my97gt Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 okay so i own a 1997 subaru legacy GT 2.5... i love the car to death, its my first car, and i got it about 3 years ago.. it was a good deal..blah blah blah... so i am new here, and new to cars.. over this past summer however, i've started learning about my legacy and different things about the engine, and how to take the interior pieces such as seats, dash, center console, center radio (i put a new alpine in mine), door panels (i put new speakers in, kenwoods to be exact). and ive learned that i enjoy taking the car apart and looking at stuff, and i have 2 friends who are total gear heads and constantly check my car and tell me this and that and the other thing... well for as long as i've owned the car, its always made a slight whistling noise whenever the engine (either in drive, or 1,2,3 but NOT PARK OR NEUTRAL) hits 3000 RPMs or above.. after driving it around i noticed it to be like just about dead on at the 3k mark. maybe 2900 at the lowest. and so my friends the gearheads examined it and said that it was a vacuum hose leak... but we cant find which one it would be. is there a known problem to this? what would cause the hose to puncture? and the other thing i've noticed is that this thing eats up exhaust pipes like no other. we had to weld the original back on to it sevral times because it just rusts out at connection points at the cat converters. is this something normal for a subaru or is it just maybe the pipe? we got a new one when we bought it... and 3 years later its sounding like a honda civic straight outta fast and furious. thanks for any and all help, tips, comments, whatever. -- my97gt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmb2485 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 First off, keep learning and keep working on the thing! It's almost always cheaper to buy the right tools to do a job, buy the parts and do it yourself than it is to pay someone else to do it. After a while, you won't need to buy new tools anymore (although, if you're like me you still will ) and you'll come out way ahead. Plus, its fun and satisfying to fix it yourself. Chasing leaks isn't fun, but there aren't too many places you can have a vacuum leak. Check all the vacuum hoses and plastic connectors for cracks, cuts, etc. Where do you live? If its somewhere like here in PA where there is apparently a surplus of salt so they continually spray the roads with it all winter long, I wouldn't put it past anything under your car to rust out in three years. Spend a few extra bucks and get a stainless steel system when you go to replace your current system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stang70Fastback Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Yeah, that exhaust whistle is kind of a "feature" of our cars. My Outback does it, and my friend's LGT does it as well. He said it was somewhere on the exhaust manifold I believe... just back from the engine I THINK - don't quite remember what he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Tank Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 You could have a bad cat and the sound is a back-pressure exhaust wistle or you might need a valve adjustment...might not be leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Prodromos Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I have a 97 LGT as well. I recently replaced the muffler at 160K and it was still good, (I bought a sport muffler and a Borla header) The midpipe is still serviceable. I don't think reoccuring pipe rust is normal. Of course I live in Sacramento and we are lucky to get 12" of rain per year, and snow is unheard of. So external causes are not a problem. That said, I think your problem lies elsewhere. Do you do alot of short trips, i.e. less than 5 miles? That would leave water in your system because it doesn't stay hot enough, long enough to drive all the water out of the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Great to hear that you love your subie First off, I'd jsut replace the exhaust pipe. My friend had a problem with his and in the NE the roads show no mercy on the cars. The leak always came back. OEM should be fine for that. As far as that squeak...I thought I had a hose problem as well. A friend had a great machine that was able to check leaky hoses by senidng green smoke through the vacuum hoses. Nothing. Anyway if you can find a shop who has one try that. If you dont want to spend the cash, I would invest in a stethoscope (for cars with a special metal tip thats pointy). When you place it on anything you either hear the engine idle which sounds very dull or you will hear an otherwise very loud vibration or squeak if something is wrong with that part or hose. It could also be the air intake...I had the same problem with a whistle in my air intake. Whatever it is it sounds like the whistle reaches a point of vibration...so it will be a specific leak thats small some place. Turned out it was a random OEM presure hole for me. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cman7 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Hmmm... I'd like to know what this is as well. My car has been doing this since a month or two after I bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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