the 98 legacy has a 2.5L, is it a SOHC or a DOHC...i know they switched to a single cam but im not sure what year.

the 98 legacy has a 2.5L, is it a SOHC or a DOHC...i know they switched to a single cam but im not sure what year.

96-99 Legacy DOHC

00-Up Legacy SOHC

 

I believe you can find a few late build 99 with SOHC but this is very rare.

my dad may be getting a 98 outback but it has a cracked head. is this a common problem with thiese outbacks, im curious on what could have casued that problem.

my dad may be getting a 98 outback but it has a cracked head. is this a common problem with thiese outbacks, im curious on what could have casued that problem.

 

Probably blown Head Gasket. 2.5 motors have some HG issues. These are all over the place, some go for 200k with no issue, some blow at 40k. It has a lot to with maintenance, climate, luck, etc. They redesigned them in 00 but these to can have issues. My father-in-laws 02 just blew and he has only 36k.

yea the car he is looking at has 180k highway miles on it.

The following site may be of interest to you. It is all about the 2.5 liter engine found in the 98 Outbacks. I've just finished installing my new head gaskets. It was kind of fun - rewarding to have the thing fire up. But I wish I'd found this site before I ever bought the 98.

 

 

http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/

Umm Yeah. I'm beginning to think Rweddy works for SOA. Find a 98 Legacy L with an ej22, put some outback struts on it, spray some bedliner around the bottom and voila you've got a bombproof 98 outback. 2.5s blow...literally.