Legacy questions

[markman34]

Hi All,

 

I'm looking at a 200 legacy wagon but am not too familiar with them.

What engine code is in these cars? EJ22?

Is this an interference engine?

My wife can't drive a stick so we're looking at an automatic. Any troubles there? Other than the lack of a five spd!

Do they have any notable issues. Timing belts perhaps?

If anyone has any tips, please let me know!

 

Thanks

Marko

[brus brother]

Hi All,

 

I'm looking at a 200 legacy wagon but am not too familiar with them.

What engine code is in these cars? EJ22?

Is this an interference engine?

My wife can't drive a stick so we're looking at an automatic. Any troubles there? Other than the lack of a five spd!

Do they have any notable issues. Timing belts perhaps?

If anyone has any tips, please let me know!

 

Thanks

Marko

"200" was a bit before my time;) but I did own an automatic 2000 Legacy GT wagon. It had the EJ25 engine. It is an interference engine and timing belts are changed by 105K miles or sooner under extreme conditions. External headgasket problems continued until mid 2003 I believe but Suabru provided for an extended 100K miles/8 year warranty if they added some stop-leak goop to the coolant system.

This HG issue, while not as bad as the late 90's internal HG issue was a continued black eye for SOA. I had my transmission replaced twice under warranty. The first was an issue of delayed engagement apparently common to my year. When going from reverse to drive, there was a noticeable lag before engagement. The second time, there was a ticking noise. SOA doesn't repair transmiisons at the dealerships but ships rebuilt ones to swap in.

All that having been said, it went to 110K before being totalled by the insurance company after an accident. It would have gone another 110K if they had repaired the damage.

I got 22 mpg on average and considered it a fine ride.

Good luck.

[idosubaru]

It's probably an EJ25, particularly if it's a nicer model like OBW.

some lower level Legacy's had the EJ22 up until 1999 or 2000 so there's a small chance.

 

if it's an EJ25, head gaskets and piston slap are the main issue. outside of that there are few issues at all.

 

autotrans - check for torque bind. make sure all the tires match in pressure, tread depth and you rotate them frequently to prevent trans issues. Subaru automatic transmissions are very reliable.