Top 10 1997 Subaru Legacy Questions & Answers

I've had the same problem all year. I've had four different mechanics look at this car - 97 legacy with 2.5. I've had the coolant seals replaced, the radiator cap, the thermostat, the water pump - all to no avail. I've realized now that it only overheats shortly after running sustained high rpm's. Recently the last mechanic mentioned the bleeder valve (I didn't know it had one and think maybe he didn't know either - not a subaru mechanic). Recently it overheated again (again sustained high rpm's - apparently more prone to produce air in the system), I sat the vehicle on an incline (raising the bleeder valve to be the highest point) and let the car warm up and run for half an hour. Now 300 miles and no overheat. I went through alot with this car to get to this point. Unbelievable.

On the 1998 Legacy the Radio fuse is the fifth from engine, third from driver, on the bottom, 15A, and the Lighter is in the same long row on the top, 20A.

1. Open the rear hatch, and look down towards the bumper, in the direction of the tail light bulb needing replacement.
2. You should see the dark colored plastic trim piece, which is held in place by two small plastic body style philips head screws.
3. These wil only 'loosen' a little bit, you will need to slip a fingernail or some other slim item, underneath the heads of each of the screws, and pull back on them firmly by grasping the body of the screw, not the head (which is flimsy, and can crush if squeezed).
3. remove the plastic trim piece - it can be achieved by lifting out and towards you - set aside.
4. Using a 10mm socket or wrench, unscrew the upper and lower bolts holding the taillight assembly in place.
5. the taillight assembly is now loose - it can pulled rearwards, and will slide off of the small guide slots holding it in place.
6. The bulb is a twist lock style, underneath the tan cap- twist the cap counter-clockwise, and it will pop out. The bulb is a number 7440, for the running light/ brake light, and a 7443 for the turn signal. a 3757 will not fit through the cut out hole in the taillight assembly.
7. Re-assemble in reverse, making sure to check the function of the bulb PRIOR to re-assembly.
Good Luck.

Sorry if this might break your heart. I have '98 Outback which is the same 1st generation DOHC 2.5 engine. These are common head gasket problem (I'd say 100% of every engine sooner or later) once you have had your car overheated.

You will not get this comfirmed by just have your mech check the compression on the cylinder because we call it phantom leak (internal leak which can be confirmed with hydrocarbon in coolant). And then you will end up replace every other thing before you could reach the source of problem.

Other signs of this issue are as following: random overheating after freeway or uphills drive, bubbles in coolant overflow tank, oil residue in coolant overflow tank, bubble nioses from the a/c vent.

You're looking at $1000-1500 repair by independent mech as they have to pull engine out to fix the problem. I had mine fixed two weeks ago and now my baby is running like a champ.

google for "Subaru head gasket problem"

If the cable link to the latch is rusty or broken you have to take the front grid down. It's relatively easy. It's held there by plastic fasteners. Then reach for the latch with you hand, or the leftover broken cable. Pull it, it should release the first latch, than you just have to get to the security latch, like you usually do to open the hood.

I assume it's a manual transmission.
If the car will not roll backward or forward in neutral (with or without the clutch engaged) the transmission is most likely locked in two gears at the same time.
This may happen if gear selectors are excessively worn. If you are able to examine the gear selection levers external to the gearbox, ensure they are in the 'neutral' (no gear selected) position when the gear lever is in Neutral. If not in correct position, you may be able to manually reset the levers to correct neutral position and thereby unlock the gearbox.
In any case, if it's happened once, it will happen again, so get the gearbox and gear selection mechanism checked for wear or breakage.

These are nice as there is a removable cover/ port in the rear trunk on these models.This eliminates the need to drop the tank. This access plate gives you direct access to the pump/sender unit in the fuel tanks top side.

Starters don't click.
Solenoids click.

So remove push-on connector from Solenoid wire.
Should be clean, secure & relay bracket grounded.
Connect a jumper wire between battery positive terminal & the exposed terminal on the solenoid.
If starter motor now operates then it's the ignition switch.
If starter motor does not operate then replace solenoid.

if its been a week, there should no tbe any air. if its heavy, the rack could be bad, or weak pump????? any noises? air will usually cause a whiney noise, and there will be air whipped, foamy fluid in the pump. A pump pressure regulator could be stuck open, not allowing full pressure? I would have a shop diagnose it, tell them the history and see if they can find a cause.

the timing marks are on the camshaft pulleys and there are 2 notches on each pulley> they line up with 2 marks on the engine block for each pulley> and the crankshaft has a notch that lines up with a mark on the engine block aswell> pluss the new timing belt will have white marks on it that will line up with all of the marks on the pulleys when they are in the right place so its nearly impossable to do it wrong