Ranger83

Got the car back today. It runs great. The tab for this repair was around $1,200. I had some additional work done to the brakes and some seals replaced, so the total bill was $1,400. Peabody Sunoco, Peabody, MA did the work. I also sent a letter to the new President of Subaru USA.

Similarly straightforward for a 1997 Legacy Outback?

Presumably in the US they're using SAE horsepower. "SAE Net horsepower is the horsepower generated by the engine at the flywheel with all accessories attached." As the same engine could be put in anything from a 2 door coupe to a pickup truck at most manufacturers, that's a reasonable approach. I suppose there are 4 wheel dynomometers around, but that would add as many variables as it reduced.

Won't let me load image of cylinder bore for some reason.

Image of block, before any cleanup.

Image of head after machining. It turns out 0.004" out isn't very much for alloy heads.

Consumer Reports actually did a test of car waxes in 2000. They tested for gloss, ease of application, cleaning, durabilitity, and scratching/hazing: "For a moderately weathered finish, 3M One Step Cleaner Wax 39006 liquid is the clear choice for its cleaning ability--that is, if you don't mind waxing more often. Its durability was only fair. It costs about $6.45 for a 16-ounce bottle. For a badly oxidized finish, you may need to start off with a polishing compound, available at auto-parts, discount, and department stores. If a shiny finish is your paramount concern, first consider Zymöl Cleaner Wax liquid and Nu Finish Car Polish paste. But be prepared to make some compromises. The cleaning ability of both products was so-so, and Zymöl's durability was just middling. Also, the Nu Finish tended to scratch or haze somewhat, a problem especially with dark-colored cars. The Zymöl is also quite expensive, at $16 a pint. The Nu Finish costs about $6.20 for a 14-ounce can. Among the high-rated polishes, the Prestone Bullet Wax, about $7.25, and Armor All Car Wax, about $5.55, lasted the longest. But neither one quite matched the gloss that the Zymöl and Nu Finish paste produced. The Armor All scratched or hazed more than most. A convenient applicator made Prestone Bullet Wax easier to apply than any of the other liquids and pastes we tested. Although spray polishes win hands down for ease of use, they aren't effective on cars with a very dirty or oxidized finish. And be prepared to do the job often; the durability of the sprays we tested was no better than fair. Of the three sprays, Turtle Wax Express Shine Spray Car Wax performed the best overall. " I use Nu Finish, which cleans OK, is quite durable, and is extremely easy to use, being a liquid. The wash & wax products don't seem to work at all, including the car wash versions. No polish lasts more than about a month, they say.

FWIW, when I raced a VW Scirocco years ago, the Bosch and Champion plugs would begin misfiring after 20 laps in a practice session. Switched to NGK's, no problems. They convinced me. That's all I use in my outboard as well - 200 hp fuel-injected Yamaha 2 stroke. Small boat, big ocean....

I am having my head gaskets changed preemptively at 140K. I was surprised at what good shape the rest of the engine is on, so I think it's worthwhile.

My '97 Outback Wagon has 140K miles on it and I drive around 2,500 per month. After looking around here, at Skips head gasket log site, and at other car sites, I became convinced that this is affecting anywhere from 1 of 5 to 1 of 3 cars. When I saw a few bubbles in the coolant overflow tank after hard driving, and started using some oil, I decided to have the job done before they blow. The two hottest months of the year are before us. I'd like to get 200K out of the car. I inquired about a good Subaru garage around Manchester, NH (where I work) but with no responses I brought it back to PEabody Sunoco in Peabody, MA. They've done all the prior work since I got it. When they took off the heads one showed some signs of leakage, and was warped 0.004". Maximum allowable warp is 0.003" according to the mechanic, so they were both cut. I looked at them after they came back. Other than this head gasket problem, these are impressive engines. The valves show a nice uniform nut brown color and passed the leakdown tests. I looked at the short block still in the car and you can still see the cylinder hone marks in the sidewalls. Two questions: 1. There have been a number of head gaskets produced and they got the complete set from the dealer - presumably the latest design? Do the different versions have different part numbers? 2. What is the current coolant requirement for this engine? I understand there are several formulations available now but most people just use the green stuff? For refill freedom that's my choice unless there is something compelling about the others.

It's the 97 Maroon color.

You can make anything drift, on pavement, anyway. All you have to do is change the relative tire pressures and the tail end will come right out, especially if you pitch the nose in. I used to drive a VW Scirocco on a road course, and as I recall we had about 42-44psi in the front, and about 30 psi in the rear. The body and suspension would flex enough in some turns that you could get the inside rear wheel up in the air, and if you tapped the brakes (while staying on the throttle, another technique to get FWD cars to go tail-out) the inside rear wheel would be completely stationary for the duration of the turn. Entertaining. I've never bothered goofing around with this on our 97 OBW because my driving skills aren't what they used to be, and relentless understeer is often a Good Thing on public roads.

Trucks have more comprehensive filtration systems, but also have heavier loads. WalMart wants the trucks they buy or lease to go 100,000 miles on an oil change, but according to the oil analysis place, they're only up to 40,000..... Back when we had less sophisticated oil, lead in the gas, carbs that were often off-ratio, and distributors that went off-tune in a few thousand miles, the recommendation was to change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. Now that engines are fuel injected, have electronic ignitions, and there's no more lead in the gas, the recommendation is still.... 3,000 miles?

Thanks, I brought it back to the mechanics in MA. Charlie Levesque used to work on my VW Scirocco (which was driven on the street, driven in autocrosses and time trials on tracksm and rallied and ice raced in winter) when I lived in Amherst, he was in Wilton, but a friend lived there and could give me a ride into work.

I didn't realize that - Legacy, then.

Just out of curiousity (since the existing hood needs repainting) I'd like to get a hood for my 97 OB wagon without the hood scoop. Will the Legacy and GT hoods fit as a bolt on? It shouldn't cost me much since I can resell the old hood.

It should be under 55 degrees, rule of thumb.

Although it's not fun, if it's hot out and you're worried about overheating you can turn the heat on full, crank up the fan, and open the windows. My sub was running a little hot last summer and this always got the gage back to normal. My mechanic flushed the cooling system and it's been fine since - 97 OBW, 140K miles. Nevertheless, with all the reports of head gasket failures and the two hottest months of the year upon us, I brought mine in today for "preemptive" replacement of the head gaskets. It's at Peabody Sunoco in Peabody, MA, who has done all the work on the car previously (tuneups, camshaft gaskets, etc.) and has done a good job. They've done several Subarus, but say they can't honestly say they've seen a pattern of failure. I'm going to have the valve seals replaced and the seats honed as well, while it's in.

Most tire manufacturers will have the rolling circumference of your particular tire model/size on their websites. Most car speedometers read a little low, for the obvious reason that they don't want to be sued by people getting tickets. When I check my speedo with GPS, 72 indicated is about 69-70 actual. There are many variables to car mileage other than rolling diameter of the tire. It was said back in the 70's that enforcing proper tire inflation would have saved more fuel than the 55 mph speed limit did.

Depending on what you use, where you live, and what vehicle you have, you run the risk of having decreased the carefully engineered amount of airflow over the radiator.

As a former ice racer and performance rallyist, I don't. That's also why I challenged this assumption. If you want to drive on dry roads and ice with 135/90 x 16's, knock yourself out. I submit that stopping on ice is the biggest challenge, followed by cornering on ice. In deep slush and snow it's easy enough to rotate the car to get through any turn plenty fast enough - or buy the VDC if you're not familiar with these techniques. Why people are resorting to extreme tire selections on a car without locking differentials doesn't make the best sense to me, though - it seems more like macho posturing of 20-something males. I drive all over northern New England with Michelin X Ones and now HydroEdge, and they worked great, and actually have traction on dry roads and rain covered roads as well, something you give up with dedicated snows. The last time I checked a large population of Subarus (at the WalMart in South Burlington, VT, where there were at least 20 Subarus) right after a 10" snowstorm, exactly one of them had dedicated snows. But if you have performance data that proves otherwise, I'd love to see it.

Great - how much? Resale values must really be tanking with this problem! Me - '97 OBW - 140K mi - no headgasket problem Julie - 97 OBW - 192K mi - no headgasket problem Andy - 98 OBW - head gaskets and seals replaced at 165K Kathy - 97 OBW - 97K - no headgasket problem Scott - 98 OBW - 104K - no headgasket problem Chris - 98 OBW - 57K - no headgasket problem Keith - 96 OBW - 142K - no headgasket problem Ross - 99 OBW - 98K - no headgasket problem

I keep seeing messages here relating to a huge problem with head gaskets on some of the 2.5l engines. But of the 8 friends who have OBW's - all 97 or 98 - only one has had the problem, at 165K miles. Mine has 139K, and another friend has 192K. At least four of them have had camshaft or other seals replaced, but only the one has had head gaskets, and at 165K miles they're not complaining. Are there poll options available on this site so we could determine how many vehicles of the population actually have this problem? I can't tell if it's really a big problem, or just a small group of people who are understandably upset and are venting?

I keep asking my mechanics if they are seeing problems with Subaru head gaskets, and they keep saying "no." Mine has 139,000 miles on it. I had the camshaft seals replaced at 106K, but haven't seen any problems with the head gaskets yet, although one of my 8 friends with OBW's did have the problem at 165K miles. Another with 192K has not.

Are there 16" snow tires available that are so narrow they can't fit on 6" rims? Do you have any data that shows that a narrower tire will actually give you better traction? I'd guess that putting 200 lbs of weight over the rear wheels would make a bigger difference than going a section width or two narrower. But this is my seat-of-the-pants assumption based on limited ice racing experience. If someone has tests that show otherwise, I'd love to see the data. If you're going to make such a radical tradeoff for snow traction, why not just go to studded tires?