abog

This is a very good car, no real issues. Look for the usual higher mileage stuff, wheel bearings, axles, boots, brakes etc. Really all depends on the service history of the car. Get records if you can.

Possible throttle position sensor, I would look at that also.

Subaru 360 is right on. I began working for Subaru dealerships in 1982, I have been a Senior Master technician since 1994. I have done hundreds of head gaskets on all subaru vehicles over the years. All the advice that I give people comes from massive experience with the product. Take from it what you will, but what I have seen in a lot of cases is that people over repair vehicles, either to safegaurd themselves or to give themselves a sense of security in their vehicle. There are many different opinions of how to do a job, as long as the vehicle is repaired they are all ok. My preference is to do what is necessary to repair the problem for the customer, not to add repair work that in my opinion is unnecessary. Oh and by the way, my work has always stood for itself with no comebacks.

Most of the " miracle " cure stop leak products have a large amount of ether in them. The ether causes the rubber in seals to swell. This swelling will usually reduce leaks, but only for a short time. And when the seals begin to leak again it will be much worse than when you started.

Sounds to me like your mechanic did not check for leaks the first time, just threw in some refrigerant and sent you on your way.

Hey John, maybe they should seal new wipers in a vacuum at the factory to give them a shelf life!!! hahaha, or maybe they could actually use decent rubber to manufacture them.

Changing head gaskets does not raise compression. The bore / stroke and cylinder head cc's are not changed. If the cylinders are low on compression it is due to wear in the bore / rings, or bad valve seal. When a subaru head gasket goes bad on the 2.5, some cylinder pressure is bled off into the water jacket. This loss is slight and generally if the engine has not been severely overheated will not notice any operation difference when resealed. A compression test is a good idea on any engine before a teardown regardless of mileage. If you are not using oil or have a definite power loss , you are probably fine with new gaskets.

Isn't 99 an interference motor? Possible that the timing belt broke and it has bent valves?

Temperature readings can fluctuate very rapidly when air pockets pass by the thermosensor, the sensors will not read correctly and can be very erratic when surrounded by air.

Get a definite price quote from your insurance, better to know than not.

Go to summit racing, they have a kit that is reasonably priced. Definitely put a master disconnect switch in.

There is a clutch safety switch, the clutch has to be pressed before the engine will start, it is a safety feature.

Your temp problem has all the signs of head gaskets, definitely as suggested have a block test done. You can get the exhaust gas test kit from Napa, and it is not very expensive. You should have done the rear main seal when the trans was out of the car.

Personally, have never had any luck with those, easy to put on but never last very long.

The button to switch from mile to kilometer is in the trip computer.

Thats what I thought it sounded like. Make sure you take a look at the clutch's, more than likely they will be damaged or worn.

If the clutch has been replaced, they may have had the flywheel machined. If you remove too much material from the surface of the flywheel it will affect the pedal travel. You can adjust this, but not very much. Clutch should start to engage about 1/2 way , with about an inch or so of freeplay. Have also run into some aftermarket clutch sets that do this as well.

If I remember correctly the gear comes off the shaft after the shaft is removed from the trans. The mesh of the gear that drives the gear you are trying to remove, keeps it from sliding out.

Alternator, output should be 14.2 to 14.5 1500 rpm with no load, about a volt to a volt and a half lower with all accessories on. Definitely check all of your grounds. It also never hurts to disconnect and check all of your connectors for loose or corroded contacts.

typically a converter will chatter at the high rpm point just before the trans shifts up. Vibrations can come from anywhere in the driveline.

Test your line pressure, bet it's low. Clutch's aren't getting enough pressure to lock under load. If there has been any amount of slippage, the trans is done. Time for a rebuild.

Have seen many non OEM cats, they seem to work ok. Hard to beat the quality of the Subaru parts. But hard to swallow the price

If I remember correctly, you can disable an air suction valve by removing the cover and flipping the reed over, then reassemble. we used to do this so that the valve was still there for the emissions inspector.

Have you replaced the fuel filter lately? Poor fuel flow can cause this as can bad gas.

Just for info, the campaign on the 90 Legacy's was to add an inline filter because the radiators have a screen in them that was determined to be to fine, and clogged very easily. This screen was blamed for many premature trans failures. So the fix was to backflush the screen and install the inline filter before the fluid entered the radiator. Back in the day I recall doing hundreds of these.