1997 Subaru Outback Legacy from North America - Comments

I had an electrical problem with the gear selector back light that took 5 trips to the dealer to get it fixed. The dealer gave me a lifetime warranty on this problem if it ever shows up again. So far no problems.

At 95,000 I had leaking valve covers and a rough idling engine that the "check engine light," kept coming on. The dealer gave the car a tune-up and replaced the seals on the valve covers.

The repair cost was $800 dollars and it failed to take care of the idling problems or the check engine light.

A follow up to the dealer found that the car had a burned valve due to quality problems with the valve. Other than the burned away area, the valve looked good as new.

To fix this required the engine to be pulled out of the car and be rebuilt. After 2 weeks and $3,000 dollars later the car was fixed again almost as good as new.

Since then the automatic antenna has stopped working which is common I believe since I see other outback limiteds with the same problem.

Various interior dash lights have gone dead and are now dark during night driving such as the heater and air conditioner controls and some switches.

Our second Outback Limited had a main seal oil leak at 75,000. Again $800 dollars to fix on this 1998 Outback limited.

This car is a great car to drive and will get you through the snow like no other car can. It has great light off-road handling too and is not too bad on gas mileage. The H-6 engine should give the car more Horsepower that is needed, but the $30,000 range is high.

I like the car and although I won't replace my Outbacks with another Subaru product I still won't sell them either. They are keepers for now.

I have had my 1997 Outback since it rolled off the line. I too have had a persistent check engine light problem. I am lucky to live very close to a Subaru guru and I have brought it to him about this. He said that this happens fairly frequently and it is usually caused by a "Knock sensor" (Senses when the engine is detonating) on the engine. It is actually nothing to worry about, and will not damage your outback or the engine in any way. But, if the check engine light starts to blink then you have a problem that needs attention. I also have the same issue with my gear shifters back-light going out & some dash lights going out so I assume this is a common problem. Just thought I'd add my experiences. That said, you won't find a better car.

Also, check the Coolant Temperature Sensor. If you run the codes it will show up. My '95 Legacy ran like crap until I had this replaced. No problems since!

I have a 1997 Subaru outback/legacy, I bought the car about five months ago. The only problem I have had is that the car failed the emissions testing, they tell me that the catalytic converter has gone bad. The problem is that they don't knows which one is bad and it will cost $500 per converter to replace. Does anyone know of a place that sells used Subaru parts because I'd like to fix it myself. Also will they let me replace the converter myself?

I bought a broken '97 OBW five months ago. The engine light was on and the engine shook horribly at idle. It also was lacking power. I assumed that the head gasket was shot, as this is a common problem on these cars @ 140k miles. I pulled the heads and found that an exhaust valve was burnt as a result of the previous owner not doing the recommended valve adjustment at 100k. Over time, the exhaust valves seat further into the head, reducing the clearance between the cam and cam followers. Eventually there is zero clearance, at which time the valves remain slightly open. Newton's physics then cause them to burn.

A new valve was $13. A new top end gasket set (including the redesigned head gaskets) was $180. Three new valve shims were $6 each. The entire procedure, from start to finish, is written in Haynes or Chilton repair manuals. The cost to have the car repaired at the dealer or an independent shop was $1500-$2000, which is why I was able to buy the car for $1200. A proper, timely valve adjust would have cost the previous owner about $250. I guess the lesson is that if you know nothing about cars, you should at least stick to the recommended maintenance schedule.

Upon attempting to register the car, the reverse light did not work properly. I removed the reverse switch from the transmission (the procedure, again, is in any repair manual and you don't even have to jack the car up), cleaned it up, pushed the actuator in and out a few times, then reinstalled it. It's been working flawlessly since.

A note to the person needing cats--check Rock Auto on-line. They list both cats, one for $157 and the other for $234. You could buy universal ones for $125, but you would need a welder to install them, though you might be able to get a muffler shop to do it for not too much. For the best deal on original Subi parts, check out https://www.1stsubaruparts.com, though I wouldn't go that way for cats as they are 2-3x Rock auto's price. Advance Auto Parts sometimes has better deals on parts and is also available on-line.

My husband and I bought a 1997 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon on March 9th, 2007. When we got the car, we thought it ran nice and it had the space we needed as we were having a baby due in September. Two months later we had problems with the car showing all of the warning lights and turning off the radio right before it shut off. If you let it sit for a while it would turn back on and you may not have a had a problem for a few days, but it would eventually happen again. We figured out that it was the alternator, or so we thought. We replaced the alternator and the car still shut off on us. It turns out it was a connection to the alternator that was bad and it was replaced and that has been fine ever since.

Another problem we've had recently is the car has been overheating about every 4 days. I drove it to my army reserve drill and had to let it sit in the parking lot over night because it overheated shortly after I left. We thought it might have been the thermostat. A friend then informed us that it is a blown head gasket. There is build up in the radiator that smells like gas and oil. When you turn on the car the smell of antifreeze comes out of the heater.

The car still has a strong motor and endures a lot of driving. We have over 190,000 miles on it and it's going strong except for the head gasket situation. Still trying to rectify that issue.

Any suggestion, how to repair a blown head gasket? My car overheats, lower hose cold. Other than that my 1997 Subaru Legacy Outback, 2.5 engine, drives great.

I'm senior citizen and money is an issue.

Peter

I have a 97 Subaru Outback Legacy wagon. I love the car, but lets see; blown engine, overheating issues, now electrical, and the car is back to not starting again. This is getting to be a sink hole, the knock sensor has just been replaced among some other things.

It turns over, but it just won't fire up! Spark plugs good, starter newish, I know when it's a starter problem, cause had that before, I would just like it to work all the time! It kills dates when you get stuck, ahhhh any ideas?

My 97 legacy gt was knocking when it got wet. Mechanic put a new coil in it, and it doesn't knock any more.