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Comments
IIRC from an Endwrench article, '99 was the first year of the new case, which included use of the spin-on filter (looks like an oil filter). Is this where your leak originates? It might be as simple as replacing it (gasket may have dried out...).
Something else - that filter only works for the main AT case and fluid, not the front differential which has a separate resovoir of gear oil and no filter (correct me if I am wrong guys....).
Steve
Jim
Thanks mike
Steve
Careful with non-standard halogen bulbs, I had some Hella H4+30 and they didn't last a year. My stock bulbs are back on there and have lasted almost 5 years.
Just bring an extra with you. You don't want a light to burn out while you're on a 2 week road trip.
-juice
The headlights on the '93-96 (mine's a '94) Mark VIIIs were/are terrible -- very sleek and modern looking and stylish, but too narrow to allow for much light. To partially compensate, they use 9005 bulbs for both high and low beam -- the 9005 is used usually as only a high beam bulb. The lighting of the low beams was so abysmal that even the little difference the Silver Stars make is worth it on that car. However, it would not be worth it on my Subaru.
--K9Leader
Steve
I'm lucky in that my lenses have not yellowed nearly as badly as most others and my reflectors are still good. I also have the Outback as my daily driver so the Mark VIII usually only goes out on sunny weekend afternoons.
Sorry about a Mark VIII post on a Subaru board, but I did get a mention of the Outback in there, and it is relevant back to the original question about SilverStars . . .
--K9Leader
2000 OBW Ltd. (my daily driver)
1998 Toyota Sienna (wife's car)
1994 Lincoln Mark VIII (sunny weekend afternoon driver)
-mike
They maybe ~$700 burn to the wallet, but a very worthy light upgrade apart from having six vs four.
-Dave
A Subaru dealer here in Oakville On replaced my shuddering clutch in a day, no questions asked.
Far better service than the dealer we purchased from.
Conclusion, trying a different dealer can work for this kind of thing.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.
-juice
What baffles me is the non-consideration of this one very important design. If these types of rigs really are meant as winter/foul weather cars, and for the people who live in these environments and are always out and about in whatever's being dished out, then rain guards should be a top priority. Only people who live in NYC drive with all the windows up all the time.
Moving on....a few more questions:
1. I wonder about getting replacement fog lights that are yellow tint for this car. (03 ltd wagon, 5spd). Are these available anywhere?
2. Tires: The Hakka's are great for VT winters, but I wondered if anone else had different suggestions as far as beefing up for the snows. Are wider treads than the suggested ones okay to use?
3. Suspenion: I would love to feel that my car is not close to over-turning on sharp turns on inclines...which is something I've begun to notice is happening. What suggestions do you have for tighening up the suspenion (if that's even the right move)? And, other than tires with thicker treads, is there anyway to jack up the clearance on this car?
Thanks everyone!!!
it's snowing now, by the way....
-juice
1. Check with -> http://www.lamin-x.com/default.asp
I'm pretty sure the Impreza Foglights are the same as the OBs.
2. Narrower snow tires the better.
3. If you're worried 'bout tipping over, then you shouldn't even entertain the thought of jacking up the car's clearance. Rest assured that Outbacks don't roll, except when tripped.
-Dave
Steve
Mike k
Jon
I'm a little nervous about xmission fluid changes, on my old Civic I lost its xmission 7k miles after a fluid change.
"After visits to the aftermarket stores in search of door/window rain guards, at the suggestion of folks here and the local dealer, I have concluded there is NO way to have these made/installed for my 03 Outback.
What baffles me is the non-consideration of this one very important design. If these types of rigs really are meant as winter/foul weather cars, and for the people who live in these environments and are always out and about in whatever's being dished out, then rain guards should be a top priority. Only people who live in NYC drive with all the windows up all the time."
The rain guard type of thing you are talking about requires a window frame on which to mount. As the Subarus are frameless, this is a feature/option that is just not possible. I am not sure of the factors (design? cost? weight? other?) that resulted in Subaru going with frameless, but it did. I don't think this was a "non-consideration." I think it was considered but the tradeoff -- inability to mount rain guards, which in reality only a few people would have any interest in, versus whatever benefit would be derived from frameless windows -- was deemed worthwhile. They certainly do look sleeker.
I am a fan of the rain guard things when they are feasible on the vehicle and are available -- I have them on my wife's Toyota minivan and I had them on an Acura Integra. They are less necessary on a vehicle with a well-designed tilt-up moonroof (well designed = no rain coming in when tilted).
I think the bigger complaint about the frameless design is the increased wind noise from the looser fit.
--K9Leader
I put the OEM ones back in (I had kept them). They're over five years old and still work fine, although they are weak, as they always have been.
utahsteve
I also posted a pic here: http://www.bitman.com/visors.jpg
bit
OK ..MY QUESTION.. isn't that amount a bit HIGH for brake pad replacement? Is it advisable to look around for another shop to do this? If I take it elsewhere it will NOT be a Subie dealer because this is the only one around ...
(I've been happy in the past with this dealer but just read recently that it's been sold to one of the mega-dealer groups here in town.)
I'm assuming that is for both axles, front and rear?
Some brake shops run specials for less than $100 per axle, for new pads/shoes installed, plus new fluid and to bleed the system. You could DIY for less than half that much.
My dealer was running a $19.95 oil change special, then charged my wife $2 for an "Environmental Fee". Well, then, it's not a $19.95 oil change, then, is it? False advertising.
I paid it but that's the very last time we take it there. Dealers have *got* to get prices back in touch with reality!
-juice
Craig
My understanding is that fog lights should pierce the fog much the same way as high beams do, but aimed low enough for the light not to bounce back and obscure vision.
Does anybody have any recommendations for new lights?
Oh, my 2 cents on HID lights: Can't stand them, will never want them, think it is a shame the 05 models will use them. What really bugs me about them is having a car behind me with them. Whenever the car behind goes over dips or bumps, and the focus of the headlamp goes from off-center to dead center in my mirrors, the light constantly changes from blue to brigh light then back to blue and so on and on...
What are the drawbacks? My AT shifts too rough
please help!
what type of fluid do you usually put in your AT.
--K9Leader
Fog lights are specifically not meant to be fog piercing. They are intended to give an unfocused, diffused light low down to illumiate without blinding. This aids depth perception and increases the chance of you finding the white posts before you hit them.
If you want driving lights, they should be narrow and closely focussed. A very different proposition
Cheers
Graham
I say if you need HIDs, you need not to be driving. Seriously, if your eye sight is that poor consider hanging up your driving shoes!
A well aimed set of halogens should be fine for someone that meets local vision screening requirements.
-juice
"I say if you need HIDs, you need not to be driving. Seriously, if your eye sight is that poor consider hanging up your driving shoes!"
This is one of the few points where I will disagree with you. I have never owned a car with HID so I don't know how much they help. However, here in Minnesota the winters take a heavy toll on the roads, including the lines painted on the road. There has been many times that I felt like I was driving blind at night on wet roads. I am 38, my vision is 20/20 and I consider my night time vision normal. I typically don't have any problems. However, I find the light output from the Outbacks headlights to be nearly worthless at times.
My Miata had sealed beams, 55 watt. Those were awful, it was like driving blind. I got E-codes with 55 watt H4 bulbs and now they are excellent.
So my point it aim them well and design a good reflector so the pattern hits the road properly.
Our 2002 Legacy does not have a good pattern, it's too scattered IMO. It's a single reflector, so it's different than the one on your Outback.
But I don't think HIDs are the solution, well designed reflectors are. You don't want to take a poor pattern and add more light - that'll blind everyone and help noone.
Consumer Reports found that some halogens were substantially better than some HIDs. I think the Audi TT's HIDs were among the very worst lights they tested.
-juice
I think the non HID lights on our 03 Expedition are outstanding and far superior to my 98 Outback. Others complain about them. Go figure.
-juice
Mine has always shifted as smooth as butter.
Mike
Greg
Greg
Greg
Greg
Jon
I need your opinion and help. This will seem like Deja vu all over again.
My Subaru Outback LTD 2000 has 50,000 miles, and it is generally fun to drive and comfortable, except when the clutch is self-destructing. Subaru replaced the clutch at 7500 miles, finding a manufacturer's defect, concave fingers which prevented normal clutch disengagement. Just after the new clutch was inserted, I noticed a burning foul smell, esp when backing up, esp. in cold weather. Many writers have noticed this mysterious smell from their clutches. I thought it was the new clutch burning up, and visited with Subaru DSOM, and decided to stick with clutch, and see if things got better. Smell disappeared, clutch worked, car drove, until 50,000 miles, when it again slipped, and was worn out, including flywheel. Now, just had it replaced.
Does this sound like premature failure? I think that the clutch lost half its life in the first few weeks, when it was burning up.
Does anyone think that Subaru clutches fail more often in cold climates? Many writers note a particular problem in the cold?
Any suggestions how to get some help from Subaru? I am running into a brick wall, which is disappointing, as this is my second Subaru, the clutch failed early, and I had some assurances from DSOM that he would help in 2001.
Is there any technical info on premature failure of clutches from 2000-2001?
Why should such a good car have such a junk clutch? There are hundreds of postings related to this problem.
I will let you know how this works out.
juice-
I can relate to your Miata HIDs encounter. I got this guy, in a Miata too, pulling over immediately [uttering "Jesus Christ!!!"] to let me by. Hee hee I deliberately turned mine on to annoy because he was doing 20 on a 40 one lane and holding everybody up.
I do agree, design a good halogen headlight reflector and it'll serve well. HIDs should be available but not as the primary lights where its purpose can be called upon when needed. Like in zman3's case, he'll outrun his headlights on the '98 before you do on the '02.
-Dave
That describes, near perfectly, the situation with my Parent's 2000 Outback before they had the clutch replaced recently. There is a TSB on this, here's a copy:
http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/03-51-02R.pdf
The revised parts weren't available before the summer of 02, if I remember right, so any clutch work done before that used the old parts and is liable for the same problem to re-occur.
My parent's dealer would not cover the repair, but my Dad called the Subaru 1-800 number and started a case, and that led to eventual success. The car drives great now.
Craig
50k for a clutch is a little early, but I wouldn't consider it out of the ordinary. I've had friends that needed clutches even before a 36k warranty expired, and they had to pay for new ones.
You're not complaining about clutch chatter, so I'm not sure if the TSB applies in your case. Just my opinion.
-juice
He was fine with Mobil 1 for the engine which I also did at the first oil change.
Mike