rweddy

Same issue with 2.2, did you replace the timing belt at 60K? If not do this plus cam seals, crank seal, and oil pump and you should be leak free!

That is what came with in 96, 97 up also added heated windshield. The block heater will be a cord you will see between the fog lights in the intake area bottom middle of the car. Unless someone cut the cord or took it out. And this is a block heater. It still took me a while to find a nice 96 with all the options even here in Colorado. But I agree they have a saying here in "If the Bikes/Skis/Boards on top of your Subaru are worth more than your Subaru you are a Colorado Native." if you want to swap your leather seats let me know!!

Yes Manuals are 50/50, most auto's 90/10 until slip.

I your new 96 a 5 spd?I wanted a 96 with leather but was just happy to find a low mileage 96 (80k) 5 spd with cold weather package. Also got a sick deal because it was a Honda dealership and it needed a few things fixed.

I would recommend Swings in Denver.

From 90-94 Subaru seat belts use "rip stitching" or "energy management loop" in which several inches of the lap belt webbing are folded over and stitched to the belt. In an accident, this stitching rips, allowing the webbing to expand up to an additional six inches. There have been multiple lawsuits against Subaru because this slack allows for ejection issues in rollovers or additional injury on secondary impacts.

Before you go to all this work, sway your fluid with some Redline 75W90NS and put it in your car, I bet your issues will go away or go away enough to live with it.

On an AWD best is to put them on all four, I run dedicated studded snows and have not used chains since. Just be sure you have plenty of clearance between the tires and springs struts. If they are too loose, not put on correctly, or come off you can do a lot damage to your car.

I have been going to swings since 1992, great shop, one of the few places I would let touch my car if I don't do the work myself.

Congrates!! I would say you got a much more reliable car in the LL Bean, as nice as the Volvo without the maintance cost and reliability issues.

DO NOT USE Valvoline synthetic or Mobil one in your tranny!! These are GL-5 fluids and too slych for the synchros in a manual tranny. Read this post You have 3 options, go back to dino oil, use Redline or Castrol.

If you are mechanically inclined it is a very simple replacement, took me about 2 hours to do but now that I know what I am doing I could do it in 1 hour or less. Only tools needed are socket set and screw drivers. Send me a pm if you are doing this yourself and I can talk you thought the swap, very easy and can save yourself a ton of cash. If you were closer I would offer to come give you a hand.

I had the same thing happen to me about year ago in my 96, hit a car from behind going 2mph. (verified by police) So let me tell you my saga. I tired to fight Subaru, insurance, etc. Subaru basically gave me the finger on the deal. I wrote leters, made multiple calls, etc. Subaru sent out a special investigator they took apart my front end, my insurance company was there and took 50 digital pictures because there was no damage at all. My insurance paid me and they are going after Subaru. Since I own my car, my insurance company game me a check for $4500 for damage (replace airbags and windshield). I took the money bought a set of bags off ebay $50, installed them myself and some day I might hook the sensors back up for now I have them disconnect. I am a bit leery about hooking them back up and failing again on me at low speed or dip in the road. For me this car is safer than my 92 with the bad seatbelts issues from 90-94.

I agree totally, I think the 96-99 are the best looking until the new 05 came out.

Legacy outback 96-99 2.5 DOHC Legacy outback 00-up 2.5 SOHC You can do a lot of searches here read a lot of good and bad about the motor, both truth and fiction. There CAN BE, not ARE, issues with the HG on all these models. My brother-in-laws 98 has 203k and no issues, my father-in-laws 03 blew at 45k. YMMV Besides this possible issue these are awesome cars, trust me I am on Subaru number 10! The repair cost around $1200 if a shop does it less if you diy. Just keep this in mind when you buy one.

That is correct, 96 was last year with hill holder, and the bastard motor 155hp one was only available with the Auto.

I would jump on that, great deal IMO.

It depends on where you live, I have the 3m on my wife's Honda and here in Colorado we get lots of rocks and it has not done that good of a job defending large stones, have several small dents, and on the edges where there is not coverage there are chips. My old school bra on my Subaru looks better imo and protects much better but it is a bit more work. my .02

Check out this site about 850's. http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=723d7320ed3349864d6ff98a8adc1265 Yes they are solid cars but not way as reliable as subaru's. And the 250 grand is urban legend.

I would be very wary of the Volvo unless you have deep pockets and a Volvo mechanic in the family. I was looking for one for my wife also and after lots of research and talking to other owners there are lots of issues with them. The Volvo awd system is not very good and tends to be problematic. Nothing like the rock solid Subaru awd system. Volvo repairs are scarry to say the least, my co-workers just died on the road the other day, 75k needs a new throttle sensor, $2500 dollar shop bill. If you look at the sites listed below you will see there are lots of issues with them, especially when you are comparing them to a Subaru. Check out these sites : http://www.volvoxc.com http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=723d7320ed3349864d6ff98a8adc1265

Here are your options as I see it. 1. Fix what you have, Subaru has updated the hg so you should be able to get this done by a good shop and like was stated on another post this should cost no more than $1200 to fix. 2. Replace with the newer SOHC 2.5 from 00 up, but these two have HG issues, my father in laws 03 just had to have his replaced at 45,000. 3. Replace the motor with a 2.2 which besides the 2.2 turbo is considered to be the strongest motor Subaru has made. I agree with what has already been stated on this thread, CCR has great motors, but my opinion I would do option number 1, get the redesigned head gaskets and if you have a good shop do the work you will be good for another 100,000 miles. The 2.5 besides some rouge hg issues is a very solid motor that can go 300k.

I have been using oem on all my roos and all have gone well over 100k.

I totally agree, why not get a new xt?

My 96 Legacy OBW AWD 5 spd with full Syn fluids gets 30-32 mpg highway. I drive 100 miles per day, mostly highway.

The oem ones are crush washers, so they are meant for one use.