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Hi, so I've just had my suspicions confirmed at the Subaru dealer that my 97 legacy gtb engines got a knock in the bottom end . Noticed it last night when was heading home, and was really obvious this morning. Definitely worse when cold but is still noticeable when engines up to temp. Was hoping it wasn't too serious cos car still drives mint but was told its only going to get worse (was told could be matter of days, weeks or months depending on how lucky I am). Is it normal for the car to run normally with bottom end issues?? I've only had the car about 6 months and have looked after it in that time, frequent oil and filter changes etc no codes or anything haven't thrashed it, just seemed to happen out of the blue. Maybe just fkn bad luck and general wear and tear? Mind you I guess I don't know how well it was looked after before I bought it. Anyway so thats the background to my depressing news, now I need to figure out what to do! My options: 1) Cut my losses and sell parts that I can -Probably won't get much money for it (Apparantly worth well under $1000 to wreckers) -Could sell parts myself but takes time and don't have a spare car in the meantime. 2) Re-build -Obviously the best option in terms of minimizing future problems -Problems are don't have the experience to do much of the work myself and the cost is gonna be huge, Subaru dealer said at a guestimate I'd be looking at 4.5-6.5K. 3) Drop in another engine -Good news is have one available locally with 93,000Km on the clock and have been quoted $2,500 to remove my engine and install this one, comes with turbos etc which is good because my primary has been whining quite badly of late. Comes with 3 month warranty if installed by them. So Im leaning towards option 3, in fact considering time and money constraints it really is my only option if i want to keep the car. Does the price I mentioned seem OK? I've had a look and it seems to be pretty hard to find another EJ20R around.

yeah thats it, i dont get it either maybe the guy was having some friday afternoon related issues. He looked up part on his comp based on the BG5C number I gave him so figure he did find the right part. Just seems strange too me, i would have thought $20-30

Hey, I have the same problem with whining primary on my bg5. Was considering changing it cos thought it meant turbo was on way out but if you've already tried a couple maybe thats not the problem? Will be interesting to see what others have to say. Have your replacements been the same turbo ie swap vf18 for vf18 or have you tried a newer model turbo?

No, I think its in the engine bay by the passenger strut.

So I went to get a fuel filter from the Subaru dealer today and he reckoned my car needed an odd ball fuel filter that they would have to get sent down from Auckland and would cost $87. Does that sound right, seems a bit steep to me. Anyone know if there's a suitable fuel filter from repco etc. Its for a manual 97 legacy gtb (BG5C). Cheers.

Cool, thanks for your reply's. Ill check it out on the weekend and will leave batt disconnected for a couple hours just to be safe! Cheers, for your help.

Sweet, thats good to hear. Im hoping I wont need to unplug the yellow airbag connector behind the wheel but if i do then plug it back in will this cause problems with the airbag light? Don't really see how it could but think I read somewhere that it does and then needs to be professionally reset?

Its a 1997 legacy gtb. Figured it prob wouldn't be as easy as just disconnecting the battery. I know something is loose in there and figure thats probably whats causing the problem just sux I have to pay to get someone to undo a couple bolts and check it out.

Hi, every now and then (more frequently lately) my horn will just go off by itself when Im driving around. If I push the steering wheel button a few times I can get it to stop eventually, but does take a while sometimes, and needless to say can be pretty embarrassing! Also I can here something is loose behind the steering wheel when I turn the wheel a lot (like while parking). Sounds like coins or something rattling around, so Im guessing a bolt or something has come loose and is maybe whats causing the horn to go off? So I want to take it apart to see whats going on but its the factory momo wheel with the airbag and don't want to cause any problems there, can I just disconnect the battery before taking it apart? Cheers for any help.

I have read the can and was just asking so I didn't Fk it up. Haven't owned the car long and things are lot more complicated under the hood than on my old Mazda! My bad for thinking these forums were to help noobs like myself.

Hi, I've has a search and found a few previous posts about the UEC but am still not sure exactly where I should be spraying this on my 97 legacy gtb. Anyone got a pic or tell me what vac hose number I should use? Cheers.

The wheels were on it when I bought it, personally Id rather have the factory ones but will stick with these for now. Yeah I figure my best bet is to just try and bend the guard lip up a bit, was just wondering if this happened with all legacy's or was a result of the different wheels.

Hi, Ive had my 97 legacy gtb for about a month now and has been going well. Had the car loaded up this weekend with ski gear etc plus a couple people in the back and found that the outside of the rear tyres rub on the inside edge of the wheel arch (the metal edge where the wheel guard is folded under). Only happens when hit a bump or on sharp corners going uphill. Wheels aren't factory mags but I think they are the same size (tyres 215x45x17). Has anyone else noticed this with there legacy??

Did it yesterday afternoon without too much trouble. Didn't need to jack up engine at all, although it probably would have made things easier. Who ever did it last time had used a heap of sealer and in the bottom corner where the leak was coming from there was a big glob of the stuff which I think was prob the reason for the leak. Admittedly it was a bit of a bastard of a job but still a lot less painful than paying $240 to get it done at the dealer so thanks to everyone for their advice.

Thanks for the quick reply, yeah I was planning on getting genuine parts and its 3 bond sealer thats recommended right? Can I just buy that at repco or something? Also probably a dumb question but where exactly is the best place to the jack when lifting the side of the engine up a bit?

Hi, I have an oil leak from my passenger side rocker cover on my 97 legacy gtb. Have read a few posts and think I can manage changing it myself as don't have $240 to get it done at garage! Can someone who has done this job themselves confirm for me that I can do this with the engine in the car and without having to loosen mounts and jack up the engine? Thanks in advance.

Cool, thanks for the quick reply. Hopefully I can pick one up from a wrecker for not too much. Was reading about cleaning the AFM element and will probably do that at the same time. Can you just buy a can of AFM spray or something at repco?

Hi, I've just bought a 1997 legacy GTB and being my first Subaru have found this site really helpful so thanks to everyone. As my topic title suggests the car came with a pod filter attached (its a Blitz mesh style one). Although everything seems to be going OK so far I have read that pod filters can cause AFM problems and am considering replacing it with the stock setup. If your still reading this my question is can I simply get hold of a stock air filter box and take off the pod and bolt in the box? Thanks in advance.