I bought a used 97 legacy L a few weeks ago and saw it had newer wires installed. The are Belden Premium 7mm Cable SAE Class F. Anyone know if they are OK for the car. I've seen in other posts that having OEM wires are prefered. The car seems to run fine but I only have my old 87 GL coupe to compare it to. Just put in NGK plugs if that makes any difference.

If the engine is running smooth then the wires are doing the job.

I bought a used 97 legacy L a few weeks ago and saw it had newer wires installed. The are Belden Premium 7mm Cable SAE Class F. Anyone know if they are OK for the car. I've seen in other posts that having OEM wires are prefered. The car seems to run fine but I only have my old 87 GL coupe to compare it to. Just put in NGK plugs if that makes any difference.

 

subaru wires generally have fewer headaches. if you change them now it should run longer before they give you problems. if you wait, you spend less now, but when / if they do give you trouble, you may scratch your head and pay some shop to tell you what's wrong with your car, 'seems to stumble when accelerating'. how much will that cost?

 

either do it now, or decide now when you will do it, (how many miles, 10k, 30k, more?). most of us drive until the car has a problem, but the maintenance schedule is designed to service / replace before there is a problem, on a schedule.

 

how many miles on the car?? how's it run? recent service? known problems?

 

look online for subaru wires/ parts:

 

https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html

 

http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/

 

https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/partscat.html

Edited March 15, 200917 yr by johnceggleston

167,000 miles. just had an axle/cv replaced on the left front. other than a hesitation upon acceleration the car is fine. if it had a carb i would think the accelerator pump wasn't working.

other than a hesitation upon acceleration the car is fine.

 

 

imagine my surprise. this could be wires but it could also be something else. did the hesitation improve when you changed the plugs? i don't know anything about belden wires so i can't say. someone else will.

 

o2 sensor also comes to mind, but you usually get a cel first. no "check engine" light?

Edited March 15, 200917 yr by johnceggleston

I personally avoid those Belden wires like the plague.

 

I've had chronic misfire problems with those belden wires, espescially after 2000. (I think the 2000+ ECU is more sensitive)Are they the *maxpower* ones? yeah, if they are working for you that's great. I'd ditch them as soon as you have ANY issues with Power, smootness, or poor gas milage.

 

True OEM wires were made by Yazaki, and were the best by far. As fart as I know you can't get teh Yazaki wires. The new *OEM* from Subaru is made by prestolite. You can sometimes find a Presolite set through a parts store, should be the same as the subaru boxed wires.

 

If you want decent set, cheap, the "MagStar" brand carried by Knechts(prolly others) has been an acceptable alternative to OEM for me. $24 bucks, good rubber, good fit, nice black and gold look, and they have worked well for the few tune-ups I've used them. Not alot of long term data, but the short term is all good.

 

Although I urge my customers to spring for OEM, I will use the Magstar on Pre-2000s if the owner is strapped for cash. 2000+ OEM (prestolite)

Edited March 15, 200917 yr by Gloyale

Looks like Belden is sold at NAPA. Other posts here for my 87 gl said to get tuneup parts from NAPA. Guess things are different for older and newer gen. cars?

Looks like Belden is sold at NAPA. Other posts here for my 87 gl said to get tuneup parts from NAPA. Guess things are different for older and newer gen. cars?

 

I'm sure Napa has many more wires than just Belden.

 

Supplier can even vary regionally. Just ask for the type you want....ie..NGK...Prestolite...etc...

Gloyale, which of these do you recommend? I have a 2.2

 

http://www.speedycarparts.com/catalog/index.php?N=4294965269%201719%2011736&Ntt=ignition+wire+set&Nr=OR(AND(make:Subaru,model:Legacy,year:1997),AND(universal:1))&Vi=4294965269%201719%2011736&mk=Subaru&md=Legacy&y=1997&No=10&Npp=10

Get the 2.2 ones for sure. the 2.5 have a different end on them that won't seal right on the 2.2 head

ngk all the way. i have had a many subarus have the surging under acceleration problem. Most of them were traced down to cheap plug wires. a good set of ngk plug wires and plugs fixed all my surging problems.

Get the 2.2 ones for sure. the 2.5 have a different end on them that won't seal right on the 2.2 head

 

 

I was asking more for the price difference in the wire sets. Is more expensive better?

I was asking more for the price difference in the wire sets. Is more expensive better?

 

not sure. Generally you get what you pay for.