Help! me buy the right used soobie. Please!

[jdsolomon]

For a few weeks I've been furiously looking for a Soobie wagon to
replace my dead Jeep. I thought I had finally found the one today. Its
an '96 outback wagon with 127k, a new clutch, and a new timing belt.
And what I was really excited about was that it had the 2.2L that
everyone here raves about instead of the 2.5L that everyone says blows
head gaskets. And the price was right. It didn't smoke at all when
revved up at the operating speed (the first of the cars I've seen that
didn't do this) It even handled well. The transmission sounded a little
worn, but I was willing to overlook it until I looked under the
vehicle.

I noticed a very good amount of oil on most of the bottom of the
engine. When I traced it it seemed to not be coming from the pan, but
rather from the driver side cylinder head.
Okay, its probably just a valve cover. No big deal.

Then I noticed oil drips on the bottom of the timing belt case, on both
the passenger and driver sides! And thus, instead of buying my dream
car, I walked away disappointed again....

My question is: Is this as big of a problem on this car as I think? Or,
is it a common problem inherent to the design that doesn't effect
really effect the timing belt. It is a timing belt and not a timing
chain, right? If it is a belt, is there anyway the oil could be
dripping from BOTH sides of its case, and yet the belt is dry and not
stewing in oil and grit?

Also: Is smoke from burning oil when you tack the car up to 5grand or
so something that most all of these engines do over 100K, or is it
reasonable for me to believe that I can find another that won't smoke
when I stomp on it a little?

Finally: Are there any specific flaws that I should expect to find in
all Subarus, but ignore b/c they won't effect longevity, and how about
the things that I might miss, but really need to look out for?

BTW, I've got $3500 to spend, and I really want to find a manual trans
wagon, in the ny,nj,ct area, and, I need it within a week.

Any help or words of wisdom you guys can give me will be much
apprietiated! Thanks!

 

[Stephen H]

The cam seals are leaking. Common problem; if you know how to do timing
belts and cam seals it's not a big deal, and a soobie is a great car to
learn on.

--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/bl_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/
http://www.familycar.com/Alignment.htm

 

[jdsolomon]

I don't know how to do timing belts or cam seals..... The extent of the
work I've done on cars is brakes and oil changes....I do, however, have
people who know what they're doing to call on if I mess up, but they
geographically far away. I am mechanically inclined, I just have no
experience with this stuff. Just how not big of a deal are we talking
about here? How long would it take someone with little experience to
do it? How much for a shop to do it?

And, correct me if I"m wrong, But, you are saying that I definately
would need to do something about it soon?

I talked him down to 3000bucks btw...

 

[johninKY]

Are you sure it has the 2.2 engine? I'm sure someone will correct me if I
am wrong but I thought only the Legacy got the 2.2 and all Outbacks got the
2.5. I wonder why the current owner did not have the front seals replaced
when the timing belt was done. It would have only added a few more
dollars to the total repair bill. Based soley on this I would look for
another car.

 

[lkreh]

I think you're right. I'll hedge my bet by saying I'm not certain, but
I don't think the 2.2 has never been offered in a U.S. Outback. Either
the poster's mistaken or someone put a 2.2 in it.

 

[jdsolomon]

Actually, the 2.2L '96 Outback is offered with the manual transmission,
after '96, this was no longer the case, and you can't get it with
automatics....

 

[Body Roll]

And what I was really excited about was that it had the 2.2L that

everyone here raves about instead of the 2.5L that everyone says blows

I think I was the only one raving recently. And as much as I post to
this group
I'm hardly "everybody".
2.5L probably works better with automatics, but I think FHI could just
as well resuscitate 2.2 or 2.0 in the cars with standard transmissions
if they can't get the 2.5i engine to be easy to live with under 3k rpm.
By "easy to live with" I mean that the power is delivered in a pleasant
way as opposed to what happens now in the 2.5 with no turbo: press on
gas and get "now what?"
response from under the hood. "Okay, so, you wanna go, right? Press
okay if that is correct".
Two seconds later the engine spools up to 4k rpm and you have some
power.

Did anyone drive 2.0 and 2.5 WRX back to back and can nitpick about the
difference in the way
the engines WITH turbo feel? Was 2.0 much happier spinning up and the
dubmed down STI
engine is?

 

[Sheldon]

For a few weeks I've been furiously looking for a Soobie wagon to
replace my dead Jeep. I thought I had finally found the one today. Its
an '96 outback wagon with 127k, a new clutch, and a new timing belt.
And what I was really excited about was that it had the 2.2L that
everyone here raves about instead of the 2.5L that everyone says blows
head gaskets. And the price was right. It didn't smoke at all when
revved up at the operating speed (the first of the cars I've seen that
didn't do this) It even handled well. The transmission sounded a little
worn, but I was willing to overlook it until I looked under the
vehicle.

I noticed a very good amount of oil on most of the bottom of the
engine. When I traced it it seemed to not be coming from the pan, but
rather from the driver side cylinder head.
Okay, its probably just a valve cover. No big deal.

Then I noticed oil drips on the bottom of the timing belt case, on both
the passenger and driver sides! And thus, instead of buying my dream
car, I walked away disappointed again....

My question is: Is this as big of a problem on this car as I think? Or,
is it a common problem inherent to the design that doesn't effect
really effect the timing belt. It is a timing belt and not a timing
chain, right? If it is a belt, is there anyway the oil could be
dripping from BOTH sides of its case, and yet the belt is dry and not
stewing in oil and grit?

Also: Is smoke from burning oil when you tack the car up to 5grand or
so something that most all of these engines do over 100K, or is it
reasonable for me to believe that I can find another that won't smoke
when I stomp on it a little?

Finally: Are there any specific flaws that I should expect to find in
all Subarus, but ignore b/c they won't effect longevity, and how about
the things that I might miss, but really need to look out for?

BTW, I've got $3500 to spend, and I really want to find a manual trans
wagon, in the ny,nj,ct area, and, I need it within a week.

Any help or words of wisdom you guys can give me will be much
apprietiated! Thanks!

6 years ago I got '90 Subaru Loyale (with the 4WD button on the shift knob)
that had 135,000 miles on it. I had a new water pump and timing belt put
in, but that was the most I ever spent on it. Bought it for $2500 and sold
it for $1500. When I sold it it had 175,000 miles on it and smoked a bit on
startup. Also had a persistent oil leak. Otherwise, it ran great and still
had plenty of pep.

I paid $5500 for a "97 Outback to replace it with, and the car is fully
loaded with only 35k on a new engine. I live at a ski resort, so Outbacks
go for a premium here, but I think if you can come up with a little more
money you could find yourself a really nice car with few if any problems.
Just make sure to get it checked out by a reputable mechanic before taking
the title.

I guess if the car drives okay, my question would be when was the timing
belt changed? They usually do a bunch of other things when the timing belt
is replaced, and it's not a cheap service that does need to be done on
schedule.