Rooster2

I am impressed, you have been very thorough. You remind me of maintenance items that I should be doing on my 2 Subies that I have over looked. BTW, have you replaced the timing belt, front oil crank seal, and the water pump? Usually all three items are done at the same time, as the labor to replace the timing belt only, is 90% of doing the labor to do all of the three.

Yea, I have the same problem with some of the lights burned out on the climate controls. I read about how to take apart to fix, but it seemed like more throuble then it is worth, so I live with only partial lighting. Regarding the back lighting on the auto trany shifter, I replaced the bulb on a 91 Legacy years back. I made a mess of some of the plastic cover work around the shift lever, as some small pieces of plastic split and broke off. Everything went back together pretty well, and cosmetically looked okay, but I wasn't proud of my work cracking the plastic cover.

I know that Valeo (French) as a company, is a large manufacturer of tier 1 OEM car parts. I can't speak of what they might build for a Subie, but as a manufacturer, they are well respected.

I am betting you got a bad tank of gas. Suggest adding a can of "dry gas" to your gas tank. Product is available at gas stations and auto parts stores under a variety of trade names. If you ask for some "dry gas" you will get the right type of product.

Sorry to hear how bad the motor really is. On your original post, when you said the previous owner stated when he was driving the car it started making a skweaking noise and then blew out a big white cloud behind it. That is the classic report on a motor throwing a connecting rod through the side of the block. I suspected that upon first reading that, but didn't want to simply jump to that conclusion. If you watch NASCAR racing, you will occassionally see a car there blow a motor with a thrown rod. Instantly, you will see the same thing, a big cloud of smog trailing the ailing car. There is just too much noise on a race track to hear the skweaking noise. Well, you certainly got the car at a great price, so don't feel too bad. Drop in a motor, and it will be ready to go.

If you want snows at all four corners, then you should also buy another four non snow tires for non winter use. Winter snow tires are not made for dry pavement, warm temps, and driving much above 50 mph. Their performance in the dry, or in the wet would not be good as the tire compound and tread design are only made for snow. Snow tires will also be noisy on dry pavement. Suggest buying all season tires. I have had good luck with Kumho tires. They provide a good tire at a reasonable price. Quality is top notch.

A few years back, I had a 91 Legacy with the 2.2. The motor went bad, so I bought a 2.2 from a 92 in a wrecking yard. I had a private mechanic do the motor switch. All went well, except my mechanic said that some of the wiring connectors were different on the 92. He switched the connectors out, but even switching motors just one model year apart causes issues to arise. With less than 100K miles on the odo, it may be wiser, and less costly to just repair the motor that is in the car.

Yea, I too have also bought a part, but don't know exactly where to find its location on the motor. Thanks for the great picture pointing out the location of the PCV valve. You are a big help.

In case you don't know, the glass envelope on halogen bulbs should not be handled or touched with skin contact. To do so, leaves a slight oily residue on the glass, and from the heat of the bulb, the oily residue will over heat the bulb filament causing the bulb to burn out rather quickly. I knew a guy who didn't know this, and couldn't figure out why his bulbs burned out in a matter of weeks or months. When I install a new bulb, I wipe it down with rubbing alcohol using a kleenex. I then hold the bulb with a kleenex when installing to prevent touching the glass envelop. Hope this info helps!

Cars made to run on flex fuel, meaning gasoline or E-85 ethanol, have had their fuel delivery systems revised to cope with the corrosive effect of ethanol on rubber and plastic components. Good to hear that it ran pretty well in your car, but a steady diet of ethanol is just asking for non ethanol revised parts to break.

The 98 Forester will have the 2.5 litre motor. The skwkeaking noise with a cloud of smoke doesn't sound good at all. Sounds like the motor may have locked up because of no motor oil, or over heated. The first think I would do, is check the dip stick for oil level. Second, pull the radiator cap to see if the water level is low. Third, look around the motor for signs of an oil leak, or engine damage caused from blowing up. If nothing obvious, try starting the motor. You might get lucky, but I think you may need to drop another motor in this car. You got the car at a low price, so you can afford to spend some money on repairs. Good Luck!

Prolly a good idea to replace them on my 2 Subies. Where is it located on the 2.5 gen 1 motor? Thanks for any help!

Alway great when through your own labor and sweat you get a car running again. I feel your joy..............congrats!

Tune the car up with new plugs, wires, and an 02 sensor. My money is on that correcting the problem.

that was a good deal getting all that work done for $180 in labor. I am sure that was not work done at a stealership. As far as oil is concerned, I use Wal-Mart brand oil. My cars are high milage over 100K miles on both. In the summer I use their 20w 50 weight. In the winter, I use their 10w 40 weight. It can get pretty cold here in Indiana, and haven't had any trouble starting in the winter. My mechanic was the one who suggested using 20w 50 weight oil in any car with more than 100K miles on the odo in all seasons except for winter.

agree with previous poster.......trouble was caused by parking on a really steep angle as you said. Clear the codes, and you should be okay.

Take the car out for a good 20 to 30 minute drive. Keep your eye glued to the temperature guage to see if the motor starts to over heat because of a bad head gasket. Also, take it out on a highway to feel how it drives at speed. Notice if the car steers to one side, or if tires are out of balance. Check the oil dip stick. Does the oil look clean? Do the brakes stop the car nice and straight? Listen for grinding noise when brakes applied. That will tell you if you need new brakes? Good luck, the price seems right, if the car is as good as you say.

It is difficult finding a good dealer no mater what brand of car/truck you own. I talked with a lady at the gas pumps while filling up today. Complemented her on her Yukon truck. It was a 2003 model. I asked her how good a truck has it been. She said good, except for the recent leak in the truck's plastic gas tank. The dealer charged her $1200 to replace the gas tank. My jaw about hit the ground upon hearing that. Stealer ships are everywhere, beware!!

Suggest looking at Kumho tire line, their Solus model is good. I like Kumho tires, good price, great performance.

I did that years ago on an Oldsmobile, but that was before cities started doing smog e-check testing in order to get tags (license plate) for your car. Don't know if they do that where you live. If you did that on your Subie, you would relieve the back pressure on your exhaust, but that would probably trigger the check engine light on your dashboard, as I think the 02 sensor would detect too much dirty exhaust in the muffler system. I would not recommend running your car with a bad cat. Go to a low cost muffler shop to have a universal type cat installed on your car. It wouldn't cost much, if replacement cost is an issue.

If 110v outlet is near by, suggest using a couple of portable hair dryers on the motor to dry up any moisture. I have done that before, and it helps.

Yes, I used a remanufactured starter from Auto Zone. I know, not the best, but for $79, and a life time guarantee, I can live with it. If it breaks, they will give me another starter at no cost. That is why I asked if there was an easier way to remove the lower mounting nut, if the job has to be done again. On the bottom nut and washer, I used a 17 MM deep socket, and two different size extensions. I got the handle length just right to work the nut. On replacing the nut, I stuffed a plastic bag under the starter to catch the nut and washer should I drop either upon reassembly. Other wise, if I dropped the nut, it would be impossible to find. Thankfully, I didn't drop either, but threading the nut was by finger touch only, because impossible to see where to thread the nut.

I just replaced the engine starter on my 98 Legacy OBW. I found it to be a nasty job removing the nut/washer from the lower threaded stud of the starter mount. There was very minimal access space to get a socket on the nut when working on the top side of the motor. Would it have been easier had I have put the car up on ramps to gain access to the nut from the car's underside? If so, I would like to know, in case I ever have to do that job again.

Little vibrations like that are hard to diagnose. Like you say, it could be a CV joint, maybe some wear on a wheel bearing, maybe needs plugs and wires, or a tire with a minor problem. Sometimes, it is just better to live with a minor problem like that, until it gets worse to the point that it is easy to diagnose, and repair. Like you, I recently bought a '99 Legacy Outback wagon. It ran fairly well, but I didn't know how many miles were on the spark plugs and wires. So, I replaced them myself. Turned out the original plugs and wires were still on the car at 149K miles. Changing these items, made the car run better, and gas milage increased a little. You may want to do the same.

Congrats on your new car! Sounds like you are very happy with it. I hope it gives you years of good service. Sounds like you are on top of what needs to be repaired. Funny how Subie owners keep coming back for more. My wife and I are on are third Subie. Still own and drive two out of the three. Great cars!