Clutchbob

Nails!!!!???? So close to the tires?? I hope I never happen to be following you guys with nails falling off your cars!! I have the rattles, too. The screw into the heat shield is a great idea, maybe put a spacer on the top side. Gonna give it a shot.

I had a bad speed sensor, replaced w/ used and had autozone reset the cel. All's well.

My speed sensor is on passenger side top of transmission. There is a buffer circuit in the instrument cluster, signal is processed here before going to ECU. Speed sensor- $100 new. $50 used

I have a 98 OB manual. When cold, it has a ticking sound, kinda like a miniature ping pong ball being shaken back and forth in a cigar tube. It doesn't sound metallic at all. It goes away when warm. Is this piston slap?

I had it diagnosed today. It's the electronic speed sensor, and because the ECU uses it to set conditions, performance suffers.

I have an 98 OB manual. The first thing I noticed was that my speedometer stopped working. A while later, at low rpms between gears, the engine stalled (she starts right up, afterwards). Then the CEL came on. As I was pulling into my driveway, the engine seemed to be misfiring or starved for fuel. I went out again and everything seemed to be fine, but when I let the rpms go down, she'd stall on occasion. I see that the ECU uses info from the speed sensor. Additionally, there's a buffer circuit between the two. I havent checked the code, yet. Am I on the right track?

Unless it has new head gaskets, get a service contract to cover them. Check out the H/G discussions.

I just started having the same problem With my 98 OB manual. In addition, my speedo stopped working. Could they be related? Gonna check the CEL code tommorrow.

Original head gaskets?

Good luck and have fun. I was lucky enough to not have to pay for the work. I regret that anyone would lose money on this. That said, I really like my OB and feel more confident about the engine, having been inspected and overhauled to a point.

Good info here; http://www.troubleshooters.com/tpromag/200005/200005.htm I had the black-brown goo forming inside my recovery tank that Cookie describes. My engine never boiled over that I know of (I had just bought it used), it just "puked" coolant out of my recovery tank and my temp gauge spiked. I couldn't detect the smell of exhaust, but had the bubbles after an extended drive.

The 97 OB had a 2.2 also? 1997 was the first year 2.5 DOHC.

It's the CV JOINTS that make noise when they go. You wouldn't have an audible indication if the boots that cover and hold the CV Joint grease were bad until the lack of lubrication damaged the CV joints. A spinning axle will fling joint grease out of a tear in the CV boot.

Your thermostat may be air locked. If exhaust is getting into your coolant system (or system is not bled properly), the air pockets that form aren't hot enough to trigger the thermostat. Gasses pass more readily than fluids. In the typical early 2.5 head gasket failures, exhaust gas enters the cooling system, and you can see bubbles in the expansion tank. The breach can be very small and won't even fail until the engine reaches a certain temp. when parts expand.

I've been through this. Two weeks after buying (98 O/B), I saw the symptoms. My head gaskets were replaced (dealer warranty) at 90,000 mls. I had bubbles whether the engine was running or not, but always after a lengthy drive. It wouldn't always overheat either.It may have been this way for a long time, as it ran great, but a thick black goo had formed inside the expansion tank. I believe the sniffer is similar to the CO2 tester they use for emmissions. Steved, if you didn't go out of time, you did no valve damage, but it certainly sounds like you got "headgasketitis". With new gaskets, your car will be good for another 100,000+, is that worth $1200? Check earlier posts, you'll find good info.

The Microbus Idea sounds cool! In the past twenty years, our dependance on foreign oil has gone from thirty to sixty percent. SUVs take 25 percent of total sales. I'm disheartened by the Hummer mentality. I bought my OB cause it gets reasonably good mileage and I live in the NE winter for half the year.

Sorry to hear about your H/G failure. Join the club... http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/Head_gasket_replacement.html The coolant overflow tube is on the other side of the pressure cap. Just normal atmospheric pressure here, does it really need a clamp? I've read where counting teeth between marks is the best method of timing belt positioning. Incidentally, in the two weeks since I signed the H/G Guestbook, there have been 17 new entries.

Have you seen this? http://www.ccrengines.com/

From what I've read in the posts and heard from Subaru techs, your chances are good your heads are fine. They should be checked for warpage and milled if necessary. My engine has been broken down. My heads were o.k. keep us posted.

The following is a post from somewhere.. "I work at a dealership and the number ONE reason phase ones are blowing gaskets, not because subaru sucks at making engines as I've read above. But people working with the coolant system and not knowing how to BLEED the system correctly. These cars have to be bled properly!, pouring coolant into the rad or overflow tank and driving will do nothing for it. Air pockets in the coolant are what make these engine blow head gaskets. to bleed it properly you have to start the car, making sure your overflow tank has the right amount at cold coolant level. then unscrew the rad cap, AND on the passenger side of the rad unscrew that small plastic phillips bolt THIS IS WHAT BLEEDS THE SYSTEM. Now fill both the rad through the rad cap opening and the little hole where that plastic bolt goes into. Wait a few mins, then top both up again. The problem is nobody knows this, they either work at home on their car alone, or they take it to a corner garage which has no clue how to bleed a phase 1 2.5L's." Is it only phase 1 block engines that have an air bleed screw? If not,this post wouldn't account for the fact that premature headgasket failures are disproportionately 2.5 DOHC ('97 '98) engines. A german magazine indicates h/g failure rates of 20 percent in these engines. However, this could account for at least the cause of the initial overheating. If you have exhaust in your coolant you have a breech in the h/g. It concerns me that these engines might be that sensitive, that you could blow a head gasket with one incident of even mild overheating. Info: http://www.troubleshooters.com/tpromag/200005/200005.htm

I have a high pitched whistling tone that I think comes from the manual transmission. Reminds me of those hearing tests with the headphones... I would listen to the radio, but I like to hear what my engine is saying. Hey Brus, you play harp?

If you haven't seen this before: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/Head_gasket_replacement.html Good info. Skip admits he's not much of a mechanic, But seems to have tackled this problem well enough, so perhaps experience isn't as important as commitment? Good luck. I had my '98 OB less than three weeks, when symptoms appeared. It's at the used car dealers for HG's (not Subu mechs, but generally certified), I hope they do it right. Another info site: http://www.troubleshooters.com/tpromag/200005/200005.htm

Check the other posts, here, and compare your symptoms. There is also good advice on how to minimize air pockets. I've had a couple of overheating episodes and see bubbles in my overflow, I also have a black goo lining the inside of the overflow bottle. The service guys at Subaru just looked at it, sniffed the coolant tank and gave me the sad news. But I have the notorious 2.5 DOHC. You have a 2.2 which is supposed to be bulletproof. If the 2.2 has one, remember to remove the air bleed screw on the passenger side of the radiator when you fill. Some info here: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/...eplacement.html Good luck.

With those qualifications, you should be able to be competitive with those guys at the shop. Best of luck to you.

You probably have an "open" somewhere between the fuse and outlet. I always suspect connections and plugs. Does anyone out there have a wiring diagram?