Gentz

Sorry about that it is a 2006 H6 LL Bean Outback. Actually KBB says something more than $13k. Could never justify paying that much for a car with that much mileage on it.

Thanks for all the input. My first thought was that the price was significantly higher than it ought to be. So what would a fair price be for this car?

I am looking at a 3.0R Outback with 161k miles. The asking price is almost $11k but it is loaded and in great cosmetic condition. It has a clean 1 owner carfax with outstanding maintenance documentation. Documents show regular oil changes and other work at one major dealer up to this point. My question is: can I expect to realistically get 260k miles without major service on this engine? Also, is this a reasonable price?

Excellent.... Thank you very much. Close enough to the same as mine, so must be the correct length. Oh well, engine is just burning oil cause it has a lot of wear. Maybe I will try Seafoam before my next oil change in case something is stuck but I don't expect it will make any difference.

I am definitely going to check that next oil change. Meanwhile anyone with a 99 - 2003 2.5L SOHC Forester out there who can go pull the dipstick and measure its overall length?

Thanks John and Qman. Excellent link to the opposed forces site too. The problem is that I bought this vehicle very cheap with known engine issues at a salvage lot. No known history and so things like the dipstick could have been swapped around. I guess its pretty unlikely that it would have gotten one from an STI though. I have done quite a bit of work getting it running very well now but still burning oil. It occurred to me that this could be a possible explanation since it seems significantly worse after I have topped it up. Still... if anyone can verify that the correct length for the 1999 - 2003 2.5 SOHC (non-sti) engine is 20.5" (52cm) that would completely eliminate the possibility.

Thank you sir! I appreciate that. It is actually shorter than the one in my 1999. Mine measures 52cm overall. (~20.5") So there is some variation from year to year and engine to engine. Meaning it *is* possible that the stick in my engine is not correct for it. Anyone else? Measurement from a 1999 - 2003 greatly appreciated.

Could someone please just measure the length tip to tip including the handle? 1999 to 2003 SOHC Forester.

What is the correct length of the metal part of the dipstick on a 1999 SOHC 2.5L Forester? (From bottom tip to bottom of shoulder of plastic stopper.) I purchased a used high mileage Forester and if I fill to just about half way between the marks when warm, it burns oil quickly until it gets down about 1 quart then oil consumption seems to slow to a relatively normal rate. (When I say quickly I mean about 1 quart in 400 miles.) I had another used car at one time that had a dipstick which was shorter than correct for the year it was in (PO replaced it with the wrong length) and I am wondering if my Forester has the same problem. If it is too short then I am overfilling every time.

Did not realize they went to throttle by wire in 2005. You sure?

hmmm... Yes engine management, but not bogging down. More like no increase in fuel for a couple of seconds. That's a !very! long time to be sitting still when you are trying to get out of the way of an 18 wheeler that "came out of nowhere". I do not normally drive by snapping the accelerator to the floor but there are times when it is critical to be able to do this and get some kind of a response. This is definitely not a normal type of response to throttle. Maybe it is not getting a signal or the correct signal from the TPS or MAF? I have also seen some theories that it might be the knock sensor but that just does not seem likely to me.

The hesitation that I am talking about is from a stop only and pushing the accelerator down hard and then having nothing happen for 2 - 3 seconds. Then after the 2 - 3 second delay strong normal-feeling acceleration. The 2000 Outback did it from brand new with approximately 600 miles. The 2006 had about 100k on the ODO.

I previously owned a 2000 model Outback with 2.5L engine and auto trans. This car had a serious but intermittent problem with hesitation off the line from a stop, usually only when I really needed to get out of the way. I have since sold the car and never got any codes off of it. Recently I test drove a 2006 2.5L Outback with auto at a Subaru dealer which did the same thing from every stop. What is the reason for this? I know that this has come up on forums many times in the past and I have seen many opinions but is there a single definitive answer yet? My present 1999 Forester does not have this problem although it is old and tired and has other problems. I am looking at purchasing a newer vehicle and the answers to my above questions will probably effect my purchasing decision.

After doing my HG, I put in a bottle of the miracle cure during the fluids refill. Seems to have helped but has not yet completely solved my problem. Still slips some in the 1st to 2nd shift when cold. Its only been about 200 miles so we will see how it goes.

Dealer here does not stock the wrist pin clips but they can order them for me at $2 each and it will take several days plus drive 20 miles across town again to get them. But, I have inspected the clips carefully with magnification and I think they are ok. I believe that I must have unseated the clip while I was looking at the piston outside the engine or there was some kind of trash in the grove that caused it not to seat well. I cleaned it all and checked while tapping on the wrist pin outside the engine and it was holding fine. So put it in the engine with the old clips and everything is fine the second time. Qman thanks for your generous offer but not necessary.