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New subaru owner from Ohio


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Hello everyone, snagged myself a 5 speed 97 Legacy wagon! Low miles with minimal work needed. Hope this forum can help me understand how to do some of these procedures myself (front axles, struts, rear license plate bracket, etc...) Look forward to what this community has to offer!

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103k miles, and the PO said it has an exhaust leak from reusing an old gasket, but not being able to hear the engine already freaks me out! Have a heatshield rattling, but haven't explored that yet. It's a Brighton wagon (no tach :(...) That also needs A/c seals. Anyway, here's a picture of the car dirty from the trip home.

post-58733-0-86040700-1433909232_thumb.jpg

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Very nice!  Just a heads up:  At 103k you're about due for a new timing belt--and even though it's a 2.2 liter the '97 is interference!  It's major maintenance but it's something you can do yourself.  And if you want a tachometer I believe the wiring is all in place so you can add one!

 

Enjoy!

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That's great news about the timing belt.  You might want to check with the PO--ask if they replaced idlers, re-sealed the oil pump, replaced cam & crank seals and maybe even the water pump too.  Interference motor isn't bad per se, but if the timing belt breaks it can cause a lot of damage--and a worn-out seized idler is the biggest killer of timing belts.

 

Don't mean to be alarmist but it's good to know as much as you can about what work was done.

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The stuff that's been done recently is quite long! Cam, and crank seals are both on that list as well as a valve adjustment. I appreciate the heads up! I'm wondering if there's anything I should replace while I'm replacing the half shafts... That would be a really good time to inspect the control arm bushings.

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You're off to a good start!  By all means--inspect everything you can as you do various jobs.  Then ask specific questions here in the "New Gen" forum--you'll usually get responses pretty quickly there.

 

Re:  axles--people here generally swear by Subaru OEM--they're considered much better quality than cheapie new axles.  Some folks will grab a decent used axle at a pull n' pay--clean, repack & reboot it--then put it on the car.  Recondition the one they took off and put it on the car.  Then recondition the 3rd one and put it on the shelf for future use!

 

Helpful hint:  Try to master the "search" function here on USMB--it's a treasure trove of useful info.

 

Good luck in your efforts!

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