Okay, this explains. :-) Your car has a *huge* number of miles on it, enough that head gasket problems or other problems can happen with any engine. The "head gasket" issues I was talking about on the first-generation 2.5L DOHC engines were happening at or even before
100,000 miles, significantly sooner than should have been the case.
Engine, transmission and exhaust all replaced, along with the radiator. I guess they weren't expecting a BHG on a 'low mileage' engine...
Just to chime in...my wife's 97 Outback Legacy, 2.5L has run perfect for the first 92,000 miles of its life. That includes a recent trip from WI to NV, about 2,200 miles. Hope it stays that way although we sure don't need the AWD here in Vegas.
My mother's 98 Outback with the same engine is also doing fine, although it's probably still under 40K miles. ;-) As for not needing AWD in Vegas, you *obviously* haven't checked out the jeep trails and offroad stuff near to it. There's a lot to do in the area that absolutely requires AWD.
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