Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
Options
Comments
Where are you? We keep getting these wussy storms down here in the Poughkeepsie area. Lot of ice (like again last night), but not much snow.
Steve
How many miles since the change over?
Do you re-check torque right after someone else services the car?
Thanks,
Matt
Well, considering that we have less than 12" on the ground in Fairbanks (and that is total accumulation over 4+ months!), it would not be this part of Alaska.
Impressive accumulations in New York though. Quite impressive.
Unless we get some decent and frequent rain this spring and summer, it is going to be a dry summer here. Really the last thing we need, considering all of the pest-stress placed on the forests during the last 4-5 years. :sick:
I have to wonder how the battery terminals could suffer such excessive corrosion over so little a time. I still have the original cables on my '69 pickup, and they look (and operate) all but perfect 38 years later....
I think it is around 6k miles since the upgrade. I only run around 8.5k a year on this car, as it is my commuter.
I'm rather fanatical about torque values. Any time any of my vehicles goes to a shop, they get checked as soon as it gets home. Typically they are way overdone by most places that insist on air tool reinstallation, but I believe that the problems go beyond simple overtorqe. Questionable materials, undersized for the application, etc.
Steve
I'm just North of Syracuse. twenty minutes from Parish and a half hour from Oswego (under normal circumstances)days away of late.
Steve
It's been a mess here ever since Al Gore invented global warming. Wish he had quit after he invented the internet!
Steve
In regard to the seat warmers, the '07 manual says to "be sure to turn them off" when exiting the car. Then it says that leaving them on while the engine is not running can result in drawing down the battery.
In comparison, in the section about the headlights, it notes how the headlights automatically turn off when the key is in "lock" position or is removed, so the battery is not drawn down.
Now, as far as I can tell by observation, if I leave a seat warmer on and remove my key to exit the car, it turns off, just like the headlights do.
So, my question is: If the car is not running and you remove the key AND you leave a seat warmer on, does it draw down any power from the battery? Technically the wording in the manual leaves open the possibility of turning the car's electrical system on but not the engine and turning on the seat warmers, but if that is what it means why doesn't it say so (and what numbskull would do that, anyway?)? And if the seat warmers DO turn off automatically when the car is off and the key is removed (like the headlights), why isn't the language the same in the manual?
I ask all this because we have had our Outback iwagon for a month and it always starts slower in the cold (slower than my 93 Corolla, even). I was so concerned I changed what tested to be a perfectly good battery and put in one with 30% more CCAs, etc. Yesterday my wife took the Outback skiing and when she returned to it 8 hours later it barely started. She had to hit the gas the second try for it to catch. One seat warmer had been left on.
So is this an electrical issue? A fuel system issue? A seat warmer issue? A Subaru quirk? We're confused and appreciate any insight. Thanks.
1) slower starts is typical of Subarus, 2) they are aware of a problem Subaru's have at high altitudes starting (we live in Colorado), and hope that Subaru of America will issue a fix but so far they have not, 3) if it happens again, try starting the car with the gas halfway down, and if that doesn't work, all the way down (just don't pump). The dealer said they think it has to do with programming in the car's computer chip.
Degree of cold + altitude = difficulty starting
The colder it is and the higher the altitude the harder it is to start even a brand new Outback with a new battery. Seems like this should be fixable by SOA.
The next click is 'accessory'. Depending on the model, some ckts now get power. Again, Subaru is more conservative than most here as well. You don't get much more than the radio.
The next click is 'on'. Here you get power to everything, whether the engine is actually running or not. If the engine is off, you get a dash full of warning lights. If you left the heaters on with the key in this position, you could definitely run down the battery.
For a test, try switching on the seat heaters with the key out. See if they get warm. I highly doubt that they are powered.
On the subject of batteries, most mfgrs supply the lightest, cheapest, lowest output unit that they can get away with. I recently had an '05 Honda Element loaner that would barely crank below about 15' F. Most replacement batteries above about $60 supply 50% more CCA's than the OEM units. If you actually shopped by specs., you would find that many lawn and garden tractor batteries are close to an exact replacement!
Steve
Steve
Just speculation, of course. Maybe they really ARE worried about battery drain.
Thanks for the Salvation Army idea. I will follow up on it. The tax deduction now has supposedly changed so I don't know if I claims as much as folks used to. But it may be better than nothing.
So yes, at high altitude you could be experiencing an unintended outcome of some fine tweeking required to make the cold emissions numbers while maximizing horsepower. Fixing that now requires nothing short of an act of Congress! Again, this is just my guess as to why you might be told there is a new high altitude issue that cannot be addressed without EPA blessing.
Steve
You are likely correct with that assertion. I have, on occasion, burned the clutch on my '69 Chevy trying to nurse it up a slick driveway, or trying to pull 12,000# up that same driveway. But, my '07 Outback's clutch burns on even a slightly delayed release of the pedal. Time will tell (if I keep it), but I have always been rather gentle on wear items so anything short of 100K miles will indicate to me that the construction is just not up to snuff.
I may be in the market for a 97-99 Legacy or OB as a project car to drop an STi motor in....
-mike
Does anyone know a rough estimate of the cost to fix the entire exhaust system? i was quoted almost $900 over the summer (i live in Boston). I have no bearings here.
I am somewhat surprised it is in such poor shape, but I guess those salted NE roads are just taking their toll. After 220K and 11 years on my '96 it still looked/worked perfectly fine, other than a potential cat. conv. issue.
So you think to replace the catalytic converter and pipes should be less? i hope so. one of my friends recommend someone, so i am having it checked out for free, before i commit. thanks.
If you put stainless steel parts on there, that will bump the cost up but I am not sure how much - the flip side is that the system will last much longer than plain steel.
thanks again for the information.
About a year ago, the transmission started to act up. When putting it into Drive, it started to hesitate before engaging. With a quick step on the gas it kicked in. It got so bad, that it didn't even want to engage at all at times for 10 minutes but eventually kicked in.
A transmission shop looked at it, but at that time it would not happen (They kept it for a day) So we flushed the system and things worked fine. It's back again, but this time intermittently it just doesn't engage for a time. Putting it in rear works all the time.
I called a transmission shop again and they tell me that in the last year they see this all the time on these Subarus to the tune of 2-3 a month. The say that some transmission seal is wearing off due to some bad design and it they need to take a part the the transmission to fix it ($1200 - $1600).
The cars' been great up to this point. I noticed some other discussions around similar issues. Anybody have the same problem or has gone through this as well? Is there another approach?
Thanks...martin
I replaced a clutch on a Chevy Sprint (about $400) and sold a Datsun 210 that had a clutch that was about to fail. Sure enough, I saw the buyer later and he'd replaced the clutch.
-juice
First- Is the burning smell from a at clutch pack?(car is an auto)It comes thur the vents, i have no leaks that i can see
Second-Trans is slow to go into drive occasionally. Any solvent solution?
Third- Biggest problem is when you get heavy on the accelerator, it backfires horribly but not always. Plugs?wires?coil Pack?
Please help kayzack314@epix.net
Mmmm.... yes. Freshly acquired used cars can often leave that taste in one's mouth. Did you pay a discount price for this car? These problems were likely noted by the previous owner and prompted that person to replace it.
1. The burning smell may likely be due to gear oil, etc., dripping on hot exhaust components. Could either be that the oil was recently replaced and the smell is residual, or there is a leak that needs attention.
2. Slow to engage transmission is a hot topic lately - possibly early seal failure? According to other owners it is destined to get worse.
3. Backfiring. Eech! Sounds like it is running quite rich. So, moving beyond the plugs, wires, and coil, sensors to inspect or replace include the knock, camshaft, crankshaft, oxygen, and airflow sensors. They could be functioning in such a way to not trip a code, but yet cause it to run rich.
Anyone have any suggestions? Many thanks!
Steve
-juice
I'm sure the smell is an oil spill. It will eventually burn off, but you could try to clean the area with some Simple Green. Avoid getting any wiring wet, of course, though I don't think there are many near the trans.
Used cars are a gamble. I got really lucky with my Miata, but prior to that all the used cars I bought had one problem or another.
-juice
turbo engine should be changed at 30 K and they are not
platnum. the dealer said change is not needed because they ARE
platnum plugs and can go to 60K who do i believe, any of you that changed your own plugs maybe can help me with
this.
Check engine light is on for some time, and it goes off when fuel qty drops to less than 1/4. When I fill the tank, it comes on. Also, it goes off when the engine is cold.
With backfiring it started (sometimes) to flash.
The car is now in garage for 130K check. Timing belt, ignition plugs and cables were replaced, but the problem continued. It looks, people at garage has no idea what's causing the problem.
Any friendly advice, or literature where I can find more information.
Thank you.
While it is unusual that BOTH low beams would go out in quick succession (did you or your wife notice one out before the other?), I still think I would purchase a replacement set of bulbs and try them before I looked toward a wiring problem.
Does anyone know if a separate fuse controls marker lamps, high beams, and low beams? Perhaps it is a fuse if there are separate fuses.
First off, continuing to drive with a flashing CEL is potentially very bad for the engine. That indicates a misfire, which could do significant damage. You need to have someone with an OBD2 scan tool read the stored code and, ideally, the snapshot data. Does the CEL suddenly come on when the backfire occured, or upon the first restart after you fill the tank?
For some problems, the dash light will stay on for up to 40 'drive' cycles, for others just 3. Then after the 4th drive cycle of no re-occurance, the light goes out but the stored data remains. Odd, thought, because I would have thought that a misfire would have locked the CEL on for the full 40 cycles, but maybe not if it is a short enough event.
Backfire and lights only happens when the tank is full or shortly thereafter? Whatever is wrong happens intermittantly while the tank is pretty full, but does not happen when the fuel level drops. So at low tank levels the backfiring does not occur, no flashing or steady on CEL?? Vapor recovery system problem, purge control, venting issue, perhaps. Try filling the tank only about 3/4 full and see what happens.
Steve
-mike
alone and wait till 60K for the plugs
How do you KNOW all this stuff? I just anoint the hood and call for divine intervention. I'm thinking your way is much more effective though!
Pastor Steve