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JGromada

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Posts posted by JGromada

  1. I need some advice on this.

     

    I took my car to this tire place as the Suby (98 OBW) . I also needed some work on the rear brakes. ok fine with this stuff. Dropped it off Sat morning.

     

    when they started to do the alignment they told me i had a problem with the left outboard tie rod. I said ok go and fix it. they are open and would fix it on Sunday.

     

    Well things started going seriously wrong here. They broke the head off some bolt when trying to install the tie rod end. and then supposedly the ball joint fell apart and somethng else broke. i will go first thing tomorrow to discuss this mess with them.

     

    I am pissed.Does any of this make sense to anyone ?

  2. yep, they just get noisy and annoying but are completely benign. I rip them off. But that causes catastrophic issues and you should never do it because things burn and die and blow up (disclaimer for all the anal people out there).
    hey you just gave me my day back! i was going to the muffler shop today and now I'm not. I do have a small hole in the middle of the exhaust pipe, but I was planning on just doing a patch job on that.
  3. Good news - looks like a zero dollar repair to me.

     

    Your exhaust pipe is not rotating 15 degrees, you would have been posting a thread about a VERY loud exhaust leak.

     

    By the picture looks to me like your heat shields, like all of us are saying, are loose. That hose clamp is not supposed to be there and was someone's attempt in the past to quiet the heat shields. They need to be screwed or welded into place. Clamps are temporary, I'd avoid doing that. Or remove the heat shields altogether, which I've done on quiet a few of my vehicles.

     

    Fantastic!! so it is just a heat shield? this is such good news! actually i dont think it is a problem , just hear a little bit of rattling

     

    (hey i love this board, everyone has helped me so much)

  4. Sorry everyone I am trying to explain but not doing a good job I guess. Here is a picture. (they say a picture is worth a thousand words)

     

    ypipe.jpg

     

    You see where that hose clamp is (it is actually rusted off now), On the other end you have the output of the exhaust manifold. That whole pipe is really loose , I can literally turn it like 15 degrees in either direction. the other side is the same. So i suppose because of the looseness there is an exhaust leak right here, and probably a threat of carbon monoxide as well i suppose. Any suggestions?

     

    Is that actually a heat shield i am looking at up front? Not post cat!

  5. I've done this on an OBW and I thought this was pretty straight forward. I always heard you need to do three things:

     

     

    1. Remove fuel pump fuse
    2. Crank engine over (will not start)
    3. Temporarily remove gas filler cap (fuel line return will vent back to fuel tank and this will alleviate any pressure)

    Still put a rag under the fuel filter when you loosen it. Use new clamps. So much easier than any other car i have.

  6. No sorry I didn't explain myself well enough. Here is a diagram.

    FRONTPIPE.jpg

     

    • You have the piece that bolts onto the exhaust manifolds. Amazingly those pieces look great and the exhaust manifold bolts even look good. I don't think that needs replacing.
    • Part D is the issue. Both the pipes there are loose. (there is no shield or cover) and they merge into the Y piece. I think this piece is around $200.
    • The Y piece goes into the Catalytic Converter. The is going to be a bear because nuts are completely rusted here. (BTW i did take note that the front Oxygen sensor is at the front tip of the first Catalytic Converter.)

    I am trying to keep this running, but don't want to dump a ton of money into it because the car has like 175,000 miles on it.

     

    Question? : Is the Catalytic Converter come in one piece or two? In other words is part C just a single piece?

     

     

    this is from a 95 but pretty close thanks to the other thread listed below:

     

    y_pipe_break-full.jpg

  7. I was working on my 98 OBW (w AT) , the Oxygen sensors (all this is in a separate thread) I happened to notice my Y- Pipes are really really loose. Not good. and there is no clamps left on anything!

     

    I was going to try getting 4 hose clamps (maybe stainless) and trying that, but i was looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with this before. I started pricing replacement parts because it looks like from the down piece on the exhaust manifold to the connection to the front Cat is really shaky. all of a sudden the costs are adding up into the hundreds. HELP!

  8. Ok was under there this morning. I can't get the D*** special socket on the oxygen sensor because of that heat shield.

     

    So i got out my 22mm open end wrench, but couldn't get enough torque on it. I am letting it soak overnight with Liquid Wrench and i will attack tomorrow. (almost time for Thanksgiving)

     

    I have a Bosch Universal Oxygen Sensor and i think i feel comfortable with the splicing. (least of my problems) I am keeping the front Oxygen sensor and will do that too if i can get that off easily. (thanks for the tip about removing it)

     

    My next concern is about the Y-Pipes (always something). I think i will make that a new thread.

  9. I want to get an order in tonight so a quick answer would be a great help.

     

    I have a 98 OBW with auto transmission.

     

    I ordered a oxygen sensor (goes into catalytic converter) the one i got has 3 pins but on the car once i disconnect it there are 4 pins on the connector to the car.

     

    I am told by the parts place i ordered from there are two! the front has 3 and the back has 4 pins.

     

    anyone confirm this?

     

    I don't know where the front catalytic converter would be? any help?

  10. Is that the car's original starter that your mechanic took out? If so, he should just replace the pitted contacts while it's apart--a few minutes work and a coupla' dollars in parts and you're just fine. Those OEM Denso starters are pretty rugged.

    You know thats what my mechanic said. He wanted to know where i got that crappy aftermarket starter (Advance Auto Parts) and he said look for a Denso. He didn't seem to think contacts were readily available. He especially couldn't find them for my aftermarket one. He filed them down for me and then said any more problems go for a new starter and DO check the contacts first prior to installation.:banana:

  11. Sorry I should clarify. I have noise and it sounds like its from behind the Cat. I don't think the Cat is bad and even my mechanic didn't suggest that. He did say the back piece was the worst but thought that the center section would end up being replaced because they never come apart cleanly.

     

    I always thought cat-back meant the two exhaust mufflers back to the tailpipe.

     

    I may check out a local meineke place to see what they say. I kind of don't want to weld whole sections in place though.

     

     

    Details: 1998 Subaru Outback 2.5L 190K its been great, i hope to have it for another 50K. Timing belt done at 115K

     

     

    Yeah Gary I am from outside Baltimore and yes you did help me out in the past. I really like this web site a lot and the people are great.

  12. i know this is a little late of a response, but i find this interesting since i encountered it as well (head gasket). I got a range of prices from about $1300 up to $3500! I went with the independent mechanic who true to his word only charged around $1300. I was very unhappy with my local dealer ($2400) and the most unhappy with the high end import service place that quoted $3500 (the car was only worth $5000 at the time) as he obviously wanted my money but not my long term business.

     

    So what happened?

  13. Ok here is an update. The car went to my favorite mechanic and he agreed it was not the battery after i did another battery swap. He immediately took the starter off and proceeded to check out the starter. He took it apart and noticed the terminals were severely pitted.

     

    He mentioned the same thing that some others said here. Avoid no name rebuilt starters. In his opinion they may just replace the specific part of the starter that caused it to fail and don't really fully rebuild them. In my case it was just a little more than a year.

     

    He did highly recommend getting a Denso starter if i can find one.

     

    Thanks everyone for your help. This site is the best!

  14. hard starting is usually just the ecu temp sensor or you need to run some seafoam via a vacuum hose. Tailegate jamming can probably be fixed with some lube on the handle,hinge, and lock.

     

    To help control oil leaks possibly try a new pcv valve and stick with oem. Same goes with the temp sensor.

     

    That's an interesting suggestion about the ECU Temp Sensor. On my other thread no one has suggested that. Now where is that located and do you know how much that runs? Are there any definitive checks on that sensor?

     

    On my other thread on the tailgate someone had suggested pushing on the center of the handle rather than pulling up and that worked! I will lube the handle/hinge/lock/etc.

     

    I will do the PCV as well as my Oxygen Sensor.

     

    Thanks everyone!:)

  15. Short answer is everywhere (what he said).

     

    At that mileage those small leaks can turn to huge leaks. When was the last time the timing belt was changed? Usually all the front seals get replaced with the timing belt.

     

    Valve cover gaskets are easy, rear separating plate is tough.

     

    I had the original head gasket go up on me at 120K, the car now has 170K. I had a real good mechanic do this for me so I am sure what ever made sense he did.

     

    I really need to get the car up on jack stands and take a close look which i will do shortly as it has a code requiring a new Oxygen sensor.

     

    Thanks for the great advice. I would like to see this car continuing to be used because despite its mileage, the body and paint are in great shape and the interior leather is great as well.

     

    If i can just resolve these series of small problems: oil leaks, tailgate jamming, occasional hard start it is a great car to own. I don't owe anything on it, its never nickel and dimed me to death and come winter it is always superb.

     

    I have really come to appreciate Subaru for building a fine auto. It seems funny that there is always a large contingent of people that love the quirky 80s cars while I am really liking the new stuff they are doing, but can't necessarily afford that. This board is great and has helped me immensely without any pompous personalities that I see on other boards. (I belong to a couple of BMW boards as well)

  16. Hatch on my 98 OBW is getting stuck.

     

    Ok this has happened twice now. First time i removed enough of the door panel so i could see the latch. Then i used a screwdriver to push down on the latch and the wagen hatch would open.

     

    Any advice? I assume this will get worse. Any lubrication recommended? Or a pre-emptive replacement?

     

    Thanks in advance.

     

    3 of 4 minor issues going on right now. I guess to be expected as car has 170K!:grin:

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