cojo

Sounds like the problem I'm having with my '98 OBW with the 2.5. Under heavy acceleration (such as a highway on ramp) it sounds just like a turbo spooling up. Over a year ago, I had removed the intake plumbing before the airbox (kept the standard paper filter) which made the intake louder. But the whining just started only a month ago. I'll try out the electrical loading also and report back.

Well, I stand corrected. Upon opening the hood this morning, I see that it is a DOHC motor and always has been. I must have been confused with the pictures posted previously and I also must have mis-heard the mechanic yesterday. This being the case, my previous post can be ignored. The only problem with the car when driving home was that the windshield washers didn't work. When I got home, I opened up the hood and my suspicions were correct, the washer hose had been disconnected during removal of the engine. Reconnected it and we're good to go. Thanks to the USMB for having all of this information available.

oops...double post

Well Ok then; single cam it has been as long as we have owned it. Thanks for the pics. Now in searching a little bit on the single-cam HG issue, I see that Subaru began notifying owners a few years ago to come in and get some cooling system "conditioner". Would it have been reasonable to expect Subaru to notify me also, since they likely were the ones to have replaced the engine previously? Or are "recall" notices sent out based on vehicle sales records only and not repair records? Regardless, I feel the we could have taken preventative measures had we been notified. Any advice on where to start to dig into this further? The dealer where we purchased the car (Wakefield Subaru in MA, by the way)? SOA? ...and another thing, does anyone else here have any knowlege of Subaru replacing DOHC motors with SOHC?

Well....I pick up my repaired Outback tomorrow morning. Ray called me at 6:00 this evening to tell me its all together and ready to go. I was completely unprepared for his next statement in which he told me that the engine in my car is not the circa '98 DOHC 2.5, but instead a "newer" SOHC 2.5. Obviously the motor was replaced at some point before we owned it. We did buy this car used from a Subaru dealer in 2001 at ~30,000 miles but no mention was ever made about the motor swap. Knowing that something as significant as a motor replacement would be on the car's record, was the dealer negligent during the sale by not informing us about the vehicle's history? Any recourse? Now, the only Subaru motor I have ever seen close up was this one - is there a way to tell whether its a DOHC or SOHC from the outside without removing the timing covers? It turns out that one of the HG's was truly gone and he had to send the heads out for machining. He also did a complete timing belt job and replaced all of the seals including resealing the oil pan which had developed a leak. All of this with a 1-yr warranty for $2000 seems like a reasonable price.

Based on the info I've found by searching, odds are that my problem is indeed a HG issue. The overflow tank also has this glorious black slime coat on the walls. I'm taking my car in to Ray's Repair (suggested above) next week for an estimate. We'll see what the "pros" have to say.

thanks for the kind words Oskar. I suppose I should consider myself lucky in that we got 113,000 miles before the HG went. I did go ahead and give Manchester Subaru a call this afternoon and was given a ballpark of $1600 for the HG repair. But was then quoted another $600 to replace the separator plate which is about to go if it hasn't already. Would it be reasonable to expect that if the engine were removed to replace the sep plate, that the cost for the HG repair would be significantly reduced - easier access and all that? One of my coworkers gave me tha name of a shop in Lowell, MA and will give them a call tomorrow. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

This morning as I pulled into the parking garage, I noticed the temp gauge was just past H. My heart sank because even though I knew it was coming, I was hoping that I would be spared this all too common problem. I had been keeping an eye on the temp gauge and up to now it had been steady as a rock. Anyway, I've got a spare vehicle to drive so I have some time to shop around for a good mechanic. Are there any recommendations for a good shop in the Lowell, MA or Manchester NH areas? I've seen Manchester Subaru mentioned before, but last year they quoted $900 for a timing belt, water pump, cam seal job and i expect that they'll try to gouge me here too. thanks for any suggestions

Hey all, Long time member here with my first post. I'm considering buying a 2004 TS wagon with 34k miles this week. Is there anything in particular that I need to be on the lookout for? The vehicle has been maintained by a Sub dealer, with the exception of oil changes by the owner. From my searching of this site, I see that the 2.5 head gasket leak problems have been addressed by SOA. We've had good luck with my wife's '98 OBW with 109k (no head gasket leaks...yet) and am anticipating a long life ahead with the TS.