FLAcharlie

I'm on my 3d Subaru. First '90 Legacy wagon went to my daughter and was recently retired at 240k miles. OK, The 95 or so Impreza that I got the wife had really bad luck getting backed into in parking lots, the final mileage wasn't spectacular, probably not its fault. My current '97 Outback wagon has 160k miles on it and going strong. Just took a job where I'll be commuting 180mi/day (did that for 10 months a year or so ago). My question for the group is, I'm inclined to stick with Subies for this gig, but are there any other recommendations for cars that can make it to 200, 300, 400k miles ? Diesels maybe (I know they're traditionally more expensive to maintain ?) ? Thankx.

FWIW, I put a K&N in my '97 OB maybe 30k miles ago and am happy with it, no rattle for me. I did find it a little tricky getting it in there and closed up nice and tight.

Thanks for this very useful info, gives me some things to check. However at low speeds ( < 76mph ) I don't detect this noise at all. I also don't detect any oil leaks anywhere. It hasn't been in the shop in 30k miles though, and is otherwise in fine shape, so I guess I will take it in to the dealer here for their opinion. By the way, I've tried two dealers down here, one in Jacksonville, which I like very much and another in Gainesville. That one is also a Dodge dealer, and while I have nothing against Dodges, I would prefer to go with one that specializes in Subarus. When I tell people about why I like Subarus, it usually includes a testimonial of how much I have liked the Subaru dealers over the years. My daughter is still driving my '90 Legacy wagon with 240k on it BTW. Thanks again !

I too (97 OB) discovered the old Michelins are not to be had anymore. I was told the logical replacement is the Michelin 95S Harmony series (P205/70 R 15 I guess). However, these do NOT have the raised white lettering, if that is what you mean to get.

hmmm. I know nothing about such a beast, can you tell me more ? likelihood of complete failure ? or just noisy ? is the timing belt at risk ? if it is that, how much of a job to deal with it ? thanx !

Interesting idea, I'll bear that in mind. Unfortunately, while it does seem it is running better on 89 gas, this morning I did hear the noise again, so the 89 gas did NOT make it go away, so maybe it is bearing knock and not preignition knock. I spent some time searching the board, and I guess now my concern would be the oil pump. Since the noise seems to start when I am "pushing" it (like 80mph), perhaps the oil pressure is low at that point. At 150k miles and with pretty hard driving I wouldn't be surprised to need a new oil pump.

> Do you mean a knock as in bearing knock or knock as in preignition or pinging? Gee, I dunno how to tell the diff. I had rather expected the noise was valve-related, hence my interest in the solid lifter maint issue, but then it occured to me to try some 89 gas to see if it made a difference, and I believe it does, so that means a knock issue it would seem. It's definitely not there in lower speeds. In fact, say I'm going 78mph and I notice the noise, if I slow up just a tad (say to 76) it will go away. If I then speed up the noise will likely return, and it stays there until I slow down. But I havent noticed it with the 89 gas.

This is the solid lifter maintenance that lots of dealers who don't have the special tool don't want to do, and claim they have to pull the engine to do it, the maint that should normally run around $400 or so including new valve cover gaskets. Every 62k ? I thought I saw where it was recommended at 105k.

My 97 OB 2.5L with 150,000 miles on it seems to have developed a knock over the last 20k miles or so. This specific symptom seems to only be evident starting around 80mph. I have tried switching from 87 to 89 gas and I believe this definitely helps. Some more background: This car is driven hard, due to a daily commute of 180miles. Half of the drive is around 65mph, the other half 75-80mph. It had the "major maint" service done on it about 30k miles ago (April '04). My question is two-fold: a) as far as I know this car has never had the "solid lifter maintenance" done on it. Is it too late to do that at 150k ? (maybe valves already damaged or something) Or is this still worth doing ? any tips on the engine knocking (and whether related to the solid lifter maint question) ? Other than the knocking, it runs great. I switched to Castrol high mileage oil about 4 oil changes ago (I do them myself every 3 weeks), and that helped A LOT. Must have cleaned out all kinds of crud or something, because it seems like it runs like it did a couple years ago. Also, I have had the K&N air filter in there for maybe 25k miles or so, I noticed a significant positive difference after putting it in.

FWIW, I recently switched from "ordinary" oil to Castrol "high mileage" (Quaker&Pennzoil make it too) oil in my '97 2.5L OB with 145,000 miles and am delighted with the results. Can take it to higher RPMs than I have been able to in a long time and it accelerates much better. Going thru very little oil between changes, maybe 1/2 qt instead of 1 1/2 qt. Slippery stuff.

This has been a fascinating thread for me, as I was just contemplating this service soon. My '97 Outback is at 144,000 and is under severe service as I drive 185 miles/day from a crummy job situation. I've been doing this drive for nearly a year, so quickly scrapped JiffyLube (I USED to have the dealer do it, but when every 3 weeks couldnt really keep that up) in favor of changing the oil myself, which I found to be extremely convenient on the Outback. By the way, a few oil changes ago (they're about every 3 weeks now), I switched to Castrol high-mileage oil and have found it to be quite remarkably better. It must have cleaned out deposits in the engine or something, the car accelerates MUCH better and I can easily take it to 3500RPM in low gears which I could not, or would not, do before. Engine is burning maybe 1/2 quart between changes with this oil, with "ordinary" oil, it was more like 1 1/2 quarts. I check it every day. Half of my route is major highway, so 80mph. At about that speed, maybe 75, I often get something that sounds like it could be valve-related, a tapping noise from the engine. When I slow down a tad it goes away. Is this an indication that I do need this solid lifter maintenance or is it something else? Just found this message board, it is excellent !