Subaru X

It all depends really. Depends on what gaskets you put in, and how bad of shape the cylinder heads are in. If you buy the gaskets from the dealer they are upgraded gaskets and stronger then the originals. If the heads are warped. I would recomend new cylinder heads. I've heard of others milling the heads and re-using them just to have them be too thin and once again over heat. Some people just replace them once. Others have done it 4 times.

sounds like it might not have been overheated too much. I ran mine for approximately the same as you did. if you are driving it to the dealership then make sure you empty out some of the excessive fluid in the over flow resivour and re-fill the radiator. Should be able to drive about 20-50 miles before anything happens. As for how long it takes before it is really trashed. I'm affraid I have no idea. Maybe someone else can come in on this one.

Well not sure if it is the alarm or not. But I had an issue like that once with a car where it had the alarm but I didn't have the remotes. Try removing the fuse to the alarm system. If it is an aftermarket alarm there should be a fuse inline with the alarm. If it is oem there should be one in the fuse box. Remove the fuse and see if it starts. If it does then it is an alarm issue.

120k before the headgaskets went is awesome. Mine went out at 90k. I'm at 117K now and no signs of issues. I do seriously recomend getting at least the head gasket from the dealership as the felpro gaskets are still of the old design. Subaru upgraded the headgaskets to be stronger. As for the price. Well that depends on who you know. I knew a few mechanics really well at a subaru dealership I had done New timing belt water pump thermostat rocker gaskets head gaskets recored radiator flushed system and a few other things done for 1,500.00 on the nose As for reliability. I complain a lot under my breathe about the cost of sensors and how they go out. But the damn car just keeps going. It's very rare when I see smoke blowing out the exhaust of a subaru. As long as you didn't over heat the car much when the gaskets went, and you can afford every now and then a sensor. I say go for it.

Wow very informative description which helps a lot. Since you did replace your MAF and you were getting codes for your MAF I wouldn't quite rule that one out yet. As for the fuel filter the replacement is very easy. The nice thing about subarus is that the are easy to learn on. There should be a manual for your car by chiltons or haynes. May have to order it online. But it would tell you step by step how to replace your fuel filter. It's actually a really easy task on the subarus...easier then the spark plaugs you replaced. I was having a problem simular to yours on my 2.5. Ended up being a crack on the intake tube. Ended up replacing it all with an aftermarket and that took care of the problem. I would just check out the whole intake. Might have a crack somewhere on the underside, or on one of the vacuum hoses just mucking everything up. I don't think this would be the problem on your car...but could also be an o2 sensor problem. Thats something I am about to replace on my car very soon. It's not triggering the check engine light so it doesn't get a code. But it's telling the ECU that there are holes in the exhaust causing hesitation. I highly doubt this is what you are experiencing though.

what color is the car??? I usually have nothing but trouble with the touch up spray cans. But I also loose my paitence. If it's dark colored I would strongly advise against it. As the paint will show up much more on a darker car.

lol whenever my brakes squel like that I take a trip to the car wash. Even when I use the silicone on the back of the pads I still squek. So I just pressure wash the car and make sure to get in between the spokes of the wheels to get the brakes clean. Keeps it from squelling for about a week. Which is about how often I wash my car.

PREACH ON! I got one of my cars painted there before I learned how to paint. 1 week afterwards. CHIPS FLAKING OFF! No primer what so ever which I paid for also. On top of that you have to sign a waiver saying you will not hold them responsible for mechanical damages. I got a flat tire, a blown out throw bearing, and the arm rest on the interior door torn off. I ***************ed at them for so long. I had a 6 month warranty. When I took it back a couple of days later with paint peeling they didn't want to repaint the car. WASTE of money. Few years later...working in a tint shop with a co-worker who was a former maaco employee. Eye opener. They mistreat every car apparently. And if you're an rump roast to them, even more so. They claim to hand sand and primer...apparently you are lucky if you even get the car ran over with a scotch brite pad. To remove dents on the front end they hook up the cars to the chain links in the floor...(like most shops) but unlike most shops they then turn the car on, pop it in reverse, and just floor the sucker with smoking the tires. I will never use maaco again, and I would never recomend it to anyone. I would suggest spray painting your car before you go maaco...sometimes it looks better too.

If the bugger keeps turning on and off. Could possibly be a knock sensor. My pooparoo was doing this to me. Everytime I had the code scanner ready blasted light would turn off. Then 2 days later back on again. Hopefully it isn't this sensor as I found it to be a bit high priced.

KYB never failed me yet. and I think driver is left. Correct me if I am wrong.

Yep had the same thing on my 97 legacy. Changed out the struts with 4 kybs....helped. BUT problem was the ball joints. Check them out.

Oh man I would leave that paint job. That paint is so frickin expensive. Would look sweet with some tinted windows and bigger tires.

Holy Cow

I beleive you don't get the letter unless you have a 98 or newer car. Phase II engines in other words. They don't want to pay for the phase I's because there were too many.

I know your pain. I sold my acura and got a legacy. Within 6 months I did even more repairs and more costly ones. (not even going to get into which ones) I often tried to sell the car. And thought about trading it in. But I am too much in over my head to do such a thing. The best thing to do is to take a deep breath..maybe sometimes spit on the car (makes you feel better). But there is some hope after I finally fixed everything the car is just awesome. Plan to get many years of service out of my car. And I imagine you will too especially since it is a forestor. Just be thankful a boyracer didn't own the car before you. I think a girlracer owned my car and thats why I've been having so many issues.

http://www.geocities.com/ryu2326/intake.jpg Had to do some welding and grinding to get this to work. But sounds nice and beefy when I throttle it. Plus I get another 2-3 mpg now. Woooo. Things I've done so far Headgaskets Re-cored radiator Brakes timming belt flushed the system spark plugs (duh) 20% tint...changing to 5% next week I also replaced the rear quarter window that was busted out. Re-tinted it too. Replaced all the struts with KYB GR2 struts. Lower balljoints, and then re-aligned the car. Now...all that is left...is the pesky knock sensor that just recently went. body work and someday a paint job..oh yeah I think I want to re-upholster the interior to leather.

ah yes...didn't think of that. I'll have to check that out as soon as it warms up

If you do replace them you don't need to replace the whole axle. Just the joint. The clicking...or clunking in my case would vary from time to time. The wheel would rattle like hell whenever I would be at a decent speed and turning. I would of course check them before buying new ones. They only run about 30 bux though. So not an expensive fix.

check out your lower balljoint. I just fixed almost the same problem on my legacy. Bad balljoint on the right side. Jack up the car one side at a time. and see if you can move the tire up and down, or back and forth etc. etc. etc. The balljoint should be immobile. so if it twists or moves it's bad.

Well I finally replaced the lower ball joints and all 4 struts on my 97 legacy gt. Of course I had to remove the brake lines to install the struts. I also unbolted the abs sensors to prevent damage. After finishing the job and bleeding the brakes my abs light came on. I tried reading for codes and came up with nothing. No codes. I also reset the ecu and still nothing the light stays on. Any suggestions besides take it to a dealership?

Well I ordered a set of 4 KYB GR-2 today. I went with the GR-2 as money is a bit of an issue lately. Thanks for your input guys.

LOL sorry bud I could've answered that for ya but I didn't get around to reading the board till just now.

why not both? I have both and when I need even more information I go to the public libary. They have at most libaries some pretty in detail manuals.

Well...first the front passenger went out. Then the front driver...then the rear passenger..I still have a good rear drivers LOL! So I need to replace all 4. 97 legacy 2.5GT sedan with ABS. Anyone have an idea if the KYB struts would be any good or should I look into replacing them with OEM?

He he he I would do an early change on those spark plugs too