Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

once_for_all · January 2004

understand JB's sense of humor. That above was a classic. Dry as a hunk of well aged salami.

John

rthompson10 · January 2004

2 questions:
1)Tried to do a search on cold starting- no luck- Is there a consensus on what's best for the car in cold weather?- wait till the needle moves off of the C before driving?(03 OB)If this is rehashing a debate I apologize
2)Probably don't need one but how does an engine block heater work- I've seen some posts where people are setting a timer?
Robert TI(Technically Ignorant)

rthompson10 · January 2004

2 questions:
1)Tried to do a search on cold starting- no luck- Is there a consensus on what's best for the car in cold weather?- wait till the needle moves off of the C before driving?(03 OB)If this is rehashing a debate I apologize
2)Probably don't need one but how does an engine block heater work- I've seen some posts where people are setting a timer?
Robert TI(Technically Ignorant)

njswamplands · January 2004

bigelm · January 2004

Probably refreshed instead of Read Subscriptions or Message Center....

jfl · January 2004

Then again, there are some things we'd like to intentionally run over. 8~)

Jim

fibber2 · January 2004

Sorry, had to chime in there as well.

1) Cold start - Wait maybe 10 seconds or so after a very cold start before putting it in gear to allow the oil/fluids to circulate. Assuming you don't have to pull out into high speed traffice, drive away slowly and do not push it too hard until everything begins to loosen up (the needle starts to move off of cold). If you have to launch right into a high stress situation, you might want to add a minute or so to the idle time before moving.

Honestly, compared to my Honda or previous Toyota's, these engines produce quite a racket when stone cold. I do baby it a bit more until warmed up than those cars, although the sounds may be more 'cosmetic' than 'functional'.

2) Engine block heaters are always a plus if you can put up with the inconvenience. Increasing base temp from say 0'F to 40'F will reduce noise (and probably wear). I can only take a swag at this stuff....

Steve

p0926 · January 2004

Larry- You might want the check the balance of that wheel just to be on the safe side. Otherwise I agree with Juice, wait til the off-season and then get the dent hammered out.

-Frank P.

rthompson10 · January 2004

p0926 · January 2004

Robert- IIRC, an engine block heater consists of an electric probe that you replace the dipstick with. Its purpose is to keep the engine oil warm, thereby making the engine easier to start.

FYI: In Fairbanks Alaska, (where -40F isn't unusual) most public parking spaces come with a 110-volt outlet so you can plug your engine heater in while working, shopping, dinning, etc.

-Frank P.

dcm61 · January 2004

an engine block heater replaces one of the freeze plugs and warms the coolant.

DaveM

P.S. Frank - YDRC ;-)

stever · January 2004

They were pretty common in Anchorage too, but people rarely used them running errands. The city has been giving block heaters away the last couple of years to try to improve air quality from all those cold engine starts.

I have my block heater cords well hidden in my engine compartment here in Boise, otherwise I get all sorts of weird comments (like, just how long is your extension cord for that electric vehicle?).

In addition to the freeze plug heater like mine, they do make a dipstick one and battery blankets, etc. Some people build a charcoal fire under the engine if they go to their cabin and have to leave the car sitting on the highway a few days at 20 below.

Pat, I used to enjoy browsing at Canadian Tire when touring up that way. That was before all the rip-off repair exposes. Hopefully they've cleaned up their act (wonder if Sears here has?).

Steve, Host

p0926 · January 2004

Dave- Okay so there's more than one way to heat the engine block :-)

Steve- I wasn't going to mention the phenomena of all sorts of vehicles driving around with extension cords wrapped around their front bumpers.

-Frank P.

hammersley · January 2004

Thanks for the Costco reminder on the batteries... mine's 4 yrs old & getting a bit weak - left it inside at work to thaw/dry out the other day... turned off the dome lights so that all that was lit was the dashboard door status lights... next morning...nuthin! Jumped & doing fine now, but wonder if it portends the future...

Cheers!
Paul

deadeye5 · January 2004

I agree with the comments of 10 sec to 40-50 sec. before engagement & drive off when it is bitter cold.I did put a Battery Warmer on my XT before spending a month in Ontario,CAN. . Temp. the morn. I left for sunny Fla. was --22 degrees. The battery did as advertised tho--thanks to the warmer.. A tip: At 0 degrees F, a battery only puts out 65% of its available power AND it takes 350% more power to crank an engine at that temp!! Scary eh ?? Deadeye

russ9406 · January 2004

Paul

For peace of mind I would replace your battery. If it did not work once what will happen the next time it is really cold out or you leave a door ajar. For $40.00 the Costco route seems like a safe bet, more CCA, 640 vs. less than 300 for the stock battery. A 3 year free replacement and a 100 month pro-rated warranty.

Russ

steve2003 · January 2004

Own a 2002 Legacy L with 33000 miles. The check engine light went on last week and took it to the dealer. They stated that there is a small coolant leak on the head gasket. They need the car for 2-3 days. Should I be concerned? The has not overheated and seems to run fine. Please advise, Thank you

locke2c · January 2004

let them repair it before damage is done to the engine that will be felt after your warranty has expired.

find out the specific fault that triggered the check engine light, too. a coolant leak in and of itself will not trigger it.

~c

hondafriek · January 2004

With Colin's excellent advice, If a leaking head gasket is neglected you run the risk of either having a warped block or at the very least a burn track in the block if the hot exhaust gases start to leak across.

Cheers Pat.

c_hunter · January 2004

I also fail to see how a coolant leak could trigger a CEL. I would ask more more details on that.

Craig

steve2003 · January 2004

Thanks for the info. The guy at the dealer stated that the if the check engine light is not flashing there is an emission problem not an engine problem. Also should I extend the warranty on the vehicle or can I still extend it? Thanks

cptplt · January 2004

you have until the end of the 3/36 bumper to bumper coverage to get an extended warranty from Subaru.

damish003 · January 2004

For those who remember, my 04 OBS that was rear-ended last month is still in the shop, but gets out next week. Lots of work, and the holiday weeks slowed things up. Anyway, I would like to replace the stock Potenza RE-92's with a winter tire when I get it back, as the stock tires really don't handle the Pennsylvania snows.

With the alloy wheels, it takes P205/55R16 tires. It seems the only winter tires I can find that fit are on the expensive side, say $140 each or so. I'd prefer $80-90 if I can.

Cheaper tires are findable if I change to steel wheels for the winter. If I go steel, the manual calls for P195/60R15's. Much easier to find a variety of winter tires in that size. The only problem is I would need 5 tires/wheels to keep the size right for a spare if I go that route.

Since this is a lease, and I will likely trade it in in 2 1/2 years, do you folks think I'm better off going with four expensive tires on my 16" alloy wheels, or 5 cheaper tires on new 15" steel wheels? I just can't make up my mind, and would like any thoughts or suggestions.

I just want my car back...it's been over a month and I'm going thru Subie withdrawal. Thanks all!

-Dan-

ballistic · January 2004

I'd definitely recommend the steel wheels with the cheaper tires. Example: 4 brand-new steel wheels with mounted, balanced Winterforce tires (Bridgestone/Firestone) from Tirerack, including shipping (to my location, anyway) are about $466, or nearly $100 less for four than your costlier tires alone. And you'll save wear and tear on all of your tires by not having to repeatedly swap tires on and then off one set of wheels twice each year - that's not fatal, but it's not great for tires. You'll also save on rebalancing each time, for the same reason. And if you're like me, you'll save even more by just jacking up your car and doing the biannual wheel swap yourself. Plus, when you turn the car back in, the 4 steel wheels with still-excellent snows might work on your next car if it's also a Sube. If not, you'll probably find more buyers for 4 steel wheels with partly-used snows than just 4 partly used tires alone.

ballistic · January 2004

JB's sense of humor...Dry as a hunk of well aged salami.

I really appreciate your pointing that out, because it helped me gain a new perspective. If people hate my weak humor as much as I hate salami, this explains everything!

locke2c · January 2004

flashing means a misfire is detected. if you see continued flashing in any vehicle, it's best if you pull over immediately and stop the engine. this is especially true when your car is no longer under warranty.

however a non-flashing code can be set by a huge array of things; definitely not limited to just emissions. perhaps the technician was trying to simply things to help you understand and got carried away.

~c

hondafriek · January 2004

How time flies when you are having fun, the Titan is 3 years old already and I got a notice from the DOT. that he has to have a mandatory emissions test before I can get this years licence.

Cheers Pat.

locke2c · January 2004

no emissions testing here in windy, boring Kansas. easy to register vehicles too... my father has two enduro dirtbikes legal for the street! (Honda XR650R, Vertemati 503... the XR is mad fun, ~70hp)

oh yeah, subarus. back to your regularly scheduled programming.

three good years Pat?
~c

damish003 · January 2004

Jack-

So then $466 for four should be about $580 for five, since I'll need a spare if I'm changing wheel size. No real cost savings there, at least upfront. Saving wear and tear by switching them every season...makes sense. Since I might get a Forester at the end of the lease, they should fit a new car. Hmmm...still stuck. I just can't swing $500+ right now. I might just have to ride out the crappy tires thru the season and worry about this next summer when snow tire prices should be cheaper. Decisions, decisions...thanks for the comments.

-Dan-

dcm61 · January 2004

195/60-15 should be close enough in circumference to 205/55-16 that you can still use the donut spare.

Another option may be to get Nokian WR's. They are a snow certified tire but are also year round tires. see http://www.etires.com They are supposedly also available at STS Tire stores. Not sure if you have the chain in NW PA.

FYI - I don't think 15" wheels will clear the calipers on the '03+ Forester.

DaveM

deadeye5 · January 2004

A minor gripe but, my XT real hatch would NOT shut fully in -15-18 temps.The interior lights and the dash warning stayed lit. I could press or lean against it and it would lock but when i got in and shut the drivers door-it would pop unlocked again, ??? After 30-40 miles with heater on --all is well. Any of youall in the cold have the same prob.??

Deadeye

ballistic · January 2004

FYI - I don't think 15" wheels will clear the calipers on the '03+ Forester.

That's definitely true; if I were doing it, I'd get 16" steel wheels that would work on both the Outback and on a new Forester.

Also, unless the snow-tire outside diameter differs considerably from the road tires, I probably wouldn't bother with buying a 5th as a spare. Subaru might not recommend it, but I'd think a slightly-different-sized spare could be used for short-term emergencies without problems. After all, even if your spare is the identical size as the four road tires, the latter are inevitably going to be smaller than the spare as their treads wear down, so whenever you get a flat and mount the spare, by definition you've put a different-size tire on.

rangner · January 2004

I don't see the point anyway. Most new cars are pretty darn clean anyway. The only guy you're going to hurt is the guy on minimum wage driving an old beater. Fix CAFE and require it for production models, but don't bother after that.

Eric

hondafriek · January 2004

3 excellent years I have never had cause to regret buying this car, I am as happy with now as the day I bought it, and I have had 3 good years overall otherwise.

  As for emission testing it is just another Goverment rip off, especially here, as most of the garages approved for the testing are also allowed to do the repairs.

  Kid of like a fox looking after a henhouse.

  Cheers Pat.

c_hunter · January 2004

It's similar here in Virginia -- we have annual state inspections, which do not cover emissions in my area but go over the rest of the car pretty thoroughly. If you happen to go to a "fox" they can really try to screw you. One time, the Honda dealer failed me for headlights out of aim, too much slack in the parking brake, and dust in the rear drum brakes of my 93 Civic. The service manager said the brakes were so dusty that they could not inspect them. They wanted about $350 to remedy the problems on the spot. I took my fail sticker instead. Took me 2 minutes to tighten up the parking brake (which did not even need it in my opinion), I verified that the headlights were in fact OK, and there was hardly even enough dust in the rear drums to justify taking them apart (or the $5 I spent on brake cleaner).

Another time, a different dealer tightened up the parking brake for free on my 97 Prelude, which was a nice gesture of goodwill and they earned my Honda business from then on out.

What bugs me the most is that I do all maintenance myself, and it's a big inconvenience to make an appointment and deal with all the associated hassle for inspections. Not to mention the fact that I'd feel better if they weren't poking and prodding at my cars needlessly.

Thankfully, last time around with my WRX, the guy took only 15 minutes to pass me, and did not take the car apart. The car only had 3000 miles on it at that point, and a blind person could have seen it was OK.

Craig

hondafriek · January 2004

My argument here is if you are going to have mandatory emissions then have dedicated test stations, no repairs allowed.

Now in honesty you can take the car to whoever you want to carry out repairs after a failure, but how many people succumb to, well we we can fix it on the spot and save you the hassle of going away and coming back.

And like you I do not like some yahoo I don't know from a hole in the ground screwing with my car.
Cheers Pat.

subaru_team · January 2004

problem and we've had a really cold snap here in the East. Maybe get the dealer to check it out for you?

Patti

lfdal · January 2004

Working on the theory that most of my problems go counter to those of a normal human being, let me run this past the more knowledgeable.

We've finally made it above freezing here in the metro Boston area for the last couple of days. This after a prolonged spell in the -5 to 20 range. Don't know if its relevant to the following, but thought I'd throw it in.

When I release the brake pedal on my XT a get a definite loud clunking sound. No movement of the car, just the sound of something releasing really loud when the foot goes off the pedal. I have the AT so it can't be the hill holder. Happened for the first time ever today and repeats about 60% of the time.

Engaging the brakes all is well - smooth, silent, no pulling. Brake fluid clear and fine, no idiot lights, etc.

My favorite guess is a sticky caliper slide but that'd be really poor for a car that just went over 6k today.

Any ideas folks? I'd like to have a theory or two to offer the dealer since I'm sure mine is the only Subaru ever made that makes this noise.....:<)

TIA

Larry

blane · January 2004

lfdal:

It's interesting that you posted about the same loud "clunking" or "cracking" sound that my wife called to my attention today. It occured several times when releasing the brake pedal as I was driving her 2002 Legacy GT in slushy conditions around the freezing mark. That was after having parked for a few hours after a long drive in snow and slush.

I was thinking that it might be slight corrosion from road salt, after a few hours of no movement, either on the rotor or caliper pistons.

jfl · January 2004

Today, I smog checked our other car. I learned that since last October, Calif (at least where I live) requires dyno smog testing. 8~(

I was wondering why the smog test prices have doubled! So I asked, "What about Subarus?"

"Oh, AWD cars don't need to be run on the dyno."

"Then is the test cheaper?"

"No, same price."

8~(

Jim

dcm61 · January 2004

Same thing in parts of PA. No dyno for AWD but no discount either. PA is moving to OBD II emission checks now. They just plug into the OBD II connector.

DaveM

fibber2 · January 2004

As Ballistic commented, don't worry about a mismatch with the doughnut spare. Even as received, your spare is probably not the exact same diameter as the 4 road tires. This is particularly true for the (Legacy) Outback models, whose spare tire well will not even accommodate a road tire.

For very short durations, the center diff can probably accommodate the net difference in rotation between the front and rear axles when you use an off-sized tire. But the better solution is to switch temporarily to front drive mode (assuming you have an automatic??). Somewhere buried in your owners manual is a paragraph related to a FWD fuse for disabling the AWD feature of your Subi. The wording may be vague (something about emergency situations, IIRC), but using a smaller tire would qualify. This will keep the center diff clutch from trying to compensate for what it perceives as a slipping between front and rear.

Steve

damish003 · January 2004

Steve - Right, I forgot about the FWD fuse! That would solve the problem. The bit on donut size not really mattering for short term makes sense. Maybe I worry too much about this sort of thing, but I don't want to throw money away. I spent some time on Saturday at my dealer. He suggest getting steel wheels thru them, as they warranty the wheels for 2 years/24 months. He suggests getting the tires elsewhere, like TireRack or something. When I get the car back from the shop this week, I think I'll drive it around in the snow/ice for a couple days to get a better handle on how it does. With winter half over, I might wait on this till later to save bucks. I might find a better available selection in any event. I won't worry about the spare, so thanks for the advise there.

-Dan-

p0926 · January 2004

they warranty the wheels for 2 years/24 months

Pardon me for being cynical but when was the last time you heard about a wheel going bad? If the dealer offers you the best price then sure, buy from them. Otherwise, fugetaboudit.

-Frank P.

ballistic · January 2004

Dan, you didn't indicate what wheels cost at your dealer. Tirerack sells 16" Subaru-pattern steelies for about $48 each. Shipping probably adds about $7. Prices for other sizes are comparable. If you buy wheels and tires from Tirerack, they mount and balance for no extra charge. If you buy wheels from your dealer and tires elsewhere, you may or may not incur additional costs for the mount/balance.

fibber2 · January 2004

thru Tire Rack, I got the steels & covers (about $55 each) for the Odyssey, but went for the Fox-5 alloys for the OBW. They look like WRX rims, for $105 each. IIRC, they have Fox-2 alloys for about $75 each as well. This is season 2, and they look great (wear wise, and what they do for the look of the wagon). BTW, I got the Dunlop Wintersport M2 - excellent all around performers.

Steve

damish003 · January 2004

The parts department was closed this weekend, so I have no idea what the dealer charges for wheels. Yeah, I really haven't heard of wheel problems before, so unless the price at the dealer was at least comparable to others, it wouldn't make much difference what I got. When I get the car back, I'll decide what to do from there. Since the car was wrecked in early December, I only drove it in bad weather once. Very icy that day, so anything short of studded tires likely would have been insufficient.

If anyone wants to see it, go to http://www.bonnellscollision.com, go to "check my vehicle" and look at # 7831.

-Dan-

hondafriek · January 2004

Places here have an AWD dyno but they are few and far between, the test for AWD drive is a joke even, run the car at idle take a reading then increase the idle speed and check again.

Cheers Pat.

paisan · January 2004

I know a lot of people complain about ABS around here. But I have to say that ABS rocks. I was going to work in slushy/icy/snowy conditions, driving down a side street in downtown manhattan, and the guy in front of me stops short. I hit the brakes and the abs engages and I see I'm not stopping in time, I was able to easily steer around him w/o much effor and avoid rear ending him. Just wanted to let people know that ABS is a GOOD thing, most people complain about ABS and you never hear the good stories.

-mike

ballistic · January 2004

I was expecting the newer fast-cycle 4-channel ABS on the XT to be significantly better than what's on our older cars. When snow first fell here on New Year's Day, I tested the ABS a few times and was quite disappointed; when it kicked in, it felt exactly like the car had suddenly rolled onto an ice rink - the rate of deceleration seemingly went to not much more than zero. However, I did quite a bit more driving a week later in a foot or more of snow, and further testing didn't leave me with that same feeling. I'm not sure what was different, but I wound up being happier with the ABS. Further opinions will have to await more winter weather.

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