Subaru Legacy, what to look for?

[Ford Tempo Fan]

In about an hour I'll be looking at a 1991 Subaru Legacy for a friend. Its a high miles car (over 200,000) and it's an automatic equipped station wagon. All the seller is saying is it has an exhaust leak underneath the rear doors.

What should I look for, besides the usual stuff? Do any of these older Subaru's have common problems that can be spotted with a look over and test drive?

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[Bob Kazamakis]

Head gasket leaks are the #1 issues with those old 2.5's and 2.2's. valve cover leaks as well. Other then that they're rock solid.

If you look up underneath you'll be able to see if anything is seeping/leaking at the block/head.

 

[Ford Tempo Fan]

Head gasket leaks are the #1 issues with those old 2.5's and 2.2's. valve cover leaks as well. Other then that they're rock solid.

If you look up underneath you'll be able to see if anything is seeping/leaking at the block/head.

Thanks for the response! I own a couple of old Ford Tempos and they have both had valve cover and head gasket breaks. In the case of one, it was due to large amounts of engine blow by and I ended up having to take apart the motor and replace the piston rings.

On these old Subaru's, do they just suffer leaky gaskets or are piston rings/blow by going to be an issue which causes said leaky gaskets?

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

It's due to overheating usually. They get too hot then start leaking. It's not blow by

Remember they're flat 4's so they'll always show on the bottom.

 

[SRT41320]

+1 on the head gaskets... not a deal breaker for somebody looking for a beater though just keep tabs on oil consumption... Ive had a couple of older subbies and like he said super reliable and rock solid!