So Im the proud new owner of a 98 forester S automatic, 96 thousand miles. I paid $5,000 for it, going to pick it up today. I wanted a 5 spd but this car has every option I wanted, even the color (red) was what I wanted and the price was right.

 

Its never had the head gasket replaced so that is something that I need to keep an eye on, or just go ahead and replce to prevent problems later.

 

There is a good bit of Piston slap, does anyone know of a way to quiet it down?

 

Another problem is that the Gas gague dosnt work, Id like to fix it if posible -any ideas on what it could need.

As far as piston slap goes, the only practical solution is a high quality, really loud in car sound system.

 

As for the gas gauge, it is most likely one of the two gas level sender units found in the gas tank. This is a fairly common problem with Subarus. Do a search on this subject, there are a number of ways to fix the problem.

Mobil 1 5W-50 is the quietest in my engine.

 

Please bear in mind: The slap should go away as the engine warms up. IF it is getting louder as the engine heats, a main bearing has failed.