Hey, we're looking at getting a 1998 to 2002 legacy/outback/lancaster, 2.5 litre, non turbo, station wagon as a second car. Anyone got decent advice on what to look out for, issues wise, when purchasing! i.e any typical problems these cars suffer from etc, Any help would be awesome, Cheers
splinter67,
Aug 24, 10:00pm
Cool car fun to drive but if you buy 1 get the cooling system serviced take the radiator out get it rodded (cleaned out by a radiator man not a can of rad flush) and when its put back in make sure that the cooling system is bleed of all the air overheating is the biggest killer of sub engines
ruaphu,
Aug 24, 10:05pm
Cheers for that, will add to the list, thanks
philltauranga,
Aug 24, 10:32pm
When the radiator is out get the front pully bolt on the end of the crank retorqued (if its loose then remove and locktight it) they are prone to comming loose on Subies. Mine did and the half moon key which holds the timing belt pully (behind the plastic cover) and front alternator pully (external) to the crank worked its way out between the two pullys dammaging the keyways on the crank and pullys, a real b@5tard to fix. Stupid subie 1 halfmoon key between two pullys, lucky I was going slow and they have clearnce valves because it has the same effect as a broken cambelt. A welder, die grinder, bearing lock, lock tight, big hammer, big socket/strong bar- later, and I was on my way again.
ruaphu,
Aug 24, 10:54pm
Cheers Phill. Just seen there is a flat six 3 litre model too, cool, might include these in our search too.
mortluby,
Aug 24, 11:31pm
Had a 1.8 legacy as a work wagon (last of the carburetted ones). What a POS. Manual said the idle jets had to be tuned every 1500km. The previous owner hadn't done this for 50k km and the bores had been fuel washed and was smoking by the time it had done 60k km. I was regularly doing trips of 2k+ km, stopping to get the jets tuned mid trip was not an option. Car had other interesting issues as well.
franc123,
Aug 25, 12:51am
Just get a good standard PP inspection, the usual checks for evidence of good servicing of engine, cooling system and trans/driveline apply especially to Subaru's. Most of the grief with that model is with badly maintained, thrashed and molested twin turbo versions. Bear in mind that none of these are particularly fuel economic and aren't really ideal as an urban runabout, its the price you pay for AWD.
noswalg,
Aug 25, 2:55am
I have the 3.0 model and can tell you from owning a 2.5 before this the 3.0 is streets ahead (literally) A much smoother, much more powerful engine, also has a chain instead of belt.
ruaphu,
Aug 25, 5:33am
Hey thanks noswalg, cam chain too, even better. whats it like on fuel use ansd servicing compared with the 2.5!
noswalg,
Aug 25, 5:45am
Fuel use is probably on par with the 2.5 maybe even better, I get between 550 - 600kms per tank on the open road if driving economically. As far as servicing goes I would say cheaper than the 2.5 due to no belt to replace and the EZ30 engine doesn't have the overheating/gasket problems the EJ25 is prone to. I've had mine for 2yrs and done 35k in it and had no problems so far.
dave.sparky,
Aug 25, 5:54am
I have a 2000 3L Lancaster. Has traveled 270000kms. Drives great, good on fuel. Great tow car.
ruaphu,
Aug 25, 5:58am
cheers for that noswalg. looking around now for info on these motors on the web to get a bit more knowledgable about them. So far they seem a better option than the 2.5 unit.
monaro17,
Aug 25, 6:01am
2.0 non turbo is fine, 2.5 is also fine, 2.0 twin turbo is dreadfully unreliable, , but 3.0 is the pick.
noswalg,
Aug 25, 6:02am
thats good to know, by that logic I've got another 135000km of trouble free motoring ahead of me. Definitely nice to drive, mines a GT30 legacy. Would be even more fun if it was a manual
noswalg,
Aug 25, 6:06am
ruaphu, also search "subaru H6" as the engine is often called that
ruaphu,
Aug 25, 6:18am
Cheers will do
ruaphu,
Aug 25, 6:36am
what fuel do these sixes run on, 91 or 98!
lookoutas,
Aug 25, 10:11pm
They'll run on either, but much better on 98, and probably more economical. zeph told me the H6 will crap out the water pumps and are not cheap to have replaced - but I ignored him and brought an RS6. Love the smoothness, but got caught out short overtaking for a start, after being used to twin turbo grunt for many years.
ruaphu,
Aug 26, 3:07am
Cheers for that, yeap 98 is the way to go based on info I've seen so far. I've followed up on water pump issue. These are chain driven and expected to last the life of the motor. same set up as per some of the modern yankee v8's according to the variois blogs, forums I've looked at.
ryanm2,
Aug 26, 3:48am
how do you find the gt30 on fuel! Town driving. Always looked at getting one but always reluctant due to concerns over fuel usage. Had my fair share of 2 litre and 2 litre turbo suby's.
noswalg,
Aug 26, 4:04am
Actually not to bad if you drive it nicely but drive it hard it will suck the gas, I find the trans shifts better with the power button on so i just leave it on
lookoutas,
Aug 26, 7:22am
Everything is "User Pays" But mine is far better than a turbo.
kazbanz,
Aug 26, 7:27am
Sorry but are you talking about the 2.5l or the 3.0l when you say they are chain drive! -The 3.0l is chain drive-the 2.5 is belt
ruaphu,
Aug 26, 8:14am
talking about the 3.0, not the 2.5, have binned looking for a 2.5, decided on going for a 3.0 suby instead. ya can't beat cubes, eh
tazcsv,
Aug 26, 9:40pm
Yes you can, its called turbos.
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