I heard a guy on Click & Clack describe his Subaru with 150K miles as "middle-aged."

 

My '97 OB has 115K miles and runs great.

Get from 22-27 mpg regularly and just got one tank of 28.1 mpg. Only repair other than brakes, tires etc. was a front wheel bearing. The replacement Michelin X-One tires have 50K on them and look great. I replace the oil and filter every 5K.

 

I have one friend with 147K but it has a rebult engine.

 

Who has a Legacy Outback with real high miles? Any tips?

Check out http://www.subaruhighmileageclub.com

 

 

I will be entering the over 200K miles soon, I hope!

 

My EJ22 has done 292,000 kilometers and "only" had the head gaskets replaced at 200,000km. Mobil 1 Oil and filter every 6k miles.

Howdy,

 

I have a '97 OBW Limited with 206k miles on her. At 197k the head gasket went so I replaced them, timing belt, and water pump. I am the 2nd owner and bought it at 181k miles last August. Recently I've gotten more piston slap on the cold mornings but the car runs good. combined mileage ranges from 22 - 25 mpg. Every little gadget still works perfectly including the power antenna, heated seats, and mirrors.

 

who's next

 

Tracy

Our '00 'Roo 'Honu' (Hawaiian green sea turtle) has 140,000 miles. Did timing belt/H20 pump,seals at 100,000 (as soon as we brought the car home from the used car dealer), one front axle bearing, regular service. That's it, other than religious oil and tranny service, tire rotations, etc. Other than rock chips and a Montanaed windshield (second one shot) it looks and runs like a new car.

 

'Klack', our '87 GL wagon has 204,000 showing after driving it straight-thru from NW Montana to the Baltimore, MD area this week. Fifty-two hours of 70-75mph driving without breaking a sweat, not to mention anything else.

99 outback, about 140k miles. Head gaskets, water pump, seals at 120k. Runs and drives like new.

It's good the see these positive posts, some people have remaked on the negative messages and how many there are.

We have 110k on our 95 Legacy, 90k on my mother-in-laws 98 OBW and only 30k on our MY01 OBW. Plan on getting well into 100k and over on all 3. :banana: :banana:

197k, 2.5 engine. Did headgaskets, water pump, front seals at 180k; just done front drive shafts and bearings. There was a small oil leak from the rear oil gallery cover recently, so I fixed that and replaced the rear main seal and oil pan seal. Otherwise no problems and runs very well. Compression is close to 180 on all cylinders.

I'm not tyring to be a wongleflute but I had to comment...There are an awful lot of head gaskets being replaced around here. I just recently upgraded to a '97 Outback (132k) from my '89 GL. It's head gasket (or head) didn't blow till 227k miles and it was turbo charged. Are the new cars worse than the oldies? Am I the only one who expects a head gasket to last the life of the car, that is, at least 200,000 miles? You guys are making it sound like it's no big deal.

Well, with the Phase I 2.5 is does seem to border on routine maintainence. My guess is that a huge percentage of these engines will eventually have head gasket failure, it's just a matter of when. I feel pretty confident that my repair with the newest gasket revision should last the life of the car. If not, it's a pleasure to work on, and I would gladly replace it again.

 

I must add that despite the troubles I have had with the car, it is extremely well designed and built. By far the best car I have owned, and I have had ford, dodge, chevy, cadillac, buick, nissan, and toyota. I am not saying subarus are the best cars in the world because I haven't owned every make, but they are IMHO the best car I can afford.

97 Legacy Outback... 347,000+ km or about 217,000 miles.

 

Engine replaced at 260,000 km though.

 

Commuter

They are certainly well designed for maintenance It is orders of magnitude easier to work on an Outback than the usual transverse engine FWD car, where changing the timing belt can be a long, frustrating job, often working on parts one can't see and using the edges of one's fingers because there isn't even room to bend a knuckle.

Originally posted by flash

I'm not tyring to be a wongleflute but I had to comment...There are an awful lot of head gaskets being replaced around here. I just recently upgraded to a '97 Outback (132k) from my '89 GL. It's head gasket (or head) didn't blow till 227k miles and it was turbo charged. Are the new cars worse than the oldies? Am I the only one who expects a head gasket to last the life of the car, that is, at least 200,000 miles? You guys are making it sound like it's no big deal.

 

Check any Honda, Toyota, or any other car forum where people keep them for high mileage and has an alloy block or cylinder heads. Toyota has a recall and replaces them for free on certain vehicles - I think the Land Bruiser or one of their other SUV's. Ford recalled most of their 3.8l engines for failures beginning at 50K miles.

 

If they were failing catastrophically at less than 100K, it would be a big deal: for a high mileage car with alloy components (which have higher thermal coefficients of expansion) it probably has to be considered a maintenance item.

My dad's 91 Toy truck with a V6 had a recall on the head gaskets, and I don't think the problem was as common as with our 2.5's. Maybe Toyota owners complain more (I'm one). The squeeky wheel...

 

I understand the issue of expansion and contraction with alloy engines, but I believe blown head gaskets are unacceptable as routene maintenance. I can do the job myself, but most people cannot. How can one consider a thousand-dollar repair as acceptable and routene?

 

Not all alloy engines have this problem. With the standard of reliability on other components of our cars so high, we should accept nothing less from our engines.

 

I've got about 104,000 miles on my 98 OBW, and I am highly disappointed that I will likely have to replace the head gaskets sometime soon.

 

Can we start a petition to send to Subaru? I am not computer-savvy, and wouldn't know where to start. Would it be a waste of time? Either way, Subaru will hear from me.

 

Peace,

Just an interesting note about head gaskets....

 

The old VW beetles didn't have head gaskets !! They didn't have oil filters either !!! Some of these cars would turn the odometer around a couple of times before the motors would go south.

 

Ah...simplicity !

the vw engine may be simple, but it only put out like 60 horse, and was air cooled, if iam not miskaten.

The original VW Bug/Beetle/Kaffa had closer to 30 hp, and most of the later models made do with around 40-45.

did not own or work on VWs in the 60s and 70s.

Those suckers pulled rocker studs on the late 40 HP. They dropped valves on the shrouded number three cylinder blocked by the oil cooler.

The flywheels fell off regularly (often poor maintence), but becuse they were attached by one big nut and four pins.

As the HP was increased they got worse and worse.

Guys these subies need a heck of a lot of maintence compared to some other engines.

It seems the 2.2 were definately better but even the late 2.5 is no cherry.

The list of stuff I have had to replace on mine runs to just under $4,000.

Now I am pickier than some of you as an ex mechanic I know, and the car does have nearly 100,000 miles.

But this is the first car I have owned other than a VW that practically needed an engine restoration at this mileage.

How long is it going to take Subaru to fix the oil pump and make the water pump tougher?

It seems to have taken them six years to get the 2.5 to hold a head gasket and do we need to mention the clutch?

I have a 96 2.5L Legacy Outback Wagon with 185k miles. No head gaskets blew. I did burn two exhaust valves at 180k, at which point the head gaskets were obviously replaced and new timing belt and water pump for $1700. Other than that, no problems.

Guys these subies need a heck of a lot of maintence compared to some other engines.

 

I know 5 other people who have 97 or 98 OB's - and I have two 97's, ONE WITH 117k. All have at least 85K miles. None of them has had anything but routine maintenance on the engine. Am I missing something? None of them post on this forum....

that's why I replaced the VW engine with a 2.2 legacy in my '74 beetle.

Well, the 2.2 in my 95 is only at 96000 miles. I recently replaced the oxygen sensor, and last year the alternator went.

 

That is it. It does however have leaks from the cam seals, oil pump and water pump. I'll change the timing belt at the same time, probably over Christmas.

 

A couple of weeks ago I checked the compression. It ranged from 180 to 190 (without adding oil to the cylinders). Not bad considering the FSM says 156-185.

 

Mobil 1 is a good thing.

 

jim

My '99 2.5 Outback spun two rod bearings at 92,000 miles. I bought the car with a bad engine and don't know the service history. $1,750 for a new short-block, oil pump, etc. (parts only), and I'm back in business.

Mobil 1 is a good thing.

 

A guy I work with has a Ford Explorer with 235,000+ miles on it. He's gone through something like 6 sets of tires, several sets of brakes and front end components, and an alternator and waterpump or two, but the rest of the drivetrain is original. And he uses Mobil 1.

be pretty routine with an American car or a Volvo.

I think you won't hear very many people slamming the 2.2 engine either.

But the 2.5 just seems to need more work than most motors.

There are things you expect such as a water pump or alternator at high mileage.

Routine head gaskets and oil pump seals, are not part of my expectations.

When people went to timing belts they added another couple of expensive maintence items with the tensioners and belts, and I knew the car had those so I expect it.

Lousey clutchs from when the car is new???

Crank seals, oil control items all over the place? They should last till a rebuild is necessary.

My point is that it seems most of the people who post here have had problems and go searching for answers, and magnify a problem. No one I know has had head gasket problems, for example, out of 8 cars.

 

I hesitate to say that, because it might jinx me!!!!