moving Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 hi all, after reading through many sites and many of yours posts, im worried im about to become an example in another long running thread here... :-\ here's the situation: i have a tire-wear problem with my 99 legacy wagon, the inside tread on both front tires is wearing down remarkably fast. after rotating through an extra set of tires that came with the car, i put 4 brand new tires on 7 weeks ago. the inside 3 inches of front tires is completely bald now, while the rest is fine. figuring out why the front tires are wearing down the way they are is on the back-burner for now though :-\ within the past weeks, she started running rough, especially at lower speeds, slightly bucking with acceleration. today, got car a mile out of driveway, running as worse as it has been, and the check engine light came flashing on, and i think causing the car to start running in "limp-mode" i turn car off, wait 15minutes, turn back on, drive home without light coming back on. the rain has been awful here in the northeast, coinciding with the slippage/buckage maybe...? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as, now after reading the "tire replacement" thread, im hesitant to even drive the car a few miles for new tires...i must say that i dont know much about AWD except that the sticker on the side of my car means she's got it, and that the "tire replacement" thread here has me completely freaked out and thinking the worst... thanks, blake just got outta work and trying to figure out where to go from here. she's idling very rough. ran for 5 minutes, looking for undone vacuum hoses, and CEL didn't come on. the exhaust was making a popping noise, not too loud. the check engine light was on once before and tested according to previous owners records 12-21-04, giving a code PO 420 fpr CAT effiency! sorry, found that just now. previous owner declined repair and i dont have a record of him fixing...this is first time check engine light has come on since purchasing...humdeedum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 first thing first, what in hell did you hit to throw out the front end. Get the car to a front end shop asap. You can damage your AWD unit with bald tires in the front and good ones in the rear, aside from that entire "your going to die in a rainstorm" thing. 100,oo alighnment (or less) vs an 800.00 awd repair, or worse. How many miles are on this car. Never ignore a flashing angry cel light. Its telling you that something is terribly wrong and you can fry your converter You need the codes pulled, but first get the front end fixed. You have a series of problems here that can cost a little, or if you let them go, alot. Catalyst effeciency is an 02 sensor. I wonder if your timing belt jumped. DOuble check codes and let me know on how many miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moving Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 my bad. 90000 miles, and timing belt was replaced 3 years ago... and i did hit something...will explain when i get home... thanks nipper fer reply blake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 :banghead: i KNEW there was more here, i think it may all be connected. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moving Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 that's what i'm worried about :-\ after reading everything off this board, i felt i had to include all these fragments of thoughts and info that don't make any sense to me when added up but... and unfortunately there's a whole lot more, and if you think it might all be connected, *sigh*, then here she blows... bought car beginning of winter. previous owner said getting car correctly aligned was a pain and took a couple tries. his records show: 3-2-99 car brought in cause "pulled to right"; front tires were balanced, 5-6-99 all tires rotated, pressure checked, 11-3-99 a 4 wheel alignment, 5-31-01 customer complains tires are wearing uneven, wheel alignment and new tires put on, 11-13-01 another alignment, 5-24-02winter tires changed to summer And another alignment, 8-6-02 timing belt replaced, along with leaking front main seal (improper seating, remove cam drive belt tension idler, crankshaft sprocket...replace front main seal), And tires balanced. this all seems ridonkulously suspect, but the previous owner is, maybe was, a family friend that is considered honest and frank at all times...so he sold me car beginning of winter telling me of alignment issues and everything else, everything else that he included in records of course... :cool: car drove fine, but started to pull a few months later, you guessed it, to the right...didnt think of taking notice of tires, figured needed alignment and nothing more, until tire went flat forcing me to notice the lack of tread on other tires. i rotated through a set of used tires. my ignorant arse knew nothing about the AWD system and these crazy subee one-of-a-kind parts and chose not to immediately because i reasoned that i left those crazy mystifying all-connecting problems behind when i got rid of my Slobber...anyhoo, so ive lost my train of thought... oh yeah, i slid my left front end into a telephone pole towards end of winter!!!...which, now that i think about it, was when i was forced to take notice of the lack of tread on other tires! alright, im off to enjoy the rest of daylight with GF, glass of wine, triscuts and cheese, to attempt and forget how stupid this situation is ive put myself in... P.S. one more thing to mull over...this guy put a trailer hitch on. he heats his house with nothing but wood, all gungho with that nature stuff mentality. he used this subee to tow a small little load of wood about 50 yards to his house over the cold months... *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moving Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 P.S. all the above listed work was done at a subaru dealership. i have a scheduled appointment at a dealership a 35 minute drive away tomorrow, but im worried about getting it there. trying to forget the alignment/whatever the *&^# it is problem, the car has seemed to run progressively rougher the past 4 days leading to CEL today... again, thanks. blake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 damn it why am i always the one to deliver bad news. You got rooked. I bet you have a bent chassis. There is no reason in the world for a car to be tough to align (aside from uncoperative bolts) except one thing. A bent chassis. Another possability is a bent steering rack, either way it takes a hell of hit to upset these parts. This car is unsafe. DOnt let the dealership do any work on the car as it may be a waste of money. Find a front end shop or a body shop and let them check it out. Also a fast check. Get a freind (not the one who sold you the car). Have him drive car away from you just at idle. You stand behind the car and see if it tracks straight. Are all the door hood rtrunk grill gapes even. Do all the doors close easily. SUbarus are bullit proof, and it sounds like yours found a bullit. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmwood22 Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Most likely the stealership, oops, I mean dealership, will look over the front end. It sounds to me like you may have a shot tie-rod and/or ball joint. You can have the car aligned as many times as you would like, but with something else loose in the front end, it won't stay aligned. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moving Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 no worries nipper, i started delivering myself the bad news months ago... ...although i was hoping more along the lines of what elmwood is thinking... keep in mind that i did not once get the car aligned myself, since buying or putting front left end into pole, which i did at a speed of about 10mph and happened to smack perfectly into that quarter-panel... ...mentioning the trailer hitch thinking, hoping it might cause some sorta crazy imbalance... also, im just not accepting the idea yet that this previous owner dealt with me as sketchy as details suggest, giving me all records but some, family friend, honest dude with 2 kids, 2 dogs and happens to be a computer programmer...denial, i know, but... anyhoo, off to see if it tracks straight and size of door gapes... ...and again fellas, thanks for the help and anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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