a97obw

O2 sensor is a joke. Undo O2 sensor nut. Pull out old sensor. Unplug old sensor. Put nut around new sensor. Plug in new sensor. Tighten new sensor to the exhaust. It's that simple. Mr. Manarius forgot to tell you that after you do this his way, you'll have to disconnect the wire to the sensor in order to remove all the twists in the wire because you hooked up the connector before you installed the sensor into the cat. (I hope he took a nap!)

I think the "canister" you are looking for is, as they state, in the front passenger side of the engine compartment accessible from the top of the engine bay. It has 2 vacuum lines of different size going to it. As for that solenoid, I'm pretty sure the one you are looking for is very close to the front passengers side shock tower, again accessible from the top of the engine bay.

I had this happen a few weeks ago on my 97 OBW, and inspecting the tires, the front left (OEM Michelin white letter tires) tire had a large "scallop" indention in it. They lasted right at about 65k miles, and their time was done. Replaced all 4 with locally bought Yokohama Avid TRZs in the stock size, and paid a premium for them compared to $58 or so each from the Tire Rack. About 6k miles later I would still highly recommend this tire. The ride instantly went from a log wagon to a Lincoln Towncar!

IF the shop used something such as a large screwdriver to pry the camshaft pulley off the cam, they may have left a "stress riser" mark on the plastic pulley. If you can find all the parts to the pulley and do a "forensic investigation" you might find such a mark. That being said, the best way to remove the plastic camshaft pulleys is to lightly tap them with a rubber mallet, and when you reinstall them the ONLY way to hold the camshaft is via a large wrench on the hex shape of the camshaft itself--NOT the plastic pulley!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON A SUBARU MESSAGE BOARD!! NOW GET BACK TO WORK! I'M GETTING SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR RUNNING AROUND LIKE SOME PREMADONNA!! (all in fun there Pauli)

The spark plugs do not have to be removed to remove the valve covers. As the top of the plug is still below the top of the cylinder head which is below the bottom of the valve cover (bottom as in in/out) there really isn't any advantage to removing the valve covers to remove the spark plugs. In my opinion, the real disadvantage to removing the covers to change the plugs would be an open invitation for dirt,trash and possibly tools to enter the engine. In addition to the valve cover gasket itself, you are going to need (2) of the spark plug gaskets that fit in the valve cover and a new set of grommets that go around the bolts. I wouldn't for the life of me consider reusing either the spark plug gaskets or the grommets. After you change it out and have no leaks I'm sure you'll agree! Easiest way to remove the plug wires is to just grab the boots at the plug and push down towards the ground with a slight pull. If you just try and pull them straight out or downwards with all your might you probably won't get them off. And I've found the best tool for changing the plugs is the one in your factory tool kit with the tire tool. Use the hexagonal shaped tool with open ends and a ratchet wrench/socket that will fit the tool. And always start the plugs in by hand with a piece of rubber hose that fits snugly over the top of the plugs.

Actually the early 911/912s at least up through the 911SC models have an indicator light in the bottom of either the speedo or tach that indicates you have pulled the light switch to the first "notch" position and the parking lights are on. Certain models you could just set the turn signal lever to either right or left and only the right or left parking lights would be lit.

did the 97 outback have rear head rests? Yes. The 97 Legacy Outback models do have head rests for the rear seats. I've got the pair of mine stashed away in a closet because I use the wagon as my Surveying rig. Hence the rear seats are always in the down position. Don't know about the Legacy L models....you might check in the spare tire compartment and see if they have been stashed in there.

Pretty good library, huh? Sure kicks Jeeves' butt don't it!

I called the library. They said there is a rocker switch on top of the steering column right in front of the instrument panel, which you reach through the steering wheel to turn the parking lights on and off.:cool:

The tool shown in the picture above can be "borrowed" from your local autozone, and if you are replacing the front struts on a Legacy Outback the tool is aaaaaaaaallllllllllmosssssstttttt long enough to do the job. Trust me---have a friend handy to start the nut on the top of the strut assembly while all 246 lbs. of you are leaning over it with your feet in the air.:cool:

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I've never understood a reason for the "camshaft holding tool" as an absolute necessity when changing a timing belt. IF you line up the marks before you remove the old belt, this is the position of the pistons (EJ25) on the passengers side of the engine. The drivers side is similar. There is absolutely no way that you are going to damage a valve by hitting a piston due to a cam rotating on you because you don't have that tool.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to take up for Mr. Anthony Aveni et al at Subarupartsforyou.com as in the past I have made 2 or 3 mail order purchases from them (including the external transmission filter kit for my 92 Legacy AWD wagon) and they've been very cordial and dependable for my parts needs. Perhaps the reason being I didn't use the internet order method but rather picked up the phone and talked to Mr. Aveni himself. I've also made at least one major purchase (about $800 worth) from Jason at 1st Subaru, that was also first rate service.

subaru does have it, cost of $60. I still have to buy one myself. they can order it still. as of june anyway. $60 was jobbers cost! Somebody is doing a SERIOUS yank of your chain, dude! Last November or so I replaced the transmission filter on my 92 Legacy AWD wagon--yes, the recall fix one that fits in a clamping bracket similar to the one that holds the fuel filter---and is located on the drivers side inner fender wall below the battery and next to the drivers side valve cover. I couldn't buy just the filter, I had to purchase the entire recall kit that consisted of the filter, the bracket, bolts for the bracket to the car, 4 new clamps (the good OEM subaru clamps) and two pieces of rubber hose........all for less than $16 (Sixteen Dollars) or so from Subarupartsforyou.com up in the Northeast USA. Update: OK, today I found the invoice dated November of '04 when I bought the (external) transmission filter kit for my 92 Legacy AWD automatic wagon. The part number is: 31099AA091 and it was a whopping $11 (eleven dollars) from the fine friendly folks at Dan Perkins Subaru aka subarupartsforyou.com mail ordered all the way from Milford CT. Call and ask for Anthony.

Wow! Nobody mentioned what I would consider a MAJOR "buying point" being that the 92s and earlier use R-12 (unobtainium refrigerant) in the A/C system, and I'm pretty sure that 93 was the first year for the R-134A refrigerant change. So it's either no A/C because you can't afford/find R-12, or a $6.00 can of R-134A at the local parts store. As for the R-134A "conversion kits" I wouldn't consider one, as the instructions say you MUST get ALL the old refrigerant/oil out of the system before you recharge with the R-134A spec stuff.......and you can bet your bottom dollar that the kit manufacturers attorneys who stand behind their product will tell you "you can't get it ALL out!" Just some thoughts!

For future reference anyways....... 1) Remove the valve covers and using a LARGE crescent wrench hold the cam by the flats that are cast into it (that you will only find once you remove the valve cover!) and hold that dude while you break the bolts loose on the cam sprocket. But before you do this, Rotate the engine with the timing belt still on in the correct location until all the marks on the cams and the crank line up in their respective proper positions. With the marks lined up, the pistons on all 4 cylinders are at about mid stroke...i.e. you're not going to crash a valve into a piston by turning the cams IF and WHEN the crank mark is lined up to where it is supposed to be for a timing belt change. Leave the belt on to aid in breaking loose the cam sprockets. I think that you'll find that at least on the 4 cam 2.5 engines the cam sprockets are made of plastic---and a very BRITTLE plastic at that! Should you attempt to hold the sprocket by the flats on the plastic sprocket itself in order to break the sprocket bolt loose, you're going to wind up with a handfull of broken plastic and a bolt that still isn't loose. If you're lucky, you might even hear it break apart in its destruction! And I don't think you'll manage to bend the camshaft by breaking the bolt loose...

Triple naught steel wool. Try in an inconspicuous part of the glass first to give it a try.

Much easier and probably a better solution than using a hose clamp is to use one of those big heavy duty cable ties (like the coppers use to haul you off:eek: )--just loop it around the boot, through the slot and pull it up tight. Cut off the excess. These are what the 912 Porsche guys (including myself) are doing these days with regard to securing the CV joint boots to the axle shaft.

New cars do generally have a "coating" called Cosmoline that winds up "burning off" with time. You might want to go sniffing under the hood of a few other new Subarus at the dealership to see if in fact it is the same thing you are smelling. As for the repair orders, oil changes etc.----document, document, document. IF the repair order does not reflect your concern about the "smell of coolant" issue, then simply refuse to pay the bill until they include that on the face of the work order, and it is signed off on by the Service Manager. But approach it in a polite way; if there is no cooling system problem in their opinion they shouldn't have any reason NOT to include the concerns you address. If there IS an actual cooling system problem that manifests into a major problem, then you have it documented. Either way it shouldn't matter to the dealership.

For that matter, a long heavy duty screwdriver (read 18" +) with the end of the handle pressed against your ear and the tip of the screwdriver pressed against the top of the injector cover will tell you if the injector is working or not. A lot quicker and you can listen for a difference between the injectors.

Blow it off as a Subaru idiosyncracy (sp?). If you've got a code reader, read the code then reset it. Otherwise you can throw money away at more plugs,wires,coil pack,igniter...you name it. My 97 Outback would throw a CEL at very nearly the exact same spot on a stretch of highway----didn't matter if the car was cold or had been run all day.

I guess it was back about 97 or so that the A/C in my 92 Legacy wagon decided to take a dump. Dealership diagnosed the problem as a bad evaporator, when they removed it from the dash it was very oily and even had a plastic shopping bag stuck to it---only thing we could figure was that the bag was sucked in/fell in from the glove box. That fix cost right at about $1400. Worked well for about a year, then gave up once again. Had a local shop replace every O ring they could. Worked well for almost another year. Last time both the high and low pressure hoses were deemed in need of replacement to the ungodly tune of about $325 EACH just for the hoses. It was then that I decided to "put her down" and bought a 97 Outback with R134:banana:. The 92 wound up getting "donated" to my nephew in Montana....like the A/C is really going to be missed up there! Sometimes you just gotta know when to say when.

What color? If it is 17k beyond having the timing belt replaced, and no history of head gasket failure, I'd have to say "NO DEAL HOWIE!" For that kind of coin, I'd just about sell you my 97 with 98k miles that has already had all the head gaskets/water pump/timing belt/new clutch/ad nauseum replaced for you!

Yes and yes. When I replaced the head gaskets and everything else on my 97 Outback this past February, I used both the 1/2 inch drive ft. lb. and 1/4 inch drive inch lb. torque wrenches that like you say were $13-$25 at Harbor Freight. (compared to much more expensive torque wrenches you could buy 4 or 5 of them and have redundancy in your measurements) With regard to torquing the heads, +/- even 10% isn't going to matter, because the actual torque setting is merely a "starting point" for which you are then going to follow the procedure of tightening/loosening the head bolts by X degrees of rotation to achieve the final "torque". Now, what I would do is test the torque setting each time you change it on some benign bolt or wheel lug. If you set it for say 40 ft. lbs and then try it on a wheel lug and you lift the car, something is not right! As for the small inch lb. wrench, a good "benign" bolt would be the ones at the top radiator support in the chassis of the car. 7500+/- trouble free miles on the Outback so far since the repairs.