Need some quick answers..problem areas on 1990 Subaru Legends?

[CantDog]

Well finally, after 15 years of service and nearly 280k miles, my honda station wagon died. But, I found a cheap 1990 subaru wagon that needs a cv joint replaced, and has a cracked windshield. Going to go check it out tomorrow.

Any thing I should know about these cars before hand? Questions to ask? Known problems? I've always been a bmw and honda guy, so my subaru knowledge is lacking.

Its a manual btw.

[snoboy]

mine's 87, but I think they are similar...

oil pumps - if the engine ticks it's most likely the oil pump. reasonably priced (in the US) , but lots of labour.

Head gaskets...

CV joints...

[freshie247]

Is it a Loyale or a Legacy? The 90 Loyales are seriously under powdered with 91 horses max.Gaskets,CV's,water pump,check the head light lenses,ask when the timing belt was last changed,how many miles on the clutch & tranny,Subaru suspensions are suspect IMO,they get very spongey with age.Over 150,000 miles is dicey if it hasn't been taken care of!

Look under the hood & see if any wiring & such has been painted over,do the same in the spare tire compartment in the cargo area.If there's paint,then it's been in an accident,& repainted.

I've owned 4 Subies in the 15 years.

[mr_gyptian]

did you check out www.p.o.s.com ?

[Steven S. Dallas]

I have a '92... I've had some CV joint/bearing problems, which I think are common, and some electrical problems too. But other than that it's run well and has been reasonably cheap to fix. I don't know if you have a car place, but if you need it checked out ask biggins about the place off Somerville Ave, they do awesome diagnosticsm, are cool to deal with, and know a lot about Subarii.

[midget]

yah, if it's been taken care of then would be good, if not there could be a hundred things wrong....just like any car with age not taken care of.

See if the struts have been replaced, suspension arm bushings have been replaced, timing belt (as said before) crank and cam seals, transmission making any excess noise, clutch, and of course make sure everything works. Also check out the cv boots (drive axles) to see if there are any tears, cracks, or grease nearby from the joint. Also be very suspect of the air suspensions (adjustable) that were in the first versions of the legacy (90-94), if the car is older than 120,000 miles then it's probably blown and not cheap to replace, however can be replaced with a normal strut/spring suspension. Basically if it's old and hasn't had the struts replaced then most likely you will need to.

[CantDog]

Timing belt was replaced at 100k(at 151k now) and the pass. side CV joint is torn, but not making noise yet. Besides that, its got a cracked windshield.

It was just driven cross country from CO to here, so if it made it that far...cant be bad for 275 bucks.

Oh and the car is the Legacy with the 2.2l

Is the blown headgasket issue a problem on these cars?

[snoboy]

Here's some good reading - http://www.ultimatesubaru.net/forum/index.php

[midget]

2.2's are pretty bomber aside from the crank/cam seals. you'll get some clacking while running in the older ones that everyone referrs to as 'piston slap'. not much you can do about it unless it's a 'HLA' issue. For more info on that go to: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/ (90-94 Legacy specific boards) http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/ or also good info at: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13 (NASIOC)

Sounds like a good deal, probably about $500 to get it to pass inspection if emissions are ok with the CV and Windhsield.