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Hi Subarufolk! The temp gauge in my Dad's 95 Legacy is starting to spike intermittently. It will go into the H and then settle back down then spike and settle back down. No evidence of leaking coolant, no bubbling or residue in the OF tank. I'm thinking faulty thermostat...any idears? Thanks, Damien

Hello everyone, I recently had some front-end work done on my 96 OB. Rotors and pads replaced (along with one caliper) and both CV joints. The car brakes fine but now makes a grating noise most apparent at slow speeds and squealing when braking. I didn't think _too_ much of this...i figured the pads just need to be worn down some. But now I'm thinking wheel bearings or something else. The noise does seem to be coming from the brakes, tho...as it responds to the brake pressure. Any idears? Thanks, Damien

Does anyone know an inexpensive remedy for a lightly sticking caliper? I have a 96 OBW. --Damien

Hi...I'm back again. Hope you all have been doing well. I have a 96 OB and I was wondering if there were any special precautions I needed to take before attempting to recharge the A/C system. (I can't afford another trip to the ER). I bought 680 grams of 134a and I am concerned about possibly overfilling the system. Right now the A/C blows barely cool and the label under the hood above the radiator says 700-900 grams. Can anyone recommend the proper tool to refill the system? Thanks for your help. Damien

I wouldn't waste your time machining the heads and putting in new gaskets. If the engine has been overheating your best bet is to replace the engine. Even if it is a 2.5 putting in a 2.2 is about as close to plug-and-play as it gets. I paid a little over a 1000 to do the same on my 96 outback. So far things have gone flawlessly and I really don't notice the loss in power. My mechanic won't even sell cars with Phase I 2.5L engines in them and he told me he's had mixed results with gasket replacements. --Damien

I read the sales literature on the Amsoil filters and it REALLY sounded like they knew what they were doing. It was a no-brainer for me to shell out 15 bucks for one of their EAO filters. --Damien

I find that when cleaning out the top end with Seafoam keeping the engine revved around 2000RPM generates a LOT more smoke than just idling. I surmise that this practice does a much better job. --Damien

Hi, Recently I swapped in a 2.2L engine in my 1996 Auto Outback for the stock 2.5L. I was expecting the ECU to throw a code having to do with the evap canister but instead I get a pressure sensor code (PO106 I think is was). One thing I noticed was the small plastic air filter thingy that is attached in-line with the vacuum tube coming from the MAP sensor was missing when I got my car back. I remember once before when that tube was totally disconnected I would get that code. Should the filter be there? I know I can't get around some kind of code (at least not without a complicated procedure from what I've read) but should I be getting this particular code? Thanks for your input! --Damien

The argument that the ABS won't engage below a certain speed (I would guess 5-7 mph based on experience) seems to be the correct one. Thanks! Damien

Hi Subarufolks, The ABS system in my 96 OB is having intermittent problems. Thanks to recent weather the sloped road up to my parent's home is now sheer ice. Not that I give a damn my Sube crawls right up it no sweat. Coming down it the other day I noticed that sometimes the ABS fails to engage, locking the wheels sending me towards a ditch. I have to let off the brakes and 'try again'. Seems that pressing down hard and quickly on the brakes causes it to fail to engage while with a slow and gradual braking the ABS works fine. Any ideas? Thanks much! Damien

Hello folks! I recently got my Outback back from the shop. It was a 96 automatic with the 2.5L engine. It blew a HG and I decided after much research and deliberation that swapping in a 2.2L was the best idea. I think I was right. Runs beautifully and I can hardly notice the drop in horsepower. Additionaly it looks like its getting around 29MPG up from the 25-26 I was getting with the 2.5 (not to mention now I can use the cheaper gas!). I notice that at highway speeds the RPMs are down considerably. For example, at 75MPH it is almost exactly 3000RPM. I remember for the 2.5 75MPH would yield like 3200 or 3300. Why is this so? I would guess with less horsepower the RPMs necessary would be greater to drive the car at a given speed. Thanks for your input, Damien

Run the car until it warms up and then while it is still idling take a peek in the coolant overflow tank. If you see any bubbling likely it's an internal blown HG...if there is any darkish matter (oily greasy residue) in the overflow tank it is definitely a blown HG. I'm guessing you have a 2.5L engine. It's notorious for blowing HGs...so much so my mechanic (who is a used Subaru dealer and mechanic) won't even sell cars with the Phase I 2.5L engine in them. Cheers! Damien

My mechanic said he'd get it done before Christmas so I'll let you all know how it went... Thanks for the input! --Damien

So there won't be any issues with the ECU/TCU? --Damien

I'm thinking strongly about installing a 2.2L engine in my OB to replace the poorly-designed 2.5L engine. Is it possible to mate the 4EAT tranny in there with this engine? What are the potential pitfalls involved? Thanks for your input... --Damien

My local mechanic says he's had 'bad luck' replacing blown HGs on 2.5L engines while one dealership quotes me 1700 with milled heads and says comebacks are few and far between. (other dealerships come in as low as 1200-1400 depending on if the heads have to be milled) My mechanic says he'll swap in a 2.2L (presumably with standard transmission) for 1100 bucks. This sounds a little too good to be true...but then again I guess he would be getting an 4EAT in excellent shape. (Can 4EATs be mated with 2.2L engines?) Is a HG job done right(with the redesigned gaskets) worth it with these Phase I 2.5L engines ? I appreciate your opinions and suggestions. --Damien

Can anyone recommend reputable Subaru shops in VT/NH? I've decided it's worth it to get head gaskets replaced on my Subaru and I want it done right so I can drive this lovely car another 150K miles. I get the coolant flushed by a dealer...three days later a slow HG leak turns into a big one complete with a whole lot of chocolate mousse in the coolant OF tank. It hasn't overheated but I'm not driving it anymore at all. I think this air pocket--failing gasket theory has some credibility with these engines. Anyway......I would appreciate the recommendations! --Damien

My understanding is that it's the 97-99 that have this problem bad. 96 for some reason was spared. I was told it was rare for 1996 OB and this seems to be borne out by the small proportion of 96s with blown gaskets in this online compilation of those with 2.5L engines and blown gaskets--->http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/guestlog.html I wonder if the premium fuel requirement has anything to do with it...did the later models require premium fuel? Damien

This was my question exactly...but for the Phase I 2.5L engines. I heard that the latest-and-greatest 4-layer gasket basically deals with the problem. Can anyone offer some add'l info on that? Looks like a real epidemic for the Phase I 2.5s to me. I can understand why Subaru would want to stonewall and keep it hush-hush. I think I know what the unspeakable evil is now...at least from SOAs perspective. My hope is that by keeping an eye on the coolant and keeping the engine running cool the HG will hold in my Outback. My sneaking suspicion is that a lot of victims (who rarely look under the hood) were getting air sucked into the cooling system causing hotter-than-normal running leading to accelerated HG failure. No doubt this block design and gasket would be sensitive to heat. The old negative feedback loop...heat leads to HG failure....HG failure leads to overheating. Or maybe it was the other way around?

I got 155K miles on my OB. Temp gauge has remained steady for the last 10K miles. Damien

Hello Subarufolk, It's my 1996 OB with the 2.5L engine. --Some crud in my Coolant OF tank...not oil or 'chocolate mousse', tho. Black particulant matter. --A slow bubbling in the OF tank (from time to time). However, --Runs excellent with no signs of overheating at all. --OF tank does not lose much coolant and does not overflow --Nothing on Oil cap or dipstick to indicate adulteration of oil --Not an undue amount of steam from the tailpipe. The coolant and hoses are very old and tired, for sure. I'm fairly certain the radiator cap is good. What could it be (besides a blown you-know-what) I appreciate all the input, Damien

This additive looks like it's basically Hollis Radweld or a similar product called Bars Leak (sp?). Is this something I can just add to the overflow tank or should I swap out the fluid in the radiator first? Oh, as a side note...what is the capacity of the radiator should I drain it? I can't drain the block right now as much as I would like to....:-( Thanks, Damien

Hi, As the owner of a Sube with an EJ25 engine, naturally I'm concerned about a blown head gasket. What sorts of preventative maintenance is possible to help stave off head gasket failure? Thanks! Damien

Hi, I have a 96 OB and now that finally the weather is getting cold and snowy I took my wheels out to where I might have a chance to test out how effective the AWD and ABS systems were on slippery roads. Anyhow, on slippery roads, I hit the brakes to test the functioning of the ABS. Sure enough, the system forced the brake pedal to back off preventing a lock...but the odd thing I noticed was that I could hear and feel in my foot what amounted to a grinding of gears as the system forced the pedal back. This grinding felt like it was coming from the brake system itself. Is this normal or is something amiss? Thanks for your input, Damien

Clutch seems ok...I guess it's the synchronizers. :-| Thanks for everyone's input! Regards, Damien