soon to be an svx owner

Hi y'all...

I'm on my way to owning my second subaru and first svx... i already own a '97 outback, but have decided to get a 1992 black LS-L. i should be taking possession of it in a week or two. it's got 183k miles on it, so it's definitely been around the block a few times! i'm excited about it, have heard lots of great things about this car, and the test drive was promising.

I do hope to keep it for quite a while though, so I'm hoping that some of my questions can get answered...

1) How can I make this car last as long as possible? It's a beauty... my biggest worries are the engine and drivetrain. I've heard about the tranny problems... would an aftermarket tranny cooler and oil filter help prolong/avoid problems? What about the engine? any preventive maintenance that i can do (i already intend to change the oil every 3k miles, and run only synthetics.. something not even my outback gets!)?

2) I posted in the technical forum about two rust spots that I want to take care of. any suggestions as to how to get rid of them for as little $$ as possible greatly appreciated.

Okay, will put pics and stuff up once the car's actually mine! (feel like a proud dad... too bad i'm not married!)

PS - i love this forum! it's like nasioc, but people seem more polite!

[Alycone]

Congrats on the new addition to your subie family!

When was the tranny replaced (I'm assuming it was if the car's 183k, or there's a cooler or something)? I'd definitely get the tranny cooler, filter, and frequent new tranny fluid, these trannies appreciate devoted care. My car's next project will be a tranny temp gauge.

More polite? When we behave ourselves.

the owner said it was replaced at 80k, with a brand new transmission. he didn't mention a cooler or aux filter, and i don't think he's got either. i didn't get a chance to look at the tranny to get a serial number either, but will probably do that when i take delivery of the car.

yeah, i'm waiting to see his service records to see when was his last tranny fluid replacement. if it was some time ago, i think i'll do a full flush and put new fluid in there at the same time that i install a cooler and filter. a new tranny would cost more than the car is worth... gotta make sure i won't need one!!

I know it seems like a full synthetic would be a great investment, but in a car with high milage it is not advisable to run full synthetic unless that car has had full synthetic since new.

It seems that full synthetic morot oil puts heavy strain on older seals and has not shown to have any significant improvment in Suabru engines. I would recomend that if you change your oil every three thousand miles there should be no problems even with dinosour oil.

You see because of the design on these engines there seems to be less wear on them even with exteneded oil changes. I only change my oil every 7,500 miles according to the owners manual with regular dino oil. I have never had any problems until I started to use semi-synthetic blends (high milage). It was then that I found my seals starting to break down and leak.

Last, In 1992 there weren't very many sythetic blends or full synthetics and as the synthetics began to hit the shelves more readibly, Subaru said that the use of these oils would void the original warranty. It wasn't until late 2000 or 2001 that Subaru gave the go ahead on the synthetics. I still hear you should never use synthetics in Suabru engines. Does anyone else know anymore about why they said not to use the synthetics?

~G

[immortal_suby]

Synthetic leakage -

My svx and my wife's will leak with mobil 1 and castrol synthetic motor oil (and walmart brand synthetic)

My svx and my wife's both don't leak with havoline synthetic.

I've been running synthetic in mine since 100k (now at 206k) w/ changes every 3-4k.