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Subaru Legacy/Outback Wagons Maintenance & Repair

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Comments

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Because Outbacks have to look clean after those commercials where Crod Dundee splashes through the mud puddles.

    Of course it's Lance now.

    owner used uneven tires

    That's user error, as we say in the IT industry.

    -juice
  • mrk610mrk610 Member Posts: 378
    Got hit by something on the road to day from work . I now have 3 marks on my front bumber. I 'm going to get some touchup paint and see what i can do. I guess not to bad for a 3 year old outback with 46k miles on it . I have been to FLA twice and the mountains sking 3 times .
    I'll try to take pics just got a dig camera.I guess I'll go to the photos forum and see how to post them . Wish me luck

    Mike in South jerey.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Did it strip the paint, or add to it?

    You might want to try some bug/tar remover to get the surface completely free of debris.

    -juice
  • dop50dop50 Member Posts: 162
    My '02 Legacy GT wagon 2.5 H6 had an insulated plastic cover that you had to take out 4 plastic screws and plugs, then slide out the cover (approx. 12" square) to the front. To get to the oil filter. It was a real pain in the A. I would imagine if you took it to a quick oil change shop, it would soon disappear.

    Ken
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    Larry,

    I agree, the dealer and SOA have been great on
    this problem.
    I DO NOT go off roading. I am 65 and retired,
    I was 60 when I bought the car (new),
    it has been an excellent trouble free vehicle for five years. (5speed)
    I was turning around in my driveway when the rear diffy blew. I mentioned a pickup simply as a more reliable vehicle for an old fart. The technology in a pickup is more old school, like I am used to, rear drive, leaf springs, you know, old time simple stuff like that.
    I am not interested in a 4/4.
    SOA is aware of a potential problem in this area.
    They had a recall when the crossmember mounting plate rusted out and caused rear diff failure. My car was not included in said recall.
    Recall says that part from sub contractor had poor paint. Remedy is spray rust resistant oil and rust resistant wax on the mounting plate.
    Sounds mickey mouse to me but I hope they fixed the problem with the new design in 2000.
    I just hope the new mounting plate solves the problem for good, I will be afraid to drive the car for awhile, afraid problem might occur again.
    That's why I am thinking of replacing the car.
    Sam.
  • lfdallfdal Member Posts: 679
    Sam,

    Don't blame you - I'd be looking to bid the car a fond farewell if the suspension supports start rusting out. At some point SOA will stop repairing them for free. Also, I think they had undercoating issues on some Outbacks after 2000 -maybe 2002's and some 2003's? I'm guessing on the dates, but I remember a service campaign to touch up the underneath on some of those years.

    Larry
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Our 2002 Legacy L was included. Wasn't that related to the springs also?

    I could be wrong.

    -juice
  • mrk610mrk610 Member Posts: 378
    the paint was stripped off to the black primer.
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    Larry,

    Guess what? The dealer called today, they are also replacing the front diffy, some people call it the center diffy. Now they think that was my problem from day one. Go figure.

    Sam.
  • solidaridadsolidaridad Member Posts: 2
    I understand it is "normal" for subies to have crank/cam seal leaks---now my baffle plate-(apparently plastic), is leaking as well on my 95 legacy wgn...have 103k on the car and it's generally in ex. cond., so I feel the expensive repairs are probably worth it...My question is---what can I reasonably expect mileage-wise from the engine on this vintage subie? 200k no problem? What's the consensus out there?

    thanks,
    dave
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Larry,

    Guess what? The dealer called today, they are also replacing the front diffy, some people call it the center diffy. Now they think that was my problem from day one. Go figure.

    Sam.


    Is this a manual or automtic? If it's a manual there is a center diffy, if it's an automatic there isn't a center diffy. And there is a front diffy as well regardless if it's an AT or MT. More details please?

    -mike
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    Mike,

    The car is a manual 5speed.

    Sam.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Then it could be the center viscous coupling or the front diffy, it would be the first center/front diffy I've heard going on a subaru in the years I've been around them.

    Odd.

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    dave: if it never overheated, I'd fix it. If you overheated the alloy block - dump it now.

    Failed center diffy does sound extremely rare. Did you ever do a gear oil service up front? I just did mine at 60k, some people do it every 30k.

    -juice
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    Mike,

    It is the viscous coupling, sorry, I thought
    diffy and viscous coupling were same thing.

    Sam.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Interesting. First bad one I've ever heard of, but any mechanical part can fail I suppose.

    -mike
  • pathtomaxpathtomax Member Posts: 215
    I have an '01 Outback Ltd and have a few replacements that I need to ask advice for (this coming from the mechanically inept ;) ):

    1.) The glass on one of my foglights is cracked and a piece fell off. How easy / possible it is to replace the glass?

    2.) One of my license plate bulbs is out... easy to replace?

    3.) My cabin air filter needs to be replaced as well...any advise?

    Thanks as always.
  • gearhead4gearhead4 Member Posts: 122
    I'm not sure on the foglamp lens. I would guess that they become damaged frequently.

    License plate lamps are commonplace and easy to replace.

    The cabin air filter is behind the glove box and inside the heater assembly. See the attached link from the Subaru Technical info web page: http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/ixSearchFree.jsp?text_keyword=&am- p;keyword=&publication_type=12&free_pub=13 look at the Baja air filter kit installation.
    It looks like a 30 minute job to me.

    Jim
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The center viscous coupling in a Subie acts as a center differential, basically.

    -juice
  • screechingsubiscreechingsubi Member Posts: 2
    in may and now in september i have had the same problem with my Subie. I was coming back to LA from Vegas and had an intermittent screeching sound coming from behind dash/steering wheel area. Mechanics said it may be pressure which "bleeds" out or releases pressure possibly from air conditioner. This was only with verbal description without looking at it as it seems to only make noise on long trip --- 100 miles out of town .... and although i reduce speed and turn off air, it makes a sound which sounds like a "blow out party favor -- you know those party favor things that serpentine out when children blow on it/new years eve party favor dealie" . . .the sound is intermittent and seems to go away when you get at lower elevation or near city. I don't know if it has anything to do with altitude (4000 feet) ... and heat - as when i had problem (in morning hours) was 85-90 outside in desert between Vegas and Barstow. This happened in May and now again. Mechanics want to charge me $95 to look around --- even though I have a few months left on warranty. This is 2002 subie outback with 24,000 miles. any feedback? Ready to call Leon the Motorman on radio Sunday and will take it in tuesday if you guys can't give me any input. I probably should wait until I go out of town and "record" the sound. I don't often get out of LA on a long trip but now feel uncomfortable with this car.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Could it be a belt slipping, and therefore squeeling? Was it a rubber against metal sound?

    -juice
  • solidaridadsolidaridad Member Posts: 2
    hey juice--

    thanks for the input--my '95 legacy never overheated so I went ahead and had the plastic baffle plate replaced, (leaking badly), cam and crank seals replaced and the general 30K maint. spree...after $1380.00 it seems fine...the mechanics remarked that it was in pristine condition. They'll say anything though...ha ha

    dave
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    wow $1380 :(

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Eh, that's about 3 car payments nowadays.

    -juice
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    I had an '84 Subaru GL that I traded in for $250 with a speedometer that went kapoot at 186,000 miles. Don't know how many more miles were REALLY on the car but the engine was great. Not a single unexpected problem from it, no leaks that I recall, just normal old car stuff happening around it like water pumps and the like.
    Elissa
  • ratbert1ratbert1 Member Posts: 72
    I have a 2002 OBW, 5spd, 40k miles. This morning I was late and driving it hard, which I rarely do. So as I get onto the highway, I move up to 70mph and I start to hear a quick thumping that seems to be coming from my front wheel. It really felt and sounded like I had a flat. But when I put on the brakes, they were also VERY wobbly (pulsating). To the point where I had to coast to a stop. So I pull over and inspect the car. Nothing visible. tires are fine. I drive it at 50mph to work and it seems fine. I take it out for a spin during lunch. up to 65 mph, but not as long a distance. Everything seems fine. What the heck could have happened?

    Could I have heated up the brakes so much by driving hard (stop and go breaking) that they temporarily warped that bad? This is literally the only thing I can think up to answer this.

    It's been a strange day and I have a job interview to go on this afternoon. I can't get on the highway later and have this happen again.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Check your lug nuts. Perhaps they loosened up?

    -mike
  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    Take it up to 70 mph and drive like you did to work on your way home. If it doesn't duplicate, maybe you'd picked up a nice size pebble between the threads earlier.

    -Dave
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'd suspect some debris as well. When you get home remove the tire and inspect and clean the brake system.

    Could also have been something throwing the wheels off balance (ice does that in winter for instance). Make sure those are also clean and clear.

    -juice
  • ratbert1ratbert1 Member Posts: 72
    Thanks for the responses. I'll check for debris right now.
  • screechingsubiscreechingsubi Member Posts: 2
    thank you for your response. I will finally take car into a {new for me} Subaru service center next week. I was going to go in my local subaru shop where they wanted to charge me $95 to look into the build up of pressure in the air conditioner area - which they thought might be the cause of the screeching sound eminating from behind the dash in the area of the steering wheel column - which happened ONLY on two different trips ONLY returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas - never in city. I called a radio show that deals only in car problems and the fellow indicated it could be the GEARS IN THE SPEEDOMETER or ODOMETER -- somehow that rings true as that seems to be the area in which the sound came from. The "other" subaru service advisor (where I am going Monday) said if a car is under warranty, it is illegal for a shop to charge you anything to look and diagnose. It may be difficult to repeat the sound as it seems to happen on long hauls on the road at high speeds --- although it gives me another reason to take it out on a long trip with a tape recorder. Again any further input anyone has will help. Again, the sound did not come from tire or wheel. Thanks again for any input. I only had this 2002 Subie Outback for a year and am not trusting it.
  • ratbert1ratbert1 Member Posts: 72
    the debris solution sounds plausible (especially since I've had it happen with ice), but I didn't find any. My driveway is gravel and I'm sure I kicked up some of it, also there is a little bit of construction on my road. That could be enough. When I pulled over to the side of the highway, I had to pass over a rumble strip, which surely could have dislodged it. I hope this is the answer. I won't be able to go 70 until I'm heading to my interview 30 miles away.

    All lug nuts are secure.

    Thanks again for the quick suggestions.
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    I bet you had flat spots on the tires. On my 02 Outback, I noticed it every morning, more so if the car had been sitting for a couple days. It usually goes away within 4-5 minutes of driving. You might not notice it at low speeds, but it's very noticeable at high speeds, with exactly the symptoms you note.

    So, if you got going faster than you normally do in the morning, this would have been the time to notice the problem.

    Make sure your tire pressure is up to specs. The lower the pressure, the worse the flatspotting problem.

    Craig
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  • ratbert1ratbert1 Member Posts: 72
    ok. Well, I drove to my interview without a problem. On the way home I "drove it like I stole it" :) No problems. Must've been a rock then.
  • ratbert1ratbert1 Member Posts: 72
    craig - good suggestion on the flat spots, but I don't think so this time. I drive this route several times a week and only notice flat spots in the winter. It takes me a couple minutes to get to the highway, so they're gone by then. Also when this happened I had been driving for 20 minutes. Even though I was driving hard, I was not going much faster than normal on the highway. This past weekend I also just checked all my tire pressures.
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    This is typical of what happens when you do major repair work at a dealer or garage.
    They work on one thing and screw up something else. Of course whatever they screw up, is never their fault, must have been there before.
    I don't know what we can do about this short of having a thorough inspection of the vehicle before the work is done so we can prove that the problem was not there before the work was done.
    Good luck.
  • sugardogsugardog Member Posts: 41
    Please refer to previous posts about rear diffy failure. 1999 Outback Limited with 5speed MT.

    Bottom line, I got the car back two days ago.
    They found that the viscous coupling (center diffy) had failed. Seems it was directing all power to rear wheels which caused the rear diffy to burn out.

    The 'boom' I heard while turning around in my driveway was the viscous coupling imploding.
    I was lucky to make it to the dealer without a tow.

    Bottom line is the car drives very good now, and components are under 12month or 12000 mile warrantee going forward.

    I am 65 years old and not a hot rodder.
    I have been thinking, is there something about my driving that caused this problem? I have babied this car since new, never gone offroad, never towed anything. I do carry two bikes on the back, not on long trips, 4 miles from house to bike trail.
    I do like to down shift when slowing down, got that habit from riding a motorcycle years ago.
    Easy on brakes but hard on drivetrain.
    Should I refrain from downshifting???
    This will take a lot of retraining on my part.
    BTW, I've never worn out a clutch in over 45 years of driving a stick.

    Hope this is the end of this story.
    All work was covered under warrantee.
    SOA and dealer were great on fixing the problem.
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    Sam, doesn't sound like you did anything wrong -- this might just be an odd mechanical failure. Glad it was all covered under warranty and they did a good job.

    Craig
  • ponyrider2ponyrider2 Member Posts: 29
    Hi All ~
    I am resesarching Legacy Sedans to make decide on which to buy. Currently I am looking at 2001-2003 Sedans either Outback or Legacys.

    One thing I have noticed is that on the 03 L Models and the 35th Edition Sedans the engines are different.
    for the L Model the engine is MFI 2.5 SOHC H-4
    for the 35th Anniv it's a 2.5 H4 DOHC 16V FI
    Can anyone tell me what the differences are and if one is better than the other?

    Thanks much, Ponyrider2
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    It's the same exact engine -- I think somebody messed up the specs wherever you got the info. Both cars have a SOHC design for that particular generation 2.5 H4 motor. The previous generation 2.5 H4 was DOHC. By going to SOHC, they reduced internal friction and got better efficiency out of the engine.

    Craig
  • ponyrider2ponyrider2 Member Posts: 29
    Craig
    thanks for the info.
    do you know when did that engine style change? would it be better to get a newer 03 vs an 01?
    also what would be better outback or legacy sedan?
    better mpgs with either or same
    any other info I may want to consider would be helpful, ie insurance cost etc...
    thanks much
    ponyrider2
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I'd refrain from hard downshifting, that adds shock to the driveline as you said and can, but not necessarily lead to premature differential failures.

    As was taught to me in racing school.... Your brakes have over 2000hp of braking force, your engine has about 50hp of braking force. No need to punish your driveline when brakes cost a fraction of the price to replace and stop you much better.

    -mike
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    Craig
    thanks for the info.
    do you know when did that engine style change? would it be better to get a newer 03 vs an 01?
    also what would be better outback or legacy sedan?
    better mpgs with either or same
    any other info I may want to consider would be helpful, ie insurance cost etc...
    thanks much
    ponyrider2


    I think the engine switchover was in the 98-00 timeframe -- it was different for different models.

    The newer the better in my opinion, it all depends on your budget. There were a few changes going from 00-01 Outback, and then a couple going into 02. The 02-04 were largely the same, except they changed the grille and a couple other minor styling elements in 03.

    Unless you need the higher ground clearance or offroad capability of the Outback, the Legacy is a better value all the way around (and it has better handling). You'll save a lot of money with a Legacy and it's still a great car. With the same engine, the Legacy and Outback get about the same mileage.

    The only other thing to consider -- from 01-04, you could get an Outback model with the H6 engine. It's a real gem, and will give you the same or better mileage than the H4 engine while being tons more refined. I had an 02 LL Bean Outback with the H6, and it was a real sweet car. There were various equipment and price ranges for the H6 models over those years -- some loaded, some basic.

    Craig
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    There have been assorted head gasket problems on the 00-03 models with the H4, and clutch problems on the 00-03 models (previous years as well for both problems). As far as I know, the H6/auto drivetrain has been pretty bulletproof -- there have been very few (almost none) problems reported here. In contrast, quite a few people have been hit with the clutch or head gasket problems on the manual transmission and H4 engine, respectively.

    Craig
  • ebony5ebony5 Member Posts: 142
    I too really like the H6 but I believe 93 octane is recommended, whereas the 4 cylinder takes regular
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    was recommended for full engine performance, but is not required. SOA actually posted dual HP figures depending what grade fuel you used. Modern engine management makes these wonders possible. Under most driving conditions, you would probably never notice the delta.

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    sugardog: glad to hear it, thanks for the update.

    The Phase II engine (SOHC) arrived for 2000. Before that the 2.5l was a DOHC design.

    Subaru stated that the H6 makes 212hp on premium octane, 208hp on regular. Also, the minimum required octane is just 87, so you'd be fine with that.

    -juice
  • haasehhaaseh Member Posts: 3
    1998 Outback with 125,000 miles. Airbag light went on. Car has never been in accident. Dealer says $1200 to replace two wiring modules in the passenger airbag. Have done every bit of maintenance on this car and still love it, but this seems weird to me. Any thoughts on a simpler fix? What will happen if I don't fix it? I use the car for short trips to work and rarely have a passenger other than MBH on occasion. HELP!

    Herman
  • c_hunterc_hunter Member Posts: 4,487
    Subaru stated that the H6 makes 212hp on premium octane, 208hp on regular. Also, the minimum required octane is just 87, so you'd be fine with that.

    That's potentially misleading in that it compares the effect at peak HP, and how often does that come to matter in daily driving??

    I could tell when my wife accidentally put 87 octane in my previous H6 Outback. The engine lost some of it's pep at lower RPM. I am guessing the impact of 87 octane is more than 4HP down low, and that's where you tend to notice it in daily driving. It's not a significant change, but for the extra couple hundred dollars a year, I would definitely stick to 91-93 octane gas.

    Craig
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