rweddy

That seems pretty high to me. My 2.2 OBW 5spd get 30-32.

Yea AWD does great for what is designed for. If you are off-roading 4wd is the way to go, but I will take my AWD any day on the road or for light off-road stuff.

Yep auto only. I had a 5 spd ls 91 that was a nice model with sunroof.

Yep same issue here in Colorado. I see about 2mpg loss on winter gas.

I just fear adding a failure point to my vehicle. Even a good curb shot could take the valve off, or a wayward rock. I do not do serious wheeling with my subaru but have bounced a few rocks off my underside from time to time.

If they are manual, the 96 outbacks with auto are 2.5. I think the 96 2.2 outback is one of the best combo's you can get in the subaru line. BTW the Air Height systems were only offered until 94.

I agree with Gnuman, this puts the valve down way to low if you hit a curb or go on off road trials like I do it would be way to risky.

I am getting ready to do this myself. I have read that you loosen the bolts with the timing belt on, then use a standard puller to pull them off.

I agree totally, I have owned a lot of EA81s & 82s and newer Subaru’s are just as reliable as they used to be. There are more issues because there are more features on the newer models. Have you ever owned a GL-10 subaru? Digital dash issues, turbo issues, overheating, leaks, etc. The 2.5 has a very bad rap here on the board, but I know a few out there that have over 200k with no HG issues. And I personally think the 96-99 outback is one of the best Subaru’s ever. I would not stay away form the 2.5 just be sure to build into the price a HG replacement, then if has an issue you are ready, if not you have $$ in the bank.

The HTKYSAF by Muir is great. But there is nothing like it for a legacy, chilton and haynes are crap, get a FSM they are $$$ but worth every penny if you do the work yourself.

I had the same issue with my 96 OBW.They worked great when cold and would work spartically at best. I ended up finding the fix for the issue, takes about hour to fix it. Here is my write up, let me know if you have any more ? http://www.rweddysolutions.com/Subaru96fix.html

It is either a or a combination of the following. Cam seals, oil pump seal, crank seals. These should all be replaced when you get a timing belt done. If you have 70k you are do for a timing belt anyway. I know most shops here in my town are $650 for timing belts, new cam, oil pump & crank seals, and new water pump.

Welcome to the board!! These are great cars, you will love it. I have owned 10 subarus and like my outback the best of any of them. But be aware the 2.5 has HG issues. It is a matter of when not if. But the fix is around $1200 so just build this into the price of the vehicle. So if they go you have the $$ for it and if they do not then you are up that same $$. But other than this these are great vehicles, you will find them to have way less issues than your VWs that is for sure. The only issue with the awd and tranny is some auto’s have solenoid issue that cause the AWD to have torque bind, but do a search on torque bind, I have never owned an auto legacy.

Actually they need to be changed 60,000 on 2.2 motors. The 2.2 is one of the best motors subaru has ever made. And 1st generation legacies are great. I have seen many examples with over 300,000. Are you sure it is an oil leak? Could be a cv boot leaking onto the exhaust. Also the front of the engines tend to leak, oil pump, cam seals, etc so it might be up there and then as you drive it going towards the back of the engine. Welcome to the board!

I have found this to be true with almost every manufactures dealership service departments. This is much more the norm than it is normal to have a good dealerships. I have owned subarus, Toyota, nissans, Hondas, etc. I have said this many times before if you want work done correctly do not go to the dealership. There are several reason for this. 1st There is too much of a disconnect between the service manager or writer and the mechanics. 90% of the information you give the service writer never gets to the person working on you vehicle. You will find out that most writers know less than you about vehicles and mechanical systems in general. So even if you give them a very good description of the issue, they will either not write it down or have know idea what you are talking about to them and just nod their head like they understand what you are talking about. I have actually gone into a dealership and told the writer what the problem on the vehicle is, and since it was under warranty did not want to do the work myself. After 4 more trips they had still not replaced the part that was causing the issue, but they had replaced $4000 worth of other parts. So I complained got the part for free from the parts department and did the work myself to fix the issue. 2nd The dealership training programs and the type of work most mechanics is dealerships do trains them to be parts swappers. When you bring a vehicle in for work and it is under warranty they only get 50% the hourly rate they would be getting for non-warranty work. So instead of taking the time to trouble shoot issues it is cheaper for them to just throw parts at it since parts are covered by the manufacture. 3rd The dealerships are used to seeing mostly newer vehicles because most consumers will not spend the $$$ after warrantee to take it to the dealership. So as soon as a vehicle is few years old they see less and less of them so their experience with older vehicles is limited in comparison to a independent specialty shop. I have found very few dealerships that I would trust to fix a issue or even do work on my cars. If I do not do the work myself then I will go to an independent specialty shop that works on my make of vehicle. This is why I call them stealerships!!!

I am getting ready to do my timing belt. Has anyone done on recently? I need to get a ball park price. I am thinking I need Timing belt & tensioner Water pump Cam and crank seals oil pump seals Am I missing anything? Thanks

It would be a lot cheaper to fix your 2.5 HG. But the comany that has the 2.2 converstion is http://www.ccrengines.com/ they also have very good rebuilt 2.5 engines.

I agree with Cookie. You need to have the work down by a Subaru specialty shop. Many shops that do not specialize will use non-oem parts and this will lead to more failures. The 2.5 is a good motor with bad HG from the factory. If you used the updated versions you will be fine. Or you can swap in a 2.2.

I am pretty sure it will. I put a 6 disc into my 96 OBW from a 00-04 and it plugged right in.

I agree. I believe you will also find more 5spds in states with mountains. In Colorado finding a mt Subaru is relatively easy.

This is a great combination. You get one of the best looking OBW plus the awsome 2.2 motor. Grab it if it is nice.

Thanks! Is there a tool to measure or can I just use a ruler?

I am looking at a set of used tires and rims for my OBW. The seller says they hae 55% of the thread left, how can I measure this to be true? Also how to make sure they are all the same wear and size? These were off a forester. Thanks

I agree, I really do not like autos. I am glad subaru is offering auto and not going the way of Toyota and Nissan were you can only get auto's on many new vehicles.

I was thinking that myself about other models vehicle wheels. At the local jy today I saw tons of wheels and they only charge $6.99 per 15 wheel. Anyone know any other vehicles that have the same bolt pattern and offset? I also talked to the seller, they have 50% tread left and they want $250. So I think I am going to pass on these and source them myself.