Gnuman

No, only one of those answers is dumb. "I do not know the answer right off hand, but I can find it" is always the best answer to a question you do not know the answer to. . .

Well, everything but the head gasket. . . Seriously, I'm a lot more confidant in whatever kind of weather when I'm driving my Subaru, than I am driving anything else. . .

I seriously doubt it (sorry for the pun). . .

Actually, they have a new head gasket available that improves reliability of the DOHC EJ25's . Also the incidence of head gasket failure is over-represented in a forum like this one, as those that do not have the problem do not speak out on it. That said, I would go for anything '99 and up in the Forester line. Find one you like, and grab it. We will help you keep it in top form after. . .

The stealership I went to a couple of times is a combination Ford/Subaru dealership. . . The times I have been in the service area I have counted 3x the Fords as Subarus. . . I suspect that the Roos were in there for Scheduled Maint. . . .

First off, congrats on the baby. No one has said this yet, which I find to be unforgivable. (OK, perhaps I'm an old softie) so is the smoke coming from under the hood, the tailpipe, or both? we still have not gotten that cleared up. As for the oil under the valve covers, clean that off, and see if it returns. It may be that the covers were replaced and they were just sloppy enough to leave the old dirt on there (Perhaps I'm just picky about reapirs done to my car too. . .). If the oil returns, you know that you need gaskets. Was the car sold "As Is" or did they give you any kind of warranty? If they gave you a warranty, get the shop to replace the gaskets. If not, do you have the tools and expertise to do this? Parts are a lot cheaper on Subarus than labor. . . (don't ask me why, I find them easy to work on). Oh, and annother thing we have neglected: Welcome to the forum and to the world of Subarus!

70=2750 75=2900 80=3100 I just changed the tires though from ones that were not "factory size" (p195-70R14, instead of p185-70R14) so these numbers may change. . . Or perhaps I will actually be going those speeds now. . . The speedo seems to run a few MPH high, based on the number of times I get passed at a particular speed, compared to the same speed in other cars. . . (comparison is between 3 cars: the Subie, a Dodge Caravan, and a Saturn SL1. The Caravan and the Saturn seem to agree, so the Subie is the odd one out. . .)

You know, I'll bet he only had to be told once. . .

Not sure about the Outback hood, I'm pretty sure any 5MT tranny will fit from 90 to 97 at least. AWD is in the tranny, not the engine, so be sure you get an AWD tranny is all. Check in the Offroad Forum (on this same site) for lift kits for this car. I'd suspect there are more people there that know about that than here.

I would buy the car. You would not be able to get half the car for twice the money. As far as safety goes, the biggest safety issue with this car in the hands of a 17 year old is testosterone poisoning. The SVX is a lot of car, treat it with respect and it will do well for you. Go easy on the throttle and live longer. . . (sorry for the soapbox, but I see too many crosses along the side of the road belonging to kids that were handed way more car than they knew how to handle, and thought that a fast car negated simple physics. . .) Remember, Death is not behind you. You cannot outrum Him. He is waiting for you around that bend that you just took way too fast to react to anything that may happen. . . Put simply, do not drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly. . . Other than that, have fun with the car. THe SVX is expensive mostly in the way of parts, as they were a limited production car, and therefore a bit rare. Because of that there are not a lot of parts sitting on the shelves of parts houses waiting to be sold. This makes them more expensive. The engineering of this car is sound, however, and you can learn to fix it very easily yourself.

They are on the top right side of the transmission. Click on the link above for a thread that has pictures (or links to them at least)

92 Legacy wagon, EJ22, 5MT, I tried this last night to see while on the way home: Speedo reading 70MPH, Tach sitting at 2750. Not sure how accurate the speedo is though, so I'll put the tach at 3K this afternoon and post the speed when I return. . .

That sounds pretty much like a knock sensor issue. Do a search for that for more info. . .

Nice site. . .too bad they only go back as far as 95 for the Legacy. . .Us 89-94 guys are out of luck it seems. . . .

LA. . .Hmmmm. . .That'd be a days drive to go down there (assuming that you do not want to do the job yourself). . . I've got a kid of my own, and I know how fast a todler can be. . . I''l have to assume the kid did this while the car was parked and he got in to do this. Otherwise what was he doing in the front seat in the first place? Airbags can kill kids when they go off, if anything were to happen. . . OK, I'm off the soapbox now. . . (I think. . .) It is about an hours worth of work if you are good with tools to pull the tape deck and fish the coins out of it, than reinstall the unit. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, have a good car audio place do the work for you, or PM me and we can work out a fee for me to drive down (I'm near SF) and do it. As for the lights, that is more work, as I would have to take the unit completely apart to get at the faceplate lights, which may or may not be replaceable (well, without surgury).

And all over everything under the car. . . Helluva mess to clean up. The EJ22 engine you have in that car is very reliable, and does not have the Head Gasket Problem that you have heard about. That is the early models of the EJ25 engine (2.5L). The first model had internal leaks that caused big problems, and the second model had external leaks that caused smaller problems, but was still bad. IIRC they are using a third generation EJ25 in theier new cars. All of us are looking closely at those engines to see if Subaru has finally fixed this problem (well, at least I am. . .). Now where, exactly is it smoking? The thread title says under the hood (smoke coming up from around the front of the car), while your post only talks about the smoke coming from the tailpipe (which is white, indicating burning moisture). From the indications you have given, it may have been let to overheat badly enough to warp the heads allowing coolant weepage into the combustion chamber. From what you have said, I'm not sure the guy that sold it to you was being entirely straight up with you. If it smoked right from the start, he would have noticed, and had it checked out (well, I would have), and finding the problem he may have just wanted to unload it on some unsuspecting buyer (have you noticed that I do not trust dealerships at all?). . . I would go over that car with a fine toothed comb, to be sure that everything is as it should be. On the plus side, you have a car that with proper care, will give you many many years of excelent service. If you watch this forum you will see many people that have over 250,000 miles on thier cars (with that engine). I only have 150,000, so mine is just getting to be broken in. . .drives like new.

Yes the bar has to come out. Yes you have to remove the blower and condenser. a Haynes manual (#80100) will detail the steps for this. the text says: 1 disconnect the battery cable 2 drain cooling system 3 disconnect both inlet and outlet hoses from heater pipes at firewall 4 disconnect temprature control cable from the heater unit (has an illustration) 5 refer to chapter 5 and remove the center console and instrument panel from vehicle. Also remove the support beam from behind the instrument panel. 6 detach the heater duct between the heater unit and blower assy 7 remove A/C evaporator (if equipped) 8 remove bolts and lift heater unit from vehicle (Illustration and note to keep towels under you to protect the carpet) 9 remove the screws retaining the clamps over the core pipes on the core housing 10 Buy the Haynes manual for $15 as it can be a good friend when you need it

I would go with the 5MT, generally more reliable, and better in slippery stuff (you control how much power is put to the wheels, not the car). coloradosubarules, why does the manual limit the top speed more than an automatic? As for shifting all the time, the powerband on a Subaru (well at least the EJ22 engine, and I suspect that it is even better on an EJ25T) is so wide that shifting is massively reduced. You get power a lot lower in the RPM range, and it goes on up to redline. (I suspect it could go past that if the ECU didn't stop the ignition at that speed to protect the engine (or that is what I'm guessing happens)) With a 5MT you get a lot better performance, better milage (choose one ), and better reliablity. More to the point of the question posed by this thread, I trust the AWD system in the 5MT more than the electronic one in the auto. . .

Rudy, SAW (the shop you saw) is a great shop and they will try very hard to do well by you (I've used them before). If you need any help, I'm close by and can be called upon to help (check your private messages for my contact info). Also there is a "Meet&Greet" at the Barnes&Nobel in the El Cerrito Plaza for Bay Area (or anyone willing to drive the distance) USMB members next Saturday (the 15th). Several of us plan on being there. Come on down and meet a bunch of us! If your flywheel is at all chewed up, contact me, as I can help you get a new one in there (I've pulled a few trannies in my day. . .)

unverviking, have you considered putting an EJ22 in that bug? Talk about a sleeper. . .

There is a reason for that hole, and yes, you need it. Better to just get a new Subaru T-stat with the hole, so burping will actually work. . . . The method for burping the cooling system has been posted several times here, do a forum search for "burp the cooling system" and you should find it easily.

They are between the steering column and the console, often just under the trim that goes around the bottom of the column (sometimes just clear of it). when you connect the cables (or disconnect them if they are connected), you will get a series of long and short flashes of the Check Engine Light (CEL). The long flashes are the tens digits (count them to get the number), and the short ones are the ones digits. This will only happen, however, if there is a condition that turns on the CEL in the first place. If there is no CEL, then the Engine Control Unit is not detecting a problem, and this procedure is of little use to you. (the the best of my knoledge, doen anyone know any differently?)

Simple actually, and without extra tools: turn it until it starts to pour oil (with the drain pan under it), and then remove your hand and let the oil slop down the sides of the filter and into the pan. When it is down to a trickle, you only need your fingertips to turn it until it drops off into the grate at the top of the pan. Turn it upside down and let the whole thing finish dripping, then pick up the filter with a paper towel (or disposable shop rag), and put it in the box the new one came in. Ron has a good meathod too. but I found it hard to swing the hammer under there with the wheels on the ground. Plus, every time I tried that method, ai got oil all over the place as I did not get the pan under before the oil drained on the floor. . .

Getting back on the topic at hand: Given those conditions, I would go to a local indie mechanic and keep an eye on them. Heck, I'd be tempted to make a tent out of a large tarp, and put a heater next to you while you work (tarp goes over the hood, onto the roof, held down with bunjee cords there, and with large weights behind you) Heck, you could use the engine for a heater, an oil change is supposed to be done with the engine warm. . .

Baymtnman, Which dealer? I need to know as I live (very) near you, and I want to know who to stay far away from. Also, email me to arrange a time when I can take a look at your brakes. from those measurements, it looks like the caliper pins are sticking. The terrain you are in is also fairly dangerous without brakes that work correctly, and you will find me to be very picky about brakes and steering in particular. That any shop allowed two cars to leave with this kind of wear pattern sickens me. BTW, I do not think (without looking at it myself first, that you need the entire system replaced. Those measurements indicate that the calipers are not "floating" freely to allow both of the pads to be used (the inboard pad is doing 90% of the work, as that is where the piston is). This may be correctable, but I have to see the brakes to make that determination. On a side note, there is a Bay Area Meet and Greet in El Cerrito next Saturday (the 15th). You can meet several of us in person then.