skidrock Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Just bought a 99 legacy wagon 5 spd, 160k, great interior for $3000 I'm new to subaru (and this forum) but I love the car so far, I guess my question is did I get a decent deal and should I be worried that sometimes the clutch pedal doesn't come all the way back up without help? So far thats the only issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Depends on Head Gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidrock Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 Hmm that kinda scares me, im not sure what shape the HG's are in I just got in it and now its not even doing it its fine, is there an easy way to find out if they need replaced or would I have to tear it apart and look? In which case I should probably replace them once its apart anyways right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Any chance you can ask previous owner for a car repair history? It is very helpful to know if head gaskets were replaced and how long ago. Head gaskets going bad, that cause the motor to over heat is the major fault of the engine you have. You would not disassemble the heads from the motor to discern if you have bad head gaskets. When they go bad, the temperature gauge spikes to hot in a hurry. There is no warning light on a Subie dashboard to alert you of a problem. It is a matter of keeping a pretty close eye on the temp gauge to see that it stays in the middle between cold and hot readings, when motor is warmed up. If engine starts over heating, stop the car, and turn off the engine ASAP.. Failure to do so, will severely damage the motor. Otherwise..............these are pretty darn good cars. Built well, and reliable to 300K+ miles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 You mainly need to worry about headgaskets if you have the 2.5 liter engine from 1996- 1999 (if you have any Outback or GT). If you have a Brighton or "L", then you should have the 2.2 liter (phase 2) engine which nornally doesn't have any more headgasket problems than other cars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidrock Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Thanks thats very helpful, the temp stays good when its warmed up, right around the middle so hopefully im in fairly good shape. As for a history from the previous owner I'm not sure but I think it was a one owner car, a friend of my dad found it for me idk the previous owner personally but it shouldnt be too hard to find. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarl Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 When the head gasket starts to fail in these cars the coolant gets mixed with the oil. That's another way to know if things are working the way it should. Another thing that may or may not be on borrowed time is the timing belt. The engines for that year are interference, so if the belt snaps the valves may/will hit the pistons. Not good. If your car has a sticker from a dealer you can call them and ask to see if they have maintenance records. Or look to see if there's any paperwork on the glovebox that may allow you to know where the P.O. was taking the car for maintenance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 When the head gasket starts to fail in these cars the coolant gets mixed with the oil. That's another way to know if things are working the way it should. Another thing that may or may not be on borrowed time is the timing belt. The engines for that year are interference, so if the belt snaps the valves may/will hit the pistons. Not good. If your car has a sticker from a dealer you can call them and ask to see if they have maintenance records. Or look to see if there's any paperwork on the glovebox that may allow you to know where the P.O. was taking the car for maintenance. On 96-99 Legacys with 2.5 motor, it has been my experience that blown head gaskets don't result in a mix of coolant with the oil. If so, then I am learning something new. On other makes of cars that is a typical scenario. All blown head gaskets on these Legacy models I have seen, have resulted in exhaust gas entering the cooling system through a breach in the broken head gasket. That is the reason for the engine over heating. You can also go to possible dealer where car was serviced. Give them your car VIN number, and ask for a print out of previous service and repairs. I have also had an independent garage access a Subaru data base to show list of repairs, even though the repairs were done elsewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 "...sometimes the clutch pedal doesn't come all the way back up without help?" This is probably because the slave-cylinder (located just behind the engine, on top of the transmission bell-housing) is sticky. Best to replace the slave with a new one. Cheap to buy, and easy to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidrock Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 The more I drive this car the more I like it, up until now I've driven mainly domestics and never had the feel that the people making them thought about the owner working on them, it just seems that alot more common sense goes into making soobs as compared to say a chevy, that being said I've got the guy I bought the car from working on getting a maintenance printout, he bought it just to sell from a one owner. I checked the oil and cant find any trace of coolant, and it still stays good on temp so I've got my fingers crossed that im safe for now. Yesterday though it did something funny, it just randomly died while I was coasting over some train tracks and the check engine light came on, but I didnt even stop I just turned the key off and stared it back up and it ran fine the engine light went off about an hour later (not continuous driving it sat for probably 45 mins) not sure what to make of that though. Also havent had any more clutch pedal issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 subie Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I am also a new owner of a 94 legacy wagon .. First one !!!! ... Had a similar problem with the clutch pedal but it would not come up without popping it with your foot, turned out the cable had slack in it and got caught on things under the dash. Tightened it up and re-routed the cable to factory specs no problem since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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