98' Legacy Outback anyone have experience?

[kickinindian]

so im probably gonna pick up a 98 legacy outback (BG chassis), which puts me out of the BMW game for awhile :( but i will be back someday. anyways is a ej25 the heads were redone about a year ago, and the auto trans seems good, only problem is it has not passed smog, i know a guy that knows a guy as a last resort, if any of the easy fixes dont work.

anyone have any good things to do to these cars as far as reliability and things to check when im underneath it? or some cool pics even?

im going to put some General grabber ATs on it when i have to change the tires so i can take it out for photo expeditions.

[BobombETA]

I have an 00' outback as a winter daily. It's pretty amazing in the snow. I run Blizzak's on it. Just saw your location and realized you don't care about that though.

Usual things to look out for:

Rear wheel well rust

Timing belt replacement (every 105k)

Head gasket replacement (ymmv)

Oil leaks... especially ones that drip on to the exhaust manifolds. Here's a tip, even though it's summer, turn the heat and blower on high and let the car idle. See if you smell anything funky.

Transmission and differential mounts are pretty flimsy from the factory and get worse with age, there may be a lot of slop in the drive train because of this making for a not so pleasant ride. Try accelerating hard and letting off the accelerator abruptly and see if there is a a lot of lash.

Find out why it won't pass smog (read the codes), then find out how much that will cost to fix and use that as a bargaining point.

Dimming headlights and other electrical issues can be fixed with a decent grounding kit... you can make one yourself for like $20, or buy a premade one for like $40.

[kickinindian]

i ended up picking it up it didnt have any codes to go off of, i got it for $800 so not too bad and i do have snow in the winters i live near yosemite, not Upstate NY snow though!

ive heard that if you dont overheat them after the factory head gaskets were replaced, it they should be fine? idk just what ive read. im going to change the PCV, and both O2 sensors, and run some denatured alcohol, and see if that will get it passed, its only high HC so that should work hopefully. the front sway bar broke at the bend so i might just leave it off for now since i dont do alot of high speed driving and just pick one up if i find one at the junkyard. and just a couple small oil leaks, i think i might have had some good luck for once!

[e30onBBSs]

Post some pics! Love some soobie. Now put an 3.0L h6 in it!

[AndrewBird]

A friend of mine has had one since high school (12+ years). Basically no maintenance on it, beat to shit, but still runs and drives. Things seem to be tanks.

[e30onBBSs]

A friend of mine has had one since high school (12+ years). Basically no maintenance on it, beat to shit, but still runs and drives. Things seem to be tanks.

Subarus are awesome cars. Our outback only needed a new sway bar because of offroading. I even got air in it once.. Only bitch about them is plugs really but they use such nice plugs that the service interval is long.

Have you guys ever seen the 1 wheel slippery slope subaru versus other brands 4wd? And the boxer vibration dampening (basically)?

[kickinindian]

ill get some pics tomorrow! i spent my day changing the oil, pcv valve, changing 02 sensors (easy from the top), air filter and 2 out of 4 spark plugs, one of the crush washers got stuck in the hole and i spent 3 hours trying to get my half way in spark plug out.

Solution: used some hose and slipped it onto the spark plug and gave me enough grip on the 90 degree angle to twist it out and actually helped me get it 90% of the way back on.

tommorow is the other 2 plugs, coolant bypass mod, thermostat, coolant flush and dropping the cracked sway bar, then pour some ethanol in the tank and hopefully get this thing smogged!

its nice to finally have a running car. i got so burned out working on my E30 and shit going wrong, next time i get an e30 its staying oem+, or now that im on a Scoobie kick maybe a bug eye impreza, non wrx though, gotta keep that insurance down!

[decay]

i bought an '05 legacy 2.5gt at the beginning of the year. comprehensive insurance is still less than $100/mo for me. but, i'm an old guy (36) with no tickets on the DMV sleeve. still, though, worth looking at an insurance quote, as i'm pretty sure the buyer demographic for the legacy (old people) vs the wrx/sti (flatbill bro) is a factor.

the LGT does have about a 100-pound weight penalty vs the same-year sti, but for that, you get a much nicer interior fit/finish/feel, a super-sleeper look (those who don't know will easily confuse it with a camry- helps with keeping that DMV record clean), and still very good upgrade paths.

haven't done anything to mine yet, because it's time for me to finally buy a house; gotta have priorities in life sometime. but when i do feel like spending $2k on it, another 100hp is an accessport and a factory turbo upgrade away. for now, it's a commuter, and the power it has makes me grin when i give it the right foot.

https://instagram.com/p/x8Lle_H2i-/

[kickinindian]

Here she is all rough and dirty
And the heater core bypass

[ST1G]

Head gaskets like to blow.

[kickinindian]

Head gaskets like to blow.

I'm paranoid as fuck about it lol

[kickinindian]

, okay so I'm technically able to pass smog. if our vehicle is between 96-2000 I can have 2 monitors on the ecu "not ready" and still pass smog, the problem is that the smog stations don't want that because they get their STAR rating knocked down for doing so even though I have passed according to California smog rules, the smog shop won't pass me because they will get their rating dropped, at least from what I've researched. Also all HC and CO% passes as well only reason is I have one too many monitors not ready for the shop to want to pass me

[kickinindian]

Update: all my OBDII monitors finally set, i hate OBDII....made me drive illegally for a week and a half. correction i hate cali needing to check OBDII when my tailpipe smogged perfectly. so on monday all the fun smog and DMV fun!

[UlrichFennec]

Looks like you're gonna have fun on Monday for sure.

You have any plans as far as mods goes? New wheels? Exhaust?

[kickinindian]

either paint the wheels, or get some the same size or 16in, i want to run an A/T tire so i will need the space in the wheel wells, maybe a forester suspension swap, this will be my wifes car/camping vehicle so need to keep it pretty simple for now.

long term i want to fiberglass a small sub box into the side of the back area since the stock sound is seriously lacking, plus HU and new 6.5". im also planning to find a SOHC ej25 or an H6 with a MT ready for when/if this car blows up one or the other. otherwise i just want to clean it up and have it be as reliable as possible.



kinda like this without steelies, and keeping the front and rear bumpers.