How many miles are on your 2nd gen Legacy?

The ex may be taking the L so I will be looking for a 5 speed possibly.

If I lived in japan I would have some sick sti or something like that cars are cheap there

True, but I'm poor.

 

I settled on a Legacy because most of the older sports cars that are reasonably priced have questionable history, mods etc. I wanted something fun, practical, clean and original and the Legacy seemed the best bet.

Owning a car in Japan is A LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT more expensive than in the US too.

Yep.

 

Over $200/mo for parking (and that's cheap, usually $3-500 for Tokyo area).

About $6/gallon for fuel.

Highway about .35c/kilometre (.60c/mile).

147,000 same engine and trans, no rebuilds.

thats still a baby^ you have another 100k miles tile you have rebuilds.

At 66,200 miles on my uber rare '99 LGT-L 5spd. Finally convinced dad to get the timing belt replaced along with the h2o pump and the thermostat. local subaru guru is gunna do it on thursday. I need to know if I might as well replace the HG's too...? If it's only like a few hundered bucks more I'll have them replaced as well. the technician quoted me around $800 for the t-belt, water pump, thermo, fuel filter, etc and labor. If I can get the HG's done for like $300 on that and I keep the total around $1100 I'll have him replace all of that stuff.

HGs for $300? I doubt it

Every place I have gone to says not to replace them until they blow. Just dont be stupid about it when they blow and keep driving the car while it is hot.

There's no reason not to replace them before they blow!! Then you won't get stuck in the middle of nowhere and risk messing up the engine.

Tell tale sign of a bad gasket are bubbles in the coolant overflow.

 

I'm not saying don't do it, the HGs WILL blow. They ALL do. I'm just saying $300 sounds cheap.

You never know when they will blow... I think it is pointless to replace them before they blow because maybe you could've not spent that money and gotten more than 50k out of the old ones. That is the way I see it because my shop charges $1,800 (I live in the sticks, we get higher prices) for headgaskets and they recommend not to replace them until you have to. I have also known this shop and the people ever since I was born.

 

I'm doubting that $300 is going to get you a good HG job.... They probably won't machine the heads or anything.

297k and it's head gasket time again! This will be the third time for this motor since it was new. Bleh! Just took my LGT apart, too. So now I have two broken Subies. :/

Just the price of gaskets is close to $150.

 

I think that's about what I had into mine when I resealed it couple weeks ago.

297k and it's head gasket time again! This will be the third time for this motor since it was new. Bleh! Just took my LGT apart, too. So now I have two broken Subies. :/

I got my 98 with 228k miles. Blown head gasket and overheated to the point of seizure twice. Still started up and ran without any bad noises though. crazy tough little engine. But it was on it's second head gaskets

Prob no need to do head gaskets until you notice a symptom.

 

My 98 has 216k, over heated once, black gunk in the coolant. No symptoms I noticed before, I smelled the coolant a couple months ago and didn't notice anything. Im having it towed to a shop next week. My roadside will cover all but $10 to get it towed... I figure that's cheap insurance that I shouldn't have to replace anything more serious than headgaskets. Estimated cost... $1400-1700.

Finally got one of my 98 LGTs (BD5) here from SoCal. So glad to see it sitting in the driveway again. It arrived off-the-transporter, with 75,139 miles on it. It had been sitting in dry storage in Sandy Eggo and I had it shipped out to become my wife's DD. Looks great. As soon as I get it detailed, will get some pics up. Tires are a bit flat-spotted and the engine is a bit rough from sitting, but we're nursing her back a little bit at a time - fresh gas and injector treatment will go a long way toward remedying the engine roughness. I can already hear the change in her heart beat.

95 legay wagon ls 286,497 orginal 2.2l and 4eat

95 legay wagon ls 286,497 orginal 2.2l and 4eat

Nice!!

Have you done regular tranny flushes to keep it going that high miles?

I JUST bought a 1998 Legacy GT Wagon (auto) this morning!!

 

154,731 miles...

 

Already had the headgaskets, waterpump, and timing bely replaced once... Getting the transfer clutches, ball joints, and air/oil separator plate (on the back of the block) replaced tomorrow ... Hopefully I can get atleast another 200,000 outta this thing

2.2l, 5 spd; 1 owner & Still going on the original engine (original gaskets too!), second clutch & third timing belt (at 230K or so, I forget exactly now...)

EJ22 = Winning

EJ22 = Winning

 

EJ2.2:wub:

Thanks for the input everyone. So is there any way to tell when the hg's are nearing their lifespan? Increased engine temp and/or black stuff in the coolant? Does subaru have a recommended time/milage as to when they should be replaced? I'm sure I'm fine mileage wise at only 66k but is there a projected time span as to how long they'll last and when subaru recommends to have them replaced?

It is usually somewhere in between 100-200k. Some people's will go before 100k but I haven't heard about too many of them going that early. I'm at 128k in one car and 142k in the other and both have original head gaskets.