Blue Whale

That exact thing happened to the compressor in my '93 when it had barely attained 100.000 miles. Rebuilt compressors were quite expensive at the time, so I bought a new one from the dealer--better warranty, about the same price--and put it in. Good solution, at the time. Much more recently, I had the compressor in my '95 go bad (extremely noisy bearings), and didn't fancy paying much to fix it. eBay proved to be a good source of used compressors of this era, and for about $50 I had my replacement part in hand. I put it in, charged the system back up, and it's been as good as ever for over a year now. AC work is not to be feared. Removal and replacement is very easy. If your system still contains any significant refrigerant charge, the right way is to have a shop remove it for you before you open the system. After you put everything back together, the official procedure is to pull a vacuum to remove any air and moisture before recharging; however, in my experience these systems are fine if you skip that step (I've done that with a couple of other Subarus after replacing leaking seals, and they've performed well for years thereafter). Do replace the o-ring seals where the pipe unions attach to the compressor; they're the ones that will harden and leak.

I have the equivalent Outback model with 200,000 miles on the original engine and turbo. It was a good year for these if the turbo didn't suffer from oil starvation due to a clogged banjo bolt screen. To prevent this, Subaru updated the maintenance requirements: synthetic oil only, changed every 3.750 miles. If that's been followed religiously, the turbo and engine are probably good. Head gaskets aren't much of a concern with the turbo 2.5's. Sooner or later you may experience a burned exhaust valve or two (maybe sooner if the 105K valve adjustment is skipped, or if low octane fuel has been used). The first sign of this would be a recurring misfire code other cause (coil, plug, or injector). These engines are much fussier about timely maintenance than the NA Subaru engines, so when you buy one you need to take that into account both as regards any previous owners, and for your future planning.

Bushwick, the Legacy GT didn't get a turbo until 2005; so ordinary SOHC heads are what it needs.

Yes, I understood what you were saying. My wife and I have been Subaru owners for 20 years now, owning a couple with EJ25's that have been close to 200,000 miles with no mechanical issues, and have several friends and family members who also own (and like) Subarus; but although I have a decent understanding of cars in general and have long done my own maintenance, I create software for a living. However, you might look around on this board for how others have characterized the (very common) piston slap phenomenon with these engines. Some people here are Subaru mechanics by trade and have extensive experience. No need to pay attention to what I say, but you should definitely consider what they say.

Regarding Longtrailside's commentary about bearing knock--that's not bearing knock, but piston slap. Piston slap is an annoyance while the engine is cold, but it fades out as the temperature comes up in the first couple of minutes of driving. It's only a minor annoyance, not a sign that the engine is about to fail. My 2000 OBW has it; no big thing, and the engine is in great shape (no HG leaks at 137K miles, by the way). As for testing the catalytic converter...that's done automatically while the car is being driven; that's why there are O2 sensors before and after it. You'll get an OBD code and a CEL if it appears that the cat isn't doing what it should. O2 sensors don't last forever, so a code for cat efficiency may just indicate a sensor problem.

What's dumb about replacing HG's yourself? If you have the basic tools, and can follow a list of steps, asking questions or looking for accumulated advice on this board or elsewhere on the web when in doubt, you can do it. I haven't had to do any Subaru HG's, but I've done it on a diesel VW before. Nothing that most people couldn't do. You might choose not to do it yourself, though; it does take some time and work, and if saving your time is more important than saving your money, you can of course pay someone else to do it.

To remove the cam and crank front seals, you can use anything that will hook the seal without scratching or gouging the surrounding metal surfaces. I'm sure those who do this often have a favorite way. However, one way is to drill a couple of small pilot holes into the seal, thread in screws a little way, and use the screws for something to pull on to get the seal out. Installing these seals can be done with a socket, or even with no tools at all; you want to get them straight and flush with the front of the opening (not pushed all the way in), but unlike the rear main seal, these aren't so fussy about exact positioining (but they do need to be straight).

Not bad for the car. Just don't run at speeds above the limit for S rated tires...as I'm sure you don't with that car.

What does the label in the driver's door jamb say about tires? My 1993 AWD wagon didn't require "H" rated tires, but my 1995 FWD sedan did.

My 2000 had a sticky/intermittent cruise control lever when I bought it (last year). Nothing to do with mileage, care, or overall condition; it was a nice clean car with low mileage. To make the cruise work reliably, I worked the lever through all of its positions dozens of times, somewhat forcefully. I did this mostly while waiting at stoplights. The lever works fine now, although it still feels a bit more viscous than the other ones I've had. This little problem didn't occur with any of my other Legacy or Outback cars ('93, '95, '96, '05)--only with the 2000.

That's right; the Outback 2.5XT and the Legacy GT with a turbo first appeared here as a 2005 model. My wife drives one of the latter. Bought used, 190,000 miles now, never a problem with the turbo or the engine (and both are original), and pretty close to zero oil consumption. If you want one of these, go for it--but a known maintenance history, with those all-important 3,750-mile synthetic oil changes, is very important unless you want to factor in the cost of a new turbo (at least).

I didn't measure the resistance of the cheap replacement sensor, but I have no doubt it's in the correct range. I only wonder whether a knock will be detected. Performance isn't any better with this one, but it was just fine before. There was just a CEL that would return every few hundred miles.

It's crossed my mind that the very cheap sensor might just contain a resistor and not be able to sense anything. That would mean no more codes, and no more retarded timing, but also no timing correction to avoid pinging. I'm especially concerned about this possiblilty, as I replaced the sensor on my 2000 OB a few weeks ago and I have heard some pinging under load on certain occasions since. That's never been the case before with this car, nor with any other Subaru I've driven (since 1993). For this reason, if the knock sensor on a my wife's turbo engine were to go bad I'd hesitate to use a cheap no-name replacement. My engine won't self-destruct from occasional pinging, but hers might.

That's how they were; the button would just hang down--unless it was caught behind other wires, in which you might have a hard time finding it.

It's a compromise between sound and space. In the end there's no way the Subaru sub is going to have bass response like a 12" cone, but it's decent in the context of the car's sound system and it doesn't get in the way. It depends on your listening habits, though.