New owner / Original owner 1997 Impreza

[DrZeus]

Hey everyone! A hearty hello and self welcome to the board. This is my first time here!

 

I recently aquired via a hand-down, a 1997 2.2l Impreza which was bought by my parents in 1997. I still have the original title showing 125 miles while the car only has 79,xxx on it currently. The car has always been garaged, never accidented, maticulously maintained, and everything documented. Last year, my father spend a good bit getting major service done including the timing belt, front engine seal, and probably a list of other things on the 100k service recommendation. Car has new front brakes with resurfaced original rotors, matching tires, and everything in like-new condition. The only aftermarket thing on it, is a circa 1997/98 Prestige alarm with key-fob power door lockers. My father replaced the battery twice in its life, and a starter motor twice; every 30k miles (hmm interesting...) Oil changes using Mobil dyno and filters every 3750 miles. The list of maintained items and documents makes this thing feel like a vintage classic survivor. My father always said this car was built on a wednesday. New tires last year so theyve got about 80% tread on them. Transmission fluid was replaced at 60k miles.

 

My family was the original owner, where my mother never went much 5+ over the speed limit, nor do I ever think she reved the motor past ~4krpms. In my younger years I drove the car personally maybe just 3 times. My father was not as gental as my mother driving it, but I'm sure he never red-lined it either.

 

This car has been in some snow storms for the last 15 years of it's life. My parents bought, drove, and registered the car in Connecticut, which means there are some signs of road salt here and there. Some oxidation under the hood, but excelent shape for it's age. I really hope to enjoy this car as a daily driver in Atlanta, GA now, where I hope all will stay well together for years to come. The car just passed emissions, and I'll be on my way to the tag office for plates later this afternoon.

 

 

My question is, since this car appears to be quite a cream-puff with only 79,xxx miles on it; what can I expect in terms of issues or problems? A quick search reveiled Subaru head gasket issues on some 2.2l and 2.5l motors but I'm not sure if 1997s also had this issue. Also, anything else which might make me more aware? Wheel bearings? The rear brakes are original, and the fronts lasted 78,000 miles.

 

 

I'm a hands-on person who loves to fix things. My other vehicles are my wife's 2008 Honda Civic, a 2009 Nissan 370z, and a 2008 Vespa 150cc scooter. This Impreza seems to make a great utility/daily driven vehicle compaired to the rest of the stable. All my vehicles including this Impreza will be garaged.

 

How reliable will this car be?

Edited April 17, 2012 by DrZeus

[Recian]

I recently bought a 1 owner 95 model with 129k and im new to subys and this forum also but im loving it so far. When i bought mine it had a bad water pump due to having water in the block. Since urs is maintained u shouldnt have a problem there. Just keep the coolant mixture right. Once i fixed that its been a great car. If its automatic id be careful with the trans. Ive seen alot of tranny issues. More from legacys than imprezas. Mostly awd clutches from wear or ppl towing them with rear wheels on the ground. I should be putting a new trans in mine this weekend to fix awd clutches, no reverse and weak 1st. But honestly i havent seen big issues so far especially if its been maintained by the dealer. Most issues that come up are from previous owners dogging it out or not maintaining it. Take care of it and itll easily outlast that 350 and that civic.

[idosubaru]

welcome! i lived in atlanta for 9 years. probably enjoy georgia more than atlanta but i'm a huge fan of that state!

 

what can I expect in terms of issues or problems?

great vehicle. not hard to get 200,000 miles with very little maintenance...actually 300,000 wouldn't even be that eye opening - but most folks don't drive enough to get there. at the current rate that would be 50 years? LOL

 

few years ago a friend needed a reliable high mileage capable car - i got him a 97 impreza (he lives in Atlanta!). got it with 80,000 miles and it's got like 200,000 on it now and he's replaced an axle and Duty C solenoid, that's it. i keep trying to get him to go for 300k but he's hesitant!

 

another friend needed a car up here and i got him a 97 legacy (same motor/trans as 97 impreza) a few years ago. same story - he just posted a photo on facebook with 223,000 miles now with few issues.

 

change transmission fluid, rotate tires frequently and keep them matching at all times. this protects the 4WD components.

 

change the front diff gear oil. rear wouldn't be a bad idea but truthfully the rear diffs really don't fail on these.

 

i'd replace the timing belt components - more info on that below.

 

keep the stock axles at all costs - just reboot them if the boots break. aftermarket axles are not high quality and the OEM subaru axles are very robust, easily capable of lasting the life of the car if you keep them booted and greased.

 

A quick search reveiled Subaru head gasket issues on some 2.2l and 2.5l motors

*** Non-issue for you! the 2.2's do not have headgasket issues. If it stays full of oil and never overheats the motor will last as long as you care to maintain it and outlast all sorts of other things on the car. excellent motor, one of Subaru's best. 200,000 is a cake walk.

 

the downside is that in 1997 the 2.2 went to an interference design so if the timing belt breaks you'll have bent valves. i would have recommended replacing the timing belt tensioner and pulleys with the belt - i wouldn't want 15+ year old pulleys and that new style (less reliable) tensioner in there. ebay timing belt kits are $150-$200 and include all new pulleys and tensioner. it's actually an easy job to do just the timing belt only - I can do them in under an hour. personally i'd pull the belt and install all new pulleys and tensioner at some point.

 

Wheel bearings?

sometimes they can go bad. be careful when rebooting or replacing an axle - it's easy to loose grease or get contaminates in the wheel bearings when the axle is out. i know folks who replace the wheel seal when they remove an axle to protect the bearings, i haven't gone that far yet.

 

I'm a hands-on person who loves to fix things.

you'll like this thing. alternator, power steering pump, or a/c compressor only takes 15-30 minutes to replace. these are really easy to work on. use forums like this and ask for tips and when you're doing a job ask whether to use aftermarket or Subaru OEM - some parts are way better one way or the other, just depends. let us guide you to an easy 200,000 miles!

 

brake, power steering, a/c systems generally have few issues and the ones they have are easy and cheap to fix.

 

engine and trans are equally adept at high mileage with little work - follow guidelines i listed above.

 

the multi-starter replacement thing is not normal. i would guess the original starter may have been good, was misdiagnosed sometime around one of the battery failures and the replacement starters just aren't as high quality as the original factory ones.

[DrZeus]

Hmm good call on the timing belt. I'll check the records to see if the dealer replaced the tensioner and other components last year when they did the timing belt. They replaced at least the belt at the 14 year mark but only at about 70k miles.

 

I'll have to check the front diff lube. My father did mention something here so I'll ask him too. Thanks for the heads up and two cents on the AWD system.

 

On the 3rd starter, my father first replaced the battery at about 4 years old, and said the original started still needed to be whacked with a hammer at 30k miles (Old trick). The replacement was a cheap-o Mitsubishi unit which didnt last much longer. The car currently has a bendix unit and working just fine. Otherwise I have no idea about why it originally failed. My father said this was the only thing that really ever failed on the car. By comparison a family friend had a similar subaru and didnt have to replace the starter until closer to like 200k miles. I guess the orignial had an issue and the mitsu unit was sub-par.

 

The original/stock axles dont click or anything. A guy with a Subaru Forester at O'Reilys Auto Parts said the inner boots fail more frequently than the ones by the wheels; while he was cutting the front rotors for me. True?

 

This car has an auto transmission. I hope with maintenence every 30k it wont blow up like the guy above at 130k.

Edited April 17, 2012 by DrZeus

[DrZeus]

I recently bought a 1 owner 95 model with 129k and im new to subys and this forum also but im loving it so far. When i bought mine it had a bad water pump due to having water in the block. Since urs is maintained u shouldnt have a problem there. Just keep the coolant mixture right. Once i fixed that its been a great car. If its automatic id be careful with the trans. Ive seen alot of tranny issues. More from legacys than imprezas. Mostly awd clutches from wear or ppl towing them with rear wheels on the ground. I should be putting a new trans in mine this weekend to fix awd clutches, no reverse and weak 1st. But honestly i havent seen big issues so far especially if its been maintained by the dealer. Most issues that come up are from previous owners dogging it out or not maintaining it. Take care of it and itll easily outlast that 350 and that civic.

 

I've got a funny story for you on the AWD. A year after my parents bought this car, Connecticut sent a notice wanting to do vehicle emissions on it. This was in contrary to what friends with older subarus said; where the DMV was originally exempting AWD vehicles. At the time, the emissions department there only really knew how to do ODBI cars (it being 1998ish, the centers were not yet equiped for ODBII). Emisisons stations must have been like 30 years old in 1998 and of cource the ODBI test consisted of putting a car on rollers and running the car at 35mph, this was assuming the car was only 2WD (or 4WD with front wheels disengaged). The subaru being full-time AWD would not go properly on the ODBI single-roller, and hence my father would not let them run an emissions test. The DMV eventually tried to to cancel the registration, but not before my father allowed the station to run the test with the rear tires off the ground!

 

Imagine the car running at 35 MPH with the rear on jack-stands! Now-a-days they do the check-engine light test, visual inspecion, and gas cap so this sort of thing doesnt exist anymore.

Edited April 17, 2012 by DrZeus

[heartless]

the 4EAT is a fine tranny, as long as you keep up with things like matching tires all around & keeping fluids up (diff and tranny fluids).

 

My 1990 AWD Legacy has 224,000 + and the tranny shifts just fine, no torque bind, no issues what so ever, and, to my knowledge, has never been changed.

 

When you check your paperwork for the pulleys & whatnot, also check to see if they did the water pump/thermostat at the same time. Highly recommended by most here to do that when doing a timing service since the water pump runs off the timing belt - and easy access when performing the service.

[crisco]

awesome car and it should give you lots of miles of enjoyment.

[idosubaru]

Hmm good call on the timing belt. I'll check the records to see if the dealer replaced the tensioner and other components

they didn't. dealerships don't replace those parts, at most maybe they replaced one thing but i doubt it.

 

the 97 2.2 should be a 60,000 mile timing belt i think so at least you won't be waiting too long to get to it anyway. the later models are 100k and 200k is a long time to expect out of those pulleys - they can make it but there are enough failures that it's not worth trying IMO. easy job, cheap ebay timing kit = good insurance.

 

I guess the orignial had an issue and the mitsu unit was sub-par.

sounds like that's exactly what happened. subaru starters very rarely fail, actually i don't even know that i've ever replaced one. i know i haven't replaced any newer stuff - maybe some older gen 1980's subaru's.

 

The original/stock axles dont click or anything. A guy with a Subaru Forester at O'Reilys Auto Parts said the inner boots fail more frequently than the ones by the wheels; while he was cutting the front rotors for me. True?

yes and no. that statement is "more" true for newer models...like 2001 or something that got the newer outer boots with more convolutions in them - they last a really long time.

 

and foresters and Outbacks have higher ground clearance than an impreza/OBS so that inner boot is strained more on those vehicles- so it would be "more" true for his vehicle than yours as well.

 

but - it would still hold some water for you as the inners boots are closer to the exhaust.

 

in general - yours having the older style outer boot - if you go to replace the axle boots i would have both replaced.

 

on those newer axles i don't even replace the outer boot, they fail so rarely.

 

i actually install newer style axles in vehicles like yours because of those beefier outer boots - they last longer. i would guess you could even get that style boot and put it on your axle, but i haven't tried it yet, i've only swapped entire axles between the two.

[mikec03]

Grossgary has given you good advice. I have had 3 late 1990's subarus with over 200K, and none of them have had a bearing failure so it shouldn't be a very big concern for you. One thing grossgary failed to mention: If the gas filler tube has a plastic guard on it, take it off now! The guard holds wet sand and dirt against the tube, and it consequently rusts it out. Take off the passenger rear tire and it's easy to get the guard off. Put the guard in the garbage can.

 

One more thing. The replacement starters have failed for me after a couple of years. So get a used Subaru one from a junkyard as a replacement.

[DrZeus]

I looked at the service receit for the timing belt pieces. All it appears they changed out were the belt, tensioner, and front engine seal. At least they got the tensioner replaced. What I'll probably do at first is just inspect anything I can and go from there. In about 20k miles I'll just go ahead and replace the whole kit.

 

What about a rattling exhaust shield? It sometimes vibrates only at about 2500 rpm and only if accelerating quickly. If this is not a common issue I'll just have to get the car up and check it out when i have the chance.

 

You also mentioned doing a front diff oil change. What I know about normal FWD cars is that this oil gets changed when the whole tranny fluid is changed. Does this car have a front diff encased seperatly from the trannsmition? Of not, then I'll probably just replace the transmission fluid at 100k when I do the timing belt - it was just replaced at 65k, otherwise I probably need to do this.

Edited April 18, 2012 by DrZeus

[Olnick]

So get a used Subaru one from a junkyard as a replacement.

 

Good suggestion. Most starter failures are simply worn/pitted copper contacts in the solenoid--can be fixed relatively easily for just a few bucks.

[heartless]

You also mentioned doing a front diff oil change. What I know about normal FWD cars is that this oil gets changed when the whole tranny fluid is changed. Does this car have a front diff encased seperatly from the trannsmition? Of not, then I'll probably just replace the transmission fluid at 100k when I do the timing belt - it was just replaced at 65k, otherwise I probably need to do this.

 

 

Subaru automatic is not typical. the differential is separate from the rest of the tranny. Your tranny dipstick will be on the drivers side, almost hidden from view by hoses. Tranny takes typical Dexron type tranny fluid.

the differential dipstick is on the passenger side, short little fella and easy to get to. Differential takes gear oil.

 

as for the exhaust shield rattles - quite common really. the cure depends on what piece(s) is rattling and how badly it is deteriorated.

Hose clamps have been used in some cases, sheet metal screws, rivets, and some simply remove the offending piece, depending on location.

[edrach]

Your '97 Impreza is as "cherry" as it gets. Just change engine oil/filter every 3000 miles and pay attention to the little stuff before it gets out of hand.

 

I bought our '97 Impreza wagon with 134K on the clock. We now have 230K on it. It's gone through a motor rebuild (previous owner wasn't very conscientious about changing the oil); nothing major but we had a reseal done as well as rings and all the timing belt needs at the same time. I've replaced the radiator twice (once just after we bought it and last month). I do go through transmissions (manual) since I rallycross the car on a regular basis and because all but the last one were junkyard pulls with 120K or more on them. I'm on our 2nd battery and 2nd alternator. That's about it except for brake pads and upgrading the rear drums to disk. I use the Subaru extra S gearoil for the transmission and diff every 60K miles and make sure to change the engine oil every 3K or less. I guess I will replace the car when it gets over 250K but maybe I won't. We'll see. You should get lots of good years out of your Impreza. Best of luck with it.