1 Lucky Texan

starting to see more complaints about headgaskets on the Forums, but, maybe that's to be expected as the cars are aging and are passing thru the hands of more owners (that may also be getting abused cars or, themselves are not familiar with a coupla quirks about Subaru cooling systems ?) timing chain, no belt to swap still, I think most of us would say the H6es are reliable over-all. Spark plug (DEF use NGK double platinum plugs) and maybe valve cover gasket replacement is a challenge - most other stuff as easy as the H4 to work on. Ours is an awesome 'medium highway cruiser'. I love to drive it. as for quirks, you can check the 'sticky' threads here; http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/110-gen-2-2000-2004/ (FYI - our 03 H6 OBW has been reliable, but it does have low miles and it has experienced some of the issues mentioned in those threads mentioned above)

? not some residue from a sabotage attempt? what was the stuff you wiped off? just some zinc or 'plating' from the fill pipe or ?

I kinda wanted to take pics but, I kinda wanted to start my drive home (took an hour & 15 mins in heavy traffic) but I talked to the tech a little (thanx Kirby!) and he did retrieve the main shaft from the recycle bin - 2 teeth off the main 2nd gear, and a chewed-up driven gear of course. he showed me the syncrhos and they are not worn, he said everything else looked good. H says they see 3rd destroyed most often, second is after that. He claims the case flexes and allows the teeth to bang into each other - I guess the 6spd's case is one piece or has some stronger design??? (honestly, I can't help wondering if my habit of engine braking with 2nd didn't contribute to stress on the teeth? remeber, I have NO power mods and only 63K miles - but they are almost all 10 years of surface street miles - zooming between stop lights and around corners.) I was very concerned about them re-using my clutch too - given my use and doubting my driving technique, I just figured the clutch was done. Kirby said there was 60%+ left on it. So, maybe I'll get another 10 years out of it! they also saved my old axle so I can rebuild it. They , not unlike other mechanics, aren't interested in rebooting an axle. oh, another interesting data point - the fill was Amsoil Severe Gear 75w-90. They charged me $15.75 a quart for it. So far, it 'feels' kinda in between the scrape-y notchiness of Extra-S and the butter-smooth feel of Redline Lightweight Shockproof. From initial drive, it seems fine. I would much rather have spent $2K on a rear sway bar ...and a lightweight flywheel.... and a tune....but, it just is what it is.

got my car back - they had it 4 weeks! (I guess Subaru dropped the ball on shipping one of the parts) anyaway, nice to have it back. I also wanted to report, they say they have had good luck with FEQ axles from worldpac? maybe FEQ is wortha shot if you just can't re-boot OEM. Amazon sells them.

^^ good info in 'the old days' if a range was listed, we'd set them tight figuring they'd wear larger.

boil the brake fluid and die? even professional truck drivers engine brake. No one is saying not to 'touch' the brakes - but if you 'ride' them, you are asking for trouble. Still, you live there , not me. I just don't think engine braking on descent will cook an engine. YMMV

not sure on their routing - maybe check the trans cooler lines that go up to the radiator.

you may also need new valve cover gaskets. oil in a plug tube can cause misfires. NGK should be gapped properly outta the box but it doesn't hurt to carefully check. i THINK if the NGK part number ends in ' 11 ' that means gapped at 1.1mm or ~=0.044"

aftermarket pump requires more current than the OEM?

I'm a flatlander too but sometimes visit my oldest daughter in CoSpgs. (others here may have better advice) def. downshift on down-grades to prevent cooking the brakes. drive a little slower - but, the car is not going to 'blow-up', it's downshifting actually reduces 'lugging' the engine and reduces it's load. Forcing a car to remain in a high gear under load can lead to overheating and poor lubrication. keep the car in good condition - fluid changes, bled/flushed brake system, good tires, etc. RetroRoo is too far away, but Shawn (owner of this site) may be able to recommend a shop to your son that is in/near G'd Spgs. http://retroroo.com/

FWD? as said above, a USDM 2006 is AWD - unless some kind of odd modification was done and if so, better to just start over for a project car I think.

if you could find STI engine and drivetrain, would be awesome for a track car - but probably MUCH easier to find WRX. get the rear diffs - final drives must match front and back. plenty info at NASIOC too for stuff like this. Those guys are kinda snarky so, do plenty of reading before asking questions and put on something flame retardant.

^^^ not bad 2 other little hints, pay attention to what points 'out' - mark orientation if you need to so things line up and point outwards after assembly. very easy to break the strut mount studs - DO NOT over torque them.

run the suggested octane - probably premium (that's what I run in our 03 H6) it can be tricky to 'burp' all the air out of the cooling system in Subarus, (helps to either fill the block thru the top hoses, or get the nose up in the air. Also, put a tiny clamp or a coupla small zip ties on the little overflow hose at the nipple on the radiator's 'neck) plus , they need a thermostat with a larger wax capsule - so, over time and multiple owners, the cooling systems get abused and an engine is overheated. Very rare to hear of someone rebuilding an H6, even the H4s rarely get their cases split it seems. Get an engine from a wreck - maybe JDM as said - that's a common swap when folks have overheated soob motors.

there's a dedicated Forester Forum, those guys could probably tell you how much your car varies from the average. you might check the inner tie rods and get an alignment. any vibration at the tire or misalignment could affect mileage a little. I'm 61 - can't wait to get my WRX back so I can zoom around. I like cruising in the wife's Outback, but it's a pig in the corners lol!

top nut is tricky - need some kinda pass-thru for the (6mm ?) allen wrench to hold the strut from spinning. I tried to do the compression on the first side with hand tools - that's when I bought the impact. Wish I'd bought one 30 years ago, even if just for removing lug nuts.

^^^ man, if you could loose 400 lbs, that's freeing-up close to an extra 35hp or so.

"it's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow" you might try to get him involved in SCCA and local autoX. There are 'classes' to compete with almost any kind of vehicle. I also recommend HPDEs . wish I had paid for my kids to go a coupla times. (cops won't let you go straight very fast, but they don't care much how quickly you turn) that said; best power upgrade is sell what you have and get a WRX that hasn't been reamed-out by someone else's 18 yo son. next best is probably a wrx swap. You may want to read-up a little over at NASIOC.com . If he just want to drive a car fast in a straight line, just get a Mustang. if he wants to experience acceleration, get a motorcycle.

got an automotive machine shop nearby? another option, take everything to them and pay them to swap stuff over. I used 'borrowed' compressors from AutoZone to swap struts on my wife's 03 OBW. It worked but was tricky - prompted me to buy an electric impact too.

I could really use a 3rd car - AWD Tuning has been rebuilding my WRX's transmission for 3.5 weeks (several days of waiting for parts are in that time, still !!!) . But, My wife doesn't need her car every day, and we borrowed her Mom's car a coupla days - and, I've had multiple cars at the house before with my kids, the more cars you maintain, the more likely there's a broken car at any given moment. and with Lyft/Uber, one or 2 emergency transportation trips every 6 months might be cheaper than even the 'recreation vehicle' insurance and registration taxes on a 3rd car. But, having a spare car would be nice..... I can't decide how good an idea it is - ugh

just lay-out your situation to the Baja seller, ask if a few hundred dollars 'good faith deposit' would hold the car for - what? 2-3 days? if he's got paid advertising somewhere, offer to let him deduct $X for a partial ad rebate. something like that; as Don Rickles' character 'Crapgame' says in Kelly's Heroes - "make a deal!"

try to drive more 'smoothly' - train yourself look further up the road and make gradual adjustments to speed, especially acceleration. keep tires properly inflated. If you are like me and don't check them often enough - put and extra 2-3 lbs of pressure in. Make sure the tires are the same size listed on the door-card. don't drive with the roof rail cross bars installed. do not carry a bunch of tools or other gear, lighten the vehicle as much as possible. using the a/c is more efficient AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS than driving with windows down. keep windows up over 50mph if possible. no jackrabbit starts from a stop. if you are making short trips or are mostly on side streets, mileage will suffer a lot.

check engine light on? scan and report code(s) could be slipped timing - how long since timing belt system service? any dew/moisture ? could be high voltage is shorting/arcing - maybe try again when it dries-out. if you think it has spark and timing hasn't slipped - squirt some starter fluid in the intake and see if it tries to run. If it does, fuel supply could be the issue, if not, spark or timing problem?

most likely the fluid reservoir is low. Have you checked if your brother is right? It's a simple magnet and float arranfment and the float can stick or be influenced by changes in temperature or sharp turns, hard braking, vibration etc. if the float is hovering near the trip point. modern systems are designed to try to synchronize brake pad weear with fluid reservoir level. But on used/older cars this synchronization may be lost. Ideally, the fluid would me topped off at MAX immediately after all 4 wheels got new pads. still, if the brakes have not been inspected for wear recently - good idea to do that in addition to checking the brake fluid level.

03 H6 OBW got; oil&filter change, drain&fill trans, drain coolant, changed the 3 big hoses from the rad , 13 years old - seemed like they could last a few more years but, I already bought the parts - not sorry I did it. Used Zerex Asian coolant. Inspected other stuff. I might order the long hose going to the trans coil in the radiator, it has a lot of small cracks where it makes a severe bend. Wonder how much trans fluid will come out if you remove that hose?