Rooster2

Suggest you remove the top (fill) bolt first, before the bottom bolt. Nothing worse then draining the lube, but can't get the top bolt loose to refill the dif.

Any brand of tooth paste will work! No need to remove the lens from the car. Easier to clean if you sit down in front of the lens assembly on something like a step stool, or the like. Yea, I can see why your "sister" rides everywhere with you. The way she dresses, she can't leave your car without drawing a large crowd of gawkers!

To change the turn signal bulb, open the hood, I think there is one screw holding the plastic corner of the turn signal unit in place. Then, then use the palm of your hand to slide the corner unit forward. There are plastic slide channels on the back of the plastic corner that will glide forward. Reassemble in reverse order. There are kits available at car parts store to polish the clear plastic lens of the head light units. However, first you may want to try polishing using a wet paper towel and tooth paste as the polishing agent. Have a bucket of water at your side to wash off the tooth past to see how clear your light lens is becoming. I have found this works pretty well.

Okay, so MMO is Marvel Mystery Oil. Yea, I am aware of it. That product has been around for a long time. I have never heard anything negative about it, so if you have been happy with it, then I don't see any problem adding it to the Forester.

What is MMO??

A few years back, I replaced the pump on a 91 Leggie. Cost from a wrecking yard was $35. Replacement worked perfectly. It was easy to swap out.

The noise sounds like your starter or battery is not working. Suggest jump starting the car, then go to a chain auto parts store that will have a counter guy come out to the parking lot, hook up their diagnostic equipment, and tell you if the starter or battery have gone bad. The parts store will not charge you for this work. It is their service in hopes you will buy replacement part(s) from them. If you are half way mechanically handy, replacing either the battery or starter is pretty easy to do.

The Subaru stop leak additive is made for the phase 2 motors, your 98 has the phase 1 motor, so the additive won't help. I simply use Wal-Mart's house brand of antifreeze. The label says good for all cars. So far, no issues. The flush is a good idea. Also suggest a new rad cap, and changing the thermostat if it is old.

A Subaru mechanic who knows his stuff, can look at the corners of the head gasket, where they protrude out, and tell you if it is the newer style of head gasket or not. Also, suggest you drive this car at speed on a highway for about 10 miles to see if there is any over heating, because of a bad head gasket. Simply driving around town at lower speeds may not induce over heating, if it is an issue. Does the car lot have a 30 day warranty on cars they sell?

Tons written here about your model Subaru developing bad head gaskets. Subaru has a reputation of bad head gaskets. It won't present itself as coolant getting mixed with the oil. It is exhaust gas pouring into the coolant that causes the over heating.

+1 on that, maybe do a good soak down with PB Blaster too. I failed to do that on my OBW, and sheared off one of the bolts that attaches the caliper. Then, the fun began.

I have two OBWs, a 98 and 99, but don't remember ever seeing a sensor plugged into a radiator. Sensors usually screw into the block. Suggest you visually look at both sides of your radiator, and inside along the bottom edge for a sensor on your radiator. I doubt that you will find one. If so, it will have an electrical wire connected to it.

I always considered NAPA parts better than most, with about a 20% price higher than the other chain auto parts store. A lot of Chinese parts are okay, but some is junk. NAPA must be falling on hard times, if they now want are willing to sell junk. Guess they are no better now then the AZ stores, but I bet are still selling at 20% higher.

+1, I wouldn't tighten it any more. Should work just fine with snug tightening.

How many miles on plugs and plug wires? If old, I would replace them. Add a can of injector cleaner, the good stuff costing about $6/bottle, as in Chevron Techron. The cheap cleaner does little, just wastes your money.

The tires are pretty new; less than 5,000 miles. They all match. The rims are original to the car, and yeah, they're porous. After a while, the bead lets go a little bit, and they start a slow-leak process that lasts until the tires either get remounted or replaced. From what I understand, steel rims don't have this problem. My response to above quote: I have both a 98 and a 99 Oubacks with alloys. Yes, I get tire air leaks that I attribute to the wheels. Not so much that the alloys have porous metal, but I think it is more likely that corrosion (aluminum oxide) builds up at the tire bead, and that corrosion material causes small air leaks. In the past, I have gone to a tire shop, had the shop dismount the tire, grind around the rim bead area with a wire brush on the end of a power drill. Then have the tire remounted. That has fixed the problem. My own recent solution, has been to add about 1/4 to 1/3 can of the fix a flat to a tire that I have reduced the air pressure to about 15 to 20 pounds, then reinflate the tire, and drive on it immediately a mile or so. The immediate driving is necessary to fling the fix a flat to coat the inside of the tire and tire bead. Not driving the car immediately, may cause the fix a flat to puddle permanently in one spot on the inside of the tire, and that is not good. So far this has sealed up every leak, and with the minimal amount of fix a flat added to the tire, the wheel remains balanced. The above advise is prolly not going to sit well with a good many people, who don't like fix a flat to begin with, but like I say, this solution has worked for me.

Welcome to this forum. A lot of good knowledgeable Subie people are here and very willing to help answer your questions. In my opinion, what is critical on the 99 OBW is to know if, and when, the head gaskets were replaced. With 200K+ on the odo, I am sure that the hg have been replaced on the car. If not, then you have to know that the motor is a sure bet candidate for hg replacement in the amount of about $1,500. The head gasket is a common major issue that ultimately affects all Subarus, with the 2.5 motor, and that includes the 99 you are looking at. Ask when the timing belt, tension-er pully, have been replaced. This is important, because should the timing belt break, then the intake and exhaust valves clash with the pistons to cause some serious damage. $3-4,000 seems a bit high for the age and mileage on this car. My guess, is that $2-2,500 is more realistic, and that is with the knowledge that the head gaskets, and timing belt were replaced within the past couple of years. You may even want to offer less because of the clutch issue, exhaust issue, and brakes for the rear. Check to "torque bind," related to all wheel drive. Read about this phenomena in the search area on this forum.

He has the Outback Sport, the Impreza variant, not a Leggie OBW, are you sure that changing the strut body will work?

Is your car equipped with a PCV valve? Some Subies are, some not. If the PCV valve is clogged, higher oil burning can result. However, with that many miles, your oil burning may result from engine wear. Like others have said, use a heavier weight oil. I use 20w50 except during Winter months, then I use 10w40 oil. A mechanic years ago suggested using 20w50 oil in any car motor with 100K+ miles on the odometer. His advise seems to work well for me.

For what it is worth, I know a guy, who used to work at a Subaru Dealership as a mechanic. He said he has replaced a ton of 2.5 phase 1 head gaskets. He said that he can look at the corners of a head gasket on a phase 1 motor, while it is still in the car, and tell if the HGs have been replaced. So, you may want to find a Subie mechanic, and ask him to look at your motor to see if your head gaskets have been replaced. I don't think a non Subaru mechanic will be able to advise you.

Prices so ridiculously low, that it sounds like a come on.

I agree with the above advise. I doubt that your entire exhaust system needs to be replaced. Recently, my 98 OBW developed an exhaust leak. I took it to Ralph's Muffler in Indianapolis, my local ma and pa weld, cut, and bend shop. They cut out a bad section of pipe, and welded in a new piece. It took 20 minutes of wait time, and a cost of $60 out the door. Ralph's work is a hard value to beat!

Agree with others advise........check all electrical connections, particularly the ground connections. Don't think the EGR is the problem; it doesn't whine. Suggest checking the fuse box for a bad fuse on the radio circuit. You may want to go to a car parts store, where they will give you a free alternator output check, and battery check. Hunting down electrical gremlins is never fun, but if you know that the battery and alternator are good, then you are at a starting point to find the real culprit.

Outback suspensions and wheels are built tough for semi-off roading. I have hit some chuck holes really hard, surprised I didn't blow a tire. Suspension seems to track okay afterwords.