mva5142

Just an update in case someone is searching for this down the road. I went with the NGK and it was a direct replacement. The hardest part was grinding off the bolts that were rusted together on the heat shield. Once that was off took about 5 minute to replace. I disconnected the negative battery cable, unplugged the oxygen sensor, unscrewed it. Takes a 22mm wrench and screwed the new one in. Plugged it in and connected the battery cable and she ran great. No check engine light or anything. I put the heat shield back on with new bolts, lubed up with anti-sieze. MPG on the last couple tanks is 25.3. I gained a couple mpg, and can live with 25.5 mpg on winter gas. Hope it goes up soon!

First want to thank the members here for all the help. you guys have a ton of knowledge and share it freely. That is great. I have a 98 outback with 83k on the clock. I have noticed a couple things with it that I am not sure about. 1st, when it is cold and you lightly step on the gas, the rpms drop a few hundred before it catches up. Only does this when cold and only when you lightly step on the gas. If you step on it firmly, the rpms jump up and it goes like it should. Once it has run for a few minutes, it doesn't do it anymore. Doesn't even have to show temp on the guage for it to not do it. I'm thinking the throttle body might be dirty and something is sticking when it is cold and that lightly pressing shows it, but when you step on it, it doesn't give it a chance to stick? Not sure though. Also, have noticed that when the heater is on and I step on the brake the blower motor slows down noticeably. As soon as I take my foot of the brake it blows fine. Happens in park, nuetral and drive. I have checked all the vacuum lines and none appear to be in bad shape and seem to be connected good. When you are driving it with the heater on and really step on it there is no drop in the blower motor which would indicate a vacuum leak. Not sure that the brakes are even tied in to the vacuum system, but what else would cause the blower to slow down? The rpms don't drop, so I don't think it is the load on the system, but I could be mistake. Recent work inludes-head gaskets, timing belt, waterpump and all that stuff. The car had a bad head gasket when purchased (unknown to me) and only got to drive it about 100 miles before I had it fixed so I don't really know if it has always had these issues or not. Any help or guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks, Matt

I had a head gasket job done on a '98 outback about a month ago. total was 1201$. The heads did not go to a machine shop. That included cam seals, timing belt, water pump, and new gaskets on the way out. intake, exhaust, valve cover and so on, and it comes with a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty on parts and labor. I'm happy with the work, was not performed by a subaru shop, but a ASE mechanic. First time to use him, but would use him again. I would suggest asking around a bit more. With the current financial times, I would think you could shop around and find a reputable shop for less than that. Good luck. Matt

Thanks, I ordered it from sparkplugs.com yesterday afternoon, before I saw people had responded. I went with the NGK/NTK. I'll let everyone know how it works out. I hope it helps my mileage. can't hurt right.

Spark plug wires? On old or damaged ones the current can cause interference if the insulation is bad. Also fits with the problem in that it only occurs when the engine is running. Good luck!

I've got a 98 outback with 82,000 miles that is getting poor gas mileage. I had the headgaskets done a few weeks ago along with timing belt, waterpump and cam seals. I am getting 22-23 mpg on the highway between 65-67 mph. I plan on changing out the front O2 sensor as antifreeze can kill it pretty quick. Is there a brand that works best in these cars. I have found a denso and NGK/NTK for about 65-70$ and an sng as well in the same range. I am leaning toward the denso but wanted to get some opinions from those smarter than me. Thanks. Matt

Thanks for the responses. After being able to toy around with it over the weekend, it appears it is a headgasket issue. I let it idle for 30-40 minutes a day and it is losing water after it cools down. Also, I drove it about 5 miles and it overheated as I was pulling back in the driveway. I let it cool down and turned it off and it never pulled any coolant in from the resevoir even though when I checked it the next day it was low. I don't have the time or experience to change them myslef, never pulled an engine, so it is going to the mechanic this afternoon and should be back thursday evening. Not a good way to start off ownership of a new used car, but looking forward to finally getting it back and putting it to the test for the rest of the michigan winter. Thanks again. Matt

I would hope that the issue was unknown, but I will never really know. I am going to change the t-stat, water pump and timing belt and see how it does. Why is the overheating with a headgasket random? I would think that it would be pretty regular. I test drove it for 15 minutes or so, and then about 100 miles home before it overheated. What makes it so random? Thanks for the guidance.

I recently became the owner of a 98 legacy outback with 80,000 miles on her. It has the 2.5l dohc. It overheated and after searching through the posts on here I think it is the headgaskets. It overheated fast, cooled down to normal operating temp fast, and the lower radiator hose is much cooler than the upper. I have a couple questions so far. 1) why is there such a dramatic difference in the hose temperature? 2)There are no air bubbles or oil in the radiator or fill cap or water in the oil. 3)The car can idle all day and not overheat, why is this. 4)Can someone smarter than me explain why the headgasket leak causes these particular issues? I have never worked on flat engine. I have done a couple head gasket jobs in the past on a rodeo and a mustang, is this engine especially complicated. Does the engine really have to get pulled to take the heads off? Thanks all, looking forward to joining and participating in the community here. Matt