Jaimesbeam

Ok, so split boots were a figment of my imagination... I alos seem to remember people pulling the CV joints out, and putting them in backwards/reversed to get more miles out of them? Apparently they only wear on one side? How hard is it to replace the CV joints on the 95 Legacy? Any special tools required? Bear in mind that it's winter in Maine, and I don't have a garage. But it's been above freezing during the day as often as it's been below *so Far*!!! thanks, Jim.

I took my 1995 Legacy 2.2 into the shop to get a muffler leak patched, and found out I also needed a new gas tank filler pipe (common problem I've heard), and that my CV boots were shot. Coincidentally NOW my CV joints are making some noise, which I hadn't noticed before. Now if I recall correctly from my antique VW days, you used to be able to get replacement CV boots that didn't require you to remove the shafts to replace the boots. EG split boots you could put around the CV joints without removing the shafts/joints. Am I dreaming or what? Do such thing still exist? Did they ever? In any case, it's probably too late for my current CV joints. My understanding is that your can drive them for quite a while longer, untill you get tired of hearing the noise, they aren't actually going to fail real soon? Thanks in advance for all your advise! Jim.

I know this controversy has been beat to death in the past, but I can't help it.... I have a 1995 Subaru Legacy 2.2 with 111K miles. I recently drove from Franklin ME to Ashaway RI for Christmas with a midgrade full tank of gas. Well actually $40 of gas, going from the low gas warning light on, the gas warning came on a few miles short of Ashaway. It's a trip of 353 Miles. This is with 4 passengers, Christmas presents, a 34 lb organic turkey, and two cartop carriers full of heavy untanned sheepskins, I'd say 150 lbs. Coming back with 3 passengers, no turkey, few presents, the sheepskins replaced with 18 cases of empty wine bottles. Put $40 low grade gas into an empty tank... And the gas warning light comes on at 210 miles at Kennebunkport ME. This time there was a slight detour to Westport MA to pick up the wine bottles, and we went through Boston instead of around it, but the traffic wasn't bad, and it's included in the mileage. Both days were nice warm sunny winter days, no hurricane tail/head wind. Just had the oil changed; the Cat Oxygen sensor seems to be missing on the car. I'll have to recheck the receipts to be sure, but both fill-ups were about 12 gallons. Mid-grade in ME is $3.33; low-grade in RI is also around $3.33. (I saw low-grade in PA for $3.11!!!) Milage is according to Google Maps. It's a real head-scratcher for me! I always though maybe higher octane might get you better gas milage, and the $.10 price difference is insignificant with the high base price of gas! Thank God it's come down from $4/gallon! What to you think? I think it's worth more research! Jim.

Yes, I'm sure it's the catalytic converter. I replaced it with a Bonsal catalytic converter. Took a couple of trips to get the right donut gasket for the Bosal, the pipe is a hair larger diameter and longer then the stock, so I had to get a different gasket from Bosal, but the CC was $150 instead of $300! Had some problems with the spring bolt kit that connects the rear of the CC around the donut; what's the reason for the goofy thing? I didn't like paying $25 for a spring bolt kit that had two extra bolts for other models. I'll try to re-use the old bolts just so I can return the spring bolt kit! I'm a little disappointed with the MPG on the 1996 2.2L Legacy. I put a plug in the new CC OS port, since there wasn't a OS in the old CC. My check engine light went out; I'm not sure why, since I didn't replace any oxygen sensor! Thanks, Jim

The Check Engine light was off when I bought the car. It's been on for a while, but it's off now. Weird! I don't get very good gas milage. I'd still like to know where the wiring goes, or where to find a plug to replace the Oxygen Sensor. What else can I do to improve my gas mileage? Jim

The (rear) catalytic converter segment of the exhaust rusted out, so I'm trying to replace it. Took a while to get the right parts from Advanced Auto Parts. What's with this goofy spring & bolt kit, with two bolts that are for some other car? Managed to get the old ones off more or less intact thanks to PB Blaster, so the new ones will go back to the store. The nuts on the bolts in front (front is front!) of the CC mostly disintegrated. Good old vise-grips twisted one bolt untill it sheared apart. Imagine my surprise when I found that there wasn't a Oxygen Sensor in the old CC? Some idiot plugged up the hole. So, I'm not sure what kind of OS I need, one wire, three wire, four wire??? Where does the oxygen sensor connect to, as I don't see any sign of the wiring for such either??? I'm looking for the cheapest reasonable part I can get locally; not a expensive high-performance part I have to wait three weeks for! Thanks for all your help, guys! First guy to visit Shalom Orchard Winery, in Franklin ME gets a free bottle of wine! Jaimes Beam

Well, I ended up buying the 1996 Wholesale Legacy 2.2, 131k from Bath Subaru for $1,600. I got a mechanic to look over the cars. The 2001 Outback needs some exhaust work, and the front struts replaced sometime. I needed to bring back a car that day, as I had taken a bus down to pick up one of the cars. I discovered it's almost impossible to legally buy a car someplace you don't live and drive it home. I was going to buy the car, get it inspected, go to the DMV and get my plates transferred to the new car. It turns out that you can't get it inspected untill it's registered, and you can't get it registered untill you pay the property tax on it, which you can only do at your local town hall. Screwy system! Jim.

I realize that the valve cover gaskets in themselves are trivial; I just wondered what that might indicate; as with the radiator caps.... I was afraid that the new radiator caps would indicate overheating! I'd really like to know the answers to the piston slap and clutch pilot bearing questions... Is it possible to look up the previous owner of the car from the VIN number? Thanks, Jim.

Well, I went car shopping today... Had to go halfway across Maine to find a couple of inexpensive Subaru's without a *lot* of miles. I have about $2,500 to spend, and I was looking for a 95-00 Legacy wagon with less then ~150K miles. I could find a lot of ~200K+ cars in that price range. I realize this may be the bottom of the barrel to a lot of people, but hey, that's where I'm at. You don't get rich farming. The Legacies (not Outbacks) are pretty bare bones looking; I've pretty much just had Outbacks in the past. Of course me wife wants a spiffier Outback. I stopped at Bath Subaru. They had five inexpensive 'wholesale' Legacies. These are cars without any guarantees or warrantees, haven't been inspected, you can't drive them off the lot to get a mechanic to look at them, so you're kind of buying a pig in a poke. All these cars are trade-in's at this dealer, so I could find out some info about their history. But the salesmen are very closed-lipped, and don't say anything if you indicate a problem with a car; they certainly don't volunteer any information. One thing I noticed is that a number of the cars ran pretty rough at first, knocking a bit. I've noticed a lot of Subarus doing this. I've been told that it's "Piston Slap" before the engine warms up, and it's not a problem. I've heard of this before, so I'm not entirely skeptical... The other thing I noticed was that a lot of them had new looking radiator caps; I'm not sure what that means, does it indicate it blew the head gaskets and overheated? 1996 Legacy wagon silver, 131K, AT, asking $2,300, talked them down to $1,600, $2,000 with TT&DP. Seemed to drive ok, had a new fuel filter, engine looked good, no oil, etc. I noticed that it had new 'blue' valve cover gaskets. It had a small dent/scape in the front drivers side. It had had a new timing belt 15K miles ago, according to the previous owner. The top timing belt cover screw holes were broken, and the cover was held on by zip ties through the holes; but it seemed to be on securely. 2.2 Engine. This is the one the dealer said was the best of the lot, and what they were pushing. I was leaning toward this one as the best deal, but what do they know that they aren't telling me? 1998 Legacy Outback Green, 135K, ST, Leather, $3,300. The battery was dead, ran ok, but the brakes seems to be dragging, didn't roll easy in neutral and came to a stop sooner then I'd expect, either the back brakes or wheel bearings are bad. Had an extra gizmo/light on the dash, window sticker mentioned a 'panic button'. I didn't really pursue this one. 2.5 Engine. Here's the URL for an ad for it. http://www.bathsubaru.com/used/Subaru/1998-Subaru-Legacy-233fe6b30a0a0064011970e2a7c9a3a2.htm 1997 Legacy L, Green, 150K, AT, 2.2L. Ran pretty rough, with ?Piston Slap? symptom. $2,800. Drove ok. http://www.bathsubaru.com/used/Subaru/1997-Subaru-Legacy-233fc7b20a0a0064011970e2fefc71a6.htm0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DDESC%26sf1Nm%3Dlocation%26sf2Nm%3Dprice%26alMkId%3D20041%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national 1998 Legacy Green, 135K ST, $3,300. Ran pretty rough, with 'Piston Slap' symptom. Drove ok. Had new fuel filter, plug wires & ignition module. 2001 Legacy Outback Green ST 2.5l 161K (seems to be a popular color) :-) $3000 asked, I talked them down to $2,700 TT&DP. Drove ok, BUT I think it has a bad clutch 'throw-out' or pilot bearing. It whines when you press in the clutch, but not in gear. Most people would say you have to replace the clutch; kiss $500-$1000 goodbye. But what I've actually heard is that yes, it's kind of a problem; well what will happen? The clutch might wear a little faster; the bearing might self-destruct, but it's not likely to cause any more damage. The bottom line in my book is that you replace the clutch when you need to replace the clutch; don't worry about the bearing. Can this cause damage to the flywheel? That's what I'd really be worried about. The thing is it's a much nicer and newer car then the others. If I need to replace the clutch in a few months or a year I can live with that. Tires seemed to be ok on all the cars, but nothing special. When I say the car drove ok, I mean it didn't didn't bounce up and down when you put weight on the end of the car and release it; decent shocks/springs/struts. It drove straight without holding the wheel. It drove straight without holding the wheel pressing on the brakes. I don't know what else to try; I'll have to do some more research... But I really don't want to crawl under a dozen cars during the winter! No obvious rust noticed without crawling underneath on all the cars. The other cars I looked at were cars from a private mechanic who rebuilds Subarus and sells them. For instance he gets a lot of cars with head gasket problems or timing belt problems and fixes them and sells them. He does a couple dozen a year. I talked to him at length, and he will give a six month guarantee on the motors. I feel like talking to him like I'm doing better then buying a pig in a poke wholesale car from a dealer. But his cars are a little more expensive. Here's the two cars he has: 1998 Subaru Outback limited/leather, 130K 2.5L engine. Automatic. Engine has been completely re-sealed. New headgaskets, Timing belt, Water pump and T-belt tensioner. All seals and gaskets were relaced as well. New midpipe on the exhaust.Leather, Power eveything. Duel moon roofs. Heated seats. Tires are 3/4 tread all seasons. Will come with a new inspection sticker and 30 day warranty on inspection items. I take pride in my work and stand behind everything I do. Asking $3,800, He'd sell it for $3,500. http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/2160463079.html He also has a 1995 Legacy, AT, 95K, 2.2l, New rear wheel bearings, gas tank filler neck, front rotors. New Snow Tires. Timing Belt, Water Pump, Cam Seals, exhaust header. It's (you guessed it!) Green colored. He'll sell it for $2,800. The engine is spotless. (which makes me worry, what are they trying to hide? But his other car wasn't so, and obviously the engine was out/apart. ) This is an older car then I'd like, but it looks nice, and it has low miles. I figure his cars are about $1,000 more then the Bath Dealer wholesale cars on average, but they come with a lot more piece of mind. I'd really like to get another Outback, but if I can't, I'd probably settle for the cheapest Legacy. Maybe I'll ask him if he'd check out the cars at the Bath dealer for me??? He's not far away :-} Anyway, any thoughts appreciated... Thanks, Jim.

Maybe my previous Outback was a 96... It had a 2.5 DOHC that bent a valve... Jim

So my previous Subaru died tragic death! Not a traffic accident... I had bought a 1995 Subaru Outback with 225K on it for $1300 a year ago. I'm pretty much stuck in the same ballpark. I'll probably have $2500 - $3000 to spend. I'd like to get something under 200K miles; I'd like something newer then 1995, although I did really like my 1995. A couple of general questions: Is there anything good/bad about the 1995-2002 range that I should want or avoid? Any reason to buy something newer then a 1995? What is the difference between the Outback and the Legacy? My impression is that the Legacy is an older name. I'm look for a wagon model, but I see Outback/Legacy/Impreza models that looks very similar. Some are about a foot shorter in the back, and are more like a hatchback then a wagon. How will I know by name which is which? Are the 'L' models the wagons? What other submodels exist? LT? XL? XT? What different engines are there in this time period? For some reason, I don't like the Forrester; it's more like an SUV then a wagon; which is not what I want. A lot of the car ads I'm seeing have 'new head gasket', 'new water pump', 'new timing belt' etc. Is that necessarily a good thing? What that says to me is that the engine may already be half fried. What do I look for to make sure I don't end up with a half fried engine? I've already been through a timing belt failure, and want to avoid another one! Like I said, I'd like to get something with less that 200K miles. Is 200K too many miles, or will a car with 200K miles still have some miles left in it? Which is a better choice for the same money? 1995 with 150K miles or 2000 with 200K miles? I'm 50/50 on the Auto/Manual question. I'd like as good an MPG rating as possible. A trailer hitch would be nice... What other options should I look for? I don't know why anyone bothers putting PS, PB in ads any more... Anyway, these are a few of the questions I have; got any answers for me? :-) Thanks for the advice, Jim.

I guess this was a hard luck car... I had the timing belt replaced, and drove it up to Maine. It drove ok, pretty rough at idle, but ok a driving speed. I never could figure out a cost effective way to get the valves repaired (replacement engine/heads/head job) I couldn't see putting > $2,000 into the car. So I've been driving it for a year as is; kind of resigned myself to the drive it untill it dies mode. It has been a good car; I really like the Subaru Outbacks! Unfortunately, just before Christmas... (I hope this isn't a trend)... I had VIP auto put in a new alternator in it. The replacement alternator had a bad regulator, and seems to have totally fried all the electronics in the car; like the wipers came on, even though they were turned off!!! The car died, and is toast, I'm afraid. After a month at the Subaru Dealer (Stanley Subaru in Ellsworth ME) replacing the ECM, fuse box, etc etc etc, they still couldn't get it to run!!! Thankfully VIP has paid for a rental, and is paying to replace the car. So I guess I have to start looking for another (used) Subbie... :-\ I'll start another Topic on that... Thanks for all your advice! Jim.

Please bear in mind that I'm not a mechanic! Well, not since I sold my last antique VW. I like to think I'm mechanically minded and capable, but I have a full time job, and an organic farm, and a winery, and a family to run! I don't have the time! I have most of the hand tools, but none of the fancy automotive/power/air/hydraulic tools! Oh and the small matter of not having a garage, and it's winter out, with a couple feet of snow and 0 to 30 degrees F outside??? So in any case I won't be working on the car myself; unfortunately! So, most mechanics have said that when you replace the timing belt, you need to replace everything; on the other hand they also said that a broken timing belt equals a totalled engine too! I figure if I can get the parts cheap (aka importexperts on ebay); I might as well replace everything under the timing belt covers: Belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump, crank & cam seals(?) I'll save on labor, which I'll have to pay for. I'll drive it back to maine, and find someone to do a compression/leakdown test, and if necessary a valve job later. I did run into a few snags ordering the parts from importexperts, though. I ordered a timing belt kit for a 99 Subaru Outback 2.5L DOHC engine from them on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370321515921&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT#ht_2676wt_948 I also sent them an ebay-email saying that I'd like them to send the parts to Boston rather then Maine, because the mechanic and car are in Boston. They say that they have to send the parts to the Paypal address. So, my bad, I shouldn't have paid with Paypal; I guess I should have called them up and paid by credit card, then I could have told them to ship them anywhere. So then I called them on the phone to see if I could have the parts sent to Boston (I don't take 'no' for an answer very well!), and to order the matching water pump and seals for another $100. I asked them to email my a recipt/invoice. They send me a Paypal invoice that just says 'auto parts'. I email back saying I'd like a detailed invoice stating exactly what parts I'm buying, and how much each costs, and that I'll have to call and pay by credit card, because (duh! I just finished talking to you about this!) I want to have the parts sent to Boston! Their response: 'We can't be bothered'. Call my crazy, but I like to know exactly what I'm buying, especially sight unseen mail order. I'll have the mechanic buy the parts in Boston; I won't be ordering from them again! Jim.

So, should I do the water pump and (?crank & cam?) seals at the same time? Import Export says they can't send the parts I paid for on Ebay to Boston! That's an extra wrinkle that will take more time! The cam seals I suppose can be replaced if I need a valve job. Now the theory is that the car had had the timing belt changed 20K mile before, but they did not replace the pulleys, and it was a pulley that failed that caused all the problems! Is there any way I could tell if they had replaced the water pump? Thanks, Jim.

I'm sure it's easier to do the timing belt and remove the heads and do a valve job once the engine is out of the car. My problem is someone saying 'Oh it's easier to pull the engine, that will cost you an extra $500 - $1000!'. If it's *easier*, then it shouldn't cost more. If it's *necessary*, then it's necessary, and you bite the bullet and pay the bill! Someone told me it's hard to do a compression test, or even change the spark plugs with the engine in the car... Jim.