Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

erics6 · July 2001

SOA authorized my dealer to replace the timing belt. It's being done this Thursday. They're going to check the timing the old fashion way - using a timing light - just in case the computer is wrong. I'm not optimistic that this will fix the pinging, but I'll let everyone know what happens.

russ9406 · July 2001

Juice

All the tires look new, no wear to speak of. I felt this was ok and I believe they are with the specs.

Thanks
Russ

kens · July 2001

Russ,

7800 miles should be no problem (unless you do some SERIOUS driving

).

Ken

jmulholl · July 2001

I have 23,000 miles on my 2000 legacy SC, and the dealer tells me I need to replace the brake pads on the front and back. Seems very low mileage for a brake change --- especially for the back. Could there be something else going on here?

Also, brake light stayed on. Dealer said it was due to a drop in the brake fluid level, which occurs when pads get worn down. Is this a good signal for the need to change brake pads? Thanks!

cptplt · July 2001

seems 23K is rather short, on my 3rd Legacy and IIRC front ones usually lasted 40-50K and back ones almost 70K+. obviously if you drive very aggressively your pad life goes way down.
Subes have a wear indicator in the pad, it starts to make a nasty rattling noise when you wear down to it and you brake, then its really time to change or your rotors are history.

paisan · July 2001

My dad and my uncle's 2nd gen legacy and outback generally go through brake pads in about 13-20K miles on both their cars. It's pretty well known that the pads wear extremely quickly on the 2nd gens. Not sure about the 3rd gens.

-mike

ateixeira · July 2001

Serious is right - the professional drivers at the M-B PowerTrip event had to change tires every 50 miles. So it is possible to burn rubber rather quickly.

Joe: 23k seems short to me. I'm near 40k miles and my pads still have plenty of life left in them. Pads are cheap, though. I'd change them and bleed the brake lines before you damage the rotors.

I bet paisan is on to something - the 3rd gen Legacy brake pads have a higher metallic content, enough that people sometimes complain of their squeeking. Bet they'll last longer.

-juice

luck11 · July 2001

Grrrr! Another door ding. What the heck is wrong with people? They open their doors with full force with no regard to cars next to them?

Well this one is my third on my 2000 OB, an its a rather large, as far as door dings go. The other two are rather small, so I can live with them. The latest is on my front, driver-side door and is approx 2" in diameter. Every time I look at it, I cringe.

I am thinking of going to a local body shop to have it pushed and smoothed out as much as possible without any drilling, painting etc. They seem to have a system that works quite well. Has anyone heard of or tried such a system?

Luck11

evilizard · July 2001

I've had that indicator come on a couple of times on my 96 due to wear in the pads. Usually you just pull the cap off, put it back on and it will go away.

Take a look at the brake pads yourself. You will be able to see how much is left.

ateixeira · July 2001

Rotate the tires while you're at it. And have a flash light handy. Nothing like seeing it up close.

-juice

mrdetailer · July 2001

I had a friend who had a door ding about the size of yours. It looks good, and cost about $100.00. Dents on the edge of the panel don't work well with Dentless repairs. Those in the center of the panel work OK. I tried to get a dent fixed around my wheel well and they wouldn't fix it because they couldn't get good results. $600.00 for the old fashioned repair.

originalbitman · July 2001

Had it done on my wife's ci and it was great When she bought it it had a ton of door dings and rug rat dents on the hood. Dentpro took care of nearly all of them for less than $200 and you can tell where they were. Well worth it.

bit

originalbitman · July 2001

I general, does an AT car eat through pads more quickly than an MT car? Seems like it would.

bit

ateixeira · July 2001

Probably a little, because even when stopped an auto trans tends to creep forward, and the brakes have to hold it.

Also, it's more common to use engine braking with a manual on down hills (though autos can too).

-juice

originalbitman · July 2001

I general, does an AT car eat through pads more quickly than an MT car? Seems like it would.

bit

originalbitman · July 2001

Had it done on my wife's ci and it was great When she bought it it had a ton of door dings and rug rat dents on the hood. Dentpro took care of nearly all of them for less than $200 and you can tell where they were. Well worth it.

bit

locke2c · July 2001

anyway, yes automatics generally do wear pads faster although the driver's braking style is still the #1 determiner of wear, and environment (hills, flat ground, gridlock, stop&go, open hwy) is #2.

it's not because of holding the car back at a stop though, that is minimal at best. it's because there is very little engine braking with an automatic.

-Colin

jres · July 2001

I'm with Colin, driving style is the #1 reason for brake wear, if an automatic transmission is properly adjusted, the car really shouldn't creep at all when the car is stopped. As much as I don't enjoy driving them, modern auto trans. are better than that.

On another note, the rough idle that I posted about turned into a solid check engine light the day after I posted, It went into the dealer and turned out to be an O2 sensor which was covered under warranty. Lets hope the replacement lasts more than 15K miles.

John

pattim3 · July 2001

so tough. You can make them to last longer but they are so noisey. If the noise is less, the pad has less metallic material and they wear sooner. It's a fine line.

Patti

francophile · July 2001

Quieter pads are often dustier too, making for messy wheels. And I know how much y'all hate messy wheels :-)

Cheers,
-wdb

ateixeira · July 2001

Wax 'em!

Seriously, mine look as-new. Even after 11k miles.

-juice

armac13 · July 2001

I fail to understand the concern expressed here about Subaru brake pads. On my '94 Golf, the pads lasted 40,000 km (24k miles) at best (MT, gentle use, a lot of engine braking) the rotors not much longer, the wheels were constantly filthy and they were only fairly quiet. On my Forester the pads were judged to be 10-15% worn at 12,000 km (AT, little engine braking, mainly city driving) the wheels show virtually no dust, and I have yet to hear a sound from the brakes. The feel is slightly spongy, but the modulation is great.

Ross

ateixeira · July 2001

I'm happy with my brakes, too. 39k miles and still going strong, never a squeek.

But my dad's Outback does squeek a bit first thing in the AM. I've heard it, though it goes away pretty much once you're out of the driveway.

-juice

paisan · July 2001

I think my XT6 still has the original pads on it. I've had it for 30K and about 12-13 auto-xs plus numerous other spirited driving encounters w/o a problem. But my dad's '97 legacy goes through them like water, ever 13K-17K miles.

-mike

dnickel · July 2001

My 99 Forester is coming up to 60,000km and my 3 year / 60km warranty is about done. Should I get anything checked - there is no scheduled maintenance other than oil change. Someone suggested I get the car checked at a non Subaru dealer since the dealer may not want to find/do the warranty work because they don't get full payment or something?

kens · July 2001

Daren,

Unless you don't have any warranty issues, then I don't see any problem with taking it to a qualified mecahnic.

Ken

ateixeira · July 2001

If it ain't broke...why try to fix it?

Have you noticed anything wrong?

-juice

hanskloss · July 2001

Hi Guys!
I have a brand new Subbie Outback 2001. What I have noticed is a whistling noise from my exhaust ( noise is coming from cat. converter towards the end of the car). Maybe it is because the car is new but you can hear it inside driving a car. It sounds like a high whistle or something ( not much but still annoying!)
Has anyone had the same problem?

pattim3 · July 2001

That is really unusual. I'd suggest letting a dealer check it out to see what is going on. Is the whistle constant or at certain speeds?

Patti

hanskloss · July 2001

patti3m- whistle depends on your engine rpm: on idle speed it is constant, when you accelerate it is going higher etc. Very strange and like I said: VERY ANNOYING!
(the worst thing is that you can hear it INSIDE the car)

ateixeira · July 2001

I've heard of radio interference causing a whistle, but if yours is on the outside it could be an exhaust leak. In that case I'd have it checked right away because it's polluting unnecessarily.

-juice

nygreg · July 2001

that if you accelerate properly, you can whistle to the music on the radio? ;-) Your dealer should be able to take care of it. Welcome to the club!

Greg

dnickel · July 2001

Nothing in particular wrong - I had a valve cover gasket go a few months ago that was fixed. (I want them to check that everything is fine now). And the standard clutch chatter on my first 1 or 2 shifts from a stop each morning.

ateixeira · July 2001

If it gives you piece of mind, you could have an outside mechanic do a basic inspection and service. I know Pep Boys does has a package for $300 where they basically do everything you'd do at a 60k mile service, minus an alignment.

I'm not sure if they have them up in Canada, though.

-juice

jim2741 · July 2001

Can anything be done about it? I own a 2000 RS 5sp. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm unable to determine any particular patterns with it. Any help would be great.

Thanks - Jim

ateixeira · July 2001

Yours should still be under the powertrain warranty, so I would ask a dealer to have a look. I'm not sure what would cause it.

-juice

locke2c · July 2001

jim-

stock exhaust or aftermarket? when do you hear the pop?

-Colin

ateixeira · July 2001

Come to think of it, BugBomb's RS used to back fire on occasion. He had aftermarket exhaust, though.

-juice

locke2c · July 2001

yes, mine pops and burbles quite a bit under engine braking. actually it pops a bit when I lift to shift up too.

if it's stock though we might be able to help Jim out.

-Colin

jim2741 · July 2001

Well, I thought about asking the dealer to take a look, but since that is the only very minor problem I'm having, I'm not sure I want them messing around with it. It is the stock exhaust system and if I had to say, it most frequently happens when I'm shifting from 2nd to 3rd.

Jim

locke2c · July 2001

Normal, I'd wager. You'll hear much more of it if you fit an aftermarket muffler, even moreso if you replace the stock midpipe and resonator at the same time.

-Colin

jim2741 · July 2001

Like I said, bummer. I guess I'll have to live with it. It actually doesn't happen all the time and as the car ages, it seems to happen less often. I'm still really happy with the RS, usually I get bored with cars and start looking to buy after owning it for as long as I've owned my RS. I did drive the WRX (twice), but was not that crazy about how it felt, anyway gotta go - bye.

Jim

sweeneyjoe · July 2001

I bought my 01 Forester S+ a couple of months ago and my dealer just called me to offer an extended warranty from Subaru for $995. It's a bumper-to bumper, 6 year/60,000 mile warranty (they called it "Gold Plus"). Does anyone have any advice on whether you think its worth it or whether that's a decent price for such a warranty. Personally, it seems a bit steep to extend the BTB for another three years and the power train just one more year beyond the standard warranty.

ateixeira · July 2001

Anything below $1000 seems to be a good deal. I've seen quotes as high as $1200.

Keep in mind the powertrain is already covered for 5/60. If you drive a lot of miles, you're getting a longer bumper to bumper warranty, but nothing extra on the powertrain.

-juice

nygreg · July 2001

beat me to it. >10K miles / year = no extra protection.

Greg

paisan · July 2001

I'm planning on buying a similar warranty for my Trooper. Although the trooper already has a 3/50K BTB and 10/120K PT warranty. I believe the Extended BTB 10/120 is around $1200-$1300.

-mike

ateixeira · July 2001

Will they honor it with your aftermarket springs and stuff? I'd make sure first.

-juice

paisan · July 2001

Don't forget the dealer needs to prove that your particular aftermarket item directly caused the failure. Other than the springs the important stuff is un-modified. The only thing that may hurt me is the 275-70-16s I plan to get to replace the 245-70-16s.

-mike

ateixeira · July 2001

To be on the safe side, I'd check with your regular dealer to make sure they won't turn their backs on you when the time comes.

Remember, you've got higher wattage bulbs that could affect the electrical system (or at least a dealer could claim that), plus push bars and rear bumpers - things that affect payload.

-juice

bluesubie · July 2001

Fyi - I remember a few old i-club posts about modified RS's going to Flemington. IIRC, they liked the mods and the techs were talking to the guy about them. I think he had an STi or P1 suspension on his RS.
Dennis
edit: Found it! Man, I love the i-club's search engine!
It's a P1 suspension and Flemington installed it. Check out mav1c's comments.
http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=42716&referrerid=767

Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles