NOMAD327

The trick with this job is to find a way to do it without removing the entire headliner from the car. unless there are tapped holes already present, and all screws access from outside, the headliner will have to come out to do it and that makes for a much messier job.

I haven't seen a newer subaru radio with an aux in jack. The device you need is called an IPOD interface and they are made for just about any vehicle other than Subaru it seems. I have bought them in the past for about 75 dollars for other vehicles with the requirement being the in dash unit had to have a CD changer jack for it to be feasible. PIE was one of the original vendors for this sort of thing and they do not list one. The newer dedicated interfaces that control the IPOD through the radio itself see to be up near $150 when available, again, nothing I see for Subaru. You could do a Google search for CD changer interface or IPOD or Aux input interface, possibly talk to Subaru parts counter to see if something may have just come out from them. If you have a cassette player unit, the cassette adapters work very well and are cheap. On my Mustang, I installed a Kenwood head unit. Kenwood makes a $15 aux input adapter which will fit almost all of their CD controller head units. If you buy new from Crutchfield, you will get the installation adapters free and only spend a bit more than $100 for a better head unit and the adapter, or pick up a used kenwood head unit on ebay for much less and just buy the adapter.

Only having one gear may be some sort of limp home mode. Obviously the computer is having some sort of problem, there may not be any problem with the transmission itself.

Alfa Romeo was the name circulated when the roadster was new at the shows.

My kids 98 Legacy did the same 16 blinks most of the time on startup, once in awhile, It would go away for a few starts and come back. He had duty solenoid C failure which is common. There's a lot on this board if you do a search, but basically that is the valve the transmission brain controls to proportion torque to from front to back in the AWD system. It can be a wiring problem or a connector, but it seems to always be the valve itself, which is in the very back of the transmission. It's not real bad to fix, a couple hours labor and the part, but is almost always a dealer performed service. If the solenoid was always on, you would have FWD only, but since it fails to being always off, you would now have a constant transfer of torque to the rear, which will probably cause a jerkiness when making tight turns on pavement. I would search over other posts regarding duty c solenoid for more info.

It may be a clutch operating cable if you have 5 speed 2.2, (no clutch master cylinder). I don't know about your engine, but some of the newer engines have a plastic plate in front of the flywheel that will leak oil and are always replaced by a metal plate when accessible. (Presumably, the metal plates can leak in some way too on the older cars). If there would be oil leakage inside the bell housing, it would mostly drip out the bottom, but some would get on the flywheel and be flung upwards and wet the cable location we are discussing. I thought the newer cars all had electric speed sensors rather than a speedometer cable..

My kids 98 would blink 16 times on every start and it was the duty c solenoid. On 96 there may be a need to replace tailhousing while it's apart. Problem is steel bearing running against aluminum. In 98 or 99 the tailhousing was redesigned with a steel insert to prolong life, So there may be a failure related to that piece as well.

As you read on this board, you will see a few sources of genuine subaru parts that are from discount dealers that ship to your house. That is a nice compromise between local parts stores and the local dealer price wise. There is much less chance of getting a part that is supposed to fit and doesn't fit going this way too. I deal with Liberty Subaru in NJ and have always had good luck. It also saves a trip to the dealer, maybe two if they require a deposit, and for some people the local Subaru dealer is an hour drive or more.

Rust does terrible things to your bodywork, but so do trees and guardrails. Most people forget that the upside of road salt is not driving on ice for weeks at a time. I remember being a kid in the 50's and the roads freezing into icy ruts that would stay around for weeks. I believe the Subaru rust reputation was cemented in the 70's when all japanese cars rusted so badly, and subaru was up there with the worst of them. Since they were mechanically unstoppable, people drove them in that condition for years, each one a big black eye for the brand's reputation. I seem to recall that with the introduction of the Legacy models a lot of galvanized metal went into Subaru's and the new ones seem to hold up at least as well as any other brand.

The work is really about the same with only one cam sprocket per side vs. two. That makes it a lot easier to get the timing marks all lined up. It would be good to get a manual with a belt diagram or take a picture before hand of the belt routing and how the marks all line up just to be safe.

Metal is elastic to an extent and when placed under tension it stretches. A given metal will stretch a certain amount when pulled and this is called it's elastic zone. As more tension is applied to the metal it will stretch farther and farther, and when released it will return to it's original length. This is what makes joints stay tight when bolted is the stretched bolts trying to return to their original length. This is only a thousandth or so on a long bolt. There is always a point with metal where it has stretched to it's limit, and with application of more tension it will start to elongate, that is known as the metal's elastic limit or yield point. After passing the elastic limit by applying even more force, the metal will draw like taffy and will not return to it's original length, it will neck down at one area of weakness and will eventually break in two at some point determined by a natural flaw in the grain pattern. This is the fracture point of the metal. Bolts that torqued to yield by design are stretched to the point they have permanently elongated a tiny bit and must be replaced after each use. They are normally tightened to this extent by initial torque followed by additional tightening in measured degrees of rotation. The way the Subaru bolts are tightened, then loosened, then re-tightened by degrees apparently does not result in tightening the bolts beyond yield. The service manual is specific about replacing some components, but does not require replacing the bolts after each use. The benefit of torque to yield bolting is that it allows a more precise torque that will allow movement between parts yet maintain even clamping loads and sealing. This is supposed to be very beneficial when clamping aluminum to steel where expansion rates are different.

The headbolts on modern Subaru's at least, are not torqued past the yield strength of the bolt and are reusable. Some engines do torque the bolts past the yield point, and require new bolts every time, I don't know why the odd sequence of backing off and retightening the bolts is used, maybe it is intended to relax the joint to allow the open deck block to shift at the gasket contact point after initial torquing for better cylinder to gasket fit.

The 97 model is a DOHC which does not leak externally and will not respond to the stop leak stuff subaru uses which is intended for the SOHC engines that leak coolant out onto the ground. The DOHC failure mode is combustion gasses into the cooling system which causes overheating and related problems from loss of coolant and air binding of the cooling system. In both cases, coolant does not normally enter the oil circulating system which would be the problem most likely to require total engine replacement. Unless the vehicle was severely overheated, or operated for a long time with the leak leading to block failure, this problem is usually fixed by a head gasket replacement. At your mileage, a partial disassembly is in order for timing belt and oil pump service, the head gasket service is just one step further from that already required service. As an extreme example, I had a head gasket service performed on my kids car by an independent shop using genuine subaru parts from liberty subaru, parts were $230 last year including a water pump and a thermostat. Labor was $450 for a total cost of $680. This was on a 97 OBW with 99,000 miles. The labor I'm quoting is absolutely the lowest you could ever expect to pay, but even if you double that number the total would be $1130. I would make sure I really needed a complete engine before I spent much more than that.

On the DOHC engines where failures seem to be more common, it's a moot point, as the head bolts are all hidden under the camshafts. (major disassembly!) On the SOHC engines which this thread is really dealing with, the bolts look like they may just barely be accessible. The issue of what to torque to is still there, as the bolts are tightened initially in a weird mixture of torques, back offs, and retighten to a stated degree of rotation.

The water pump has a lot of life left in it, but may not make it to the new timing belt change interval 105,000 miles from now. (I would not reuse the timing belt even if it does have potentially 40,000 miles of life left in it). I would replace the front oil seal without question, it's a couple dollar part, and I would probably do the other oil pump service that has been discussed here many times. the oil pumps do not wear out, but frequently will cause heavy oil leaks if not serviced.

You still had 3 quarts left if it was down 2. That's enough to avoid any short term damage, but the level will need to be checked more often now. Most of the newer subaru's develop a front main seal leak or a similar looking leak on the oil pump. My 99 started at 60,000 miles, and most of them need attention by the 100,000 mile mark where timing belt service is probably due depending on the model and year. The oil pump is bolted right to the front of the engine behind the timing belt cover. There are two cylindrical projections that point down from it, one on either side of the crank with the passenger side one being very close to the oil filter. If you see oil drips on these projections or the area directly to the rear of it looks real wet with oil, this is probably where the oil is going. The exhaust arrangement ensures the oil burns away without much trace but lots of odor. You can live with this leakage up to a point, as long as you add oil to keep up, and the timing belt doesn't get oily and come off, which would be bad. On my car the front seal was hard as a rock, $3 part, lots of labor. If this car is getting near 100,000 miles I would look up info here on timing belts and oil pumps, for familiarization. There are various options available, but you need to determine what your problem really is. It could also be valve cover gaskets leaking which will also give the burning oil smell, but seems to be a less common problem.

A lot of people on the site get their parts from Liberty Subaru in NJ. they are quick and have a nice discount, and near perfect for someone in the Allentown area. You don't have the sales tax, and no big delay on shipping. I normally use the toll free number, here is a link to their website. http://www.libertysubaru.com/en_US/f_HomePage_1.chtml The number is 1-888-782-9493, only issue is if you are having a dealer do the work, they may not like you showing up with your own parts. hope this helps.

there was a post on the endwrench site about this happening to impreza's that had recently had a trailer hitch added. Something about the hose above the vent canister being disconnected and very hard to see it had been dislodged. Does anything like that apply to your situation?

The 99 transmission is slightly different, it has an external spin on oil filter which is not normally serviced and has a more aggresive control program than earlier models. The rear tail has a steel running surface for it's bearings which is good. (I believe this was a mid 97 improvement) I believe all 99's have the phase II block, which is mostly supposed to be more resistant to the piston slap issue which is an annoying sound on startup at high miles with no real consequences otherwise. The Legacies and Outbacks in 99 are all the older style DOHC heads and susceptable to the head gasket issue that is much discussed here. Any work done by a Subaru dealer will be in the computer, and can be pulled up for review. A bigger issue on this car with no maintenance history is it is past the time for it's new timing belt at 105,000 miles. Unless there is a history or receipts for belt replacement, driving the car is risky based on the posibility of the belt breaking and having an internal engine collision. I have a 99 standard outback and agree with most of the previous posts here, I bought the car knowing it's weaknesses and really like it for it's size and the way it drives. Many of these engines do not develop the head gasket problem until very high mileage, and if it does, the latest head gaskets appear to solve the problem for most people.

There are several size aftermarket filters that are all considered to be correct for our engines. I would pick one brand and consistantly buy that brand and locate a cup type filter to use with it. I normally use the purolator L14460 filters as many people on this board do, and the wrench to fit it also fits the Subaru dealer fitted filters that I have come accross.

There are two sending units in two sections of tank separated by the drive shaft. The info you need is available by searching and the job is easy. I cleaned both sending units in less than an hour with no prior experience. Access is through two plates in the cargo floor right behind the rear seat under the rug of a wagon, and in the trunk of a sedan. I do not know that the fuel senders have any impact on giving a check engine light, but they commonly fail in a way where the guage fails to read at all, or reads low.

the other way to look at it is that those people valiantly pumping stirred up fuel are doing their best to keep the tanks cleaned up for the rest of us.

The cupholders on the 99 and earlier seem to get stuck a lot. You only need to remove two screws, unfortunately, they are under the front edge of the cupholder and you may not be able to reach them unless you can get it to pop out a couple inches. The latch is a push to latch, push to unlatch mechanism. I would try gentle even prying on both sides. If it doesn't seem unlatched, push in on it then try the prying again. Mine always pops out easy halfway, almost enough to use it, but sticks there. The whole thing slides out as an assembly once the two screws are removed and you can silicon it up and it will work for awhile if nothing's broken.

The plastic cover under the engine is probably for air flow management. The air that goes under a vehicle can have as much effect on drag as the air going over the top. As the outback has more ground clearance than an average car, It's more of an issue, and smoothing the flow near the front of the vehicle is probably the most beneficial location. If I wanted a car with power for aggressive style driving, I would look at the turbocharged models that were available. The H6 has similar power ratings, but I believe the goal was to provide a more effortless driving experience, As prices have gone up on these cars, most of the competition has 6 cylinder power and Subaru reacted by adding the H6. They have stated goals of taking the brand upmarket, and the horsepower of the newer models is a prerequisite to move in that direction.

Usually that is a feature where the motor will not start if the security system is alarming.