Thread: Subaru question

I am looking at buying a Subaru outback. I know there are some Subaru guys on here. It seems the car is very well maintained. I am scared of the head gasket issue rearing its ugly head. The car just hit 140k. Everything looks good on it Im not mechanic though. It also is a 5 speed. Rare in my neck of the woods. I drove it and it seems to run ok with no issues. This will be my daily. Am I worried for nothing? Or should I pass on it? Its 3900. I am paranoid. I was looking at accords until I found out the years im looking at have terrible transmissions. Advice is needed and appreciated.

If headgaskets haven't been done, they probably should be done soon. Its less of a question of "if" and more of a question of "when". Timing belt/tensioner/idler pulleys/water pump should have been done at 105k, standard for most Subarus. Nothing that I'm aware of to be worried about with the transmission. My Forester has 188k on the trans and shifts smooth as butter, no grinds, whines, or awkward shifts. Obviously the clutch may need attention before too long if it hasn't been touched already.

if the headgaskets havent been done by 140k, they will be puking oil, from the top and bottom of the engine, the water pump and all pullies and tensioner may not have necessarily have been done if the owner skimped, the pullies are one thing I would NEVER skimp on, they seize, say bye bye to the valves.

the waterpumps have a weep hole that can easily be seen leaking from the bottom of the car. the manuals are pretty solid if they are just daily driven. the throw out bearings will start squealing when cold when they are going out, and can easily be found out cause they will change pitch when the clutch is pressed.

the pressure plates get stiff when abused, if the pedal is easy to push then you are good, brand new stock clutch assemblies you can press in like butter. ive seen the clutch pressure hose leak/sweat heavily. the shift shaft seals on every single manual seep, dont leak bad but you do get a decent amount of build up around that area.

what year is it?

this is my personal opinion, everyone here that has read Vadims thread knows this, I would never purchase any subaru, but if I had to, it would be a stock STI Limited, an 08 spec b legacy, a 94 legacy wagon that is turbo and 5 speed, or possibly an outback XT or 06+ Forester XT.

the single cams are really strong runners, and super easy to work on, and actually other than the head gaskets are more reliable than the turbos if the turbos dont have a couple things fixed/removed, but just not my cup of tea. but then again nore is any subaru.

What year Outback and what motor displacement? 2.5L SOHC motors are the ones with head gasket issues, Subaru used cheap head gaskets, along with bad coolant and grounding issues (all Subarus). I believe 2007+ 2.5L SOHC's are finally good.

Turbo 2.5L's are less likely to have head gasket issues, but have a bunch of other issues that are fairly easily fixable though.

we still do a good amount of head gaskets on the 07 plus, but they usually dont start leaking til about 120k. crappy thing about that is, people dump money in at the 105k for the t belt and 15k later, get the gaskets done. I personally havent really had many issues with grounds, maybe on the east coast more due to the salt, and we also never see issues with coolant.

The reason I say grounds is because Subaru's are notorious for loosing all kinds of bearings. See this thread: http://www.sr20-forum.com/brakes-suspension/71228-bad-grounds-lead-wheel-bearing-failure.html

lol that is crazy, I can fully understand it though. interesting.

It depends on the year you are talking about. After about MY2002 or so the head gaskets are less of an issue. The grounding issue Vadim mentioned plays a big role here. Also bad head gaskets are not the end of the world if you catch it early enough.