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Comments
Jim
What you could do is ignore the fuel gauge and simply reset (zero) the trip odometer every time you fill up. Then refill at around 250 miles. After doing this a few times you should have a good idea of your fuel economy and probably use a higher number than 250 based on the size of your fuel tank.
HTH,
Jim
Fill up, drive until you think you're getting close, and then fill up. you'll be able to calculate your maileage on the gas you used, and based on the number of gallons you put back in and the size of the tank, you'll have a good idea of how much gas was left in the tank. Then you'll have an idea of how much farther you could have gone on that last tank.
Knowing the range of your car on a full tank is a good thing! :P
I know when my Outback gets to about 280 miles traveled around town it's time to fill it up!
Brenda
First Heather's dad is right and now the guys are right? Wow! We're on a roll. :shades:
Jim
drivewire fuel pumps.
Summed up, it says it might be found from under the back seat or trunk. And I saw one at ebay. Looks like you might be able to get to the wiring connector at least and give that a check for looseness or any other problem.
They apparently cost around $37 at rockauto.com, for the kind I saw there anyway, but replacing it yourself (or Dad) might be trouble if you had to remove the gas tank or other such difficulties.
Maybe it wouldn't cost a whole lot to have done. I've never had one changed on any of my cars/trucks, only changed one out on a pontoon boat once and that's very different.
Good luck with that.
BTW, I use the trip odometer alot, too, mainly from keeping track of mileage. I just didn't think other people did as much as was said here. Still, it's nice to have a working gauge!
Looking it over in my Haynes manual, it doesn't seem too bad. Maybe a little tough getting to the mounting bolts from what I can see.
I investigated some prices from various online sources and get various price quotes. Maybe I will just have to burn some subie-bucks at the dealer to ensure I get the right part.
Any thoughts or experiences out there? (xwesx ???? you out there???)
Alan
98 OBW Ltd Auto w/119,500 miles
Of all the starters I have replaced, this one is the easiest. Located on the top right rear of the engine, it is easily accessible save for the myriad of hoses and cables through which you will need to snake your hands and the unit upon removal/installation. There is one bolt on the top of the unit that affixes both the starter and the transaxle housing to the engine, then another bolt on the bottom that you will likely need to access from below. That one is a bit of a pain as you find it more by feel than sight, but it is not too difficult to get a wrench on it and it tends to snap free with relative ease (emphasis, mind you, on relative). Take the bottom bolt out FIRST to make the process simple on yourself. You should afford yourself enough room just by driving it up on ramps prior to the work.
Good luck, and be sure to get that negative battery terminal cranked down well....
I'm at 210.5K now and still counting....
Ummmm, silly question but by gear oil do you mean transmission fluid or something else ?
I do know that I am very good with following the proper Subaru maintenance schedules and everything except for 2 oil changes were done at the dealership.
One thing that just occured to me is that at 24K a couple of transmission bearings were replaced under warranty but I don't recall any significant changes after this was done.
I don't think this would be related (?)
For an auto tranny: use automatic transmission fluid in the tranny. The front diffy takes gear oil (completely separate fill and drain ports from the tranny) use the same gear oil as in the rear diffy.
I should have clarified whether you had a manual or auto tranny.
Jim
I've complained to her several times that her brakes are mushy and that there seems to be little engagement unless pressed nearly all the way down. When brake engagement does occur, it seems to be abrupt rather than gradual. I've criticized her braking a being jerky in the past but am starting to wonder if it's her brakes and not her.
She said she's asked the dealer to look at them twice and that they said there is nothing wrong and that's just the way Subarus are set up. Sounds like a cop-out to me, any thoughts or similar experiences?
Thanks for the tip(s). Today it started up without incident. There must be a bad spot within the motor and by chance I get positioned on it from time to time.
About two weeks ago, I pulled the battery cables off and wire brushed the connectors and terminals. Reinstalling, I ensured that everything was tight. This seems to have helped the situation some.
I looked over the starter and its connectors and bolts yesterday evening, and it seems like a reasonable DIYer. Yep, plenty of hoses between it and the firewall.
As far as the replacement starter goes, are there any recommendations out there? I see various brands at differing prices (i.e. Denso, Bosch, Duralast).
Thanks,
Alan 98 OBW Ltd
Coming up on its 30K mile checkup so it'll be a brakeline bleed and refill at the very least.
Level still shows it's okay. Must be air or water in the line(s)somehow. Oddly enough, first time I noticed anything about it was after a tire rotation so I hope nothing happened during that.
I'd think it too soon for your wife's Forester to be needing the brakelines bled but it being a SUV maybe it is affected more than my little OBS.
Granted though, my other vehicles are 1969 models.....
-Wes-
I definitely hear the click of the solenoid engaging. Turning the key a 2nd or 3rd time and it will crank and start up normally.
This latest time was a little different where during the subsequent turning of the key I would hear a slight movement of the starter motor. Then the next attempt it would engage and crank normally.
Since then there has been no issue starting the car. Now I need to find some wood to knock on.
Alan
98 OBW Ltd
Thanks
I had to replace mine when a chipmunk chewed up my wires! :mad:
I also replaced the spark plug wires. Yours are probably 12 years old now!
-juice
-Elissa ('04 F-XT)
John
the problem is, my car began to not start if it was still warm. say i would run into the beer store and come back out, it would not start. crank it a few times wait about five minutes and it would start. it was livable so i didn't look into it until it totally [non-permissible content removed] itself. now by the research i did last nite, it seems that the problem may be the crankshaft position sensor. i am assuming that it would send a signal to the igniter which in turn sends a signal to the coil (or it goes straight to the coil) to let it know when to spark. make sense? i don't really know. but if you can give me some other advice, i believe that i am going to go ahead and order the sensor and try that (it is only $50). if that doesn't work i'll go shoot a chipmunk
thanks for the response,
kk
Try giving it 1/2 throttle while cranking - that should clear up the fuel lines very quickly. If that helps, then a professional fuel injection cleaning may help your problem on a more permanent basis.
You missed my whole Chipmunk Episode. They chewed up my ignition wires and made my engine run rough.
9 years and my first problem is due to ... rodents!
-juice
If your car seems to respond to the throttle input, then your problem is likely different from the one I had, but until further information is divulged, I am still leaning toward this being a sensor (electronic) issue rather than mechanical.
Your other two options: sell the car, or keep running it to the mechanics. Not much anyone of us can do for you. There could be any number of gaskets/seals/hose leaks causing the problem. If you can figure out which fluid is leaking, that will be a good starting point to solving the problem.
John
The return trip took me through 110°+ temps and every hill I watched the needle go up and drop on the down side. My coolant level would drop and I had to top it off regularly. Once back at home, poking around, looks like exhaust gasses bubbling in the overflow tank. Smells like it too. It's also running a little rough @ idle under load (in D or w/AC on). Like one cylinder is weak; it's regular, and feels like 700Hz vibration.
I'm guessing the head gaskets :sick: - go figure that one'd fail just after the extended warranty expires. Does anyone have any experience with Subaru helping fix this (is there a chance?), or have you done the gaskets yourself. I can't afford to take it into a shop for the job because I need to feed me and my kids on a suck job and feed gas to my car.
Need the SPX tools for the timing belt and crank pully, but everything else should be common? Has anyone read the TSB - Legacy Cylinder Head R&R, In-Vehicle Procedure Literature #: 02-77-90?
If it is the head gasket, and I go see George and my local Suba store, is he going to sell me a better gasket than what was originally installed? Will I need to add the stop-leak (cuz that's all it is, same package, just a different label, from a UK manufacturer).
And last but not least does anyone know anything about slow retracting seatbelts. Driver belt has to be fed in manually most of the time so I don't slam the buckle in the door. (TSB - Slow Retraction of Seatbelts Literature #: 17-08-04)
Thanks,
David
'00 Outback Wagon
Now ~108k miles
From the stink you describe, I would say it is probably differential oil versus engine oil at this point. So, it is possible that the last tightening did help, but as John suggested, a thorough engine and undercarriage cleaning is in order if you want quick results on stopping the stink. After that, close monitoring to note the source of the culprit. leaks are fairly easy to sniff out early on, but once they start to gunk up it can be quite a guessing game. If the leak is relatively bad, you can see "fresh" oil on near the leak before it turns into a gunky mess further back/down and that can help to pinpoint the problem as well. Replacing head gaskets on a whim? I sure hope THAT was under warranty. Should have had the timing belt replaced concurrently, so a shame if not.
-Wes-
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
You say special tools are not needed for timing belt or crank? How do you pull the pulley? I really don't want to use an air impact wrench anywhere near my crankshaft. And the timing belt. I suppose if the heads are taken out the cams are going to move anyway... I don't have a press for the tensioner, but I can probably fudge it.
David
Are you pressing the pedal all the way to the floor? If so, that should shut off the fuel supply. So, if that allows the car to start, then it sounds like the car is flooding upon the initial attempt to start. If it IS flooding, you should notice a change in the sound of the engine cranking.... like it will go to start like normal, catch (fire) for just a moment but stalls out, then the cranking sounds, hmmm.... easier?, as though the cylinder compression suddenly dropped. At least, that is how mine would sound when I had a flooding problem. When this was happening, I would do as you said - hold the pedal down while cranking to clear the cylinders and it would fire up. But, it would run roughly for about 30 seconds and then smooth out. Is that happening to you? I have a feeling that, whatever your car's problem, it is related to sensors and is running the fuel mixture too rich. I will take a look at the shop bill from that repair and see exactly what was written there, as I had to take it in for repair that time due to a trip scheduled a few days from the onset of the problem.
This was not a hit-and-miss sort of problem, but was persistent and caused trouble starting the car EVERY time over the 3-4 days before I had it repaired - especially when it was cold.
For the cam sprockets, the biggest problem with those is getting the darn bolts off and on because the sprockets are carbon-fiber or some such and are quite brittle to anything hard/sharp. For these, pull the valve covers off FIRST and you will see a hex-shaped casting in the camshaft. Hold this and pop them loose with the appropriate socket on a 1/2" driver. The first time I removed them, i used a large, adjustable Channel Lock to hold the sprockets (as they have large hex "nuts" molded into them), but the second time they were apparently too brittle and the Channel Lock caused the material on the nuts to chip away rather than holding. I used a strap wrench the second time and it was a great alternative, but again, depends on the force needed to break them loose as strap wrenches do have their limitations. A fella who read my webpage about the project provided me with the camshaft casting tip... and I am sure it will serve you well!!!! As for keeping the cams from moving? Don't bother. Just do not, and I absolutely repeat, DO NOT turn a camshaft if there is tension (it is pressing valves open) on the other camshaft (on the same side of the engine). If you do, you can bind the valves and cause damage. If not, you can turn them 'till the cows come home and, as long as you align the markings when reinstalling the timing belt, you will have no problems. I probably should not be advocating that... but experience tells me to use care rather than worry. Oh, wait, yours is a 2000? Isn't that a single overhead cam? Hmm, seems, still, like it should not be a problem since the cam will never open intake and exhaust valves simultaneously, unless the valves can actually make contact with the pistons if open at the wrong time. General rule: if there is suddenly a lot of resistance, stop.
When you go to take the heads out, you will need to remove the camshafts. Place them somewhere out of the way and just lay everything out such that you can return the cams and bearings (if not replacing them) to their previous locations. Oh, and have a 1/2" drive, 12-point socket available for pulling the head bolts as they require the 12-point. I should remember the size, but I am drawing a blank there.... 14mm? I'd have to check my toolbox.
For the tensioner, there are a variety of ways to compress it. A bench press is, obviously, the easiest and most straight forward method, but a large C-clamp will accomplish the same task. I even resorted to placing the tensioner between a 6-ton bottle jack and the trailer hitch on my pickup and slowly compressed it with that combo. The key is just to compress it slowly, regardless of the other details.
If you want to see the mess I made of mine.... then just click here. So, after seeing that, remember to take all of this for what it is worth!