Grimmreaper

I do not rember what the code was, only that it was an indicator for an o2 sensor or catylytic converter. I will have to look it up later on tonight when I get home.

Hi there I have a 97 Outback with 165,000 miles on it. I had the blown headgasket problem and replaced the heads, water pump, radiator, seals, gaskets, thermostat, and plugs. I have been driving for about a year and a half and the only trouble I have had was that the check engine light came on, however no one seems to know what the problem is (the engine runs fine without missing a beat), but lately and intermittantly I hear a series of beeps (4) (it sounds like the beeping you hear when you start up the engine and the seatbelt is not clipped in), then after about a minute a single beep. I have looked and no one I know of has ever had this problem, I am not even sure it is a problem but it is something I have never heard when driving down the road. Any help would be greatly appreciated Very Respectfully Grimmreaper

I concur with Flowmastered87GL, I have a 2005 Baja Sport and it fits my lifestyle just fine, it is big enough to handle all the occasional loads (washing machines, chairs, etc..) my 97 Outback could not. It obviusly will not handle the same cargo as the Ram Pickup but you will definately see an improvement in your gas mileage.

When you bring in your car for the head gasket replacement, you should have the heads checked as well to make sure that they did not warp. If they are warped, you will definately need to replace them as well, this will probably add anywhere from $700 to $1000. Failure to replace the heads will mean more blown head gaskets. The water pump, thermoastat, timing belt, all the seals and gaskets in the engine should also be replaced as well as cleaning out the radiator. The reason is to help prevent any possible heating problems in the event some sludge or foreign object could cause a blockage creating another overheating problem. If the mechanic who does the work is good, you should not have any problems for a very long time.

Well everyone has their situation with regards to keeping their car or selling it and having a good reputable mechanic who knows their way around a Subaru engine is critical to the decision making process. (I have a 97 Outback with 164,000 miles on it) I went to a non-dealership that does high performance work since they had a certified subaru mechanic (with 15+ years experiance on Subarus). What they said was that due to the headgaskets leaking by which then put an air-bubble in the engine and the subsequent overheating it caused was a misalignment of the heads which pushed the heads outside the factory tolerance levels. The Mechanic informed me that about 70 percent of subaru engines will have a warped head if the temperature boils over for anything over 5 minutes or so, he then proved it to me by showing the head with a gage used to monitor levelness of the heads. What makes it so expensive is replacing all the seals, gaskets, plugs, thermostat, timing belt, water pump, and cleaning out radiator (I cannot remeber the rest). Basically what they said was that whenever the head gaskets leak and if the engine overheats, there is no real sure fire way of verifying that the coolant system or any other gaskets/seals were not effected by this and it is cheaper in the longrun to replace all that stuff now. I have been running for about a year after the work was completed and it feels like a new engine, so for me at least it was a good move to get the work done. But the cost was $2900 (that includes the replacement of the clutch and radiator) I know its expensive and the only way I justified it to myself was to decide if I wanted to fix it or settle with car payments again. I hope this helps

$1500 is about right for head gasket work.

If the only problem is a head gasket, then it would be cheaper to replace the gasket rather than a new engine. I do not know what area you live in or what kind of repair shops are around but I think the cost should be around $1,000 to $1,500. I have a 97 Outback with the same blown head gaskets with my engine at 156,000 miles at the time. I thought about a new engine, but the cost for one is around $5,000. In my case I warped my heads and wound up replacing the heads, all the engine gaskets, water pump, thermostat, plugs, timing belt, and water hoses, I went ahead and replaced the radiator and clutch assembly at the same time since the engine was all torn apart with the total cost being $3,000. It was worth it for me since I do not think I could have gotten an equivelant car for $3,000. It has been over a Year since I have done all the work on my outback, but it continues to run great and I expect to get another 100,00 miles minimum out of it.

I cant remember exactly, I was doing a web search for it one day and I stumbled across it. I just saved it in case I ever needed it. I also have a PDF file on how to replace the cabin filters as well.I am glad I was able to help out.

What I have is a PDF file. I have tried to attach it for you. It is an 11 page document that shows you exactly how to mount the bike carrier. If this does not work out let me know and I will try something different. 03_baja_bcii42052.pdf

I just bought a 05 Baja Sport Last November and it currently has about 5,000 miles on it. So far there are no paint chips that I can tell with the exception of a light scratch above the left front wheelwell from a shopping cart.

After that you may need to have a shop verify the CV axles are okay. I had a 95 Legacy LS that had the same problem with a "popping sound" when I entered a corner and wound up replacing the CV axles.

I have a 97 Outback with 161,000 miles on it and I also had the milky white headlamps as well. I used a plastic polish I purchased at Auto Zone and it pretty much cleared up the milky look. It should save you a lot of money and the aggravation of having to remove and install the headlamp assembly. My only problem is that my left headlight plug comes loose enough for the light to dim where it is almost loose, but when I just tap the back of the electrical plug behinf where it attaches to the bulb and it brightens up again. I have to do this several times a dy depending how bumpy th road is.

Hi there I just bought an 05 Baja last November after letting my 95 Legacy sedan go to my Daughter. I also have a 97 Outback as well. I bought the Baja because I wanted the ability to carry bulky stuff the Outback could not and still have good fuel milage that a pickup can not match. So far the Baja has been flawless in operation (only 3 months in operation though), its handling is 10 times better than my 97 Outback. And when I go camping I can carry all my stuff in the back and not totaly trash out the interior like I did with my Outback. Plus I can carry all the stuff that I could not with my Outback. The only only problem I have had so far is remembering to lower the license plate after I drop the tailgate or putting the plate back in position after I raise the tailgate when I am done (a couple of nice police officers have helped me on occasion). The sunroof is nice, but I do not like the way it takes away from the headroom, tall people might have a problem with that. I tried to get a used Baja, but the only ones I could find were models that were almost as much money as the new ones, so I went for a new one instead. the ground clearence at least on the 05 is about 8.4 inches or so. I am not sure what the 03 and 04 models are.

On my 5 Sp Man 97 2.5 Outback 70mph = 3200 rpm On my 5 Sp Man 05 2.5 Baja Sport 70 mph = 3200 rpm

I am sorry you feel that way but I do understand your frustation. I had a 97 Outback with a blown headgasket as well. I guess the only thing I can say to your story is that to get it fixed so it does not blow again is to get a certified subaru tech that knows what they are doing. I overheated the engine which required a head replacement as well as the gaskets , seals, water pump, etc... essentially a engine overhaul minus the crank set work. The shop I went to informed me you can not just replace one side of the head, it has to be both sides (something about wear issues, and they are only sold as pairs as well) From what I understand it takes a mechanic who really knows these engines to get it done. It cost me about $2900 but that also included replacing the radiator and the clutch. It was expensive but the Outback for me is a "known quantity" and I could not see getting another car for that kind of money. It has been about 7 months since I had the work done and I have not had a hint of a problem, mechanically my Outback feels like a new car again, so for me it was a good decision since I expect to get another 100, 000 miles out of it.

I just bought a 05 Baja Sport, and I actually prefer a manual for acceleration (165 Horse Power) and if you are driving in slippery conditions you can better control your Baja with a Manual transmission vice an Automatic

I just bought an 05 Baja Sport with a manual 5 speed transmission. It is not a Turbo but I did not buy it for that purpose and it meets my needs, the Baja rides great and handles extremely well. The day after I took delivery of it, I went on a road trip from Norfolk, VA. to Bloomington Illinois and back. For highway cruising I averaged around 28 Miles per gallon, around town with a mix of highway driving came out to about 25 miles per gallon. it cruises comfortably at 70 mph (even while climbing the mountains in West Virginia) the RPM is at 3200RPM when at that speed however. However when driving around town, I rarely have the RPM beyond 2500 RPM unless I am cruising at 65mph or greater.

The cost of the engine from what I understand is usually around $5K so your price is a good one. I am sorry to hear that the money put in to fix that problem did not go away.

Hi There. I have a 97 Outback with the same problem you had. My question is did you just replace the head gaskets? My car overheated enough where I wound up warping the heads (there is supposed to be some sort of a kill switch if the engine gets to a certain temperature to prevent the block from cracking). If this happened to you it is possible to have coolant in the engine again. I replaced just about all the cooling system components and replacing the gaskets and seals on the engine as well as replacing the heads. It has only been about 6 months and 6,000 miles, but so far all is well without a hint of a problem. The Subaru mechanic told me that when a problem like this comes up, especially if the engine overheats like mine did that there is no sure fire way to eliminate all the potential leaks becasue I the overheating would have either warped or stressed all the components to make them unreliable. My heads were about 3,000 of an inch out of factory tolerance levels, the Subaru mechanic stated that if they used those same heads I would be experianceing coolant in the engine again within a year.

You are right about that, when my head gaskets i was ignorantly unaware of having blown headgaskets until after I had my radiator flushed (the car already had 159,000 mile on it) and taking a 400 mile trip the temperature on my 97 outback would climb to the max level and then come back down to a normal operating temperature, this went on for about an hour or so (being a non mechanic I was trying to nurse the car to the shop I had the coolant flushed) After a while the temperature gauge pegged itself and that is when I puled off the road looking for a place to cool off and try to get the cooling fixed. when I got to the end of the highway exit the engine just quit running and the first thing that came to me mind was that I just blew the engine. I then had it transported to the radiator shop where they told me that the engine was not blown (apparently there is some sort of a safety kill switch which keeps people like me from destroying their engines), but they told me it was blown headgaskets, so I had it trasnported to a local customization shop that that had certified subaru technicians on site (that and they had a 12 month/12,000 mile warrenty on their work). They confirmed once again that the headgaskets were blown. They also told me if I had not overheated the engine so much then the bill only would have been $1400 which would have included cleaning the radiator, replacing the water pump, replacing the timing belt, replacing the thermostat, and replacing the spark plugs. But the overheating also warped the heads as well as putting stress cracks on the radiator core. So with the replacement of the heads they also replaced all the seals and gaskets on the engine, they replaced the radiator (at cost) and I figured they might as well replace the clutch (it was still original) since the engine had to be pulled out of the car, they did not need to charge extra labor for it which brought my total to just under $3k. It was very expensive, but I figured the car is already payed for and all this work will easily give me another 100.000 miles at least and I really like the way the car handled. I figured I could not get another car for $3K and have the same level of usefelness as what I have here and it is a known quantity for me.After the work was accomplished and 7 months after the work was completed, the car feels like it is brand new (mecahnically anyway) all I have left to do is swap out the old struts (still original) with new ones and I should be done for a few years anyway. It is now the second car in family since I have a 05 Baja.

Thats a tough call, I just had the heads on my 97 Outback replaced which basically meant overhauling the engine, replacing the radiator and putting in a new clutch for about $3,000. For me it was worth it because my Outback is a known quantity and the shop has an excellant reputation. The way I looked at it, was do I want to make payments for a new car or do I just want to fix it. If the car is in good shape, it might be cheaper in the long run since getting another outback for that kind of money might be difficult. I hope this helps.

I always thought the Timing belt should be replaced before the car goes over 100 thousand miles. The cost should be around $250 to $300. The Outback engines are interference type engines and it would be cheap insurance to get it replaced soon. If not there is no telling when it might fail and the repair cost will climb into the thousands.

I have a 97 Outback with 169,000 miles on it and a 95 Legacy LS with 175,000 miles on it. Both cars run great.