Got a line on a 01 outback that had a rat chewed the spark plug wires off the engine. 180k and a automatic transmission. The body is dent free and the price is 500 bucks, ran when parked. I have a thing for a wagon and never had a Scooby. Fun project or run away? Also car is a 2.5
Bring a plug wire. That motor eats head gaskets.
The Legacy and Outback moved away from the EJ25D DOHC motor in 2000. They were the ones that suffered catastrophic HG failures as they leaked internally. 2000 and up will normally leak externally, however if they are fixed with good quality HG's they normally do not leak again.
The autotragic will mute the fun, but not that badly.
If you are into Nav Rallies or Rally-X, there is no more fun thing than a $500 Subaru!!
Buy it, get it prepped and beat the E36 M3 out of it.
Will a hg failure frag the motor? He said it has white smoke out the exhaust every now and then
Eventually yes. If it is blowing white smoke then it is leaking internally.
It will contaminate the oil and lead to other failures.
Buy a rusty one with a good motor and swap it.
NGTD, that's what I need to know! Do I need to disconnect the rear DS to tow? I can't work on it at the guys house.. Its kinda in the woods lol
Subaru's can be trailered or flat-towed. Caution - Automatics have restrictions on how far and fast they can be flat-towed.
If you get the front on a dolly and disconnect the DS, you can do that.
Blitzed306 wrote: NGTD, that's what I need to know! Do I need to disconnect the rear DS to tow? I can't work on it at the guys house.. Its kinda in the woods lol
I have owned 5 of the damn things and still have 2. Currently doing an engine swap on a non-rusty, non-running WRX wagon from a running but damn rusty WRX wagon!
Link fail, I'll do it right tomorrow. I'm berkeleying excited lol
I'm not sure how the 2.5 is, but after changing the plugs on my EZ30 Outback last week I will warn you to allow extra time for the job. Those frame rails are positioned perfectly to make the job nearly impossible. Other than that, I have zero complaints about mine, but I rarely complain about Subarus 
Updated link above with pic of rat damage. I have no idea how
to post a pic
Edit: got it lol. The unknown wire damage is of concern
^^^ that's the alt wire going to the positive battery post. Its not a big deal to replace and I may have a few used ones in my parts stash. I'll have to check later this evening.
Hungry little bugger to eat at that wire! Make sure it doesn't ground to anything or wrap it in some tape so it doesn't touch the hood.
Bring your $500 and a set of spark plug wires & drive it home.
These are showing up in the U-wrench it lots, so you can get the small stuff cheap if you need it. Check that air filter box for a nest!
I've seen several fried mice on top of Subie motors. There's something about that flat 4 that they just love.
There is a knock sensor on the drivers side and they usually chew through that wire as well. It will run and you'll most likely have a knock sensor CEL.
You aren't in a rust state,so this is a no brainier. The only other thing I advise checking is that all four tires match, the awd system can get borked if it was run with mismatched tires.
Buy it now.
That does not look like any coilpack I have seen on a Subaru. Certainly not like the one on my Baja.
If you want to compare notes. My Baja is an 06 so there will be non-rat related differences.
I am pretty certain I have a set of new plug wires I can sell you if you decide to trailer it and not drive it home.
Buy the berkeleying thing. I guarantee you can sell a $500 Subaru for $1000 running.
Drive the E36 M3 of it and sell it in December for moolah!
In reply to NGTD:
Probably more like 2k. A friend sold his with a salvage title and similar miles for $3500!
I sold one for $1000 with 200k+ miles on the body, a gigantic dent on the side where my wife slid (relatively slowly) into a tree and a 2.5 motor swap that burned a quart of oil every 500 miles. Also had rust.
Basically any running one in New England is worth money.
My 2001 Outback Wagon with the 5-speed was one of the least rewarding cars I've ever driven. Ungodly slow. Handled like a pig. Drank more gas than it should have. Head gaskets. Clutch issues.
Even so, for 500 bucks, why not?
It sounds like a cheap hoonmobile. Just don't plaster it with Monster stickers.
It's a flat 4, they burn oil by design (gravity doesn't pull oil out of horizontal cylidners), so a little white smoke on startup could just be gunky rings. They also leak oil from everywhere. If it needs head gaskets, some prefer to pull the engine and reseal the entire engine, rather than fight with the head gaskets in the car. Do the timign belt while you're at it, idler/tensioner pulleys and water pump included.
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