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Personally Ive worked on thousands of Subarus and I have seen 1 2005 Outback with blown head gaskets...However Ive also seen many many 04's with blown HG's..So personally I would say the "issue" was resolved starting with the 2005 MY...

Ive got 211,000 on my 96 Legacy and it still runs great...Just as a side note...try to get as much previous repair info as you can on the car...Dont forget to have your mechanic check for torque bind...

+1 ^..Easy enough to pop another belt on....

Get the code pulled and we will go from there...

well it is a 15.9 gallon tank...I would say that's somewhat normal..My 96 Legacy is the same way...

How many miles are on the vehicle? I would most definitely wait! How sure are you that it has blown head gasket(s)? The EJ22 never had any problems with them like the 2.5's of 00-04...If you do wait until you have the funds and you do the job properly that engine should last you a good LONG while...

Personally when I did the clutch in my Legacy for the first time...and again 10k miles later when the clutch lining broke away from the clutch hub...I purchased a SACHS flywheel from these guys.... http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/?apwcid=G1225939187W491258f3acead I think it was around $80...

Hmmm I would prob try a company like Kentmoore.perhaps they sell the kits..I honestly have not really gotten into them as far as where the specialty tools I use come from...I cant imagine the kit being that cheap though..also there are two seperate kits for the front and rear.. AH..here we are.... this is the kit for the rear... http://www.costplustools.com/Kent-Moore-J-45697-HUB-REMOVERREPLACER-KIT-for-Subaru_p_10579.html

It sounds to me like this is somewhat normal..Are you sure your not just hearing/feeling your transfer clutches engaging and disengaging?...If they did drain the transmission which I doubt if you went to a Subaru dealership..you would have to be dumb as a rock to fill up the trans instead of the engine with oil..in this case your oil was double filled which means you would prob. be pouring smoke out of the exhaust....plus this means you would be around 4 qts low on trans fluid...your ATF light would most likely be on...If your concerned pull the engine oil dipstick and make sure the level is correct..also pull the dipstick for the trans with the engine running on level ground and make sure the level is correct...

Subaru has there own "on car" wheel bearing kit...Are you planning on doing the front or rear? Either way Subaru has kits from I believe OTC for either doing the fronts or rears...If you have this kit there not to bad to do at all..Personally I have never done a wheel bearing on a Subaru without this kit ( I work for Subaru..lol) ..If you are doing the rears and you have this kit the only foreseeable problem I can imagine is the rear Lateral link bolt that goes through the knuckle gets seized in there like a mother..if this is the case...just mark the rear toe adjustment on the rear lateral link and take a 17mm and I believe a 22mm and loosen those lateral link bolts from the rear diff crossmember/housing and you can lower those lateral links to remove the axle from the hub...

Hmmm..Is your cat. convertor assembly one piece or two piece? Some of the early ones had the two cats bolted together...Either way from my experience its usually the front cat. that goes bad...Contrary to what many people say "a bad o2 sensor could throw this code"..in the dozens of the Subaru cat. conv. I have replaced not one of them has come back for the infamous 420 code which obviously rules out a bad sensor...It is much much more likely that if you have a malfunctioning sensor the ECU would throw a code for that....

Amazing...Ive seen this many times before where people go to walmart and get there "oil" changed...I cant believe they made that mistake...I believe on the 08 Forester they have a little plastic cover that says on it "Engine Oil and filter access" or something along those lines...Glad you learned though...thats always a positive...

Good Thread..

yes its located in the up pipe...

+1 ^...my 96 does this also...weak HLA(s) I'm sure...but its been like this forever...no significant problems yet...

If you really think of things...Even when your Metal to Metal the car will stop... needless to say its a hell of a gamble and a dangerous one at that....I would most definitely replace your pads and rotors as soon as possible.... " will my car stop?" ...Is just something I really would not like to think about when I hit my brake pedal... But the answer to your question should you be ok for 2 or 3 months?...I would think so but as said I personally wouldn't take the risk...

Hmmmm...I think this is all a matter of opinion....Obviously the Turbo's of that era are available in manual which is a plus compared to the H6 which is not....The only real negative thing I can think of when comparing the EZ30 and the Boosted EJ25 is that once you get up higher in mileage like over 150k Ive heard reports of the turbos failing..of course that is alot of miles for a turbo car...Personally If I where going to buy an Outback It would prob. be an H6. On another note not relating to motor displacement...I know that model year had a bad problem with wheel bearings going bad which I believe Subaru offered a warranty extension for... There is also a recall if i remember correctly for some of the Turbo models around 05-06 which entails a defective #2 cooling fan relay which may eventually lead to fried drivers in the ECM...Not to scare you off or sway your opinion from one engine to the other...just thought I would bring up some information you might find helpful to make your decision...

hmmm...possibly something like this? ... http://www.costplustools.com/Kent-Moore-Tools-498277200-FLYWHEEL-STOPPER-for-Subaru_p_10913.html

Ive used a zero offset long reach 12mm/13mm from MAC...works well for me...

The part of the door where the side view mirror is...with the window up step out of the car and look right at the seem on the outside/inside where the glass meets the seem (gusset) you will prob notice it is not flush (there will prob be some space there... If there is space there..put down the window and VERY CAREFULLY push in on the entire gusset from the inside and above the side view mirror on the outside..to confirm the seal is better just put up the window and look for the space again...continue to adjust until the space is nearly gone... FWIW..Ive seen dozens and dozens of these problems and those gussets do wear out...they can only be adjusted so many times..

Good question..My extensive knowledge of Subarus (not to sound arrogant) begins in 95 with the second gen. Legacy...I cant imagine it being that much more different though....

2005..should be I believe 3 6mm bolts...There is a cover on the passenger side under the glove box..remove this black cover (3 clips) and the blower motor should be right behind it sort of under the glove box....unplug, remove bolts and remove blower motor...as mentioned wear a dust mask and be careful, believe it or not we have pulled dead snakes, mice you name it out of there...I would inspect and see if a leaf or something made its way in there or the cage is loose..if you notice nothing obvious perhaps the motor is beginning to take a crap...How many miles are on the vehicle anyways?

+1 ^..I'm glad you caught that Gary....I was about to type out a long drawn out post....