I am looking at a 1999 forester with 200,000 km that needs a headgasket. The owner wants 1500.00 for it, which if the rest of the car is in good shape is reasonable for my area. I don't know what kind of gasket problem this car has, but chances are good that it is not leaking coolant into the oil. Just in case I buy this thing and the motor turns out to be crapped, what further work would have to be done to transplant the 2.5 SOHC out of my wife's 2000 legacy? The engine in her car is strong, i've done the headgaskets, but the rest of the car is going to crap. The forester is going to replace her car, so I'm not concerned about ripping the motor and whatever else I need out of it. From what I've read the DOHC computer and SOHC motors don't really get along and I need help to set the record straight on this one. Thanks.

'99 Foresters are already SOHC Phase-II engines. They were the first models to get them. Only the '98 Forester has the DOHC engine.

 

GD

I was unaware of this. I only started to pay attention to foresters once my kids began to need more stuff carted around with them. When researching the engine specs at Edmunds they listed it as a DOHC. Thanks, that makes life easier.

For Subaru specific info this is a good place:

 

http://cars101.com/

Just in case this one falls through my fingers, how involved is the phase I / II swap? I cannot afford anything newer than 99 right now, so if the right 98 does come down the pipe, I'd like to know if I can jump on it.