gsrxrsx68

No comparison...Having owned all three, including two toyotas I can say the Subies do not stack up. Another family member also owned a subie that turned out to be junk.Driving wise though, subies are a one of a kind for their price...So buy'um new, drive them under warranty, sell 'em. Or, if you are incined to work on cars(which i do think can be fun) then they are also great.

'97 OBW,2.5 Does anyone if Subaru specifies burping the coolant system after installing a new timing belt? The backround on this is I had a timing belt replaced, the next drive from the shop the car overheated and now has a blown headgasket. This car has never overheated prior to this. Upon this happening I asked the mechanic who did the work what they had done. He denied touching the cooling system at all. Well after much research and doing an inspection of their work I now realize that you must remove the fans and the coolant resiviour. Further I noticed the timing marks were not 100% line up. I read that they can look that way due to the imprecise nature of the plastic timing marks and other components. However, when they were adjusted by one tooth the alignment was perfect. So does anyone know if Subaru's procedure inclures burping the coolant system? Or could being off by one tooth cause a weak head gasket to fail? Thanks

Why be their test monkey? The hg is not holding up. I think it is the third or fourth HG for this engine. Are the engineers really so inept that they cannot design a HG? Of course not. If that were the case all HG's would fail. Obviously the HG is not the cause of this problem but is rather the manifestation of the problem. It is true the rest of the car is great, but the cost of the repair to this engine is prohibitive on a higher mileage car. Spending that kind of money on an older car puts the true cost of ownership right in line with owning a new car. I would say buy new and sell when it goes out of warranty or buy a year and model that is proven to be defect free, IMHO.

Stay Away. Buy a different model wo HG problems. Sell your '97 too. Get different models without the HG problem. Say you need to spend $1500 on a $5000 or $6000 car. The car is still only worth the same after the repair and there is no improvement to the car, plus how could you even sell it without disclosing the problem? I know many people can but I couldn't. F%$# all the subaru's with this problem, it is total bull@#$$.

Add this to your question: How many people got their head gasket fixed and then got rid of their car. I know my car is going bye-bye. I would also guess the motor has been out of the car once before yet mysteriously that is not in the service logs(I guess someone color coded all the hoses just for fun).

The real problem is the wind...too much wind makes folks debate such issues.

Thanks, Iforgot...it is a '97 obw

Questions on two techniques: 1. I read a post which suggested place the car in fifth gear, set the break and use a breaker bar to remove the crank pulley. Any thoughts? I started to do this and got to thinking about all the torque and stopped myself. Any chance of causing damage using this technique? 2. Someone posted they would remove the engine if they had to do the head gasket again so they could adjust the valves. If you have the head off is it possible to adjust the valves then? I guess I should run to the store and get a manual.

I'd love to, car needs this, that and the other thing also. I don't have any place descent to work on it though, so I look a the car itself as a parts container. It is a sucky situation.

sweet, 130 k on that motor, it's gonna get a hillbilly fixin...Next stop...reman motor anyway.

I guess I forgot to specify EJ-25 OBW...Still think it can be done?

removing engine? Anyone done it that way?

Anyone have any suggestions for aiming headlights on this car? It seems like the lights aren't even on sometimes but when I check them they look bright.

Great site. I saw a reference on your site to replacing the hg with the engine in car. Is that possible? I really don't feel like pulling the motor or have a good place to do it. If it could run til summer I would be happy. Is it predominately the passenger side HG?

So is that correct that ECU's need to be swapped if the engine is DOHC?