Alan Phillips

The wierdest thing happened to me when I changed my belts in my 2000 Outback. After about five minutes of driving, following the replacement of the belts, the car made an awfull groaning noise. I thought it could be the power stearing belt being loose so I tightened it. No luck! I told my dad it sounds like a power stearing groan when you are low of fluid. Fluid was not low but actually overfull. Odd very odd. Started it up in the garage and noticed the fluid rise and was very frothy. Dad said that it must be sucking in air. The hose on top of the pump had a little bit of oiliness but it didn't look too fresh. Wiggled it just a bit and ta da! No more groaning. Took the cheep factory hose clamp off and put a real one on. Fluid level went back to normal after a short time.

It is strange, but it will leak when cold! My 2000 Outback only leaks when it is warming up from the head gasket on the pasenger side towards the fire wall. Once warmed up it seals back up. I have noticed the colder the worse(20's 30's here in the Cali mountains. You smell it really strong because it leaks directly on the exhaust or exhaust shield. This explains why you do not see any leak on the ground. If you can jack up the car and look at the back you should see residue or take it to a mechanic and have it cool down. Put it on a rack and start it up and you'll spot it. The reason that it checked out ok is because the engine was warm. Try it cold! I got 20 thats the prob. Looks like Sub dealership mech. will be busy.

You found a head bolt loose? What did you do to determine that? I am hoping the dealership will have to take care of it. I have smelled the coolant, but not until recently did I finally find it! Drivers side towards fire wall right above the exhaust. Explaining the smell. Let me know what you did? Thanks!

Do I have this clear? 8 years 100,000 miles? I have a 2000 Outback that leaks coolant from the head gasket on the drivers side. Probably done so since 50,000(always smelled it when the car was warming up) but very little until recently. Anyways now with 96,000 and leaking more consistently will it fall under this warranty or do I just get the conditioner for free? I am calling tomorrow!

I just replaced my sway bar. Drove on it for a year and then CV went out on the opposite side from the break. Not sure if related and noticed little or no driving problems ie excessive sway. It is easy to replace on 2000 Outback without removing exhaust manifolds. Turn it like a cork screw and with a little elbow grease to slip past the power steering hoses, your in it to win it.

I was having a strange clunking/binding sound only when my 2000 Outback was warmed up and I turned right. I noticed that my rack boot was torn on the pasenger side. Inspecting it I further found that it had slipped off of it's proper position and down onto the inner tie rod. It was evident it had been down there for some time by the looks of things. The pinching of the tie rod obviously tore the boot. The retaining clip(that did a poor job) and the end of the boot were binding in the tie rod joint making the strange noise. Repacking the tie rod with grease and zip tying the rack boot end and it doesn't make the noise anymore. Previous to discovering this I did take my sway bar bushings out and lube with ample silicon grease, but that was not the culprit. I actually had just replaced the sway bar because it broke. I am with you guys that the dealer should fork over cash for the bar. Especially when it happens in a parking lot.