Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

hondafriek

Guy goes to the doctors, says doc. my memory is terrible, doc. checks him out and says I have good news and bad news.

Guy says give the bad news first, doc says you have alzheimers, Geez doc the guy says thats awful, whats the good news, doc says by the time you get home you won,t remember I told you.

Cheers Pat.

kens

lilbluewgn02

saw this on the i-club

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-overview.html

bluesubie

Very good article.

Just an FYI though, in case anyone starts comparing the different manufacturer data.
It was written several years ago, so the numbers (Viscosity Index, Pour/Flash temp. etc.) will not probably be different in that same oil today.

-Dennis

crossroads

I asked this question on the Forester Board...But maybe this is a better board to get an answer.

I have a 2002 Forester and like to do a lot of my own work. I know from reading the owners manual where to place the jack, but where can I put the jack stands to stabilize the vehicle when I crawl under it?

Mike

paisan

I usually put them on the frame rails under the drivers door and passenger door.

-mike

nypaul

Hi Folks,
I'm going to be changing the oil on our new Forester L for the first time this weekend. Does anyone know the torque for the drain plug?

Paul
02 Forester
71 VW Bus

eric102

A previous post noted 37lbs.

nypaul

Eric,
Thanks for the info. I'll assume that's 37 inch/pounds and not foot/pounds.

Paul

lakepop

Paul....I'm sure he meant 37 ft/lbs.

Torque is usually measured in ftlbs although I guess it could be inch lbs in some unusual situations.

Look at your torque wrench...I'll bet its calibrated in ftlbs!

locke2c

no, it is foot pounds. make sure to use a new crush washer.

I personally never bother with my torque wrench for this. I lay on my side with my 17mm wrench and give it a good grunt. If it's snug and the crush washer is flat then I'm done. Haven't seen a leak from the drain bolt ever, definitely not stripping the bolt after 40k miles so I'd say it's not overtorqued.

I don't use a torque wrench for sparkplugs either. Lug nuts, heck yeah. Cylinder heads, um duh.

-Colin

ateixeira

Jack stands - I do what paisan does, but usually put a piece of wood to spread the weight evenly. For the rear you can use the rear diffy.

-juice

nypaul

Thanks for the correction from inch/pounds to foot/pounds. I thought 37 inch/pounds was kind of light. As for using a torque wrench on this I guess it comes from working on my 71 aircooled VW. I'm careful with everything I do on that, but then again it's 3/5ths as old as I am :-)

Paul

eric102

I don't use a torque wrench either, just happen to notice the 37 "FT"/lbs in a previous post. Make sure the flat side of the new crush washer goes toward the plug.

Eric

francophile

When I was twisting wrenches for a living we used to call it "using a calibrated wrist" when we'd skip the torque wrench step :-)

Cheers,
-wdb

cnecox

Can someone tell me where the PCV valve is on my 1997 Subaru Legacy?

n8wvi

Look just to the right of center on you intake manifold. It's screwed into the intake rather than pushed through a grommet. It's metallic, not plastic. Hope this helps.
Dave

ueyn

My 1999 Outback wagon has about 50k miles. The previous owner had to replace the clutch twice. Now I am having problems with the hydraulics and I don't want the new clutch to go prematurely as well. Below is a summary of the situation (sorry it's so long!)....

Symptoms:

Occasionally when driving in stop and go city traffic for 30 minutes or more, the clutch pedal’s engagement point will drift making every shift different from the previous one. When the engagement point is particulary low (near the floor) there is almost no pressure on the pedal for the first several inches of travel. Pedal feels “sticky” and often does get stuck while releasing it.

Same symptoms are VERY reproducable when driving at elevation (above 5000 feet) going to Lake Tahoe. Upon reaching higher elevations, the pedal will lose almost all pressure and engage only in the final 1-2 inches of travel (near the floor). Smooth shifting is IMPOSSIBLE. While releasing clutch, the pedal will rise until the engagement point (an inch off the floor), then get stuck. I will have to pull the pedal up with my toes and it pops back to its neutral position. Upon descending to lower elevations, the symptoms usually disappear.

I believe there may be a problem with a seal in either the master or slave cylinder. Others have reported binding seals giving these same symptoms.

Responses from Subaru:

I have spoken with several other Subaru owners with similar problems of the clutch sticking when released. Two of whom (in Australia) have received confirmation from Subaru that there is indeed a problem with the hydraulic clutch system in several model years. They were told by their dealer that they would receive a “modified slave cylinder, with a stronger spring and different valving.” I have invoice numbers and part descriptions from Australia.

I went to my dealer with this information INCLUDING the part numbers from the invoices from Australia. My cars symptoms have never been present when I went to the dealer, although it always happens on weekends when i drive up into the higher elevations (I live at sea-level). My dealer was pleasant to deal with, but basically said that if they couldn’t see the symptoms - they couldn’t do anything. But he took my statements to put in my record in case my warranty runs out (I have 10k miles left on powertrain). He spoke to his Subaru representatives and they claimed they had not heard of this problem, even though I have corresponded with at least 6 other people with this same problem. The rep did nothing with the part numbers I supplied for the modified slave cylinder, claiming that since they were Australian part numbers he could do nothing with them and that the cars were very different in different countries.... I don’t tend to believe that.

So now I’m stuck until the problem occurs at sea-level, or until I convince my local service manager to drive with me to Lake Tahoe (3 hours away) so he can see what happens at elevation!

Can anyone help?

kens

I personally have not heard of any problems with the clutch hydraulics, but it does sound like the key to getting your issue resolved is to replicate the problem or have a rep acknowledge it.

You may want to set up a case with Subaru Customer Support (1-800-SUBARU3) and have them follow up on it as well. Sometimes you need to address it from both ends, corporate and dealer, for results.

BTW, which Bay Area dealer did you go to?

Ken

ateixeira

Yep, call the 800 number and open up a case number. Then e-mail pmickel@subaru.com and ask her (Patti) to follow up for you.

I've heard of weak pressure plates causing clutch chatter, but not hydraulic issues.

-juice

locke2c

Sounds like a leaking slave cylinder to me.

This isn't part of the "clutch" that gets replaced during a clutch job, so it probably needs attention. You might have luck bleeding the cylinder, 50k miles doesn't sound like enough to me for the average one to have problems. Of course if the previous owner was abusive or clueless about how a manual tranny really works, that could explain it all.

-Colin

hondafriek

I agree with Colin.s diagnosis,sounds to me like there is air in the system, try bleeding first.

If no luck then likely the seals are shot and replacing the slave cylinder should cure the problem.

Cheers Pat.

ykishimoto

Please, this refers to my post #4162, piston pin knock.
My OB came back from the dealer on 25 March 02 after the engine is replaced by a rebuilt short block. The dealer said two cylinder heads were skimmed (to have flat surface). It seems running fine now.

ueyn

Bleeding the system definitely seems to be the most appropriate first try. Others have said it sounds like a bubble in the line. But, my dealer won't do a thing under warranty unless they see the symptom - and it almost never occurs near home. It has happened at home twice, once on a weekend, once on a holiday, D'OH!

I don't personally believe it is a bubble. The reduction in atmospheric pressure going from sea-level to 5000 feet just doesn't seem like enough for a bubble to grow enough to make the clutch pressure disappear to this extent. The stickiness of the pedal leads me to believe there is a bad seal at the minimum.

Has anybody heard of this "modified slave cylinder" and/or stronger return spring that Subaru of Australia knows about but Subaru of America denies?

Here's what I received from the fellow in Australia:

"For reference, the slave cylinder was part number s/30620fc000kai and
the spring was s/36036ae000kai. On the invoice the slave cylinder is
described as 'modifed clutch slave cyl for lib/outback', so perhaps
this problem affects those models too."

Thanks,
Ueyn

subaru_team

I checked our database and it doesn't appear that you have had any contacts with us at 1-800-SUBARU3. I'd suggest you contact us. The Representative will start a case and research the situation once they have your VIN and your dealer information.

I know it is frustrating to have a problem that can't be duplicated. It's equally frustrating for us to figure out situations like that, but it isn't hopeless. I would not base anything on your overseas contacts. They do have different components.

Any information that you have from the previous owner may help. Servicing especially.

I'm sure we can get some options for you, we just need a chance.

Thanks,'

Patti

ueyn

I'll be calling tomorrow to start a case. Thanks for responding.

I have recently been in touch with another Subaru Legacy owner in my area who has the exact same symptoms as me. He also has trouble duplicating them at sea-level and thus never brought it to our dealer's attention, though I told him he should just so they can get it on record. I will have him start a case as well. I'm sure there are others out there, too.

-Ueyn

subaru_team

I'll keep an eye out for your case to make sure that everything is looked into.

Thanks for giving us a shot at it!

Patti

bluesubie

A few years ago, twrx had similar problems with his Forester's clutch.
It was eventually traced to a master cylinder contaminated with dirt.

Anytime you have an intermittent problem, try to get it on video. It proved useful with my last clutch problem.

-Dennis

ateixeira

Yuki: sounds good, thanks for updating us. I'm glad SoA did right by you.

Ueyn sends the "bat signal", and Patti dons her cape. Rev up the Batmobile.

Didn't twrx trade-in for a WRX? I think he's on those threads.

-juice

kens

Patti to the rescue again! So, is there a Robin? ;-)

Ken

theob

Not sure this is the right topic area...
Yesterday, my wife was driving our '01 VDC to Denver on I-25. Suddenly something large, dark, and harder than cardboard hit the windshield. Upon arrival she discovered most of the hood deflector missing. It appears that it failed where it wraps around the hood on the drivers side and then wrenched off the passengers side at the point where it comes down to go around the grill. The hood deflector was factory installed. Took delivery just over a year ago. ~22k miles. Dealer said they would replace it.

Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is there a structural or design weakness in these or did I just get a weak one? Seems a bit premature for it to fail. I guess I shouldn't be surprised when I take into consideration the amount of oscillating it does at highway speed when wind is gusty. Perhaps the film stuck to the hood is the way to go.(?)

Theo in Colo.

bluesubie

I'm not sure about the current generation OB's, but the prior ones used two screws (in addition to clips) to secure the deflector to the hood.
My 97 OBS is the same way.
Does yours have screws? The only way for mine to come out would be if both screws loosened.

-Dennis

subearu

also secures with 2 plastic screws on the inside of the hood and 2 clips on the lip of the hood. (installed it myself too)

Never have had a problem with it. I remove it when waxing and before any automatic car wash.

Was it the OEM Subaru one or an aftermarket one? The OEM one has 'SUBARU' on the lower right (driver side) - at least mine does.

Do you know if you have left it on during a automatic car wash? Or did someone try messing with the deflector? I suppose it's possible that the plastic itself developed a crack, which can grow easily with the pressures of wind and heat/cold.

Glad to hear the dealer will replace it. I don't believe this is common (at least not mentioned on these boards).

-Brian

ateixeira

That's wild, Theo. I'm glad that at least they're replacing it free. I guess it didn't do any damage?

-juice

jimmyp1

Well, Theo, I had several windguards damaged by rocks while living in the mountains of Colorado. The damaged ranged from cracks to complete disintegration. I wouldn't rule out that something may have hit it. Also, if it vibrated or oscillated at speed, I wouldn't be surprised if it was loose all the while = not unusual at all, even having come from the dealer.

Jim

subearu

that probably gets overlooked - inspecting the deflector regularly for secureness (word?) and for any chipping or cracking.

-Brian

bsvoller

Per a friend at SOA, the bug deflectors on the Forester were a known problem area for a while (we have an '01), due to an issue with their vendor. Perhaps the OB was also touched by this.

Supposedly cleared up by now. We lost 2 deflectors in high winds off of our car in less than 18 months, most recently this last January, and have now abandoned the Subaru OEM part. The last time it came loose, it destroyed the paint on the hood and both fenders.

Fortunately, we were still under warranty, and they repainted the hood and both fenders, but I won't risk a repeat - the hassle factor was enormous eventhough they stepped up to fix it.

Subaru bug deflectors are made out of acrylic, which is pretty brittle at normal temperatures, and worse when cold. When they switch to polycarbonate, we'll reconsider.

I understand there are aftermarket options out there, but I haven't researched them myself.

HTH

paisan

I had a stock Isuzu one, but snapped off the edges on it. replaced it with a Lund one which has been good so far but need to replace the 4 screws and grommets cause I just noticed they were all loose.

-mike

subaru_team

That's the first one that I've heard of with any of the Legacy line. Did it damage the car at all?

Patti

fibber2

Scarey! Wonder why it oscillated at speed? I installed it myself on my '02 OBW, and it is rock solid at 80mph. It is under a slight bit of bending tension when installed, and keeps the end wings firmly in contact with the hood. But I bet that bit of torsional stress could turn into explosive 'stress relief' if hit by a stone or other object. Isn't physics wonderful?

Steve

ykishimoto

Following is the history of my old engine.
Since begining, the old engine had a knocking sound under light acceleration (1500 - 1800 RPM) when the engine was cold, and it disappeared after approx. 500 meters in modarate speed. The knock gradually became noticeable at 2100-2500 RPM under labour (acceleration) even the engine was in normal operational tempreture. I am using my vehicle mainly in town drive (the speed limit is 50 to 90 KPH). The speedometer reading is now 10200 KM.

leo2633

This morning I noticed that the light on the cruise control switch was no longer working on my '01 Forester S. (The cruise control still works fine.) Does anyone know if the bulb can be changed, or does the entire switch need to be replaced? It's still under warranty (21K miles) so I'll try to get it to the dealer soon, but I'm curious about the light. Anybody else ever have this light burn out? Thanks in advance.

Len

ateixeira

Mine still works, a 98 with 44k miles. I haven't looked behind the dash, to be honest. It seems to be more accessible than the center console is, though.

-juice

kens

Len,

That's kind of strange for the light to go out so soon. I thought the source was an LED and those things last very long.

Between my 98 Forester, and my three other friends who have 98, 99 and 00 Foresters, I haven't heard of any of the control lights going out.

Ken

mrdetailer

Thanks for the comments, and sorry I couldn't respond before. Have quite a few more responsibitliies at work now.

My question is that now that the Seals are replaced what oil should I be putting in. My personal experience has been about the same. Whether I am using synthetic (Subaru) conventional (older Dodge), or a blend (Mazda) Seals have failed between 120 and 125 thousand miles.

What do I do to minimize this repair?

kens

Well, apparently today's synthetics have stuff in them to allow seals to swell properly so I don't think synthetic vs. conventional is going to make a difference as long as you stick to one type. I believe it's only an issue when you've been using conventional for a long time and then switch to synthetic.

Ken

theob

Yes, it was a port-installed OEM deflector. The screws were still tight when I took off the tabs that were left (from the edge of the hood to where the screws hold it on). The car has never been through an automatic car wash (hand and/or pressure wand only).

I haven't had the light or time to look over the rest of the vehicle for any other damage yet.

The dealer exchanged it for me this morning. Said they had seen a couple of them break similar to mine. Not sure if those were Subaru or GMC, though. (Patti, the dealer is in my profile on my.subaru.com if you'd like inquire further of their experiences.)

The oscillation was not constant. At 80 mph it would normally bend a little in the middle. If there was considerable turbulence, then it would oscillate in the middle. It would be nice if it was a polycarbonate. If this one breaks, I guess we'll get an "invisi-bra".

Theo in Colo.

ltcolumbo

I have a WRX auto and just when the engine is still warming up, there is some piston slap at idle (and on light accel.) When the engine is full warmed up, there is no piston slap, but some other random noise (timing belt?) Also, when fully warmed up, the valves on the left side of the engine are noisier than on the right side. Anyone else experiencing this????? "Normal?"

subearu

Did yours have those clear plastic 'bump-ons' on the side of the deflector that is resting on the hood? I don't believe I've seen my deflector flex much at all. The 'bump-ons' are supposed to stop the flexing. In fact, I believe the clearance between the bump-ons and the paint is something like 1/8".

Nevertheless, I will keep a more watchful eye on it now to see if it does flex during driving.

Glad they replaced yours no problem/no questions.

-Brian

kens

ltcolumbo,

Are you sure it's not a loose timing belt tensioner and not piston slap? I'd have a dealer take a look at it just in case. Many times, the noises can be similar. I think piston slap was isolated to some engines in a particular model year.

Ken