Animal_Gso

Ok sorry I am new here and don't know the differance of what the heck is new generation and old. to me a 1990 car with 290,000 miles is pretty old. but hey if I am going to get my rump roast chewed for trying to get help I can just as fast leave the whole forum.

big issue is head gaskets on the Foresters, I am on a Forester Forum and it is not a matter of if you will blow a head gasket, but when. head gaskets are a bigger issue then the belts and run about $1,600 to have done at a shop. I am looking for one my self, but a non turbo model. also that price is a bit high. look on autotrader.com and you will find foresters all day long for $8,000 hope this helps ya some. let me know if you want the link to the forester forum. it is crazy what some of these guys are doing with them.

I am having issues with mine Over heating,it started back about a month ago when returning from a lawn care job. I don't even know at what point it started but I was 2 miles from home so i kept going. I replaced the thermostat and on Halloween night it over heated again. this time I had to drive even more to get to a safe stopping place. Radiator is new, just replaced the water pump also as i thought I had a bad pump and it had started to leak, figuring the heat messed up the seal. anyway I tryed some stuff called steel seal, thought it worked, but now it over heated again. some times the gauge will peg, them after a about 2 miles will start to drop again. when it does this I also have no heat. I checked and the cooling fans are running. and the over flow is boiling over. the car has 290.000 miles on it. I did a compression test right after I put the steel seal in, and all cylinders where 120- 130 psi. for some reason I can sometimes drive all day and then when I least expect it she over heats. I even pulled the A/C condensors out of the way since it don't work. now I have found that if I leave the thermostat out it does not over heat,but of course no defroster either or heat then. also 4th gear is gone. I am debating if I should pull the engine and replace the head gaskets or just look for another engine. kind of concerned about a warped head since I have had to drive it so far when over heated. what would ya'll suggest? I have been trying to sell my harley to get a Forester, but so far no luck with that so at this point I am stuck.

290,000 on my 90 legacy wagon, but it is having issues right now. but I did have fun playing in the 5" of snow we got last night.

hey that don't look like a bad little car at all, looks like a great car to learn in. hate to say it but it looks better then my 90 model wagon.

here is another clip, looks like it will be a fun beginners car. and there is another clip of one performance tuned with custom paint.

yeah that is kind of what I am thinking, maybe easier to just get a junk yard trans and install. I wish it had an automatic as I hear they are better for towing with. I use my wagon to tow my lawn care trailer. 1,200 pound commercial John Deere mower on a modified boat trailer. so far my only issues with towing was roasting the clutch on hills. since I am looking for a Forester, I may just let it go for now and just try and fix the head issue. thanks for the Info. the price of the parts would be my main concern,as like I said, with the miles on it, I don't feel like dumping a ton of money back into it. it has primer spots on the hood, but not to rusty, but it sure ain't pretty..lol

even if it is just 2 wheel drive, it will be a good car to learn in. my car has 290.000 miles on it and has just now started to give me some problems. also they get great gas milage when I first got my wagon I wanted to see how far I could go on a full tank of gas. I carried a spare can of gas with me and darn if I was not able to drive 400 miles before I refilled it. post some pics some time and let us see what ya got. I am new also so I can't post pics yet my self,but I hope to get to play in the snow later today. they are calling for 4" of snow today here in Greensboro n.c.

Bummer, the pics where deleted before I got to see them. wished I had known about the clothe on the cable trick before I had a pull strap break and the hook dented my back panel on my wagon. was just lucky it did not hit the back glass.

Trust me, if it is drivable you will love it, is it a 2 wheel drive model or 4 wheel /AWD model? The Subaru,is by far one of the best riding best handleing cars I have ever driven. I am on my 5th one now. I am almost 48 but I still love to play,and let me tell you, you can have fun with a Subaru. some of the things these guys are doing to these cars will surpise you. everything from off roading to autocross races. not to mention the independent suspension really makes these cars handle well. I have a beat up 1990 legacy L wagon. I use it to tow my lawn care trailer. last summer on my way home from a job I ran into a major thunderstorm. A rotted tree fell in front of me and i could not stop before hitting it. I slammed into the tree at about 35 m.p.h. weight of trailer was pushing me. the car cut thru the tree and pushed a chunk of it a bit wider then the car about 40 feet before i got stopped. I got out and pushed the tree out of my way and drove home, thinking man I just know I broke something. got home,pulled the car in the shop and all I found was a few scratches on the Bumper. it did not knock a light out or mess up the grill. you have a very good safe car to learn to drive it. Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

is that the model that has the manual 4wd engagement? if so you will love it, I had an 80's model wagon several years ago and we had a deep snow that year and I was pushing thru 15" of snow with the front bumper in my driveway and that was with almost slick tires. it was not the prettyest car, but man it would drive thru anything.

this whole car is making noise, it was worn out when I got it..lol it has 290,000 miles on it. it may not even be worth doing much to. that is one reason I am looking for a Forester. but thought if it is not to major or expensive a job I might try and fix it to at least make it throe the winter with.

Thanks for the Welcome guys, I have had several Subaru in the past, this one is my 5th. in a funny sad way I have a lot to learn as well unlike most cars I have had in the past, I just have not had to do much work to them. right now I do have a head gasket issue and 4th gear in my transmission is gone. lately I have been trying to sell my harley to get a Forester, man I want one of those badly. they are calling for a good snow today and since my subie is already messing up I think I will take it out and play in the show this time. Hi Mudduck, there is another good local Subaru forum that is real active in Charlotte ,let me now if you want the link. it is more of a club then just forum they have meets and partys. even a few auto X's and then the guys on the Forester forum are really blowing my mind, like doing WRX swaps into foresters,I mean we are talking dash and seats and all, not just the engines. I just found these other Subaru Forums a few months ago. and found this one when I did a google search on head gaskets issues. for some reason I never got any e-mail alert to let me know I had these replys. glad I found them. looks like a lot of great info to be found on here. BTW I have even flown behind these engines in Gyrocopters,so you know I trust them. Subaru--what to play in the snow with..lol

MY 5 speed in My 90 legacy wagon EJ-22 engine has been jumping out of 4th gear, only stays in forth if I hold it there while power shifting. if I do decide to tear into it where do I look? I have torn into some automatics in the past, but the only manual transmission I have done where on my old pan head harley Chopper I use to have and it was a 1938 transmission in it. is it better to pull the engine with the transmission or just jack the car up and drop it out of the bottom. where do you get the replacement parts? thanks for help . Tim.

HI ya'll, just found this forum when looking for info on head gasket issues and bleeding the cooling system. my present ride is a sick ( 290,000 mile) 1990 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2.2 5 speed car. I use it to pull my trailer to carry my lawn mower and sometimes to tote my Helicopter. I am also a Hard core old school biker,been riding since 1993,first bike was a 51 panhead chopper,current bike is a 81 sturgis custom. sadly got to sell the bike to get a new ride. Got the hots for a Forester, drooling over a 2002 model with sun roof. what can I say I like wind in my hair. ( whats left of it..lol ) looks like alot of good info to be found here. And yep I am a Subaru junkie, on my 5th one now. first one was a beat up old brat, that sold me on how tough a car they were.