Numbchux

So this is a Loyale? Manual transmission?

It does happen, but with several hoses, and thin-walled steel pipes (one that goes back on the driver's side to the heater hose, and one that goes across in front of the oil pan to the oil cooler) physically near the water pump that are notorious for rusting out. It is more likely a mis-diagnosis. A shop here in town did a water pump on one because they thought the gasket was leaking. Aftermarket pump/gasket leaked worse than the one they took off, so they got to do the job twice to put an OE one in, and the problem all along was the pipe that Gary is talking about that goes back to the heater hose. I don't think I've heard of a head gasket failure on one of these that yielded external coolant leakage (although, an internal failure can push all the coolant out of the overflow...). That said, if they're completely sure of the cause of the problem, just gaskets is likely all it will need. Talk to your local dealer, if they're OK with ordering up chain guides just in case you need them, do that (Subaru, like most manufacturers, is not very forgiving when it comes to returns from the dealership, so depending on the volume that they do, they may not get a full refund if you don't use them). That way you can inspect them when it's apart and not have a ton of down time. If they're not comfortable with that, you'll have to weigh the cost of replacing them preventatively against potential downtime once it's apart (sounds like you might be having a shop fix it, so talk to them).

Yep, the majority of the wiring for the body runs through the LH fender, that will have nothing but loom and tape to protect it now. And the fuse box isn't far away either. I bet you have some nasty corrosion issues in that area...

Yikes. http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy%20Outback/1998/ There are good OE wiring diagrams under "Service Manual" there, and some aftermarket ones under "Wiring diagrams" that are laid out a bit differently. both a good source. Get yourself a good multimeter so you can test for voltage, continuity, ground, and resistance. Then pick a symptom, and start tracing it back. I'd probably start with the fan, and start by testing things at the relay. It shouldn't take long to tell if the relay is sticking on, or if it's in the signal side that something is telling the relay to stay on... A friend of mine had a '93 Legacy that had been run for years without a driver's fender liner, and the fuse box (which is in the engine bay, but right above the LF tire) was horribly corroded, and caused a myriad of gremlins like that that didn't seem to have any pattern or connection.

This is the section for questions on a '91 Legacy. But, a '91 Legacy in the US wouldn't have any sort of AWD/4WD selector. The only controls would be the gear shifter (whether it's a manual or automatic, obviously, is different), and the emergency brake lever. A '91 Loyale is an old-gen car, and would have a button to switch between FWD and 4WD.

^Agreed FYI, for future reference. We consider the Loyale to be an Old-Gen car here even though it overlaps with the Legacy and such. If you have future questions, you'll probably get more traffic on the Old-gen section.

They're definitely discontinued from Subaru. When my friend bought his (now my) Brat probably 10 years ago, it came with what was supposed to be the last new OE tank in the country....it's from a hatch. We had to make a plate to span the 6 inches or so between the mounts as the hatch tank is much smaller.

The rear bumper cover on the baja does not wrap around all the way to the wheel well, where it does on the outback. Also, the bumper cover extends further up on the baja under the tail lights than an outback. Maybe it could be made to work, but it would not be pretty. I attached the parts diagrams of both.

I'll attach the full list of vehicles that are expressly effected by the warranty extension. All non-salvage cars are covered through April 21st, 2017 regardless of mileage, after that the engine will be warranted for oil consumption to 8 years/100,000 miles. This does not mean that all the cars before these cutoffs definitely do burn oil, there are a lot of cars out there with no trouble. And it's not really something that will crop up later, most of the effected cars had excessive consumption basically right off the line. It depends on your definition of "fixed". All the 0w20 engines consume more oil than the older cars, but that's considered "normal" by Subaru. They consider losing 1 quart over at least 4k miles is normal. But anything more than a quart in 3600 miles (technically, the oil consumption test is looking for 1/3 quart or more over 1200 miles) will warrant a new engine. Unofficially, I've heard people say that running synth 5w30 makes it much better.

4EAT, but yes.

2011 was the first year for the new engine 2014 was a new body style, and first year for the CVT in the Forester Oil consumption warranty extension on Auto trans Foresters covers all 2011-2013, and 2014 through VIN ending in 529004. That warranty is good through 100k miles (salvage cars are not covered). So if it's under that, you can still get a free engine. We've had more than a few foresters that chew up the rear tires, so look at tire wear, usually it's just an alignment issue. Rear upper control arms have a ball joint that is not serviceable, have to replace the whole arm. So it'd be a good idea to jack up the back and look for play there, they're not really any more prone to failure than any other suspension bushing, but far more expensive to replace.

Not much to say, car's being awesome. Had a headlight burn out, and decided to go for a little upgrade. I bought a set of cheap LED headlight bulbs about a year ago for the fog lights in my Celica, and I was actually very impressed with them. So I bought a set in the H1 variant for this car. These ones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012KF1XDA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 At $40, it was worth a try. Sure beats the $150-200 for most of the name brand equivalents. My main concern was beam pattern, I know that if the point from which the light is emitted is in an even slightly different place, it can throw light where you don't want it. So I took a before picture of the pattern against the inside of the garage door to really analyze things (obviously, I put a functional bulb in it for this comparison): 20170106_190722 by Numbchux, on Flickr I had a bit of a scare when I put the first one in, as the pattern was awful, but when I pulled it apart to put the halogen back in there, I realized the LED wasn't seated correctly. It took some finagling to get the wire hold down under the electrical wires coming out of the side of the bulb so that everything would seat correctly, but then it was great: 20170106_194357 by Numbchux, on Flickr And from down the driveway: 20170106_194211 by Numbchux, on Flickr I'm very happy. More light where I want it, nothing where I don't. Cheap, and required zero modification to the housings. Time will tell how they hold up, but they've done well in my Celica so far....

I did the lower half of my 4Runner in Duplicolor roll-on bedliner years ago. Love it. It's tough, it hides trail damage, it was super easy to apply. Had to go as thin as possible with the coats, as it would run on the vertical surfaces. It did bleed under the painter's tape I had pretty bad. so the edge isn't terribly clean. Right after I did it: 2017-07-25_02-29-26 by Numbchux, on Flickr I've never tried to clean it, so maybe it would come clean with some work, but just being out in the rain is not enough. It pretty much always looks like this: 2017-07-10_10-30-27 by Numbchux, on Flickr

Steel rims are sometimes a half inch or so narrower than the alloy option on the same car...but that's a pretty small difference. If you wanted to go crazy narrow, you'd have to get bespoke aftermarket wheels anyway, in which case it could easily be an alloy. Anecdotal, at best. The steelies I had an issue with last year were new OEM wheels on my mom's '01 Legacy, used as dedicated snows since '09ish. We got them to reseal last year, but they're nasty rusty. I don't think I'll try to use them again. You can find stories either way, so I consider it a wash.

Those can be really tough to get. If it's pre-VVT (I think the '06 Bajas are the only ones that had VVT). You can get pretty cheap SOHC 2.0l JDM engines on ebay and such. We've had very good luck using those, and you probably won't notice the power loss.

For the original question. All 2006 Outbacks wheels are interchangeable with other 2006 Obviously you're in a different market, but here in the US. 2005+ STis, all Tribecas, All SVXs, 2015+ Outbacks, and 2015+ WRXs I completely disagree with this statement. Steel wheels typically bend way easier than alloys. I've seen 3 steelies wrapped around brake rotors like a pretzel (all three required putting the spare tire on on the course) on RallyXs, zero alloys. Yes, alloy corrodes, but steel rusts, so that's a wash. I had to get all 4 of my steelies on my XT6 resealed due to rust. I might have been better off with a steel wheel when I hit the curb in my XT6 years ago. As the weaker steel wheel might have bent. As it was, the alloy wheel stayed straight as can be, and the suspension arm bent, and being an XT6, that was a big project to repair. Of course it was all stuff I could do in my driveway, I didn't have to go to a shop to get a new wheel mounted and balanced. The only advantage to steel is cost. Alloy is lighter and stronger.

We've tried aftermarket ones with a pretty poor success rate. Most are back within 6 months or so with a P0420.

Making that call will likely start a claim. My aunt made that call for hail damage on her Caravan, just to see what the normal process was, as she wasn't really concerned about the cosmetic damage. Claim was filed before she finished the sentence, regardless of whether she wanted to get it fixed or not. Fixing it "correctly" there is probably going to be a big job. It might be possible to pull that dent, but it'll require a lot of body filler to get it all smooth. Replacing the panels involves cutting and welding them in, to buy new panels means the whole rocker and quarter panel (probably $800, just for those 2 parts). Or find a junkyard that can cut that section out (probably still a few hundred bucks, and will require more prep work for paint). A very well-respected body shop here in town told me that he'd cut me a sweet deal, and paint some panels for me for $350 ea. You've got basically 3 or 4 panels that would need to be painted (they'd definitely want to blend the one door, if not both of them). Most body shops won't do anything less than that, as they don't want shoddy work representing them, even if that's what you want. So an insurance estimate is probably going to be $3k. That said, it's mostly cosmetic. I would probably just cut off the bit of the wheel liner that sticks out, and make sure what's still there is well-attached (might involve a zip tie or 2), and call it a day. Even if that front edge comes loose from the body, worst case is it will rub on the tire, very little chance of it getting pulled off entirely.

Check engine light means it is telling you what is likely wrong. Most auto parts stores will read that for free for you (they'll probably try to sell you something on the spot, but get the actual trouble code number, 5 digits, usually starting with a P). Then look up your car's service manual on www.jdmfsm.info and find the section for your engine and search for that trouble code. It'll give you a detailed list of how to diagnose the problem without just throwing parts (and money) at it.

I have a fairly limited experience with this system, primarily just on our '04 Outback VDC, which is a bit of a unique animal. But should be somewhat similar. It is certainly not normal. And if the light is on, you likely have no VDC assistance. Do you think you'd recognize it's behavior with or without? When driving in snow, with my ice racing experience, spinning the tires and getting the car to slide is normal driving technique for me, so if the VDC is on, I instantly notice it (and am annoyed that it turns itself back on at 38 mph). How long have you had the car? How long has it been doing this? Occasionally our "VDC Off" light will come on, without the button being pushed. I have not been able to find any sort of pattern. But the one thing I'm clear on, is the ABS does still work then, which is interesting because they share a lot of components.

It's been done. If you're doing a lift, the front isn't too bad, as the basic design is similar. You pretty much just have to make mounts for the rear of the front control arms. The engine crossmember and strut top lift blocks have to accomodate the wider EJ parts. But that's about it. The rear is a whole different animal. The suspension design is as different as it could be. Every mount (crossmember, trailing arm, upper strut) will have to be fabricated. The Brat gas tank will be in the way (You'll either have to modify it, or start over, maybe not with enough lift). You'll have to build strut towers for it, as the brat just has shocks. A guy in the UK did it probably 5 years ago, and it was a huge undertaking. And his fabrication in the bed area was pretty ugly, IMO.

22b is based on an Impreza. I have seen an impreza 2.5RS bumper put on a Legacy, but that's a pretty simple body line. I suspect it could be done, but it probably won't be easy, it definitely won't be bolt on. You could probably get your hands on a standard Impreza fender for cheap through a junkyard, and use that for a test fit to see how close it is. That would give you an idea of how close it is. As a 22b-based widebody is a bolt on for a '93-'01 Impreza

+1 on VIN lookup. If you want to PM me the last 8 digits of your VIN, I can give you the OE part numbers. This is not really true. While you are correct, the coefficient of friction of the tires to the road is a relatively fixed variable, and if you can overcome that, you cannot apply any more force to them. However, in practice, it's not quite that simple. Larger rotors mean that the speed that the rotor friction surface passes the pads is higher, also the larger rotor gives a longer lever arm against the rotational force of the wheel (friction point is further away from the fulcrum). These 2 factors give more control below that limit of locking up the tire. So while the theoretical maximum amount of force is fixed, the driver can better utilize the area underneath that point. I upgraded from a 160mm front rotor to a 180mm on my mountain bike a couple years ago. Same caliper, same pads. Just rotor and caliper bracket. The difference was huge! The extra mass of the larger rotors also means that they have more thermal mass, meaning it takes more energy to overheat. This is why vehicles with a higher cargo capacity have larger rotors (Outback vs Legacy). Ditto with vented rotors vs solid. Most people won't overheat the stock stuff on the road, but if you're towing or hauling, it's possible. The extra mass is a double-edged sword in itself. Extra mass means more rotational inertia, which means it takes more force to get them to change speed. Meaning more power to accelerate (this will hurt your city fuel mileage). But it also means that they are harder to stop abruptly (like a lock-up). It's also more unsprung mass, which makes the suspension slightly less effective, but that's pretty minor. I have a theory that a braking upgraded can also help keep the tires in the area of the friction curve above the kinetic friction variable (2 objects can apply more force just before they start sliding, i.e. static friction), and thereby utilize the existing tires better. But I've never come up with a way to truly test that actually isolates other factors.... Brake upgrades also offer a factor of braking "feel". Which sounds superficial, but if the brakes feel stronger, that gives the driver more confidence in them, which is a very real factor. Master cylinder bore is the perfect example of this, on paper a larger bore master gives you less leverage over the calipers, which seems like you would have less braking force. But in practice, the extra force required on the pedal is pretty minor, and the reduced pedal travel shortens the time from when your brain decides to brake, and force actually being applied, which is an excellent feeling.

Redrill to a different 4-lug pattern? That's not exactly simple, as you have to drill all 4 holes without any reference. Drilling to 6-lug is easy as 2 of the lugs already line up. Also, the center bore will have to be machined off. If you have the 5-lug parts, I see no reason not to.

Almost 100% it's the cat itself. There are ways around it, but the only correct fix is a new cat.