Cowgirl

Howdy! We are looking to get a Forester. Can you experienced and knowledgeable people please give us the pros and cons, what to watch out for, and your general opinion of the Forester? How easy are they to repair? Is there any known issues that we should watch out for? Don't forget to comment on what options you do or don't like too!! We are looking for a used Forester in the $4K and under price range if anyone is curious (and yes, I know that is not much money, but it is what it is...)

I know this is reviving an OLD thread, but.... we are *still* working on getting this car running... Yes, we are slow... but steady! We have another mechanic friend who buys, fixes up and resells cars as a hobby/side job, and he thinks he'd like to try to fix the head (or replace it). So we are letting him have a go at it, and we shall see where we are after his "college try". If he cannot fix it, then he can do the engine R&R for us and we will FINALLY have it running!!! So .... that's the latest and not so exciting update.....

On swapping out my 2.2 engine for another one. If you have not read my other thread, linky here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=102511 It is a 1993 Subaru Legacy 2.2 2WD 180K wagon we would like to use for the summer, then resell ( I know, I know, but I don't think THREE carseats will fit in the back...) so we can purchase a vehicle more equipped to handle our growing family. DH is VERY short on "free time", so I need to know the good, bad, and potentially ugly!! We should be able to have our mechanic friend do the R&R, but it has not been discussed with him yet. So if it ends up with DH having to do this, we need hhheeeellppp!! And everyone's advice from USMB of course !

my bad! I realized after I started reading the websites that it is "engine only". I have been talking with hubby and now he's excited about my subie again!!! After the "final diagnosis" he was upset:mad:. Now, he's saying "hummm... I can do an engine R&R..." Starting new thread now.... :)

John-- you are AWESOME!!!! :banana: Basically, yes we got Subie for cheap, was not running. Enlisted help of mechanic friend who was able to put timing belt back on to only discover it ran badly. He took off head and found crack. Tried to weld crack. No go. Not sure if mechanic friend did compression test. I know we didn't. I will let him know of this other car with engine!! WOO HOO!!!! :banana:

Well, I have the final answer on what is the trouble with our "new" subie. Here's the exerpts from the email my Mom sent me: "Well, it looks like it will make a nice "parts car". The car must have been overheated, blow the head gasket and has a hairline crack in the head. They tried to "tig" weld the crack and still couldn't get it to run for only a few seconds.. **** tried to find a used engine for it at the junk yard... none available that he could find. " So, that pretty much sums it up. Now we are discussing what to do next. :-\

:brow: Har. Har. Har. That's a knee slapper! Still waiting for word on how my Subie is doing.... Will update everyone when I know something...:popcorn:

Thanks guys!! I hope the Subie is "tough as nails" and is okay. I am eagerly awaiting driving it!! I like DH's Subie, so I really hoping mine rides as nice as his!! Thanks for the additional information guys!! Although.... you might want to read the whole thread for the updates...

Yea, I believe that is what my mom meant. Like I said, I was quoting her email she sent me.

I'mmmmm Baaaacckkkk!!!! :grin: Well, after the snow started to fly, DH was NOT motivated to wrench on the "new" Subie in the driveway. So it has been sitting till reciently. When a mechanic friend of ours took mercy on us and towed it to his house to get it running!! :banana: Last week he said he got it running and it was "ready to go", but then I guess he realized there was an additional problem. Apparently, and I'm going to quote my mom's email here because she is the one who talked to him: "Someone had taken apart the valve cover to attempt to replace the "blown" valve cover gasket. They didn't finish it, but partly put it back together. They are replacing the valve cover gasket and are hoping that the heads are alright. His guess is that they did overheat the engine, and blew the gasket. That it was more than just a "leaky water pump" issue." And the "leaky water pump" is what we were told was the "original issue". Ugggghhhhhhh..... insight guys? Hints? Am I looking at it being a "parts car":dead: or do you think it will be okay?

Ha-ha And what jeep commerical? You must share linky Well, here's the latest update: DH was getting real tired of sharing my Mom's van with me. So he busted a few knuckles, worked late zzz into the dark of night with only a single shop light to light the wheel well, and got his 1994 Subie's front end R&Red :banana: (brakes, CV half shaft, ball joint just in case anyone was wondering :-p) So his car is back on the road So, the latest attempt to get this timing thing on the 1993 Subie was sort of a sucess and a bust. It took him three tries/attempts of installing the belt but he finally got it to run--and it sounded pretty good!! BUT!!! It only runs if you hold the key in the crank position. That's bad. DH was cursing, saying we should have never bought this car, blah, blah, blah..... basically the rantings of a man who has precious little spare time to work on ANYTHING at home and now he's spent THREE FULL Sunday evenings working on a car that STILL does NOT run.... Up side: We may have an ANSWER!!!! My Mom talked to a mechanic friend of ours about our problem, and he said he has run into this issue before. What was the solution? you ask. Well, he says that the crank and pulley are 180 degrees OFF!!! Turn them 180 from what you have been doing, and the car will (eh, should, we hope..) RUN!!! So .... if DH has time this weekend, we are going to give it a go!!

Actually MY "daily driver" is... or should I say was a Ford Aerostar van. Which right now, will not run properly (that is another auto repair waiting in the wings ) so I have borrowed my Mom's spare van. And until yesterday, DH was driving HIS 1994 Subie Legacy.... but it needs major front end work (next in line to be repaired after my '93's timing belt:-\), so he has absconded with the borrowed van to get back and forth to work this week!! So right now we have 4 giant paperweights sitting in our driveway.... all 3 of our vehicles and 1 being my Dad's old truck we are "storing":rolleyes: for him... So we really NEED to get my Subie running, so DH can move on to fixing his Subie!!!

I think you are onto something here.... my DH did NOT wait to tighten the bolts till the belt was installed, he did it before the belt was put on (MEN just do NOT like to READ THE DIRECTIONS!!!) and maybe your step by step instructions will do the trick. My other wondering is if the he compressed the tensioner too fast and damaged it (again--he needs to learn to READ THE DIRECTIONS FIRST!!!). He won't have a chance till probably Friday at the earliest to work on the Subie, so I will have to let you all know when he does. DON'T SAY THAT!!! Although I do admit, I'm wondering the same thing.... but I'm hoping to cross that bridge AFTER we get the timing belt sorted out...

I am highly sensitive to VOC's. Only way to "insulate" against the off gassing of VOC's is to paint with a special paint. But I do not see anyone painting the interior of their car!!! Only way to get the VOC's to off-gas fast is to heat up the materials to 90-100 degrees for 24 hours at a time. Open it up after each "cycle" to allow the gases out of the area (in this case a car). Then once you have pretty much gotten rid of the smell aspect, "cleanse" the interior by running an "ozone machine" in the car. WARNING!!! Do NOT use in an enclosed area where animals or humans would be breathing the resulting air!!! Ozone machines can be great also for getting rid of smoker's smell in a car or house!! My family purchased two small machines (size of a computer printer) about 10 years ago. When we need them, we have them to use. They are a GREAT investment!!

Okay, DH says it has something to do with putting the belt on. When he puts it on, the tension jerks it back and off it's timing. So he said he tried to account for that this last time he placed the belt on, but somehow it didn't quite work. BUT--it must have worked some, because the car DID run for 30 seconds!!! *SIGH* He's tired, I'm tired.... we are done for tonight... tommorow is another day.... THANK HEAVENS FOR NON-INTERFERENCE 2.2 ENGINES!!!! Or else we would be in HUGE trouble!!!!

Sooooo... a new tensioner is most likely in order here?? I asked DH about the tensionier.... he could NOT move it using finger pressure, it only took (in his words) "about a minute" to compress it in the vice, and the belt is most definetly tight and no measure of play after it is installed. It's dark here and late, so we are all hittin' the hay. I will check in tommorow to see what sage advice anyone might have to offer on the problem...

Okay, some MINOR sucess--got it to run (roughly while holding gas pedal half way down AND key in the run positon like a "normal car"!!..) for about 30 seconds!! Hooray --IT DOES WORK!!! BUT--success was short lived when I eased off the gas and it slowly died out and engine stopped. So we cranked it over again. It TRIED to fire, it tried to "cha-chug, cha-chug" and run ONLY when I held the key in crank position. Then it went to just cranking no fire. URGGHHH!!! And of course the timing is off--AGAIN!!! WTF!?!?!?!:mad: Guuyyyysss.... We are needing some hints here... I don't mind reading and research to figure it out, but WHAT should I be looking for?!?!?!

Okay..... we both checked that all the marks lined up. Everything was tight. Turned the key. Almost started--just like first time we tried to start it up. But I let go of the key before it really caught. So second crank I kept holding onto the key, cranking the engine...it ran, sort of "cha-chugging, cha-chugging". I kept holding the key in the crank position waiting for the engine to "take off". It didn't. So I let go of the key, and the engine died immediately. Third crank, it sort of tried to "cha-chug", but quickly changed to just cranking and not trying to fire. So I stopped and said it is same as before. DH unhooked the air intake to make sure it was getting enough air and we gave it another try. No fire. Just crank. So we line up the timing marks, and now the center "pully"/crank is off. But outer two line up perfectly still. :confused:WTH is going on!?!?!?!:confused: Is the belt jumping? Is our tensioner possibly bad?? HELP!!!

So, DH is outside wrenching on the "new" Subie again.... Everyone he's talked to in the past week, says "timing." Reluctant to think he did it "wrong", he took off the cover to find...... it's off. The timing marks for the pully on the passenger side don't line up. The other two do, but that one does not. He says "it used to!". But it doesn't now. It's only off by one belt notch or so, but I'm sure that is enough to make things not run. But, what might be the cause for it to "move"?? Anyone know?? And DH is wondering where the lines went on the belt that he used to line it up?? They seem to be gone.... faded off in a week?? or did the belt jump around that much?!?!?! I-yi-yeee..... advice or experience on this anyone?

THANK YOU!!! I *TOLD* him he probably had the timing off, but nnoooooo.... he insists that he lined it all up "right". So I gave him the benefit of the doubt and was diagnosing from that point forward. I will do some searches on lining up the timing marks and have him read them. I will let you know what he says...

DH finally had the time and the daylight to get it all put back together. But it cranks and won't fire. More fun in auto repair . See my new thread for the details.... :-\ http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=102511

So DH got the "new" Subie (1993 Subaru Legacy 2.2 2WD 180K) all put back together again. New temp. gage, new timing belt, new upper & lower radiator hoses, new A/C & alternator belts, new battery, new spark plugs, and oil changed. (Original thread here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101504 ) The big moment came to fire it up. On the first crank I *thought* it had started, so I let go of the key. But nope, it hadn't. So I turned the key again, and it just cranked, and cranked. So I stopped turning the key and thought for a moment. Next key turn I pumped the gas a bit and it seemed like it was trying to fire, but when I would stop pumping the gas pedal it would just crank. So I told DH what was going on and he got some starting fluid. He sprayed it down the intake. Abit, a bit too much because it caught FIRE!!! So we let things air out, and did a take two. This time it actually "ka-puutta, ka-puutta"ed a bit and seemed like it was almost getting going. But when he would let go of the key, it would stop. So then he tried cranking it again, without spraying, and if he held the key in the cranking position it would try to "ka-puutta, ka-puutta" but as soon as he let go of the key, the engine would stop. Sooooooo..... I'm guessing it might be a two fold issue: fuel and electrical. I did some searching here on the site and fuel injection issues seem to be commonplace. So when DH has time again to work it in the daylight, we will do some checks. But what about him holding the key??? Why would it try to run in the "crank" position but not in the "run" position??? Oh the joys of getting a car to run that you've never heard run before....

Ummmmm.... do I detect some Subie Jedi's in the thread?? What should I be worried about?? Or basically what should we be prepared for??:-\

Well, supposedly it had a coolant leak that was from the water pump. So it was torn apart to do that repair and timing belt while it was opened up. They got as far as to remove the radiator and other parts, when the guy went back south. When we bought it, they had not done the repair. So my DH has already done the water pump R&R, and the thermostat too while it was opened up. But when he got to the part where he was changing the timing belt and checking the pulleys and tensioners he realized the bolt was not there. My baby girl is puking today so I have to go for now, but I will check in again later tonight or in the morning. Thanks everyone!!

Anyone else with any information, helpful hints or links???