zzzasy

Thanks for the replies. I believe I have to remove the assembly as Shawn said. There is no access through the access panel. I did notice the screws that you mentioned. I feel confident that its no problem now. thanks, zzzasy 2007 Outback, retired my 1996.

How do you access the brake light bulbs in the rear of a 2007 Outback? thanks, zzzasy

hi all, I'm thinking of replacing my '98 outback with a 07 or 08 model. Is there anything I should be looking out for; like the head gasket issue with the '98 I was not aware of. Thanks, zzzasy

Having problems with my 98 OBW with a '97 engine. I have codes P0302, P0301, and P0400. While researching this, I noticed a procedure that said check the EGR valve by pushing the button. Mine is frozen; so I'm going to buy a new valve. My question is should I buy just the EGR valve or should I buy the solenoid also and maybe the BPT?

Will do! I will start checking the connectors, volts and resistance later this week. thanks, zzzasy

Hi all, I have a P0183 code which is a Fuel Temp Sensor failure. I talked to subaru parts and they said that you cannot buy the sensor; you have to replace the entire fuel pump assembly. Has anyone dealt with this problem? I found a denso assembly for $195 compared to the OE assembly which would cost me around $300. Would you do the Denso or spend the extra bucks for the OE? Also, do anyone know whether the 2.2L assemblies are the same as the 2.5L? thanks in advance zzzasy '98 Legacy Outback limited

Thank you, hopefully, I'll get a chance to do the thermo trick this weekend. If that works, does that mean that the thermo was bad? zzzasy '98 OBW

The water pump is 2 years old at the most and for about 5 months of those years the car sat without being driven or moved because of burnt cats. I believe I only paid like $30+ dollars for the pump so changing it again is not a costly venture; its just I have to do it outside in front of the house and the weather is getting to the point where that's not looking good. Since I am throwing money at the problem, which way would you throw it (BG Rad Flush or new water pump). I have been talking to a guy about the BG Rad Flush thinking the problem is clogged passages and that the pressure flush may do some good. zzzasy '98 OBW

I replaced my sensor. I believe I paid like $24 for it. The installation is very simple. It sits right up front on the drivers side near the end of the timing belt cover. Remove the two bolts, pull it out, drop the new one and replace the two bolts. That much money is a real rip off. I replaced my sensor, but that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was my belt had jump off of the proper timing. Reset my cam markings and everything was good to go. zzzasy '98 OBW

I thought if the water pump went, you would see water running from the weep hole. According to your post, the pump can be bad without any sign of running water. I will do the thermo trick at my first opportunity to see what happens. thanks, zzzasy '98 OBW

Yes, I turned the heater on and added coolant, then burped thru the upper hose. The coolant doesn't appear to be flowing throughout the engine. After driving for awhile, all the coolant ends up in the overflow reservoir. I can feel the top hose and it will be hot; while the lower hose would be cold. I have started adding antifreeze everytime I get in the car to try to keep it from overheating and causing a major problem. I had a compression test done, in which I was told everything was within specs, so he doesn't believe its a headgasket. I hate to keep throwing money at this engine if in the end I'm going to need a new engine anyway. Also, if I did purchase the recommended reman from Colorado, could I expect to get at least 3 years out of the engine without these kinds of problems? I have had the car three years and every year its the same old sh--. I like the car and would be willing to invest the $3500 to have a new engine installed, if I knew it would be good for at least three years. But, with my experience with this car, I don't know if I can expect that. Especially, when the newer cars are failing at around 60,000 miles. The engine in the car now is a used engine I had to buy on the highway because I cracked a block on the other during my X-mas vacation. The engine has been in the car almost a year. zzzasy '98 OBW zzzasy '98 OBW

Replaced the radiator. Still have the same problem. As a matter of fact, its getting worse. So, I have changed the radiator and thermo. I added a lot of stop leak to system in the past (now I have been educated on Stop Leak, but I believe its a little too late), so I'm beginning to believe that I have clogged some passages in the engine. If this is the case, does that mean the engine is hosed? I'm going to go for a BG flush and hope it breaks down the gunk, if that's what it is. Any suggestions are appreciated. At the rate its running hot now, if I don't find a fix soon, I will end up blowing/cracking this engine also. zzzasy '98 OBW

So, what do you think I should do? Buy a new rad or pay for a power flush? I believe I can get a new rad for around the same price of a power flush, but if the water jackets are clogged inside the inside the engine; wouldn't a power flush push it out. zzzasy

Thanks, I will double check the fans, but when I flushed the coolant, I let it run to operating temp and the fans came on. The fans kick on immediately when the air conditioning turned on. I put a lot of stop leak in the rad in the past thinking I had a HG problem, but I didn't. Could the amount of stop leak I used clogged the rad. When I flushed the rad, the water ran thru fine. zzzasy '98 outback limited

Fans are working fine. I removed the rad top and left it off for about 30 minutes hoping it would burp the air. What is the best way to burp the air? Also, when I'm running the air conditioner, I can tell when the temp gauge has gone up, because the cool air from the air conditioning turns warm. When I move again, the air turns cool immediately. zzzasy '98 outback limited

Hello, I've been fighting this problem for a little while now. When I'm in traffic and the car is not moving or moving very slow, the temp gauge will raise near the overheating mark. It hasn't overheated, but it will go close to the mark and as soon as I start moving, it will level off to normal. I replaced the thermostat, but it is still doing the same thing. What are your thoughts? Should I throw money at an radiator and how that fixes the problem? BTW, the headgasket doesn't seem to be having a problem because there is no oil in the anti. zzzasy '98 outback limited wagon 2.5ltr

Hi all, thanks for all the help. I'm going to put this thread on hold until the weather breaks because I cannot followup on your suggestions right now. When the weather breaks, I will start by removing the timing covers and try to reset the timing. At that point, I wil bring this thread out of the mottballs and seek your advice and help. thanks, curtis

Re: Why no one talks about rebuilding a motor nipper To began my saga, near the end of summer I drove the car to work one morning; everything was fine. When I got off, I drove the car and it didn't want to run right. (I need to mention that before this my CEL would blink occasionally which I think meant it was dumping fuel). It kept sputtering, and shaking and wouldn't go over 40. I called a mechanic and asked him if he thought it would be a problem driving it home (about 40 miles). He said if its not running hot it shouldn't be a problem. Since it never ran hot, I drove it the 40 miles home with the petal to the floor which netted 40 mph. I looked under the car when I got home and the cats were red hot. I replaced the cats and 02 sensors with aftermarkets. After replacing the cats the car ran fine when cold. When it reached operating temps, it still acted sort of the same as it did with the clogged cats, but it would run faster for longer than the case with the clogged cats. It threw a camshaft position sensor code. Not paying close enough attention, I replaced the crankshaft position sensor. Cleared the codes and this time it came back with a knock sensor code. I replaced the knock sensor and it threw the camshaft position sensor code. I replaced the camshaft position sensor, but the code kept coming back. I decided to let the dealer tell me what the problem was so I could fix. Dealer said he wanted $495 to diagnose the camshaft position CEL. I picked the car and its sitting in my parking space until the weather break so I can pull the timing covers and see what's going on under there. To answer your questions nipper: 1. What did you replace? cats/o2s/camshaft position sensor/knock sensor/crankshaft position sensor 2. What are your symptoms? car runs fine when cold; when it reaches operating temp it starts cutting out; it will hesistate, pickup a little then hesistate again. 3. When does it occurs? after reaching operating temp 4. What engine is in the car? The engine is a used '97 that was put in X-mas before last when the car broke down during X-mas vacation 5. How many miles? around 102, 000 on car. Supposely 65,000 on engine. 6. What transmission? 5 speed manual 7. any codes? same code camshaft position sensor Let me know if you need more info. Like I mentioned earlier, I really need the weather to break before I can do a lot of work to car. Its outside in front of my townhouse. zzzasy '98 OBW

I do most of my work myself; so I don't really know any trusted shops. That's why I took the car to dealership when I couldn't figure it out. The dealership wanted $495 just to diagnose why the camshaft position sensor CEL is on. That's not to fix anything; That's what they want just to take a look. Wish I did know where I could take it and not get ripped. I'll play with it until I either fix it or accidentally drop a lit match down the gas shoot. zzzasy '98 OBW

I don't think the block is gone, because I'm not hearing any knocking noises or anything like that. Its only the cutting out like lack of fuel. I think the problem is either timing, sensor, or computer. As soon as the weather breaks, I will remove the timing covers and start with resetting the timing and move on from there. I was thinking about replacing the engine because I thought that might end up being cheaper than throwing money at a problem that I haven't been able to figure out yet (I have already replaced three sensors--they were cheap). Then, someone mentioned that replacing the motor might not solve the problem. That never crossed my mind, because I figured it as a top end problem in which the top end of the new motor would be new. But with the help of the forum, I will figure this motor out before moving on to another one. zzzasy '98 OBW

When I was talking about rebuilding a engine, I was not talking about doing the machine work myself. I was thinking, if I already have the engine pulled, I should be able to drop the heads off at the machine shop and get them done for $500 to 650. And get the bottom end done for somewhere around $800 to $900. I don't know if these prices are realistic, but its alot less than $2895. I'm I that far off base. zzzasy '98 OBW

Thanks for the info. As soon as the snow leave and the weather gets better I will get the technical flow instructions from the official manual and play around with the timing issue. Question; I do believe I read on the forum that there is not need to use a compression tool to find TDC when doing timing. You only need to concentrate on matching the timing marks. Is this correct? zzzasy '98 OBW

I'm not having any overheating problems. If that sensor was bad wouldn't the fan not come on the car start to overheat. I changed the coolant temp sensor last summer. I will double check it because I did screw up the connector when I tried to take it apart. zzzasy '98 OBW

both are new bosch units. Plus, wouldn't it give a sensor code if they were bad?

I was thinking about replacing the engine, but if its the ECU that would be a waste of money. Is there a way to have the ECU tested?