=CC= Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 I just bought a new to me 1996 Outback....with 300k miles on it! Cosmetically, she's not pretty. There are some assorted dents and dings, a smidgen of rust (surface only) at the top of the windshield frame, scratches on the hood, and some pretty dirty seats. The previous owner took all the trim pieces off the inside of the rear hatch, to try fixing/replacing the wiper motor (he didn't fix it). Those are all in the back. The drivers side seat belt looks like the Tasmanian Devil tried to eat it for lunch, and doesn't stretch all the way across the seat, so the previous owner tied the seat belt together with a piece of wire (!). The tires were dry rotted and nasty, with little to no tread left. And the aftermarket stereo install was a hack job. The window button for the drivers side front window needs to be jiggled to work, and there's about $2.00 worth of gross change in the world's nastiest center console. Looks like I got some work cut out for me! We trailered this old battle beast home yesterday (3 hour drive), and today got some nice new tires mounted and installed. We also deodorized the interior, because the previous owner did something (who knows what) to make the interior smell kinda funky. On my list of things to do...new exhaust (current one looks a bit like swiss cheese), engine oil change, diff oil change, tune up, timing belt/water pump/tensioners, and look into what I need to do to get the seat belt fixed. Brakes are on this list somewhere, too. Oh yeah, and tags! Can't drive without those! I'll get some pictures up soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Looking forward to pics. Best fix for a seatbelt like that is replace with a good used one - car-part.com or find a local pick n pull sort of yard. All 1995-1999 legacy and legacy outback will have the same part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HASx11 Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 The seat belts should be covered under subaru's lifetime warranty. My rear seat belt was broken on my 97 obs and they covered it under warranty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Looking forward to pics. Best fix for a seatbelt like that is replace with a good used one - car-part.com or find a local pick n pull sort of yard. All 1995-1999 legacy and legacy outback will have the same part. Thanks! I was thinking I might have to call a dealer for that. Good to know that I can pick one up elsewhere. Skeeves me out a bit to have it the way it is now, lol. I can only guess how he used it; it had what looked like a section of maybe speaker wire threaded through it and looped around, so I think he may have just hooked it around the seat portion of the buckle to hold it in place, thereby having the appearance of the seatbelt buckled. Lucky he was never involved in an accident with that. He'd have really gotten hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 300k miles. That's a fair effort! CheersBennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 New exhaust arrives Monday. Shifter bushings are on order, can't wait to get those! After I get the tags, I'll run to the local dealership and see what they say about the seatbelt. I'll take it there to get that fixed if it's covered under a lifetime warranty. I saw that noted on a couple other threads, but wasn't sure if it would be covered, since I'm not the original owner, so it's good to know that doesn't matter. Might as well get a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Exhaust arrived yesterday...just in time for the ice/snow. Bummer. Seatbelt fixed! Just removed it from the car, and found where it was hanging up at. Now it works perfectly. Yay!! Goober I bought the car from screwed up the title, so now I have to get a duplicate title from the original owner before I can tag it. Bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Most of my parts are here, but the weather is crap, and I'm sick. Blah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Shifter bushings arrived today! If we get some decent weather over the weekend, that job will get done (thankfully). Yesterday we replaced the spark plugs and wires...she seems to be running quite a bit better. We'll see if that takes care of the cylinder 4 misfire. Next one the list of maintenance items to be addressed will be an oil change/filter change. Hopefully, I'll get the title issues straightened out so I can get it tagged. Then it's off to the shop for a timing belt (and associated parts) change. I've been told that timing belt service is pretty straightforward, but I don't even have an owners manual for this thing, let alone a shop manual, so I'll be leaving that job to a professional (this time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Been a while since I've updated. Shifter fixed. Oil changed. Spark plugs/wires replaced. Still on the "to do" list: Exhaust. Suspension. Timing belt (and all related bits). I'm also still working on getting the title straightened out, so I can get tags. I'm really looking forward to driving this car, now that the shifter is fixed. I have discernible gears!!! It's very exciting. That shift bushing replacement is a big pain in the butt, so hopefully this new set will last another 300,000 miles. I do NOT want to have to do that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 (edited) So far, things have been progressing kinda slowly. We did finally get the shifter fixed....all I can say about that is hopefully that booger will last another 300k, because what a pain!! I had to get the new parts from a dealer, because I couldn't find anyone who made an decent aftermarket u joint that would work. I ordered one that, according to the ebay site would work, but it didn't. So, if anybody needs a shift u joint for a 97 or newer Outback, let me know, cause I have one, lol. We ended up demolishing the original u joint in order to get those ******* spring pins out, and demolished them in the process as well. So, it was a Samurai T case bolt to the rescue! It's a perfect fit, and has one heck of a lock washer with it. It's snug, and not going anywhere. What a difference!! If I ever get this car one the road, it's gonna shift great! The exhaust still isn't finished yet, that's on the list of things to do this weekend. I've also got new shocks to install, and if the weather holds (and my enthusiasm) we'll get that done too. So, if I could only get that jackwagon that I bought this car from to send me the ************* title, I'll be able to actually DRIVE this car, instead of sitting in it making "vroom vroom" noises. I'm going on 2 months now, and this is really starting to piss me off. Edited April 27, 2017 by =CC= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted May 3, 2017 Author Share Posted May 3, 2017 Finally got the title, but the thought of a 3rd trip to the MVA in less than a week has me cringing. I'm waiting til Friday to tag this puppy. Then suspension and exhaust repairs, and we're good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted May 14, 2017 Author Share Posted May 14, 2017 Finally got tags, but still can't drive it. I haven't gotten the exhaust replaced yet, and I'm waiting for the rest of my suspension parts to come in. Also on order is a complete timing belt kit, because at 300k, with a questionable service history (more like NO service history), I figure it's worth doing just for peace of mind. It would seriously annoy me if, on the first real drive, the timing belt let go, and ruined the car. So, I'm still waiting. In the meantime, I'm clearing all the VWAudi stuff out of my basement and garage. Selling what's worth selling, scrapping what isn't. I saved a LOT of crap over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Enjoyed catching up on this saga. Glad you got the title. I thought this was going to turn into one of those stories there for a moment. Good idea in the t belts. However the motor is non interference though so it would never ruin anything but it would certainly be an inconvenience! Good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Oh I'm sorry I was thinking this was an ea when I read thru. I'm not certain on the ejs, I do know the dual port exhaust phase I ej18 and 22 motors are non interference, but don't know anything about the ej25s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 It's an EJ22, so I'm going to err on the side of caution and change it. Around here, the older Subarus have gone the way of the old Suzuki Samurais...rusted off the road. It made it's first drive today! We finally finished the exhaust and suspension over the long weekend, and I drove it to work as a shake down run today. It has an unusual clunk occasionally, seems to happen when downshifting or letting off the accelerator. Otherwise, she runs pretty good for an old crock. I'm really enjoying driving it...guess that's because I had to jump through so many hoops to get it to this point. One thing I've noticed is that the shifter (now that it's been fixed) really puts me in mind of the Samurai. It has that same, mechanical feel to it, unlike my old Audi, which had such a smooth shifter. I don't mind it at all....it's different than what I've been driving for so long. I think I'm really gonna like this car. We've had to take the Legacy off the road for now, because I've been nursing it through a case of a terminal headgasket. Since the OB is now driveable, we'll be running that around, and pulling the engine from the Legacy to get the headgaskets replaced. More a pain in the butt than anything else, but since we only paid $200.00 for the Lagacy, I guess we can drop a few bucks into fixing her up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 Enjoyed catching up on this saga. Glad you got the title. I thought this was going to turn into one of those stories there for a moment. Good idea in the t belts. However the motor is non interference though so it would never ruin anything but it would certainly be an inconvenience! Good luck with it! Believe me, I thought it was going to be one of those stories, too. I finally had to threaten legal action, which I hated to do, because, while the guy was one of the dumbest individuals I've ever met (sorry, but it's true), he wasn't a bad guy. Just really, really stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I've come across those types of people myself. Unbelievably devoid of sensible thought. But still polite. Haha, glad you got to drive it some. With the clunk, check your mounts and your control arm bushings. See if anything is loose, has some play. If your ej22 has single exhaust ports on each head it is an interference motor. If it has dual ports on each head (4 exhaust ports total) it's non interference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 I've come across those types of people myself. Unbelievably devoid of sensible thought. But still polite. Haha, glad you got to drive it some. With the clunk, check your mounts and your control arm bushings. See if anything is loose, has some play. If your ej22 has single exhaust ports on each head it is an interference motor. If it has dual ports on each head (4 exhaust ports total) it's non interference. that's some good info to know, thank you! I think we may have chased the clunking noise to the driver's side axle. The CV boot is torn and has been flinging grease everywhere (which we knew about since we found that when we changed the tires.) I've got new axles on the way for both sides up front, so we'll be swapping out the pair when they get here. While we're doing that, we'll be checking the motor and transmission mounts, as well as control arm bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted June 26, 2017 Author Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) Update time! Turned out that the clunk was caused by the transmission mount. It was torn in 2 places, and one of the bolts had backed halfway out. That's because someone at sometime had cross threaded it so badly that the threads were completely smoothed out. I really don't know how it stayed in there as long as it did. We ran the tap up through the hole, and the die over a new bolt, but the bolt is a little thin, so it's pretty precarious. If it starts backing out again, we'll being re threading a 12 " bolt to fit. There doesn't seem to be another option. We also ran the carpet cleaner over the entire interior. It was truly disgusting what came off those seats (thank god for seat covers!), so it doesn't stink anymore. We replaced the old suspension a couple weeks ago with new KYB struts and King springs. What a difference! I don't know exactly how many of the 340K miles were on those struts, but when we got the assemblies apart, the strut just collapsed. The ride has improved about a thousand percent. Edited June 27, 2017 by =CC= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Been a while since I've updated, but there's nothing really much to note. I think I'll name him George. We are planning to part out the 97 Legacy. For whatever reason, the Legacy gets terrible fuel mileage, which just won't work for my husband (this was going to be his winter beater). He really likes my Outback, but with the distance he has to commute, he needs something that gets good mileage. If we could figure out how to put a VW diesel into the Legacy, he'd do that and rock on, but that's probably easier said than done, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Hmmm, must be a Tex Avery fan or have read Of Mice and Men. "I think I'll name him George. :D" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men_in_popular_culture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=CC= Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Lol, neither actually! I was thinking more of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with the big dog. It seems to fit this car's personality. He kinda looks like a George. My husband called his old 87 S-10 Gertie for the same reason, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 (edited) Ahhh....you mean the Abominable Snowman.......that was a Looney Tune. Google Tex Avery cartoon/I think I'll name him George. Edited July 21, 2017 by czny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Glad to see all the progress. Timing belts on the ej22 are pretty simple. If the Ej22 is dual port exhaust it's non interference. If single port and original, still non interference. Swapped from a newer one, is interference (97 and 98) That odometer reading is exactly why i love that motor so much. The other reason it that if/when it finally dies, you can get another good used one for a couple hundred dollars, swap it in a day and keep on driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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