Rooster2

agree, it is a bad head gasket, not really bad gasket leak at this point to cause over heating, but the bubbles in the overflow tank are surely caused by a bad hg. I had one go bad on a 2.2, where it put so much extra heat in the cooling system that it forced a leak in the radiator. Not knowing any better, I though a new radiator would fix the problem. That only worked for about a week. Then after driving about 3 miles, the coolant temperature would sky rocket to "hot." It seems that when the hg goes bad, it is always exhaust gas going to the cooling system. I think I read that the hg goes bad between the cylinders, usually on the driver's side. Never heard of the hg going bad to allow coolant to enter the oil. Good news is that I have heard that hg problems only affect about 10% or so on Subies.

Check your instrument panel water temperature guage to see if your engine is over heating, the next time you hear the noise. I would guess that it isn't. After my own two experiences with loose vibrating shrouds making a shrill "zzzzzzzzz" type sound, I vote for the same problem on your car, if indeed that is what you are hearing. Now if you are hearing just a bunch of clicks and ticking sounds upon turning off the motor after driving the car for a while, then that is normal with Subies. That noise is not caused by over heating, but just normal noise produced by the hot exhaust system as it cools off.

Yep, had same problem on both my 98 and 99 Outbacks. I fixed both by driving my car up on plastic ramps, then crawling under the car while the engine was idling. I turned on the A/C to add some extra load to the engine, resulting in a little more engine vibration. Wearing some thick gloves, I wiggled and tapped on the exhaust system protective shrouds, until I found the loose shroud that was vibrating to produce the noise. I fixed the problem by finding a good size bolt, that I hammered into place as a wedge between the shroud and the exhaust pipe. The insertion of the bolt tightened up the shroud, so it doesn't vibrate. It is a very low tech solution for a low tech noisy problem, but it works. It is a cheap and easy fix.

How is the suspension set up differently on the OB version that results in higher ground clearance for the OB compared to a regular Legacy? Is a lift kit added, or are the tires larger in diameter, or just what? The car top is higher on the OB, and I think maybe the second seat is raised an inch or so. Are there any other differences between a regular Legacy and Legacy OB? I have also heard that the 08 models are separated. Sedans are all regular Legacy only, wagons are available OB version only.

I still think you have a HG issue, just not a real bad one. Bubbles in the over flow tank is the dead give away of a bad HG. The Barr's prolly can't hurt that motor, maybe help, but may plug up the heater core, so you don't get much heat out of the heater. If you do add the product, suggest that you clamp off the imput and output hoses to the heater to keep the product out of the heater core for a while as it seals the block. Auto parts stores sell a product called a block sealer. I can't remember the brand name. Maybe the Barr product you are looking at is a block sealer. Regardless, it sounds like you are only going to buy some minimal time for that oil burning motor. It is prolly on its last legs. Suggest looking around for a replacement motor out of a wrecking yard. I did that a few years back. I found a good one that still runs strong.

The picture is definitely not that of a 1994 model. I went to Edmunds.com web site for new and used car pricing. I logged in looking for a 94 Subie Legacy. What appears is a picture of that year's car, along with pricing information. Edmunds pix looks like a 94. With wrong picture and wrong vin number, something is definitely wrong at that car dealership. Maybe a bait and switch sales approach.

I had a similiar problem on my 91 Subie wagon. I did some minor disassembly to get at the blower motor. I found it littered with old tree leaves and crud. I cleaned out the crud, and the motor worked good as new. Solved my problem. It was really easy getting to the blower motor. You might want to check it out.

I had this same work done last February by a private mechanic on my 99 OBW. The only thing that I did not have replaced was the tensioner and gear idler. Cost came to 4 hours labor @$50/hour, which totaled $200. Parts came to almost another $200. Total out the door came to $394.00. Is a gear idler, and tension pully replacement really needed for this job? I don't know if I got a good deal, or got cheated out of really needing to replace those missing items mentioned above.

agree with earlier reply, your cig ligher is fused, so if you over load the circuit, it will simply blow the fuse. There is no concern of starting a fire. The cig style outlet on my 99 Oubback wagon is in the back cargo area on the driver's side wall. It is circular, covered with a plastic cap. Pulling off the cap exposes the outlet. That outlet is great place to plug in my 12V small air compressor that pumps up the tires. I use it for that every few months. You must have the ignition turned on to get power to the outlet.

Yes, that looks like an R-134 connector that has been screwed onto an existing R-12 fitting. Looks like previous owner already converted to R-134 refrigerant. My guess is that connector in your picture is actually screwed onto the low pressure side, not the high side. The fitting should have a blue color dust cap cover on the end of it. Blue cover cap denotes low pressure, red denotes high presure. Yes, if the system is low on 134 refrigerant, the A/C compressor will not turn on. If you are handy, add a can or two of 134 to the system. However, be sure that you are adding to the low pressure side, not the high pressure side. Suggest taking the car to a Autozone or Advance Auto parts store. One of their counter guys will verify which port is the low side, and then sell you a 134 kit, or hose and 134 cans to recharge the system yourself. That is a whole lot cheaper then taking the car to a repair shop. If you have a small leak, one can of 134/year may be all that you need to keep your A/C system pumping out cold air. Good luck

not sure that a wheel bearing is your problem. When a wheel bearing goes bad, it starts making an rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound, that is louder and more pronounced when making a sweeping turn in one direction. Usually driving in a straight direction, it is not very loud at all. Suspect that your problem may be more related to a CV joint giving you trouble, even though you just installed a new one. Does the noise go away for a while once the car has been turned off for several hours, and everything has had a chance to cool down? If so, another reason to suspect a bad CV joint. If a bad wheel bearing, I never replace both at the same time. One going bad is not a good reason to suspect the other is going bad. Prolly a good idea to jack up the corner that the noise is coming from. Once the road wheel is off the ground, pull on the road wheel to see if you can feel any "looseness" that a bad wheel bearing or suspension part would allow. Good luck on finding a problem with a cheap fix.

My lower back bothers me on that type of work. Now, I use a chair foot rest. I kneal on the foot rest, doing that saves my back.

Thanks everyone for all the info. Already, we have talked with another couple about making the tour a nice "day trip." I bet it will be interesting.

I don't live that far from their manufacturing plant near Lafayette, Indiana. Anybody know if they offer tours of the plant? I bet it is very interesting watching Subarus being assembled.

I recently had the same problem, trying to remove really tight sparkplugs. Like others, I used a lot of PB Blaster, would wait for it to soak in, then try to remove. All came out with a lot of effort. I bought my OBW with 148K miles on the odo, so I have to think that I was replacing the original plugs. Contrary to what others have written about replacing with NGK plugs, I went with Bosch Platinums with the single electrode. They seem to work just fine. Like others, I used antisieze on the new plug threads.

If it were me, I would do some extra maintenace, if it has been some time since these items were worked on: Change transmisson fluid if you have an automatic. It is an easy job of just pulling the drain plug, then adding new ATF. Flush the cooling system, then add new coolant. Check brake pads, replace if getting close to needing new ones. Change sparkplugs Change oil and filter Change radiator hoses if they feel squishy soft, or look worn. Good luck, I bet your Subie will get you there and back.

My daughter has a Jeep Wrangler, which I do the maintenace on. Whenever I need advise, I go to http://www.wranglerforum.com/tj-chat/. That is a good group to post with. Maybe this is a different Jeep forum then where you have gone for advise.

I just replaced the knock sensor on my 98 OBW with the 2.5 motor. It wasn't a bad job. As reported on previous posts, it is not a straight shot to get a socket on the head of the knock sensor. I used a 3/8 drive with an extension and socket on the end of the wobbler. I put some putty like caulk inside the socket, so the bolt head would stick inside the socket upon removal. Otherwise, it is difficult to retrieve the bolt in an area that your hand and fingers can't reach. Upon reinstall, I squished the bolt head inside the putty laced socket, and lowered the bolt into position, and tightened it up. I had a magnetic tip rod to retrieve the bolt should it have dropped out of the socket. This approach worked perfectly. Hope this tip helps you.

I must confess that I never looked under the hood to see if the air scope was functional. I have two late 90's OBW with the same looking hood scoops that are non functional, strictly decorative, that is how I drew my conclusion. Still, as "vanilla looking" as the new WRX is, I would be very surprised to learn that the hood scoop is functional. Somebody check, and report back otherwise.

I stopped by my Subie dealer today to buy some parts. They had an 08 WRX on display. I was not impressed by its looks. Subaru took this car very main stream, so that it looks very much like a Mazda 5 door, and overall has that generic, "it could be any recent Asian car" look. There is no new ground breaking styling here. The cutsie doubles of "smiley face" grill, and smiley shaped open air intake under the bumper are a turn off; Looks like the front end body designers watched the recent movie "cars," to come up with the smiley face front end look. Maybe an option is a robotic controlled movable grill opening that moves to talk just like the cars in the movie. What the pics here don't show is the carry over of a big clasic honking fake air intake scoop mounted in the middle of the hood. That is certainly a carry over from Subies of the past. I never liked it, but it certainly is a Subie classic trademark. With all of the above, the WRX does not have mean focused purposeful look of past WRXs. It might perform better, but it will look like a cutsie woos in the process. Maybe Subie will come up with some mid year change improvements to help this car out. Changing the front end styling should be considered first. Just my 2 cents worth.

When Autozone pulled my codes on my OBW, I learned that the knock sensor was bad. It was an intermitten light that came on. AZ told me they could only pull the code to learn the problem, if and when the check engine light was on.

You may want to wrap that foamy covering over the heater hose with some electrical tape to keep the cracked foamy part from breaking off in chunks.

Sounds like you are low on R-12, prolly due to a slow leak. Since R-12 is difficult and expensive to purchase, drop in a replacement for R-12. This has been written up here during the last week or so. Just check previous A/C postings for their advise. Suggest you have a repair shop do the work, since you say that mechanical work is not your forte. Don't let a repair shop talk you into expensive repairs to fix a minor leak. It is much cheaper to have a little bit of refrigerant added each summer, or whenever, then to pay an expensive bill for A/C component replacement.

I use a Craftsman drive, because they are built so tough. Spray some penetrating oil, or PB blaster on the bolt, then wait about 10 minutes. I slip about a 2 inch hollow bar over the handle of the drive to get extra leverage. All bolts come loose rather easily. On reassembly, I smear on some antisieze cream on the bolts. I also put antisieze on the lug nuts, and where the road wheel meets with the facing of the hub to prevent gauling.

Since the motor and trany has had a lot of repair work done during the last three or four years, if you can document that, I wouldn't be that scared about buying this Forester with so many miles on it. I don't know that I would count on this vehicle as a dependable daily driver, but as a valuable back up "grocery getter" car, it should be fine. You can pretty much count on wheel bearings, fuel pump, power steering pump, etc going out on a regular basis on a super high milage car like this. Change the timing belt, water pump, front seal, and belts if approaching 60K miles, since the last timing belt was installed. If that tb breaks, it's demise will take out the valves, maybe more. It would pretty much trash the engine. I prolly wouldn't pay much more than $3,000 for this Forester.