pulleys, valve cover gaskets, grommits, and the new headgaskets, rear separtator cover, and some cam seals. Labor is a lot too on top of just the parts price.

[nipper]

I am looking to upgrade from my '88 GL 4WD wagon, awesome car for where I live, but getting up there in miles. I'm lookin at a 98 OB Limited wagon, good looking car, but I want to hear from drivers of this model if there are issues to watch out for (heating/overheating, cooling issues, ?). Late nineties models look good to me b/c of affordability. What sayeth anybody?

 

 

Sigh

 

headgaskeheadgasketheadgasket. I am tired of that mantra myself. At this age (12 years old) it can blow a HG just to age. Hell any car at that age can blow a HG, so lets stop blaming a car that is more "senior" for a fault that happened ages ago.

 

That said, I own a 98 LTD and unless they are green red or blue they all suck

 

HEHEHEHEHE

 

Seriously folks; depending upon mileage there can be the higher end of wear and tear to watch out for. The timing belt and all its associated widgets (every 105K or months). Oil leaks from anywhere under the engine. Timing belt leaks in that area are easily resolved (timing belt and widgets), same with valve cover. Rear seperator plate leaks are drop tranny or pull engine to resolve.

 

Check (if an auto) transmission fluid condition. Dirty is acceptable, burnt is not. Make sure all the tires are equally worn and match. Tranny leaks are rare on subarus and a well maintaned auto will last the life of the car.

Take the car for a drive and turn a tight 360 degree circle. The car should power through it without touching the gas, or at worse just a little bit of help to get started. You may feel a slight thud or a little jerk, as that is the puter realizing it is going in a circle. If the steering wheel fights you or the car can not move without a lot of help it has toque bind - 800.00 auto repair. On a manual same things except no jerk or thud. A AWD unit on a manual can run more. The AWD unit on an auto hangs off the rear of the tranny so can be easily repaired without tearing down the tranny. I am not familiar with the manual one besides cost (1200 ish) as I only remember one person doing this himself.

 

(Yes i know it is cheaper blahblahblah but this is a sales transaction not the time to discount because you can do it yourself).

 

FWD light lit or the FWD fuse (Passenger side under hood firewall) in place means there is Torque bind. The fuse disables the AWD and should illuminate the FWD light on the dash. Flashing ATF light on startup means a electrical tranny issue(s). Shut car off after the test drive and restart it. If there was an issue it will flash (as it may have been reset by the PO not that anyone is sneaky).

 

Look at the condition of the fluid in the radiator as opposed to the tank. Rarely are the tanks cleaned so the fluid may not be prestine, but there should not be any floating gook. Look in the radiator. If the cap is new it may have been replaced from wear and tear, or from trying to deal with an overheting issue. Make sure the car has plenty of heat when fully warmed. If the temp gauge does not reaach 1/2 way up, again be suspicous of a HG issue.

 

Torque bind can be chaulked up to wear and tear on an auto and not a deal killer.

 

A suspicous HG on an engine this old would be a deal killer since you would not know the history of the engine unless you want to do a 2.2 swap (2,5's are a bit hard to come by). If you are willing to do a HG, then I would keep the mileage under 140,000 miles.

 

Struts are wear and tear so that's up to you.

 

Brakes are straight forward on the blue red and green ones

 

Rust comes up at the rear wheel quarter panels about the size of a quarter. For some odd reason there is a rust spot top dead center of the windsheild. All those spots are fixable.

 

Inspect CV boots.

 

Over 180K wear and tear can be wheel bearings, drive shaft universals (rarely as they usually go beyond 200K or more).

 

Ac should be cold when cold and heat hot when hot. Defroster should kick on the AC.

 

Drivers side heated seat not working is typical from the 1000's of times it flexes.

 

HVAC lights, dash and switch lights out pay no attention to, common issue easily resolved no need to mention.

 

Sticky hatch release is a typical issue 35.00 in parts fixed. They rust and seize and I feel not worth mentioning unless you want to.

 

There should be no blow-by or blue smoke as subarus do not do that if maintained. If You find one that does walk away.

 

That should cover everything going from the 88 4wd to 98 AWD.

 

I did that myself.

 

Edited November 27, 2010 by nipper

[idosubaru]

OP and nip - the headgasket is real, no one was bashing, just answering the guys question. but no need to differ - he can verify quantitatively via ebay, craigslist, autotrader if we don't trust guys like me that are looking/buying every week - blown EJ25's are easy to find. i just did a quick 10 second search locally - 98 forester, two 97 legacy OB's, 2001 legacy, and another legacy - all blown EJ25's. not one other blown engine Subaru seen. you can do that every single week (which is what i do) and the results are about the same. the idea that it's only age is a bit of a stretch given the real world facts.

 

it doesn't matter - still a great car and lots of ways to go about purchasing and it won't happen to them all...etc, all of that is true - but in my book that's good information for a first time buyer.

[nipper]

OP and nip - the headgasket is real, no one was bashing, just answering the guys question. but no need to differ - he can verify quantitatively via ebay, craigslist, autotrader if we don't trust guys like me that are looking/buying every week - blown EJ25's are easy to find. i just did a quick 10 second search locally - 98 forester, two 97 legacy OB's, 2001 legacy, and another legacy - all blown EJ25's. not one other blown engine Subaru seen. you can do that every single week (which is what i do) and the results are about the same. the idea that it's only age is a bit of a stretch given the real world facts.

 

it doesn't matter - still a great car and lots of ways to go about purchasing and it won't happen to them all...etc, all of that is true - but in my book that's good information for a first time buyer.

 

I don't want to steal the thread, but I was not denying the issue, that age is more of a factor on a 12 yo car for a blown HG (on any car) then anything else. And yes sadly, our beloved cars are getting more "Mature". So We shall drop the debate as I think I fairly well covered what to look for. I just do not think it is prudent unless the car is a steal to buy a car with a blown HG unless you are planning on an engine swap.

 

And remember coal is cheap Mr Gary

 

[Ionlyhave3suubs]

A bunch of good information so far. Head gaskets can be an issue on the 2.5 engine in these cars, and the repair can get into some money, however these are great cars. Something that I have not seen in recent threads, but I have read some time back, not sure if it was this message board or another but it is worth mentioning. When I first read it, I thought it sounded weird, until it happened to me. With these cars, do not allow corrosion to build up on the battery terminal. Apparently this corrosion can make its way into the cooling system. This corrosion destroys the seal in the head gasket and compression leaks from the cylinder into the coolant jacket of the engine and the compressed hot air/exhaust leaking into the water jacket causing overheating.

 

I was a skeptic when I first read this, but when it happened to me, I quickly became a believer. Case in point, I bought a 97 Outback with the 2.5 dohc engine (same engine carried through 99) with 34k miles back in 98. I drove it until around October when It developed the dreaded overheating problems (car now has 230k+). Sure enough, when I popped the hood, the battery terminal was growing coliflower looking corrosion.

 

Many people have had problems with lower mileage and with younger cars, and maybe mine is the exception. I have had three of these cars with the same engine, the one I mentioned (my first one with this engine type), a 97 legacy GT 2.5 sedan (which I regrettably had to sell when money got tight) and a 96 legacy LSI.

 

The LSI I bought with a blown gasket, 150k miles

The GT had 109k on it when I bought it, put about 15k on it, never had a gasket issue.

 

I have seen quite a few of the 2.5 dohc powered legacy bodied cars for sale on e-bay with around 150k, with blown head gaskets, mystery overheating problems, and "bad water pumps". That is a common mis-conception among those not familiar with the vehicles and those who want to blame the overheating on a cheaper problem when they are trying to sell a subaru in need of repair.

 

Steer clear of an overheating outback unless you can buy it cheap enough to pay for all of the engine repairs nipper mentioned. Using subaru brand parts is highly recommended. When I did the repair on the LSI, I used fel-pro gaskets (a little over a year ago) and have had no issues. Others on the forum have had issues however with the fel-pros. The price difference is probably not worth it. Go with the oem!

 

Keep the battery terminals clean, use the battery terminal grease (ask for it in the parts store if you don't know). Even if the head gasket failures are a coincidence, what's it going to hurt to keep the battery maintained?

 

I still have the 97 outback and the lsi, also have a 02 outback with the sohc 2.5.

I am waiting for parts to come in to finish the 97 outback head gasket job. The 97 will be my snow-mobile this winter. It has minor battle scars so I don't mind taking out in the snow. It goes great in snow and ice, especially with chains.

[idosubaru]

I just do not think it is prudent unless the car is a steal to buy a car with a blown HG unless you are planning on an engine swap.

right on, we're all on the same page there.

[sooberJay]

Eyes wide open here....thanks for the replies.