Roamer

I just purchased another outback to add to my collection and am in need of some help from board members. Can someone help tell me by looking at the attached picture if the scratched up part is easily replaceable? If so what is the part number? This is a 2005 outback wagon. I am also not internet savy so I hope the picture is uploaded correctly. Much appreciated!!

Your mechanic probably does not want to do the job hence the high price or he is robbing you without a gun. You should be able to get new heads, water pump, etc. for around $1600 (even this price is on the high end).

First let me say that it is was a day like today that makes me love these cars, 14+ inches of snow in Queens, NY and my Soobie had no problem getting out of a parking spot buried in 3 feet of snow as a result of the plowers plowing the streets. I cleared the codes this morning and took the car for a joy ride in the unplowed streets and parking lots. About 90 miles later:), the check engine light comes back and I get codes P0400 and P0420, the car was still driving fine,no shaking or hesitation. Any thoughts? Perhaps o2 sensor? Are there more than 1 on this car? (1996 legacy wagon).

This is coming from second hand information from my brother whom drives my 1996 Subaru Wagon (auto with 160K) during the winters. He pulled the above codes from what he tells me when he starts the car the idle will move up and down and when he starts to drive the car will hesitate and at times shut off. I once had this issue with my 97 Outback wagon and it turned out to be the MAF sensor, but I am perplexed at all the codes that this Subaru is throwing out. Any thoughts on what to check first? Thanks in advance!

Wow you guys sure do hate lawyers:) which is why I never ever tell anyone I am one outside of my firm!! As for my car, I was at my mechanic today and he said the belt did not snap but instead came lose from a frozen pulley, so he said he will replace the belt and pulley and see what happens, he does not believe the valves got bent (its a 2.5). I told him to go ahead and do the job on the condition that if the valves are bent I ain't paying him for it, so in good faith he agreed. Maybe this is what I get for choosing not to drive a typical big city lawyer car, but as a practical matter I always thought a Subaru was the best bang for the buck.

Well it's basically cutting my loses and walking away, I mean at the end of the day I can force my mechanic to fix the car and if he refuses then I have no choice but to sue him (fyi I am an attorney), but it's not worth the time and effort to recoup the $$$ or time off work to go to court. He can say well the pulleys were working fine and there was no need to replace them at the time and I can argue it is common practice to replace them together with the timing belt and that as a mechanic he should have known better and the judge who most likely will have no concept of reality will say well the law provides that a mechanic is under no duty to install parts on a vehicle that are in working order case dismissed, next case.

Yeah parking is fun around here, especially when it snows. As for what a broken legacy wagon goes for around here is beyond me but I know that the tires on them have less than 4k miles and cost me close to 500 buxx.

That is why I have been coming here since I could drive, because of wizards like yourself:). My family has always driven soobies, unfortunately I think that during the 90's Subaru slacked off on building quality vehicles as it had in the past but notwithstanding that they were still much more reliable than your average car on the road.

So does anyone in the market for a 96 Soobie:) The tires are brand new....

So the drama continues on my 96 legacy wagon. 6 months ago the head gaskets went so my mechanic replaced them. Fast forward last week my car suddenly died on me and would not restart, I had it towed to my mechanic and he tells me that the timing belt went, I asked him how could the timing belt go if you replaced it 6 months ago at the time you did the heads, he said that the pulley that holds the timing belt froze up. So my question is, is the explanation that the pulley that holds the timing belt froze up a valid mechanical excuse? What else could cause a 6 month old timing belt to snap? I am about to junk the car but am curious if my mechanic is taking advantage of me due to the fact that he never changed the timing belt when he did the heads or installed it improperly. Thanks guys.

I do hear the click, but then thats it, I do not think it is a starter issues b/c prior to me pulling the engine code, I tried to start the car and it would turn over until the battery died. I had my head gaskets and timing belt replaced back in January, could it be a snapped timing belt so early?

My 1996 Subaru wagon (155K) stalled out the other day on the side of a road. I was on my way to work so I just left it there to go back later on during the week. So between yesterday and today I am trying to trouble shoot the problem. I check the engine codes and I get a Camshaft sensor code, so I replace it however once I go to start the car the engine won't even turn over so I assume it is a dead battery, so I take the battery to my local mechanic for a charge. Today I go to throw the fully charged battery in and again the car won't turn over. Here is what I am perplexed about, prior to me checking the engine codes and getting the cam shaft sensor the car would turn over but wouldn't start but then afterwards when I replaced it the car wouldn't even turn over, so what I did was reinsert the old cam shaft sensor to see if my new part was any good and again still the car would not turn over. I do not suspect that it is the starter, my guess is that there is no juice getting from the battery to wherever it needs to go to make the car turn over. I even installed the battery from my other car thinking that the Subaru battery was no good even with a charge but again the car wouldn't turn over. Keep in mind the accessory position works fine (i.e. radio and lights work). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance and sorry for my non mechanic grammar, I just know very basic stuff about cars hence my need for help!!!

So as a follow-up to my previous posts my drama continues. As a summary my issue is that upon cold starts my 01 outback wagon hesitates and at times shuts off, but once warmed up it runs fine, some board members thought that it might be the coolant sensor, btw car throws no codes out. So I take the car to my local soobie dealer and they give me a estimated bill of $1300 bucks, among other things they tell me I need to reprogram my ECM, which I didn't understand. I tell them to hold off. So this morning I go to pick up my vehicle and it's running even worse, the hesitation continues even once the car is warmed up now and still no CEL. I read the mechanic's notes on my estimated bill and it states the following: "performed EEC system test and retrieved code P0031 for 02 sensor and ECM re-program" So my question is what is a EEC system test and how did the dealer retrieve a code when my OBD II scanner did not and there is no CEL on? Also can a o2 sensor be a culprit for the cars hesitation and if so why no CEL? Sorry for my posts but I am not only trying to solve my problem but I want to learn about it as well. Thanks in advance guys.

I appreciate every ones input, you see now that I am older, I have no time to dedicate to diagnosing my cars, all throughout my high school and college years, I loved working on all my cars and giving them tune ups, and oil changes, but my mechanic skills stop there and my usual mechanic has retired so I decided to give the dealer a shot b/c the cost of repairs is not an issue as much as getting it done right and the first time. But the dealer gave me an estimate of like $1,500 to fix minor things and I had no issue with it but then when I started to question the diagnosis he really had no definitive answers, so I told him to hold off until I give him a call back. What also got me ticked off is that he said my car needs an oil change and filter service when I gave it one not even 3k ago, he also couldn't tell me why the mechanic wrote on the ticket that the ECM needs reprogramming. The problem is that I am an attorney so most people assume that I am loaded and that I know nothing about cars, if I believed that the dealer really pin pointed all my issues I would have gladly forked over the money, but he just didn't convince me, I am certain that he didn't let the car cool down before diagnosing it. But like the old saying goes if you want something done right, just do it yourself. What's even worse is that I am going to pay a diagnostic fee of $130 to just get my car back in the same condition!!

So I decided to take my mom's 2001 Subaru Outback to a local soobie dealer for diagnostics, as per my post from yesterday, the car when cold has no power and is on the verge of shutting off but once warmed up it runs fine, no CEL flashing or stored codes, some board members suggested that it was perhaps the coolant sensor. So I get a call from the soobie dealer and he tells me that among other things that I need an Oxygen Sensor and reprogram of the ECM. Now I am no mechanic by any means but I am knowledgeable enough about cars, and personally I have no idea how an ECM would need reprogramming and why I would be told that I need a oxygen sensor if no CEL is popping on? Any thoughts? Also I was told that I need a multifunction switch ($302 with labor), wtf is this thing?

Interesting, but if it is a defective sensor wouldn't the check engine light come on?

I appreciate your input, but I highly doubt my issue is tranny related, the car shifts smoothly and fine the hesitation issue that I am having is engine related, in that the engine is not generating any power, but once it does the auto tranny works fine.

On my mom's 2001, Outback, Automatic Wagon with 123k miles on it hesitates to move when the engine is cold. When you start the car and put it in drive and try to give it gas it will hesitate to the point of not moving and wanting to shut off. The check engine light does not come on and the symptom to me feels like there is no gas getting to the engine and/or the octane level of the gas is very low to ignite, however once the car has been fully warmed up the hesitation goes away but you still feel a very slight and subtle hesitation during city driving, when on the highway it is all fine (once warmed up of course). I have had similar problems with my soobies in the past but all those problems were related to replacing the MAF sensor, as the check engine light is not giving me any codes I suspect that this sensor is fine. The car is now stuck in front of my house and I want to have an idea of what it is before I take it in to a mechanic (I live in NYC and don't trust most mechanics to work on soobies). Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!!

The head gaskets on my 1996 Subaru wagon finally went at 145k, they were repaired back in December together with a new radiator replacing the old one, the car is driven maybe 2x a week. Long story short, the car drove fine for 2 months, now I have noticed that the temp gauge goes beyond the middle and then back down, took it back to the mechanic blamed it on air in the system, problem still comes and goes. My question, how to properly bleed the system and what could the mechanic have screwed up for the issue to still be the head gaskets? I must say that I do trust my mechanic, he is no rocket scientist but I do believe that he did replace the head gaskets and he even said that he replaced them with the updated ones, but now I am perplexed. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I am no autobody guy, but IMO if the scratch is down to the metal, no elbow grease or compounding work will help. Unless there is some miracle product out there (similiar to the ones you see on TV at night, but that actually work), you will have to have a paint job.

Can you post a similar visual for replacement of the A/C/Heater dash instrument panel light bulb on a 96 Legacy AWD Wagon. Thanks.

I think it depends on the internal policy of your insurance company and state law. I was in a similar situation and was given the option to keep my wreck for $400 albeit it was a 97 outback, but I dont think they would ask you more than $1k. As far as is it worth it, I assume it is, so long as you have room to keep a junked car on your premises. If you have the exact equivalent car, i would keep the wreck for parts or in the alternate you can sell it piece by piece on ebay and make a few $$$.

This may seem like a silly question, but how do I replace the flasher? Pop it out and pop a new one in?

The directionals and signals work fine, its just that the ticking noise wont go away afer it is disengaged, but if I hold down the hazard switch in b/t the on and off position the noise stops.

Baldwin is a little out of my way, but thanks, I am going to give the NPR website a try.