Just made a Subaru Impluse buy. Info needed

I friend of mine called me out of the blue and bought my 93 F350 the other day so I had a little extra cash. I have been looking for another Volvo Wagon but nothing had really turned up. Today an add popped up for a 2000 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. 2.2L 147k, 5 speed, some light damage on the front fender but nothing to bad. Really nice Interior, No Rust that i could see, working A/C, good tires. I went out and drove it and talked to the seller. He got the car in a trade and had no idea on the last timing belt change. I used that and the non working driver side window to get him down from $2500 to $2000. Since my Subaru knowledge is lacking what do i need to know about these things. Potential trouble spots. I plan on doing the Timing Belt ASAP. Besides here what are some good forums, Parts suppliers etc

That specific year and model is a well documented death trap...youre lucky it hasnt killed you already. I will dispose of it in a manner that will not allow for any harm to come to anyone. I only charge $250 for disposal, I will even come pick it without additional charge. Let me know your address, please have the title ready to sign over to me.

NASIOC should have everything you need info-wise. I would search before you ask, because whatever you ask has probably been asked over 10,000,000 times already, and they get pissy over there.

You got it for a fair price. The 2.2L's are good motors and don't exhibit the head gasket issues the 2.5's of that vintage have.

Look out for rust. Up here, most of those are starting to rust around the wheel wells and the rockers. Other than that, it's all general maintenance, and they are simple to work on. You just have to get used to the spark plugs being on the sides of the motor. With the right tools, they aren't bad to get to.

And remember, Subarus are like Legos. Lots of 2.5RS and WRX parts will bolt right on.

Not much to worry about. The phase 2 EJ22 in there is a good reliable little motor as long as you leave it alone and dont try to do something silly like turbo it. They seem to do just fine on whatever cheap oil you put in. Timing belt is dead easy on that motor as well. Transmissions seem to like the cheap stuff and the rear differential will take just about anything that is roughly oil-like and work fine. The subframes and lower control arms can rust, but if there is no cancer then there isnt much to worry about. Check the cowl drains at the bottom rear of the wheel well by pulling back the fender liner. The driver door is most likely the switch.

Plenty of good vendors in GRM that can help you out but for switches, bearings, and other mundane items Rock Auto is pretty good. Just try to get the OES made items from Denso, Mitsu, NTN, etc.

EDIT: RS25 is your new home...MUCH better than Nasioc for your car.

That is really a gem of a car. I have a 1997 that was swapped to turbo engine. The motor is interference so you do want change the timing belt. It's pretty easy once you get the crank pulley off. Nasioc.com has all the subaru info you will ever need. Just have to wade through the mountains of threads. There are lots of DIY instructions there.

To do the belt on this SOHC engine all you need to do is rotate the engine to set the marks on the crank and both cams to #1 TDC then rotate the crank gear 90 degrees clockwise which will rotate the cam gears 45 degrees. Then you should be able to replace the belt and tensioner pretty easily as there wont be as much tension on the driver cam gear.

Just remember that when you have the belt back on-double check your work! Counting from the top case mark for the crank gear there should be 44 teeth on the passenger side and 40.5 teeth (might be a good idea to double check me on the driver side number) on the driver side.

Great Info everyone. thanks. I did notice that besides the driver side window not working all the other windows seemed to be really slow. What are the best online Subaru parts suppliers?

Windows are a really common problem in older Subies. Grounds are a common fix as are the stabilizers. If you need to replace the motors they should be about $100 just about anywhere. Fred Beans, Subarugenuineparts, and plain old rockauto are the places I use the most for oem and oes parts.

so i hadn't driven this car more than 10 minutes before someone wanted to race me at a stop light. That's a first for me. Welcome to Japanese car ownership I guess

they wanted to race you driving an outback impreza on steelies.....damn, the threshhold must be pretty low in your area, haha.

Most people will just assume you're a lesbian, though

I very rarely get anyone trying to race me in my modded wrx (300+hp)

oddly, more people try to race me in my BMW 318i (105hp)

well , I do live in Indiana and he was driving a really clean modified Pinto. I can't decided if that sad or completely awesome

I just got my fiancee to buy a 98 with 167K miles, it's an automatic unfortunately but I still love the car. The 2.2 is a super solid motor, don't bother fixing the rust, it will cost you a ton and come right back. Just live with it they're excellent vehicles.

dabird wrote: well , I do live in Indiana and he was driving a really clean modified Pinto. I can't decided if that sad or completely awesome

say what?

4cylndrfury wrote:

dabird wrote: well , I do live in Indiana and he was driving a really clean modified Pinto. I can't decided if that sad or completely awesome

say what?

Indiana. Nuff said.

skullsroad wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote:

dabird wrote: well , I do live in Indiana and he was driving a really clean modified Pinto. I can't decided if that sad or completely awesome

say what?

Indiana. Nuff said.

He should rephrase that to southern indiana.....it explains the pinto thing. They're kinda special down there.

Being in Indiana, flip over to indianaimpreza.com and ask any and everything you need to know about it. They are a good group of guys, although I think some are inept about anything that isn't awd.....

yamaha wrote:

skullsroad wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote:

dabird wrote: well , I do live in Indiana and he was driving a really clean modified Pinto. I can't decided if that sad or completely awesome

say what?

Indiana. Nuff said.

He should rephrase that to southern indiana.....it explains the pinto thing. They're kinda special down there. Being in Indiana, flip over to indianaimpreza.com and ask any and everything you need to know about it. They are a good group of guys, although I think some are inept about anything that isn't awd.....

I just meant that it was worthy of being in print...

The Impulse is an Isuzu, not a Subaru.

DILYSI Dave wrote: The Impulse is an Isuzu, not a Subaru.

As soon as I clicked post I thought the same thing.

You bought yourself a nice winter beater / rally-X car there!

There are all sorts of forums NASIOC, DirtyImpreza, rs25.com. Look for a local one. I know up here we have the Toronto Subaru Club. Local one tend to have a lower signal-to-noise ratio.