rweddy

Have you checked ebay?

Also could be windsheild seal.

Check out this thread, I am all about Redline myself. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41827

Yep, did the same thing on my 91, lucky my 96 has keyless so I will never have to do this again.

Easiest way to check is to grab a new bulb, pop it in and see what happens.

It does have a tach, I will ask him about a few more specifics, he is not mechanically inclined at all so I have to try to get some of this out of him. He says the motor looses power from the 2-3 shift, but will need to quarry him about rpm's and throttle position. And I will have him switch to power mode when this happens and report back. Is the computer on these external? Can it be replaced independently from the rest of the transmission?

Fluid is nearly brand new, belive the filters are good also. But I do not see how this could cause any issues being it works fine in manual mode?

Should be great motors, early 2.2 Turbo motors are very over built and last forever.

I just picked the car out for my brother, got a sweet deal. 90 L wagon AWD auto with 135k, new timing, water, seals etc. All was fine here for a few weeks, then he drove back to school in AZ. The car is shifting strange. If you press the manual button and shift through manually all is good. If you put it in drive 1-2 is ok but he says it boughs down from 2-3. 3-4 is fine. He says is acts like it looses power from 2-3. Are these trannies computer controlled? Any way to pull codes on them? Any ideas what could cause this? I have never owned an auto subaru. I have told him to drive manually for now, but need to get this solved for him. Thanks

Depends on if you have an auto or stick?

All have issues. It really is a hit or miss, my friends 98 (phase I) has 205k no issues, my fathers 03 (phase II) blew at 35k. Phase I tend to be an internal leak, Phase II external. When you are buying this is a great bargain chip, just keep a $1200 reserve on hand and if they blow you have the money, if not you are in the green.

My brother is out in AZ for school and needs a good shop, any recs?

I agree Cookie. As long as the work was done by good mechanic you should be golden.

What all the old subars went forever with no issues? The Timing belts on 1.8 were super easy to change, never leaked oil from the oil pump, and the 1.8t never cracked heads when the HG blew! I agree with you totally, their a few quirks, but these are awesome cars and far superior in reliably to most on the road. End of my $.01

This all boils down to misdiagnosis of the issue. If you would have started at a good independent subaru shop rather than a dealership they would have tested for HG issues right off the bat. They could have done all the work, new HG, water pump, etc for $1800 or less. Dealerships are very bad a diagnosing problems, they do not let their techs do anything but parts swap since is this where the money is to be made. And after years of parts swapping their techs become terrible at trouble shooting. And I am assuming this is a 96 auto outback with the 2.5 motor?

This is not a very scientific approach, well I too have a 10 Subaru's that never blew any HG but both my Toyota and Honda did. All aluminum engines at some point will blow HG. Like other post have stated Honda's are notorious for going at 150k, and Toyota 3.0 had national recall and the replacement 3.4 are now have HG issues also. What I would recommend is finding a good independent Subaru shop, they will do the HG for $1200 dollars and you will have a car that will go another 100k with out major issues.

Damm I was going to sell you a slightly used DRL module for half the dealer price

The 96 legacy OBW was the last year of the 2.2 with the 5spd, the autos got the first of the 2.5 motor. I belive most pull the motor out instead of the tranny.

The 96 legacy OBW was the last year of the 2.2 with the 5spd, the autos got the first of the 2.5 motor. I belive most pull the motor out instead of the tranny.

They are on sale now at auto zone, Silverstars that is.

Great point, it seams to me that you only hear the negative here on the board. I have several friends who are over 150k on 2.5 with orginal HG. No one wants to think that Honda or Toytoa has HG issues but if you search you will see they have issues also.

How about 500,000 miles? Check this out I have gone over 200,000 with several of mine roos.

Also did they use OEM parts? I have had issues with crap aftermarket water pumps before, that have been bad out of the box.

I could not agree more! K&N do not work as good as paper, and let more particles into your intake. Get a good paper and go with that.

And the 2.5 is an interference (striker) motor, so if it snaps it will cost you way more than $500.