the_bard

I'd suggest a dusting... c'mon, you'd gain 10 HP just from removin' all that extra weight

I can't resist the urge to play devil's advocate. The dealer I bought my '97 OBW followed this same theory... he replaced the entire engine twice (yeah, twice ). I managed to talk him into swapping an EJ22 into it at the end of all this, frustrated by the supposedly constantly failing headgaskets. He knew the original engine had bad hg's, and suspected the replacement engine had a bad set, too, and focused on just that, not suspecting that the clogged radiator was causing the engine to overheat and blowing the hg(s). At which point he'd "tunnel vision" on the symptoms of the blown hg and blame the replacement engine. I pulled the radiator myself, and found it chock-full of deposits (tipped it upside down, a chunk the size of my thumb fell out. Fun stuff). This is after repeatedly asking the dealer if he checked the radiator. So in my case, replacing the radiator would've fixed the cause of the problem (though we probably would've ended up doing the headgaskets again anyway, since in the process of diagnosing the bad radiator we probably would've toasted the hg's again). If the car's got a lot of miles/wear on it, swapping the radiator & etc. might be a good idea as a preventive maintenance. Even if they're not the cause of the overheating problem, replacing them might prevent an overheating problem in the future. 'Course, if you don't plan on keeping the car around for as long as possible (unlike me) , or you don't have enough money to keep throwing at it (like me, thankfully the dealer covered the replacements under the warranty implied with the car purchase), then you get to play diagnostics... Good advice. Cheap & easy-to-replace parts are a good place to start. And like I said above, we toasted the second engine in my '97 OBW since the dealer refused to diagnose the clogged radiator. Don't keep overheating it. I imagine things like seals, piston rings, bearings aren't going to like being repeatedly overheated.

For what it's worth, I'm going to be buying some POR-15 and going over our OBW's this summer. My '97 needs a few touch-ups here and there underneath, and the wife's '00 has a quite a bit of surface rust on various components (once again, all underbody). I've heard good things about POR-15, and it sure beats my dad's method (spraying old motor oil over the underbody, then running down a dusty road...)

Know what year the 2.2 was from?

"...(measured by the seat of my pants; standard disclaimer applies)..." should let you know that I haven't taken it down to the track to log my 0-60 and my 1/4 mile time/speed .

I gotta disagree, too. I ended up swapping out the 2.5L in my '97 OBW for a '95 2.2L. I've noticed a bit less oomph (measured by the seat of my pants; standard disclaimer applies) out on the highway at speed, but not enough to bother me. My wife's '00 OBW 2.5L with an auto tranny seemed to perform about the same as the '97 preswap. Now, it's got that edge passing on the highway, but that's it. Granted, both of the wagons aren't speed demons... but they're wagons. I ain't planning on racing 'em. Can't say I've looked at the fancy amenities available in those older Legacies, but I'm the type of guy who thinks the '78 Ford F250 Custom sitting back on my parent's place has enough "creature comforts" to keep me happy. So I'd recommend the same... '90 through '96 Legacy, or '97 or '98 Outback Wagon. Keep an eye out for the headgasket issues on the 2.5L's in the Outbacks, and you should be fine.

You betcha. After the 2.2L swap, we drove it home, without it acting up (of course). Took it for a really short drive the next day, the temp. gauge started to rise just as I pulled into the parking lot in front of the apartment. I pulled the radiator a few days later, tipped it upside down, and a load of mineral deposits fell out. Not good. I swapped the radiator soon after that, and I haven't had a problem since. I'd wonder about the tensioner bit, too. We just had the one replaced on my wife's 2000 OBW while it was in for the warranty work (getting that driver's side headgasket replaced - external leak). I had originally misdiagnosed it as pistion slap, since it would sound like "a dozen walnuts simultaneously and constantly being bounced off a thin wooden board". After warming up the engine, the sound would disappear. Dealer caught it, replaced the tensioner (for a charge, obviously), and the noise disappeared. Apparently the tensioner was failing to take up the slack in the belt when cold, allowing the belt to slap, causing the noise. Allowing the engine to warm up also allowed the oil in the tensioner to warm up, presumably allowing the tensioner to start functioning properly and put tension on the belt, preventing/reducing the slap. Going from that experience, if the timing belt was that loose (since the tensioner wasn't functioning), you'd be able to hear something along the same lines (since the belt should be slapping around a bit). Especially if it's so loose that it won't turn the water pump. That's just my two cents, though, and the standard disclaimer applies.

I think he's trying to drag this concept (of overheating causing headgasket failure) out in the open a bit more. I've noticed a tendency to simply reply "Headgasket blown" when somebody says their Subie is overheating and has the symptoms of a blown HG. Heck, the used car dealer that I bought my '97 OBW did the same thing. He bought it from auction, discovered it overheated consistently and had all the symptoms of a blown headgasket. So he swapped the headgasket, water pump, etc. Everything except the radiator, which was clogged as all heck - http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=51689. So this guy went through two EJ25 engines (finally swapping in a 2.2 at my request), simply 'cause he was too obstinate to pull the radiator (I asked him repeatedly, he glazed over it, saying he "checked it out". My arse he did. I won't be bringing anything back to him).

Wasn't much... I knew NY had the reg's posted, so I thought PA might have 'em too. A quick Google search later...

Straight from the horse's mouth... http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/pub_45/section_e.pdf Other related legalese and gobblydeegook can be found at: http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/inspections/pub_45.shtml FAQ and a couple other links: http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/inspections/safety.shtml

I'll probably hit at least Pennsburg, then. I'd love to find some heated break-away side mirrors that I can slap on my '97 OBW, along with some miscellaneous trim and other tidbits. The wife would probably be interested in tidbits for her '00 OBW, too. If anyone else is gonna the other locations, give a holler and an idea of what time, and I'll stop by there too. Right now, things are looking kinda lonely

Description of Magnetic Variation on Wikipedia. Rough Visualization. Now if I remember one of my flight instructor's side comments correctly, the frame of the car, electricity flowing through nearby wires, or anything else that can generate or alter a magnetic field can interfere with the compass. So if the compass seems really off, I'd start searching for interference. I want to say my flight instructor said the compass had to be adjusted when it was installed in the aircraft, adjusting for any interference the other equipment/design of the aircraft. I doubt it could've been more than a few degrees, so I don't think you're gonna notice/complain about it in the car. A few thousand feet up, though...

Try looking here http://www.cars101.com/subaru_svx.html

Alrighty, you audiophiles... that "how do I make the stock speakers sound better?" thread got me thinking. I like the weather band radio on the cassette deck that's original in my '97 OBW. It's one of those features that comes in handy only once in a great while, but when you need it, you're really glad it's there. On the other hand, I really want a CD player, and I'd like to go with a HD radio tuner, if possible (assuming I manage to find a boatload of cash somewhere in the near future, not likely). Seein' as I have yet to find a deck with the CD player, HD tuner, and weatherband all built-in, I'm hoping there's a way I could install a second deck that has all the features except the weatherband, so that it plays in conjunction with the original deck. Is there any way to set that configuration up?

Anybody interested in making a Harry's run in mid-April? I'm going to be in the area from April 19th through the 23, mostly driving back and forth between Philadelphia, PA and Elmira, NY. I figured I'd hit the yard on the 22nd, since the wife's expecting to be heading home on the 23rd. I had made a previous thread in the Wanted section, but Moosens thinks this might be a good time to get a group meet & greet together (sounds good to me). He was sounding like he wanted to hit Pine Barrens on Sunday, too. Anyone wanna get together around this time?

I second all of that. Nipper pretty well covers it too. Like Olnick on the tranny bind, I wouldn't consider a headgasket not being swapped out crucial. Even if the headgasket(s) is/are blown, I wouldn't let it go. I ended up picking my '97 OBW knowing that the previous engine had blown a set of headgaskets. End result, I cooked the next EJ25 the dealer put in within two months or so, and I had him replace it with a '95 EJ22. All under warranty. Original cause was a clogged radiator, which I replaced myself. Paid $4,000 US for the car, so I figure I made out.

I second that. As a comparison... I picked up my wife's 2000 Legacy Outback with 93k miles, auto tranny, in generally good condition for $8,500.

The '97 EJ25 (Phase 1) is known for having issues with internal headgasket leaks. It's also an interference engine, so if you lose the timing belt, it chews itself up (well, not really, but you've got a lot of work in front of you, regardless). The '95 EJ22 doesn't have those headgasket issues, and it's a noninterference engine. I've noticed a bit of a power loss, but the way I drive, I'll never notice it.

I do believe it's time to get out of the computer repair business and into supplying tires for WJM... job security right there

Is this gonna be a weekend type of thing, or just one day? I can make Sundays, but I gotta work Saturdays.

I'd say give it a go... I've had mine in and out several times within the last couple weeks, trying to troubleshoot a bad heater circuit ECU code even after replacing the O2 sensor. I used a good sized 1/2" drive breaker bar, and that fancy slotted offset O2 sensor socket. Probably spent $20 on those down at Advance Autoparts. It's kinda hard to get to the O2 sensor from below, so I went in from above. Take the air intake hose off, and it's fairly easy to get to. You gotta go by touch though, 'cause your view is blocked (by the axle, if I remember right). Try reaching down there while the engine's cold to get an idea of where you gotta be, then run the engine for a few minutes to heat the exhaust up, and have a go at it.

I was just trying out those "sour grapes"

Don't forget to check the radiator, too. Just because the headgaskets are leaking doesn't mean they're the cause of the overheating... they could be a symptom. I went through h3!! and back, dealing with the used car dealer I got my '97 OBW from. It wouldn't stop overheating, and consequently toasting headgaskets. Two engine swaps and a lot of fuss later, I ended up swapping the radiator out myself. The old radiator had chunks of mineral deposits falling out of it when I tipped it upside down.

How're the impact sensors for the airbags gonna handle the difference in bumpers? That's my only concern with going to a heftier bumper... the last thing I need is an insurance company bringing their guns to bear on me 'cause I get into an accident and the airbags don't deploy or deploy too early, and they use it as an excuse...

Check the marketplace forums and do a search for ea ej adapter plate. Someone out in the Pacific NW has got an adapter plate available to mount an EJ engine up to an EA tranny... for the exact purpose you're mentioning (getting D/R 4wd in a newer body style without having to go overseas). If'n I remember right, there was quite a discussion about the details...