Thanks for the responses on my outback. i have a couple other questions for the group:
recap on my situation. going 60 mph, the water pump blew, bearings on idler pulley seized, melted timing belt among other things. car shut down. towed to subie dealership.
gearhead friend said i should try to get a pressure check, but the shop said that the timing belt is broken so they can't do this. my friend thinks there must be valve damage if the timing belt broke. talked to someone else that said that if it's a 0-tolerance engine, it's probably trashed. i called our regular mechanic (car stalled a couple hours away from our house) and he said its a 2.2 4-cylinder and is NOT a 0-tolerance engine so with a water pump and timing belt replacement we should be good to go. does this sound legit? the guys at work are shocked that this isn't a 0-tolerance engine.
the shop has said that there could be a cracked head gasket and/or ring damage...they won't know until they replace the timing belt, water pump, etc. the head gasket would need replacing, but he said if there was ring damage, and we were ok with a bit of engine knock, that wouldn't have to be remedied. does all this jive?
also, a unrelated question (well, to the above problem anyway). we had our clutch replaced a couple years ago (same car). ever since the switch, we have noticed a chirping in the clutch. it got really bad at one point and our regular shop took a look and actually ended up replacing it (free) as it wasn't installed well the first time (??). anyway, it still chirps and they said it will always be that way. that the original clutch had some bad material in it (asbestos??) that they can't use anymore and that the replacements have this side-affect. does this sound on the level?
thanks in advance for reading my tale of woe and for any insight. i think i'm going to have an ulcer by the time this is over. Michele