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Comments
Car:
-Buzzing from right edge of dash, hit a slight bump in the highway, buzzzz for several minutes after. Hwy a little less than smooth, bzzzzzz.
-Buzzy rattly noise from right side, mid to rear,door window, frame, I can't tell.
There are 2-1/2 obvious places that would make the buzzing noises.
The infamous seat belt against the B pillar.
The other, wires behind steering column cover, or your keys themselves.
Warbling- This may sound weird but I swear there is some kind of high pitched hummy, warbly chuffing sound when I am going at higher speeds, 50-60 or so. It's like a dull ringing, I'll have to try the am radio station thing because maybe that describes what I'm hearing. I swear I am not making this up.
Probably is the fuel pump you're hearing.
If it whoops and tail off into a whine, it's the a/c compressor ;-)
Vibration-
-This is the worst discovery. When in any gear but Park or Neutral I feel like I'm holding onto a pad sander. There is a fine high speed vibration that travels from the lower frame into the seat and steering wheel. It makes your teeth buzz. I got the automatic because of the problmes with the manual clutch. Do all automatics do this? This could get old on a long drive and unfortunately I do a lot of long haul driving.
I had that with my '98 OB Ltd. Don't know if it holds water, the vibrations I get intermittently went away after changing over to synthetic ATF. Then again, when they drained the ATF, the AT was 2 quarts short.
-Dave
I didn't know you could inflate the tires that much. I forget where I saw the 29/30 . I thought it was in the manual somewhere.
on the rattling
It's not anything in the steering column area although the plastic cover around the column is alot squeakier on this 03 than on my 98.
Not the seatbelt either more like 2 parts that don't quite fit. I had something like this on the dashboard of our little pickup and had a penny stuffed between the 2 plastic parts to keep them from rubbing. I think it's behind the dash or inside the door or B pillar so the penny solution is out on this.
On the whuffing warble- I don''t have the ac on, good guess though! I think I'm just hearing the operation of the car magnified by the fact that it's hard inside the cabin acoustically speaking. We got a little spoiled with the leather interior on the Outback, the sound was much better amongst all that padding.
Well at least I can get into this car without knocking myself on the bean and I think we have a reasonable chance of crossing a busy intersection without the transmission throwing a hissy fit.
Perhaps others with cars dying, chugging, etc. should have this checked as it IS a VERY dangerous situation to have a car self accelerate.
Thanks,
Jes
I read an article saying there was a recall but can't remember if it was for the 2000 or 2001.
On the discussion board I see comments on air sensor replacements and figure it's the same thing but don't see anything about recall and replacement by manufacturer.
Anybody know anything about this?
If anybody has words of advise re: things to look out for on a 2000 Forester, it would be very much appreciated.
The major issues with this car have been premature failure of rear wheel bearings (on many cars) and leaky head gaskets (on some cars). Both are correctable problems which can be addressed by a dealer. If you are buying the car from a dealer you may want that to be taken care of prior to purchase.
My car also had a defective fuel gauge sender, replaced under warranty at approximately 8000 miles. It would not read full when the car was full, which in hindsight was better than not reading empty when the car was empty.
There was an oxygen sensor recall for these cars. I had the recall work done but did not have any problems with the original sensor.
Other than the problems described above the car has been great. Not to minimize the impact of those problems but again, there are fixes for them that can keep them from recurring.
Hope this helps.
Ed
My '96 Outback H4 AT went 69k miles on the original Michelin XW4's and 58k miles on Bridgestone Dueler H/L's (tires probably had another 10k left but I traded the car in) and never experienced any cupping.
My '03 Outback H4 AT has 13.5k miles on the original Bridgestone Potenza RE92's and appear to be wearing evenly.
I rotate the tires (front to rear / rear to front) every 7500 miles. Are you rotating your tires?
DaveM
bit
No one's really sure what caused the severe cupping. The alignment was fine, and they were rotated every 6K miles. Their best guess was that the type of road I was driving (I80 between Sacramento and Reno) and the amount (2500 miles a month) were factors...that tread pattern was apparently ill-suited to that type of condition.
With only a couple of thousand miles on the Michelins now, it's too early to tell if the problem will come back, but I'm hoping it was a fluke. I wouldn't say it's a "normal" trait of the Outback to eat tires like this.
B
I don't think cupping has anything to do with the AWD system.
Ken
I'm getting used to some of the whirrs and humms of the new car but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the vibration I described earlier as being like a pad sander. It goes away some when I shift into park or neutral but in drive it's irritating. I get that tickling, itching effect in my arms and legs like holding a vibrating instrument, no jokes please
I don't care so much about engine rumbling but vibration can be tiring on long trips.I notice also that I feel like I could read a dime under the tires, meaing that I can feel the texture on the smoothest road. Is this common? I bumped the tire pressure up a couple of pounds as suggested.
Before I head into dealer service any ideas? Would the not have balanced the tires before I took delivery? I don't want them to write me off as having an overly sensitive tush.
Generally, increasing tire pressure increases the transmission of road irregularities...with higher pressures, you'll feel every bump! (Better gas mileage though.)
Hope they find solutions to the problems.
Jim
Who, me? ;-)
The new tires have 24k miles on them and are wearing evenly.
Keep in mind alignment specs offer a range, not a set value, so perhaps they're not quite at the ideal settings for your alignment.
-juice
Greg
Ralph
The bad news is that the bearing won't be in stock for a few days. The good news is that I caught the problem before the bumper-to-bumper warranty expires next week. I'm a little nervous about what happens after that. At least I have the powertrain warranty for a couple of more years to cover the really nasty repairs.
FYI: I was able to determine the bearing was going bad by a low, intermittent growling noise that peaked around 45 mph. The noise persisted in most gears, and fluctuated with throttle input.
-Ty
FWIW, we have OEM Dunlop SP4000's on our MPV and at 9k they are wearing very evenly and aren't noisy.
-Brian
Regarding the vibration, I've always noticed a little vibration when stopped, but in gear. I've even asked the dealer to check it, but he said everything was normal. I've chalked it up as one of those quirks of the boxer engine.
Jon
Steve
Steve
Greg
Your tires should have been balanced even before getting to the dealer. I'm sure Subaru has a huge shipment of pre-balanced tire/wheels that they just slap on their vehicles and ship. It may be possible that the weight shifted a little. It's not unheard of for a wheel to throw a weight.
I'll have to keep an eye out on the A2s. I recently put a set on my wife's Jetta, but it's too early to tell what the wear pattern is. A buddy of mine has a set on his Forester and I do recall him complaining about increased noise compared to the OE Geolandars. I don't think he's had a cupping issue, though.
Ken
-Brian
At least they were, on my 1996 Legacy GT, before I sold the car.
Ken
jfl hit it on the head, the vibration is primarily when it's in gear. You don't notice it as much when speeding down the highway because the road noise takes over, so much as you do sitting still.
I realize it's there in my older Forester too but the engine and I aged together and have achieved a symbiois
By the way, I have to say that while I'm glad my wife picked out a Forester, because now I get to drive it, I'm kind of partial to my 98 model. Some of the changes from mine to her model, the flattened out door mounted armrest and the reduction in seat adjustments especially, I think those reduced the comfort level in the interior.
It's harder to get comfortable if you've got long legs, the thigh support has diminished. And I keep rolling down the rear windows whenever I go to adjust the side mirrors.
That's what I also found while testing an '03 X. The seat base is on the short side (front to back), and doesn't provide enough thigh support. This gets worse if you raise the seat, because instead of going straight up, it tilts forward while rising. This leaves the seat base too "flat", and aggravates the lack of thigh support. Maybe you could check your wife's '03 Forester to see how difficult it would be to unbolt the front seat and put shims or spacers in the front mounts to tilt the seat base farther rearward. I'd be interested in what you see. I also would like to raise the entire front passenger seat at least two inches. My XT won't have a sunroof (darn!), so there's more than enough headroom.
Some auto repair shops (aka service stations) will take used oil and antifreeze. Some may charge you to take it, others will take it no questions asked.
You can also look in your yellow pages and look under 'Recycling Services' or something similar and find other local places to take the oil and/or coolant.
-Brian
I think she has her eye on something like the cross-sport version as her dream car. Any idea if we'll be seeing a version of these in the US in the near future. I would love that durable cargo area myself.
JL
My thanks to you both
Hope there is one in your area.
-Ty
Bob
Same here in the Bay Area. Also, I can turn it in with the other trash recycling materials every other week. In fact, I just changed my oil this weekend and it's sitting in a plastic container for next week's pick-up. Handy!
Ken
Greg
Vic: you gotta try it. With AWD, any clutch is going to be less forgiving. The tires don't break traction so it's up to the clutch to cover up any mistakes.
With experience it won't be an issue, I don't think.
You can get all sorts of short throw shift kits, included factory, Cobb, Kartboy, etc. They're only about $100 or so for the lever, more if you want urethane bushings. Do both and the feel is more like the S2000 than the RSX.
-juice
I got a galvanized, industrial-strength 6-gallon gas can at a garage sale a couple years ago that was too yucky for gas but perfect for recycling oil. Holds oil from 4-6 oil changes so I only have to make one trip to the recycling center about once every 8 months.
I read a couple of days ago about a recall on 2001 Legacys to correct the possibility that the seat rails could break during accident impact. This got me to thinking if messing with the seat rails on the Forester , or any car, would pose any hazard or violate insurance in the event of an accident.
any thoughts?
"just call me "Mr. Paranoid")
Outback at Town Motors in Englewood New Jersey. The plugs did not have to be replaced(done by previous owners at 41k),but the water pump,Timing belt(recommended at 60k for the 96 model)and timing belt tensioner were all replaced. With a 15% discount special offered by Town plus $100.00 off from my Subaru credit card the bill came to
$1003.92. I was given a loaner while the work was being done, but I only needed it for that one day; at 4:30 Greg the service adviser called to tell me my car was ready. I had called around to various Subaru dealers and with the discounts I think the numbers I received were competitive. I also mentioned that I used this message board and that someone(paisan)told me to say hello to Garrett one of the mechanics. So far so good, all in all the experience I have had at Town Motors have been O.K.
Cheers!
Paul
-Frank P.
I'm actually more concerned about the seat position relative to the air bag.
-juice
I'd thought of that, and the modification certainly ought to be done with due regard to strength and crash consequences. However, I can't see spending ten years in a vehicle whose driver's seat doesn't fit the owner. Sometimes you simply have to choose your priorities.
In a similar vein, Foresters place their side airbags in the outside bolster of the backrest. Because I plan to own mine for a very long time, I want to protect the driver's fabric seat upholstery with some sort of simple, easily removable seat cover - maybe of denim or some other durable material. I'm thinking that I'll probably have to cut the seat cover in the area of the side airbag and hold it together with snaps or velcro, so that in case of deployment the airbag can punch through and do its job. Has anyone else considered this issue?
- jack
Bob