michaelbteam

Good stuff everybody. I'd like to try to make my own boot, suits my stubborn cheapskate nature...but may just see what happens since the commute is just 20 miles one way up Little Cottonwood Canyon to 8000 ft., snow but no mud. Last winter I drove a 99 Outback with HG problems all winter, just recycled the coolant out of the overflow every day! Having an imminent problem keeps me awake!

Thanks for the good spirited discussion about torn CV boots. I think I'll let it ride for awhile and stuff some more good grease in there occasionally and maybe replace the axle in the spring. Usually I replace them right away if they tear, just to be safe, but I'll experiment this time. It should warn me when it gets bad. I had dry clicking joints on a VW bus once, and hypodermic-ed grease back into the boots and they quieted right down.

Started to replace a rear axle because of a torn boot. Long control arm bolt is a bear so I'd like to replace the boot in place. Any advice on a specific split boot brand that's easy to install and works? Thanks.[95 outback]

This old car may be warning you, the early warning signs of a bad relationship that you might want to back out of before you get heavily invested in it! Sounds like a corroded can of worms to me. Good Luck! :

I have declined the opportunity and decided not to even look at this car for sale[$650] and tease myself.

OK folks....about my sticking shift lever, it turns out that is not accurate. [92 legacy wagon AT, AWD, 175K] It shifts into reverse and the engine dies. It makes a "little" noise starting up in drive and seems fine once it gets going. The beginning of this problem was last week when she had to force it into park one day. Any thoughts appreciated. THANKS!

Desperately seeking words of wisdom about stuck shift lever on 92 legacy wagon AT, won't go into reverse. HELP!

THANKS FISHY--apparently a week ago it got stuck in a lower gear than drive and she could not move the lever out--I'm not sure how she eventually did. Today it will not shift into reverse. She has consulted [but not visited] her mechanic who thinks the trans needs replacing, so she is offering the car for $650 with much recent work, axles, timing belt, etc. I'm going to Park City at noon MDT to look at it. What does anyone think, please, any opinion is valuable. THANKS!

Hello Suby auto trans experts! I'm going to look at a 92 Legacy wagon AT-AWD for sale, 175000 miles, regularly maintained by Sub mechanic. Lady says shifter sticks sometimes and currently will NOT shift into reverse--the shift lever will not go there. Is this a majorly failed transmission or perhaps a more minor linkage problem? Any timely advice appreciated before I look at this in two hours. THANKS!:-\ :-\

I did the same thing on my 99 Outback, got a used one from the wrecking yard.

I just used Permatex Ultra Grey [i think], seems to work fine. Previous threads say grey.

Have 222K on a 95 Outback, had 240 on a 90 Legacy we sold because it was rusting out. 2.2 all the way!

I bought a lovely 99 Outback with 180 k miles for my daughter, ran fine. No overheating problems until we started driving up the canyon to Snowbird.[3000 vertical in 6 miles] Luckily my daughter was trained to watch the temp gauge and pulled over before redlining and turned around. I'm sure the seller of this car knew the problem, buyer beware! I was totally ignorant of the maddening 2.5 HG problems. Took it to a good radiator shop and they could not duplicate the situation in the shop, pronounced it fine which of course it was not. I figured it was a tiny leak which forced exhaust gases into the coolant but only under heavy load. Tried a good "stop leak" treatment, not good enough although I've heard of success with some treatments. Ended up driving it all winter as is. After every trip up the canyon I would add coolant, and every morning emptied the overflow tank back into the radiator, and recycled the same coolant all winter, driving 40 miles a day. Temp gauge never moved. Sold the car for $3 k [yes I told the buyer of the problem, don't need any more car karma!] and decided I want no part of that series engine after reading the great horror stories on the Forum. Have had great luck with our 2.2 Legacies and they are easy to work on. Since my daughter likes the Outback style better we found a great 95 Outback for $1750, had to reseal the oil pump and do the other up front maintenance. Good luck!

I wonder if your timing belt is going bad? It's worth a check, easy to pul a cover.

When the o-ring on my oil pump went bad there was a trail of oil while driving and almost no leaking when stopped. Replaced the o-ring, resealed with grey sealer and all fixed up. There are elaborate threads devoted to this subject.

TEAR-A-PART has a great system. Cars are bar coded as they enter the yard, so when you go in the computer knows if they have your car, but not specific parts. Many professional "recyclers" visit it daily for more popular resale-able items from more popular cars, so it pays to go often if you're looking for something important. There is a generic price list, one price for alternators, water pumps, pulleys, etc. I paid about $20 for a new looking alternator, retail about $140, $10 for a water pump, $5 for pulleys, retail about $70. This weekend they have a special on computers for $13. AND--you can return anything within 30 days for your money back! You can bring in as many tools as you need and put them in a wheel barrel and wander around. My local yard crushes about 45 cars a day, with a huge inventory arriving daily to turn over. I think they usually keep cars as long as a month, but I've returned for a part only to find my parts car gone, so it pays to grab what you can on the first visit. I've seen quite few a Loyales and Legacies, but no Outbacks yet. Those are probably sold to higher bidders at high priced over-the-counter junk yards. They tend to charge way too much for questionable used parts. And when you pull parts yourself you have a better idea of their worth when you've seen the car's overall condition. I just spent about $150 doing timing belt, Oil pump resealing, water pump, replacing some pulleys, new brake pads, rotors, alternator, and the only things purchased new were cam and crank seals. [Also-two brand new tires on rims for $22 each.] Great fun! HAPPY HUNTING!

I had to fix my leaky oil pump on the 95 Outback wagon, so I replaced the camshaft and crank seals while I was in there, and put in a "newer" water pump from a wreck, $10, also two pulleys for $5 each! [also newer covers for cheap, since the nuts broke on mine during removal] The timing belt and tensioner seemed fine so I reused those. Since it isn't an interference engine I'm willing to experiment with used parts and a little of my time and save some bucks. With my smaller 12 volt Makita I carefully drilled pilot holes into the cam seals [radiator out] for small screws, and easily pulled the seals. After screwing up the first timing belt attempt, I think when I installed the tensioner, the car ran but rough. Went back in and was very careful the second time. The question: how "dead on" should the crank and camshaft marks be at their 12 o'clock marks? On the left [driver's] side I'm off by maybe 3 sixteenths inch, and belt teeth are 5 sixteenths apart. The engine runs smoothly, but after perusing the forum perhaps I'm a little paranoid. I'm thinking this deviation might be due to the used belt stretching. How much can a belt stretch before it's useless [not broken]. Any thoughts? And thanks for the invaluable wealth of info being shared here, wish I'd found it sooner. :

Out here in U-Tah all the Mountain Women have Subarus.

I learned my lesson on a Volvo 122S I was attached to. Paid 2K for a beautiful paint job [20 years ago!] but the prep was obviously inferior and it was rusting through within a year. Had to let her go.

I just changed mine in a 93 legacy with 125K. So far so good.

Went to Consumer Guide Says it's a 2006 Nissan Maxima with no negative history, checks out clean. MB

Looks like a 2002 Lexus Clean history accident-wise, etc. 11-16-03 Pompano, Fla. auto auction dealer car 13970mi. 7-29-04 Williamsburg, NJ 14600mi. 4-30-05 Ocean city, N.J. reg. renewal about 24000[forgot to write it down] Records look good, Consumer Guide report, hope this helps MB:D

YEP-- It wouldn't be right if I didn't have to do it twice. I'm becoming quite fond of getting into the front of these EJ22's...it is relatively quick and easy after alot of the shade tree mechanic projects I've done...at least I have a big shady tree.

Will an EJ22 run at all if the timing belt is off by even one tooth? Mine is sounding a little "rough" after timing belt change, and engine check light came on and engine stalled after about a minute into first start-up. Disconnected and reconnected battery, started again and no ECL this time but still rough. Changed plugs with timing belt so that could be an issue, maybe have to get codes checked. Any WOW -words of wisdom?

right, nipper, don't always think before I speak...And :-\ with such wisdom as yours available here I don't want to waste your time! Thanks.