Rooster2

Same thought, wires should still be good. With 40K miles on original plugs, they should still be good. With high voltage going through plug wires, the gap can still be large, and the plugs still work fine. 99 OBW I bought several years back had original plugs and wires with 148K on the odo. Car still ran well, but I still replaced the plugs and wires. Gaps were really big on those old plugs, surprisingly still worked well.

I have a 98 Leggie OBW with a bad leather driver's seat. I just bought a 99 Leggie (prolly sedan) driver's leather seat from a yard. I thought this would be an easy swap. The new seat is a perfect match to the old seat, but I have a bolt up problem. The metal frame bolt up holes on the bottom of the 99 seat are close, but not the same configuration as the metal frame bolt up holes on the 98 seat. The frame holes won't line up with the pan holes to permit a bolt to tighten down the seat frame. Apparently the floor pans are slightly different between the sedan and the Outback. So, it now looks like I will need to swap metal frame bottoms from the old seat to the new seat. Is there anyone reading this, that has done this conversion? I need advise on the easiest way to do this. I saw where there are some large nuts on bolts on the bottom of the seat frames. They look easy to remove, but not sure what to do. Need help please!!

I would be concerned about the width rubbing on the shock tower or perch. Heighth would prolly be okay. FYI I have the same Outback as you. I went with 215X70X15 size tire. It adds maybe close to an inch of lift. I like the result. No problems with any rub.

great success story........thanks for posting!

Same thought on that it doesn't make any difference which brand of oil you use on a non-turbo engine. I don't think any oil company makes bad oil with bad additives. I have used Wal-Mart brand oil for many years now, with no issues. Biggest thing is to change oil on time, and don't let the oil level get low in the engine.

The ebay rad is for the 1.8 & 2.2 motor. It won't fit the 2.5 OBW application.

Could well be an issue with the fan. Sometimes, the fan will quit working, if it gets gunked up with tree leaves and crap that fall down into the fan from around the windshield. My fan quit, thought the fan had broke, but cleaned out the crap, and the fan motor began working again as good as new.

I experienced what you are having with two different cars some time back. On a VW, car just ran badly with no power, and instrument panel gave out crazy display readings. Turned out to be the car battery had a bad cell, so voltage was low. However, I was surprised there was enough battery power to start the engine. Second car had a plugged cat converter with broken cat media, so exhaust flow was terribly restricted. The car would idle just fine, but could not get engine rpm above about 1800 rpm. Top speed was limited to about 45 mph. I could hear the cat converter rattle at an idle, before trouble began. This was telling me that the cat media had broken loose inside the cat, which eventually plugged the exhaust exit at the end of the cat. Hope this info helps!

Sorry to say, but I think you know the bubbles in the overflow tank is a bad sign. When my 2.5 blew a head gasket, and then my wife drove on to really cook the engine, I had a stream of bubbles in my over flow tank. It looked just like an aquarium aerator hose.

Video made me think of an awakening of a pack of motorized zombie cars. I don't understand why all the Subies would follow and enter the moving portable car wash vehicle as it moved out of town and into the desert. What is that about??

Thread writer wrote "didn't tighten the bolts that hold the rocker assembly to the head." He had to remove valve cover to tighten the bolts. I hope this clears up this issue.

Will advancing the timing affect passing smog testing?

Bubbles in the overflow tank, means exhaust gas is pushing through the head gasket, and entering the cooling system. Sorry to say, that everyone hopes the problem is a bad thermostat, but so often, it is a bad head gasket. If your car has not been badly over heated multiple times, replacing the head gasket will fix the problem. You can loosen the bleeder bolt at the opposite end of the radiator from the rad cap. Loosing the bolt will allow some of the trapped exhaust gas in the cooling system to escape from the radiator to help against over heating.

Better to replace engine with a known good one.

I have just been down this road of experience. My wife ruined the 2.5 motor in our 98 Subaru by "driving on" when it blew a head gasket. The problem is......you don't know how much, or how far the car was driven when the motor was over heating. If driven over heated for a long period of time, the aluminum block warps, the oil gets cooked, and stops lubricating the engine. What remains is not enough left to rebuild the motor. I elected to have a shop install a 2.2 motor that I bought from a wrecking yard for $400. My "new" motor runs well, and was guaranteed, when I bought it. With a bad motor, a 99 Outback is worth about $800 to $1,000.

if your old engine had EGR and the new one doesn't, you're stuck with the cel and code. To further elaborate..................... This happens when you install a 2.2 motor from a car that had been mated to a 5 speed, which won't have an EGR. If you install this 2.2 motor into a car that has an automatic transmission, it requires an EGR. With no hook up for the EGR, your stuck forever with a lit up CEL , which produces a code stating the EGR is not working. Go to an auto parts store that will read your CEL code at no charge. That way you will know what the problem is. A dealer will prolly charge you $75 to read the code only, and do nothing to fix the car at that point.

Yea, I thought of that. I have been looking in yards for the past year, and have not found any decent seats.

I have a 98 OBW with leather seats. I need to replace a portion of the leather covering the seat cushion. It is the part that you sit on. Would this be something that a furniture upholstery repair shop could do, or is it something that only an auto trim shop could do? Any idea what cost would be to replace the leather portion of the seat cushion only? The rest of the seat, including the seat side bolsters are still in good shape. I am thinking that because it is a heated seat, that only leather can be used as a repair. Is this correct, or could vinyl or cloth be used?

There is always e-bay as a source of parts, but don't know about delivery time or cost. i still source a lot of my parts from wrecking yard, however, if you are rural, I bet there are not many yards near you. Like you, I am reluctant to buy from a Sub dealer or NAPA. Both are generally expensive.

The last time I faced this same situation, I bought a rebuild from Advance Auto Parts, that has worked fine. I just didn't have the time, or the faith in my repair work to rebuild the old one myself. Yes, you could try some light sand papering to remove the rust, and install new seals, but do you really trust the quality of the repair? I think installing a rebuild is the best way to go.

Many years back, I had a shop swap in a 92, 2.2 motor into my 91 2.2 Leggie. My mechanic said all went well, except some of the electrical wiring connectors were different from one year to the other. Just thought I would make you aware of this.

How about Carquest. I know they have stores in Canada. Must be other auto parts stores as well.

Best to pull the fuel pump, when the tank is nearly dry, if that is possible.

Would it save you some money buying the parts on line, or from the US?

Looks like a nice car. I had a 91 Leggie wagon. Loved those nice "mouse fur" velor covered seats. They are so comfortable. Should be ez to drop in a used motor!