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Of course it's Lance now.
owner used uneven tires
That's user error, as we say in the IT industry.
-juice
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.
You might want to try some bug/tar remover to get the surface completely free of debris.
-juice
Ken
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.
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
I could be wrong.
-juice
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.
thanks,
dave
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
The car is a manual 5speed.
Sam.
Odd.
-mike
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
It is the viscous coupling, sorry, I thought
diffy and viscous coupling were same thing.
Sam.
-mike
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.
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
-juice
-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
-mike
-juice
Elissa
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.
-mike
-Dave
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
All lug nuts are secure.
Thanks again for the quick suggestions.
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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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.
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.
Craig
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
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
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
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
Craig
Steve
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
Herman
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