GeneralDisorder

More like $1000 if you shop around. But what I mean is that on the east coast the Legacy's are dissapearing due to rust. Almost no Gen 1's left from what I've heard around here. West coast is completely different - cars don't rust here and thus we have TONS of gen 1's still around and tons more in the junk yards for parts. Thus my earlier comment about the Legacy being easy to get parts for. GD

Most were push-button cars. Some were Full-Time 4WD and those typically had a diff-lock switch but were single range also. Only the RX got the FT4WD with D/R and diff lock. GD

Yeah - when I bought it I replaced the radiator on the spot (much to the surprise of the owner - took 20 minutes) and drove it home. Found the hose clamp later - obviously it doesn't leak enough to be a problem unless it's 107* outside and it's ignored till it's too low on coolant. I haven't replaced the thermostat but I see no reason to as it was done along with the timing belts, all idlers, and tensioner 20k ago by the dealer. Car drives perfect. Nothing that I could notice. I was expecting to find a torn boot or something. Nothing. Also if the dealer was going to call out an axle for a shimmy/shake or vibration on accel - they would neccesarily have to call out both as the axle boots are intact and thus there is no reliable way that I know of to ascertain which one is the culprit. That wasn't the case - on the quote they only said ONE of them needed replacement. It's all very fishy anyway when (as Rooster2 pointed out) you bring in a car for a burst radiator and they start telling you that half the drivetrain is about to fall out from under the car. The couple is very nice - a school teacher and a nurse. They know nothing about cars. The dealer saw them coming - that's all there is to it. GD

Sorry - you missed some of the background (which was in another thread). I bought the car with these "problems" and a quote from the dealer for $3500. Of course the plan was to make the repairs myself and sell it for a nice profit - all fixed and ready for someone to love. Much to my surprise and delight though - none of these problems reported by the dealer actually exist. So "how it came out" was that the couple that sold me the car got totally hosed - the quote was so high they just broke down and bought an '09 Outback on the spot. Towed the poor "doomed" Forester home and threw it on Craigslist - along comes a spider (me), offer's them $1500 for the car (thinking I would have to repair all these things - that was truely as high as I was willing to go) and now I'm seriously going to be in the cash when I flip the car as it ended up needing a radiator and a broken fog light replaced..... So needless to say I'm a happy boy right now... but sad for the couple I bought the thing from, and definitely mad that the DEALER would be this corrupt. Subaru was one of the best selling through the recession - perhaps it's because the dealer in question is also a Chevy dealer. Maybe that explains it. I don't really know.... What I do know is that I know a bad axle when I see/feel/hear one, and I sure as hell know a bad wheel bearing when I see/feel/hear one. I've been round the block a few times in a Subaru - having owned/sold/worked on/scrapped 5 or 6 generations of the things.... GD

Thanks Mugs - I think I can handle it Sounds like you run a reputable business - I like that and I'm of the same opinion. The place I was just laid off from is the same - I was NEVER asked to fix anything that wasn't truely broken. GD

You can also do it by removing the battery and hooking your multi-meter in it's place. Set the meter for Ohms (the Omega symbol). Then you are looking for a high number - a drain will show as a low number like 10 Ohms or something. Pull fuses till the number goes up into the thousands of Ohms or so. GD

Who told you that you could not? If it's a part time 4WD model and the 4WD lever is in 2WD then you absolutely CAN tow it as far as you like. It's the Automatic's and the FT4WD/AWD cars that have a problem with two-wheel towing. GD

Find out what it's hanging up on and fix it.... really can't help you beyond that. Did you booger up the splines or something? Beating on it isn't going to help - you'll just spall the bearings. It should slide home real easy. GD

You replaced the PCV valve but did you clean out all the lines? At any rate PCV valves do not generally cause oil buning - they cause the oil to be fouled by blow-by gasses and in extreem cases they can blow seals out, etc. The oil burning is very likely to be valve stem seals. Most Subarus need new stem seals every 100k to 150k in order to burn the least oil possible. It's just the nature of the valves being almost horizontal vs. being vertical in most other engine designs. According to Subaru, 1 quart every 3k miles is not considered excessive oil usage. Go ahead and pull the heads - I'll tell you right now you will still be able to see the factory cross-hatch on the cylinder walls. There will be minimal bottom end wear and you risk introducing amature assembly errors by tearing it down to the crank. If you are doing it as a learning experience, then by all means, but know that you will probably make a few mistakes - that means that most likely your first couple engine rebuilds will neccesarily be sub-standard. It's just a factor of the learning curve that goes along with complete engine rebuilds. GD

Update - investigation of "rear wheel bearing" yeilds nothing. Checking paperwork on car - one was replaced at 172k, the other at 224k. Both front's at 224k also..... Car now has 232k..... more dealer smoke? In large measure I can't find anything really "wrong" with this car other than a dealership that was looking to sell them a new one or make a killing off shop labor. I see what looks like a seperator plate leak - but small. Some oil "sweat" on a few spots. Needs new transmission cooler lines and hose clamps and new upper/lower radiator hoses..... that's about it as far as I can tell. '99 Forester - total cost thus far: $1620 GD

Really? I haven't investigated any of those boards but I would have thought there would be a crowd of people just as rabid about them as we are about Subaru's.... Oh well - their loss. GD

That could be many things. Could be something loose and rubbing against a pulley - could be a bearing going out in an accesory. Only help I can give you is to purchase a "mechanic's stethescope" for $10 - $15 and check around till you find the source of the grinding. They look just like the one's the doctor's use but instead of the suction cup thing they have a steel rod that you can place against suspect surfaces and listed to the vibrations in that area. Should be able to at least narrow it down for us with a little hunting. Sounds like a front axle going out. Often the inner joint of the axle (half-shaft in Subaru speak) will cause vibration when they start to get sloppy. Check for torn boots and leaking grease. This is very common with Subaru's in general and is a relatively easy fix if you have a modicum of tools at your disposal. This could be as benign as a malfunctioning radiator fan. Check to see that they come on when the engine gets hot. If they are comming on and the temp continues to rise..... The engine you have (known as the Phase I EJ25, or DOHC EJ25) is renown for it's propensity to eat head gaskets. Chances are very, very good that if they haven't been replaced already this is either your problem right now, or will be in the next 50k miles. They rarely make 200k without blowing. Just the nature of that engine. They can be replaced but now I have to ask what your technical level is? It's about a $1500 job at a shop, but it's mostly labor and you can easily save $1000 of that if you do the job yourself..... assuming you even want to bother. Many, many folks dump these cars to people like myself and other's on this board who replace the head gaskets and drive them for another 150k or sell them. Your welcome of course. GD

Bottom end on an EJ22 is good for ~350k miles. Remove the heads, resurface, valve grind and replace stem seals. Reinstall and replace all other seals. Instead of uselessly spending money on parts the engine will not need for another ~225k miles - buy a decent torque wrench to insure your reassembly is done correct. In fact buy two - an in/lbs and a ft/lbs. Seriously - take it from somoene that's done a few of these - what you are contemplating is pointless. The oil burning is entirely in the top end of the engine - Subaru engine's do not wear their cylinder bore's - even at 350k the rings will still be sealing good - the rod bearings is what gets them every time. GD

Knock sensor will cause the engine to run in failsafe mode - using more fuel as it retards the timing to prevent detonation. This will lead to catalytic converter failure, fouled plugs, and all the other nice things that go along with running rich. The knock sensor is less than $100 and takes about 15 minutes to replace. Replace it and clear the codes. A bad knock sensor will never go away - it will remain bad and only get worse. It is not inside the engine nor is it subject to fuel, oil, or coolant. No amount of "repair in a bottle" will fix a bad knock sensor. GD

Here they are just hitting their upswing and there are still thousands of them on the road. Just a difference I though I would note - PA and OR/WA are two very different worlds when it comes to used Subaru's. GD

So as many of you know I'm working on a '99 Forester. Long story short, car was "using" some coolant according to owner, blows out radiator on 107* day a few weeks back. Car is towed to dealer - dealer says: 1. Radiator is bad (duh) 2. Headgaskets are bad - leaking oil and both sides need replaced. Also cause of radiator failure and coolant usage. 3. Bad front axle. 4. Bad rear wheel bearing. Now I haven't investigated #4 yet, but there is NO evidence to sugest either of the front axles are bad (boots are good, no noises, drive's normal). As for #1 and #2..... well the head gaskets aren't leaking coolant, and the amount of oil they are leaking is so small I wouldn't even call it a leak - more of an oil "sweat". Probably an eye-dropper's worth every 3k - maybe less. The coolant leak came from here (for reference, that's the thermostat housing/lower radiator hose) at the bottom of the pic: Just to show how long it has been off the nipple (notice the rust mark from it being in the middle of the hose for the last ~20k miles): Furthermore, the "headgasket oil leak" they claimed (passenger's side): Driver's side: So in light of this new information and the likely source of the overheating and radiator failure found.... who here would replace these gaskets? It seems like there's just no need to. The engine has had the Subaru coolant conditioner in it for the last 80k that I know of. I see several notes that it was added in the car's history - every time the coolant was changed in fact. GD

The lower port on the front of the Weber is for the EGR. It lowers combustion temps and helps to prevent exhaust valve burning - best to hook it up also. GD

Yeah - poke a bit of window screening down in the hole and fill it with JB weld. Should hold up fine under the adaptor plate. GD

Neither is worth much in the scheme of things. The Impreza is either an EJ22 or an EJ18 depending on trim level. Personally I would take the Legacy. Easier to find parts for in general. The check engine lamp is likely an easy fix - probably a solenoid or knock sensor or something simple and it's an OBD-I car so you can pull the codes by plugging in two connectors under the dash and it will flash the codes through the CEL. The general rule on the Gen I Legacy's is that you need about $1000 to make a nice running daily - if that means buying a good runner for $1000, or buying one that needs work for $500 - seems to end up right in that range most of the time. There are exceptions and amazing deals to be found but I would never expect to pay more. They just aren't worth it unless you are talking about a special model like a 94 GT wagon or a Turbo. The Impreza will likely be an OBD-II car and would need a code reader and all that crap. Not that it's a huge deal anymore, but there's a few more sensors and such to make them OBD-II compliant.... the Imps are worth a little more but it's not a ton - figure $1500 for a good runner however you make that happen. With the rack needing replaced and the wheel bearing I would go for the Legacy as the CEL and valve cover's sound like a lot less work for a beater with a heater. GD

The carb base is heated - there is an open coolant passage under the carb that MUST be sealed or coolant will run straight into the manifold. GD

It's essentially a full timing belt job. Might as well do everything while you are in there. GD

Pull the top off the carb - the jets are at the bottom of the float bowl. Pull one out and read the number on it. Should be something like 130, 135, 140, etc. On the top of the bottom section between the float bowl and the throttle bore's you will see two brass jet looking things - these are the air bleeds. Read the numbers off the top of them. Remove them and with a straightened paper clip that has a 1/16" hook bent in the end of it reach down into the brass hole and pull out the emulsion tubes - read the numbers off those. Then pull the front (and rear if equipped) idle jet holders off the front of the carb and read the numbers off the jets inserted into the jet holders. You should have a set of 7 or 8 numbers - 2 main jets, 2 air bleeds, 2 emulsion tubes, and 1 or 2 idle jets. Bring us those numbers and we will tell you if they are close or way off or what. GD

Ok - I bought the '99 Forester with the bad gaskets. Here's the deal: 1. Radiator was BLOWN. Happened on a 107* day a few weeks back. I replaced the radiator and drove it 30 miles today. Temp gauge was rock solid at less than half, but it was only 80* today. I'm wondering what could have caused a radiator to blow the upper tank loose from the core like that if the engine apparently does not have a comp. leak into the cooling system? It got low on coolant, got too hot, and the pressure rose till the 10 year old radiator couldn't take it anymore? 2. Documents from the dealership claim the head gasket is leaking OIL. I have not heard of this in all the threads I've searched. Is that a common failure mode for these? I thought it was primarily coolant. 3. The timing belt, all idlers, and the tensioner were replaced by the dealer about 20k miles ago. I have all the documentation to show this. If I do the head gaskets I am tempted to reuse all these components as they have a ton of life left. Is there any reason not to? I am going to resell the car, but I AM going to fix it 100% right before I do. Thoughts/sugestions appreciated. GD

If it's running then how did you come to the conclusion that the rings are sticking? If the rings were truely stuck the engine wouldn't turn over let alone run.... Do you mean they aren't sealing? Have you run a comp. check to verify this? GD

Turbo's require a different engine cross-member that has the proper clearance for the up-pipe. I don't know if you guys got the turbo Brat's, coupe's and wagon's in 83/84 - if so you need an engine cross-member from one. We got them here in the US but they are rare. GD