Ownership Verified: 2004 Lesbaru Legacy Outback

Cellos88GT

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Santa Cruz, CA
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Well, it's not the most exciting car I've owned but I needed a comfortable DD and my '99 Regular-Cabbed Mazda B2500 wasn't cutting it anymore (I never bothered to post the car here because who cares) in the comfort department. I had been searching for a few months for an '05+ Legacy GT Wagon / Outback XT with a manual but they either had a bunch of miles, were listed for too much money, had questionable issues, or were modded by a jdm douchebag. Plus I was starting to learn that those turbo mills weren't as stout as their WRX counterparts and suffered a number of valve issues. So I decided to re-tune my search for the third-gen Legacies and found this fairly low mileage single-owner example:

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After driving it a week, I have to say that I don't miss having a turbo, it's lowly 165 hp out of a SOHC 2.5 boxer-4 isn't fast by any means but it isn't as slow as I thought it would be. Plus it handles windy roads with ease, inspiring a lot of confidence. My one gripe with the car are the brakes, they're quite dreadful. Pedal feel is pretty mushy and the stopping power is marginal at best. Fortunately, this platform shares a lot with it's relatives so upgrade options for brakes are pretty broad. I'll start with new pads, rotors, S/S brake lines, and fresh fluid to see if that alleviates the issue and go from there.

Proof pics:

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Neat! Is this 2.5l more reliable than others or the turbo counter parts?
 
A Subaru wagon it is. I never can find one of these when looking. They are either an Outback model, rusted out, have 250,000,000 miles or all the above. Great find! :thumbsup:

BTW, I would like to see more on the Mazda Ranger...

Thanks! Fortunately, this one is an outback model but at least it doesn't have the two-tone gold thing going on. :barf:

Neat! Is this 2.5l more reliable than others or the turbo counter parts?

Compared to those motors I think so. There are a ton of these NA Legacies often with 200k miles on them. However, ~25% have head gaskets issues due to having a single layer head gasket. Supposedly, cars after '03 were fitted with thicker head gaskets that remedy the issue but only time will tell.
 
This looks like a great jack-of-all-trades. How's the fuel economy?
 
I haven't had it long enough myself to say but the previous owner said he averaged 20 mpg city and 27 on the highway.
 
EJ253 in that? Gaskets aren't terrible, they're just a royal pain the the rear to do.

And if you ever get the turbo bug, well, they're LEGO cars. Just drop in a new engine/drivetrain.
 
I haven't had it long enough myself to say but the previous owner said he averaged 20 mpg city and 27 on the highway.

You may be able to do a bit better than that if you're conservative around town and use your cruise control faithfully on the highway. 20/27 was exactly what I got on my 2.5 Forester and it had the crap-o-matic.

In any case, that's a great find and I think you'll be happy with it as a DD!

SL
 
EJ253 in that? Gaskets aren't terrible, they're just a royal pain the the rear to do.

And if you ever get the turbo bug, well, they're LEGO cars. Just drop in a new engine/drivetrain.

It's not an EJ253, still an EJ251 but supposedly there were different HGs used on the early vs. later year motors?

The turbo bug is strong but I hear the wiring harness is a bit of a chore to figure out. Either way it's something I won't consider until I'm out of graduate school. lol
 
I like these so I approve. That thing is a beast in snow...or so I hear since we only get ice down here. LOL
 
Not bad.

DO THE TIMING. 80k is the start of the danger zone for early pulley death. It's rather easy on the SOHC models (you'll need a maximum of 1 special service tool, and even that's just for holding the crank still while you undo the bastard of a crank bolt. The 5spd in 5th, handbrake and some chocks should be equivalent.

Idler pulley death actually kills more of these than actual timing belt snaps. There are three idlers: A cogged idler, a smooth double-bearing idler, and a smooth single-bearing idler. The single bearing idler is the same diameter as the double-bearing, but has a guide plate to keep the belt from walking inwards.

The single bearing pulley is the one that lets go. It can be subbed for the double-bearing idler part - the only functionality you lose is the safety from the belt walking itself inwards. And let's be real here: If a cogged timing belt is walking, it's fucked already.

The cogged pulley is the next most frequent failure, but there ain't much you can do about that.
Then the tensioner.
Then the belt itself.
Then the water pump.
Then the double-bearing idler.

Unfortunately, nobody sells a timing kit that subs the idler, so you either have to assemble it yourself or buy a kit and an extra idler.

Make sure it's running the proper Subaru coolant. Should be dark green (normal) or blue (it's been converted to the newer long life version). Regular off the shelf coolant is suspected to be a contributing factor to head gasket fuckery.
 
Thanks guys!

Not bad.

DO THE TIMING. 80k is the start of the danger zone for early pulley death. It's rather easy on the SOHC models (you'll need a maximum of 1 special service tool, and even that's just for holding the crank still while you undo the bastard of a crank bolt. The 5spd in 5th, handbrake and some chocks should be equivalent.

Idler pulley death actually kills more of these than actual timing belt snaps. There are three idlers: A cogged idler, a smooth double-bearing idler, and a smooth single-bearing idler. The single bearing idler is the same diameter as the double-bearing, but has a guide plate to keep the belt from walking inwards.

The single bearing pulley is the one that lets go. It can be subbed for the double-bearing idler part - the only functionality you lose is the safety from the belt walking itself inwards. And let's be real here: If a cogged timing belt is walking, it's fucked already.

The cogged pulley is the next most frequent failure, but there ain't much you can do about that.
Then the tensioner.
Then the belt itself.
Then the water pump.
Then the double-bearing idler.

Unfortunately, nobody sells a timing kit that subs the idler, so you either have to assemble it yourself or buy a kit and an extra idler.

Make sure it's running the proper Subaru coolant. Should be dark green (normal) or blue (it's been converted to the newer long life version). Regular off the shelf coolant is suspected to be a contributing factor to head gasket fuckery.

That is good info to know. The PO had the belt/pulleys inspected by his shop a few months ago (he showed me the associated receipt which I currently have) indicating that the belt is OK. However, now that you mention the pulley maybe I'll try to change it all sooner rather than at the recommended "105k mile" interval figure.
 
Also, while the engine is out, do the head gaskets while you're in there if they've not been done recently. Seeing as you gotta pull the engine to do the head gaskets anyway, may as well knock them out while the engine is already out of the car.
 
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