macdonaldks

Just brought home some 4'x4' plywood pieces and they sat flat on top of the strut towers. This was in a '97 Outback. The tightest part was through the hatch. The plastic trim will scratch if not protected. With the front seats forward, a 4'x6' piece would fit with the hatch closed. Not bad considering that a full sheet, 4'x8', won't fit inside the old full size Caprice wagons either, tailgate has to be dropped...

Replaced the head gaskets on my 97 OBW 40,000 Km ago and so far everything is fine. I too was wondering the same thing as I stared at the parts in front of me. I had exhaust gases visible in my coolant overflow bottle but the original head gasket appeared fine. Once I started peeling the layers of the gasket apart, I could see obvious places where the exhaust gases were getting into the cooling system. This made me feel a little better about doing the whole job... Regards; Ken

A picture says a thousand words. I just went outside to take a picture under the hood of my 97 Outback with the 2.5. It's dark here so the shot may not be exactly composed as I wanted, but I think it shows clearly enough where the vacuum lines go. As you can see, I still have tape on the vacuum lines marking where they go as I had the engine out last year for a HG. The line leading out of what looks like a flow control, goes to a Tee and then to the intake manifold. I will try to answer any other questions you may have after you look at the picture. I am having trouble sending/attaching a picture to this post. If you would like to see it, send me your email address and I'll forward it to you using my normal email Regards; Ken

For summer, I run Michelin HydroEdge 205/70 R15 tires on my '97 Outback. They are as quiet as any tire I've used. They are a little firm but the car tracks as if it were on rails. The winter capabilities are a joke though. For winter, I run Michelin Arctic Alpin, 205/70 R15 tires. These tires are awesome on snow and ice and perform great on dry roads. I would recommend dedicated summer/winter tires/rims if you want to be able to get everything out of your AWD car... Regards; Ken

The headlight lenses of my 97 Legacy Outback were quite hazy as well. I followed the directions from another thread on this board and they came out great. Basically you wet sand, (lots of water), with progressively finer sandpaper and then follow up with a plastic lens polish. I used 600 and 1500 grit sandpaper and Mcguire plastic lens polish. Plan on spending 30 minutes a side. The scariest part is when you first start sanding the lense and wonder how it will ever be clear again, but it will when you are finished...

I had a similar problem with my 2.5. It turned out that my IAC was sticking and causing my high idle condition. Rather that remove and clean the IAC. (It's a bit of work). I sprayed carb cleaner through an intake hose that ran to the valve. Valve now moves freely and the idle problem has been cured. Regards; Ken

Is the engine in or out of the car? I checked mine when the engine was out for a head gasket repair with an ordinary feeler gauge. As far as a special "valve adjuster tool" goes, the valves are adjusted by replacing the spacing pucks. I simply used a screwdriver and compressed air. You may be able to check your valve clearances with the engine in the car but replacing any of the pucks would be a nightmare.

Just did the head gaskets on my 97 OBW 1100Km ago. Can't imagine doing this job with the engine in the car. You will triple the level of difficulty of most of the work that needs to be done. You will need to pull the cams as 4 of the 6 head bolts are hidden below. Check the heads for warpage, mine were each out 0.003" and required surfacing. Also check your valve clearances. I had 1 tight intake and 1 loose exhaust valve. Repaired each with a $6 CDN shim. I'd recomend replacing the valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets and the 1/2 moon plugs at the rear of the cover. The torque sequence was a breeze with the engine on a stand but to do this in the car and keep the sequence correct would be a challenge. Much harder to tell when you've turned the bolt 90 degrees when you cant do it all in one stroke. While you have things apart, are you also considering the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, cam seals, crank seals, tensioners?

My fuse panel located by the drivers feet has 15 fuses or more in it. I pulled my 20A Cigar fuse to double check and sure enough, the mirror/seat heaters do not work with this fuse out. (Neither does my accessory socket) To trouble shoot this problem further, a schematic would greatly help in pin poniting where the problem my be. Sorry I couldn't have been more help... Ken

My accessory socket blew the 20A fuse last week. The seat and mirror heaters stopped at the same time. I replaced the accessroy socket fuse and the seat and mirror heaters started to work again. Somehow the mirror/seat heaters require a power signal from the accessory socket even though they have their own didicated circuits. This was on my 97 OBW Hope this helps... Ken

My 1997 OBW has the Michelin Artic Alpine tires mounted on steel Forrester rims. I bought the tires/rims used and they are on their 3rd season with at least another season left in them. I drive approximately 20,000 Km each winter. They are awesome on our winter roads which include packed snow/ice. They also have great handling characteristics on dry pavement. I am extremely happy with this combination and will replace with the same when the time comes. Once you install a set of winter tires on an AWD vehicle, you'll look for unplowed roads after a snowfall just because you know you can...

I have a 97 Outback that had both lamps in the heater switchs burnt out along with the usual dash ones. I removed the switches from the console and then carefully pryed the switches apart using a small standard screwdriver. You have to be cautious so as not to drop the switch once its apart, as there are pieces inside that you might lose. Once apart, you will see two white rubber rings pressed down over two contact pins. These rubber rings hold the lamp filament wires in contact with the pins on the switch. Pry these rings up and you will be able to remove the small lamp. I replaced the lamps with ones I got at Radio Shack. Overall it is not a difficult job, just a delicate one. P.S. - work on one switch at a time so that you can use the other switch as reference if you need to.