wayneb

Hi All; I have 98 outback, 230k miles,head gaskets replaced at 170K(thanks to info hear did myself) that keeps giving knock sensor CEL. I replaced the sensor and helped for a while but CEL comes on intermittently. I suspect the engine is carbonized since if my wife runs hightest, the CEL stays off and engine runs better and mileage goes up. If engine is carbonized, does Subaru have recommended procedure to decarbonize engine? Also, I have other suspicion that exhaust may be restrictive since I hear whistling noise under hard acceleration with windows down. anybody know what acceptable backpressure is in exhaust? Exhaust is original. Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi all; I have a 98 outback legacy wagon with check engine light. Had checked out at autozone and thier code reader indicated oxygen sensor bank 1 sensor 2. Anyone know which sensor location this is? I think the car has four sensors. Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi All; I have 98 Legqacy/outback wagon with check engine light. Went to autozone thier diagnostic tool says it's oxygen sensor bank 1 sensor 2. Does anyone know which position this is? I think the car has 4 sensors. Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi All; Finally finished head gasket replacement, thanks to all for info on how to do it. I think I spent about $500.00 replaced most gaskets, water pump, valve seals etc. The engine runs fantastic, but now the check engine light comes on. Is there any easy way to check code for fault? Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi All; First, I want to thank all who responded to my last post(especailly shawnW and Sea#3 for tool ideas), got the heads off! I carefully cleaned the head and block surfaces and checked them with a straight edge and light and they appear to be warp free! On inspecting the head gaskets there wasn't any "smoking gun" type leakedge i could observe but some very suttle areas between cylinder and coolant passages. When a head gasket fails is this typical to find no obvious signs of leakadge on the gaskets? Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi All; Thanks for all the wonderfull ideas. I've already removed passenger side head and had a 12pt 14mm impact socket for head bolts so they posed no problem. The balancer bolt was a major pia. I ended up putting a strap wrench on balancer(i've have access to heavy duty one from work) and putting my foot on a breaker bar to get that one off. I'm amazed at how difficult the cam bearing cap bolts are for thier size. I actually broke a snap on 3/8 drive socket just using a std 3/8 ratchet, never broke a snap on socket before! Thanks for the suggested tools, I'm gonna chk out sears today, it's hard to find a snap on dealer other than online and I want to get the head off this evening. Also, can I use anti-seeze on bolts during re-assembly? I used to do this with chevy engines all the time with no obvious problems. Thanks; Wayneb

Hi all; I'm most of the way through disassembly for head gasket replacement and ran into a roadblock. I can't get two of the cam cap bolts loose and the heads are starting to strip. I've never experienced such tight bolts throughout an engine as this one. I'm thinking it's due to steel bolts in aluminium parts. Any suggestions on how to get bolts loose? I put kroil on bolts and will try again tomorrow but can't believe how tight certain bolts on engine have been the balancer bolt was a major challenge but finally broke loose. Can fasteners such as head bolts,cam cap bolts, and balancer bolt have antiseeze applied without cause detrimental effects? Bear with me I grew up working on chevy smallblocks this engine is a whole new world for me but quite interesting! Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi all; Well I've pulled the engine and I'm in the process of cleaning. Other than head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, cam seals, oil pan gaskets, and water pump are there any other areas that I should address prior to re-installing? Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi All; After doing some more research of older posts I have I silly question Which direction does the thermostat go in the housing? discharge side towards engine or towards radiator? Thanks in advance; Wayneb

Hi all; My wife has a 98 outback wagon with 140k miles that overheated yesterday. I initially thought it was the thermostat and still do. The problem I'm having I think is bleeding all the air out of the system. Is there a trick to this?? The reason I think it's air lock is I flushed the cooling system with out stat and engine did not overheat but with stat in it does. Otherwise I'm dealing with a leaking head gasket and from researching this forum it sounds like only way to replace is pulling engine is this true? Thanks in advance; WayneB