johnceggleston

ignore the head gasket part for now, address the code and fan problem. maybe the radiator and cap problem. that may be your only problem. rad caps are cheap.

has it been over heating ? are there bubbles in the overflow tank.? do you have black gunk in your radiator overflow bottle? this is the first time i have ever heard of a bad head gasket engine throwing a code. if the fan is not working then i would think that could cause it to over heat. and any overheating could contribute to bad head gaskets even if they started out good.

there is a speedo drive gear on in the front diff on the passenger side. which drives the speedo driven gear which is located underneath (down in the hole) the speed sensor on the passenger side of the auto trans. different cars have different sets of speedo gears depending on the size of the factory stock tires.

i think so. when i was removing mine, i cut the wire ties and then the unit had several inches of slack so it would hang down on to your foot if you were driving. on one of these wire runs the button was bundled and taped up with another several inches of wire so you had enough slack to mount the button near the hood release.

i think, if you follow the wiring harness back from the larger plug on the unit you may find a fat spot or bundle in the wiring wrapped in tape. that's how i found mine. in any event, the push button is connected to a wire that comes from the unit, so just trace them all. but mine was so hidden the wires and tape i almost over looked it. it is a very slender push button and if it has never been ''mounted'' it and an excess of wire may be taped up. i just went out and looked at my 97obw, the wires to the button are brown, both of them and it feels like they come from the connector furthest from the large one but i wouldn't bet money on it. id have to snip the wire ties that hold it in place to be sure. this outback has the alarm part of the system as well. my 97 GT does not and i think it does not have wires at this connector, if i remember correctly. slightly off topic, i was going to sell my unit because i don't use it (i already carry too many keys adding a remote is just one more thing i don't want, but my wife loves hers). but when i removed it my power locks didn't work correctly from the drivers door. this leads me to believe that at some point during the install you have to cut or disconnect or re-route a wire.

sorry about the idiot comment. i was wrong. this stuff will work. and you will not have any problem getting your 50$ back if it doesn't. enjoy your car.

i found mine as a "fat spot" in the wiring harness. does a new unit come with a piece of wiring harness?

i'm not an expert and i may have overstated my knowledge a bit, but it is my understanding that in most cases a coolant system pressure test will not ''discover'' bad head gaskets. this leads me to believe that , at least in the early stages, the leaking only occurs in high compression and combustion conditions. i do not believe that there is enough suction during the intake to create these conditions but i really do not know how much suction / vacuum is actually created. but then again, i'm not an expert.

excuse my french, but you are an idiot. that stuff is designed to stop coolant from leaking into the intake. that is not your problem, you have exhaust gas leaking into the coolant. that stuff cannot do what you want it to because it never gets a chance to seal the leak. the exhaust leaking into the coolant keeps it away from the leak. if it were leaking in the other direction maybe it would work. the white smoke from the exhaust pipe is the standard "head gasket" symptom of most cars, coolant leaking into the intake. but that is not your problem. you are wasting your time and money. you have a better chance of saying a prayer.

as you have figured out, the passenger side dip stick is for the front diff. the driver side dip stick is for the auto trans. refill the trans and make sure the level is correct before you drive it much. low fliud will damage the trans. the ATF dipstick can be hard to read, check both sides before you are satisfied. get the level correct for the cold marks and then adjust for hot. the ~4 qts. is right for thre trans since the torque converter does not drain. there is a drain plug for the front diff. i'd probably drain it and re-fill it, and maybe do it again when warm and let it drip dry and then refill with the correct amount.

tons of people have tried this and tons of other stuff and none of them work. you will be wasting your money.

when ever i talk to the mechanic here about a swap he says to just fix the engine that's in the car now. and i understand that, you know the2.5L engine and buying any used engine has a certain amount of risk in it. although with 2.2L subarus it may be a low risk. on the other hand, if you have just bought a used outback with bad head gaskets, you don't know how often or how severely it overheated. so in that case a swap would be a good idea. you don't want to put money into an engine that may have overheated bearing damage. in your case, money aside, the repair would be a better choice (iirc, i think you have had this car a while). if a swap is cheaper, then go that way. if you are going to go with a swap you have two choices regarding your old engine. i hate saying this, it goes against my nature to destroy an engine, but run it into the ground, get as many miles out of as you can. your other choice, pull it and sell it as needing head gaskets. the money you get for it will offset the cost of the 2.2L engine. .

I love this forum! It helps make owning a Subaru such a pleasure. This was exactly the information I needed. Thank you again everyone. Mike one or two of these hose go to the AC, so don't mess with them. i had to get the lower bolt / nut from below. it was a surprise to have to crawl under the car when the starter is on top but that's what i did.

the last quote i got around here was 900$ and that included checking the heads. i'm not sure about the t-belt.

i'm confused, seat belt latch, fold down seat back latch, door latch???

if the gaskets let go and the car overheats you are stuck. but if the car over heats for any other reason, it can aggravate the head gaskets. so just don't let it over heat. give it good maintenance. as i said in the other post, some are just going bad now with 180k miles on them. you will be tired of this car by then, 6 years from now.

in my opinion that's a good deal as long as the gaskets are not bad now. if you drive this car 45k miles with out a major incident you will be in good shape. at 105k miles (or 105 months) the timing belts are due. if you have to spend 1500 - 2000$ in a couple of three years it will still be better than buying another used car. hopefully you will go much longer before they ley go. it doesn't matter when the head gaskets let go, it is a pain and a major expense. but when you have them redone, you will be good for another 100k miles or more. how many miles do you drive a year.? .

read this and then use the search function to find more posts. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104353&highlight=head+gasket* i've been driving a 97 outback wagon for over 33k miles, now at 131K, with no problems. i know it could go bad at any time but so far so good. how much did you pay for your car.?

there is a known problem with bad pulley bearings on the h6. both of these idlers probably have the same bearing in them. if the pulley isn't torn up you can just replace the bearing. i sold grossgary a couple of them a while back for his car. it's the same bearing used on the ac idler in the lego/outback 95 - 99, i think. you might check with him. i may have some more bearings. but time and distance could be a problem.

96 2.2 auto into a 97 GT auto. shifts hard 1-2 but runs great else wise.

can't i at least get a reduced sentence, after all we did get to see the peoples choice.

1983 2 door , would that be the "hardtop" version? surely not the hatchback. ea81 engine with a FWD trans. hopefully a 5 speed. i'm guessing. http://www.indysworld.com/80s/general/specs/general/1983glht.html

FYI: macco has a mid winter half price sale, get the 400$ job for 200$ or 200$ for 100$. not the greatest paint job in the world, but for a daily driver you are never going to sell it's not bad. especially if you have no rust to begin with. i painted a 15 year old nissan truck for 200 and it still looks great 5 yrs later. and i painted my 95 legacy w/ 166k miles just before i gave it to my son for college.

paint it black. black is beautiful.

does any one have a picture?? i've never seen one. http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/1459593555.html