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I have the identical problem to you (and have started at least one thread like this one which you've probably read!). My '98 Legacy L wagon with the 2.2L, 1-year old Nokian NRW tires, and a rebuilt 4EAT gets 21-22 mpg highway traveling between 60-70mph. I have: cleaned the MAF, changed the air & fuel filters (OEM), have new plugs & wires, a new front O2 sensor, tried synthetic gear oil (Royal Purple 75w90) in front & rear diffs, tried synth oil in crankcase (pennzoil plat 5w30), semi-synth ATF (Specialty Formulations Autoglide) in the tranny, and maybe one or two more things I can't recall. Benefits of all this: synthetic gear oil helps with steering effort in low temps , same with using synth ATF (I use Royal Purple MaxATF) in your power steering. The Autoglide stuff makes the tranny shift very nicely. No difference with synth oil, except for louder startup piston slap. Havoline dino 5w30 makes the engine run nice & smooth and is just $1.40 a quart. ZERO effect on mpg's, unfortunately. Oh yeah, I'm in the midst of an AutoRX cycle (www.auto-rx.com) to clean out the engine and see if that helps. So far, nothing to report. About the only things I haven't tried are ultrasonic cleaning of the injectors and replacing the rear O2 sensor. I came across a post recently that claimed the REAR sensor is the culprit for the gas smell when cold: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43624&highlight=outback+sport Once my work bonus arrives just before Xmas I will invest the $85 in an OEM rear O2 and see what happens.

Actually there is a way to tell what the best oil change interval there is for your car - a used oil analysis. You can buy an oil extractor pump that'll pull out the 3-4 oz you need, so you can get a UOA without changing the oil. Places like Blackstone Labs will then do a UOA for about $20. The recommendation of the oil nuts over at www.bobistheoilguy.com with regards to extended drain intervals is this: do a UOA to determine what works best for your car, oil of choice, and driving style. You can't tell the condition of oil by its color or appearance. Go 3k, sample, test, repeat at 6k , whatever. Subaru engines are very easy on oil, as it turns out, and extended drain intervals are certainly possible, as much as 10k or more - but test to be sure. Once my current run of Auto-RX (www.auto-rx.com) is finished next fall I'm going to give Castrol Syntec 0w-30 a try, run it for 5k miles, do a UOA, and then probably go to an annual oil change which is ~7k miles in my case.

Naw, if I buy a starter the battery will go

Thanks for the responses! I have decided to do a 'wait and see' since the car is starting up normally today. I think a diagnosis will be more successful if the problem happens either frequently or predictable.

Oops, it happened again this evening with the engine warm. I will clean the battery tomorrow.

This morning was a repeat of something that happened a few months ago. I turned the key to start the car ('98 Legacy, auto, 113k miles)...and for an instant (1/2 second at most) nothing happened. Then the ignition kicked in and it started right up as usual. Is this a harbinger of starter/ignition solenoid/ignition switch/etc trouble down the road?

I concur on the WR's if you want a year-round tire with fantastic snow & ice handling. I have their predecessor, the NRW (they don't do the WR in 185/70R14 ) on my Subaru and the car is fantastic in snow, rain, and ice. Really unstoppable, although I must say my Nokian RSI equipped FWD Saab 9-5 does just as well in the white stuff. Previously my car had a set of the OEM Firestone all-season tires - the difference between those and the Nokians was night and day when the going got tough. As for the comment that 'if you can do FWD in winter, you can do a sub in summer tires': this is probably the worst advice I have ever seen on USMB and I hope the poster was kidding. AWD does not make summer tires stick in cold weather. AWD is an aid in poor weather conditions, it's not a panacea. Nokian WRs aren't cheap (14" ~$80 ea) but you can use them for several years year-round and won't need another set come spring. Think of them as an investment in your skiiing, or, think of them as costing a ski trip.

Ok, so there are several possibilities: L front with GT or Outback rear, or GT front with GT or Outback rear. Just adding an Outback rear swaybar would probably be the easiest. Would a GT front + Outback rear be too much? I'm not looking for massive oversteer here, with the 2.2L and an auto tranny this is not a raceworthy car

I think I will be replacing the front struts & shocks on my '98 Legacy L in the springtime. I think I can get one more winter out of 'em... I was thinking about upgrading the swaybars at the same time. I know that replacing the rear one with one from an Outback of that vintage improves body roll. What about the GT rear bar -is it the same as the Outback? What about the front bar? After browsing http://www.subarugenuineparts.com it appears that the GT & Outback have a different swaybar than the L. Is it worth the effort to replace the front bar as well? My plan is to use the OEM springs and the KYB GR-2 struts from Tirerack.com.

I have the Avon summer performance tires, the M500's, that I use on my Saab. They are terrific tires, with tons of grip in the wet and dry. The word over on Saabnet.com is that the M550's are also very good all-seasons. Edit: comment on the Avons from saabnet (http://saabnet.com/tsn/bb/9-5/index.html?bID=121243) - I just replaced my Aero's Michelin Pilots with a set of Avon all season tires and I must say they are unreal. Less noise and a better ride. I have about 500 miles on them and the ride and wet traction is great. I am amazed, even after all the other reviews, that these are tires are as good as they are.

All About HIDs: http://danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/HID.html Can I convert my halogen headlamps to HID? So you've read about HID headlamps and have it in mind to convert your car. A few mouse clicks on the web, and you've found a couple of outfits offering to sell you a "conversion" that will fit any car with a given type of halogen bulb, for between $900 and $1300. STOP! Put away that credit card. Trying to "convert" halogen headlamps to HID is an unsafe thing to do. There are *NO* legitimate or safe HID retrofits for the headlamps of any car which didn't have HID lamps as a factory option. If you have the 95-97 headlights, there are much brighter H4 bulbs are available. If you have the 98-99 Legacy lights, you can retrofit the older lights.

What was your procedure? Did you rinse them out with alcohol or toluene or something?

Go to http://www.danielsternlighting.com I have just replaced my '98 headlights with ones from a 95 and a 96. You're in luck, your car will take the H4 bulbs and the headlights are better than the 98-99 model years. I have on order from Daniel Stern a pair of ultra-bright H4 bulbs and a relay kit to deliver full power to them.

I have the identical issue on my '98. I recently replaced the K&N air filter with a run of the mill STP, having lost faith in the K&N's filtering ability after reading about many tests of it. The air box is tightly sealed, along with the tube to the air reservoir...I'm thinking I may peek inside the air box to make sure the filter is seated correctly.

Ok, the wires to the headlights (9007 bulb, '98 legacy) is: black/yellow wire is ground, yellow is high beams, red is low? Is that right?!?

Could you describe how you installed it in the line? I haven't looked at the fluid lines to the radiator so I don't know how big they are, and I also don't know how big these sensors typically are... I just switched my car over to Specialty Formulations Autoglide ATF, a semi-synth, high quality fluid that's about $5/qt after shipping. Shifting is greatly improved over the dino ATF the tranny shop put in, especially on those chilly mornings.

Where'd you get the sensor for that location? I'm really mostly looking to keep an eye on my rebuilt transmission - after sinking $2400 into it last January I figure a $50 gauge is cheap insurance. I was looking at the Cyberdyne gauge at http://www.egauges.com.

Is there a convenient spot on the 4EAT transmission to install the sender for a transmission temp gauge? Or would I have to drill & tap a hole on the transmission pan? (for a 98 legacy) thanks!

Join the club...there are many here who get poorer mileage than they should on the 2.2L auto. My '98 gets 21 mpg on the highway...there are many things you can try to do to improve it, the search feature will turn up many ideas. I calculate the mileage from the odometer & the amount I add when I fill up.

My toddler hit that switch one day while sitting on my lap & whacking controls on the car. It took me 25 minutes to figure out why the corner lights were on...

I would hesitate to go through snow that's much deeper than your ground clearance - these cars aren't plows :-) If it's light and powdery, you could do more snow. I used a set of Nokian RSI's last year on my wife's Saab 9-5. They were astonishingly good, quiet on the highway, made 6" of fresh snow feel like dry ground. I wouldn't hesitate to get them if you're not going to stud 'em.

The seats in a Saab 9-5 Aero or 9-3 Viggen are at least as good Something about those Swedes and comfy seats...

bump

22 mpg highway, '98 2.2L auto, 112.5k miles. I have had a tranny rebuild, new O2 sensor, new plugs & wires, new air & fuel filters, new PCV valve, new engine temp sensor (that got me 2 mpg). I also have synth oil (royal purple 75w90) in front & rear diffs, and synth oil (Pennzoil Platinum 5w30) in the engine. I am currently doing an Auto-RX cycle (http://www.auto-rx.com) to try to improve things. Yes the stuff works, go to http://www.bobistheoilguy.com for info. My next step will be a set of rebuilt, cleaned fuel injectors serviced by http://www.rceng.com or someplace similar.

With the left side sagging on my '98 Legacy L, I think I will need to do a new set of springs all around sometime in the early spring. With 113k miles on the original shocks, I'll do those at the same time. I've got my eye on the KYB GR-2 aftermarket shocks for a slightly firmer ride. What aftermarket shocks are available for this model & year? I'm looking for less body roll and a more responsive ride. Or is the GR-2 with ($60 ea) OEM springs a good enough upgrade?