Rooster2

Puff of smoke...........means it is shorting out. Time for a replacement switch. The switch is a sealed unit, so there is no way that it can be disassembled and repaired.

Mike, Welcome to USMB. Sorry to read about your vibration problem. Glad you got your car back together after a lot of sweat. Low speed vibration can be difficult to problem source. Suggest you return for a front end alignment, tell them of your vibration problem, and have their tech search for anything loose in the steering, or suspension that could be causing your problem. Regards, Larry, your neighbor from around the corner, with the 3 yorkies.

Agree with above response. I had same problem recently with wife's 98 Outback. It has the same window switch as your 99 Outback. In my case, the driver window switch broke internally, so the button had no spring resistance, when trying to raise the window, when the glass was in the down position. If your switch is broken, you will have to replace the entire power window switch unit, as an individual window switch cannot be replaced. I found a replacement at a wrecking yard. I have seen the switch availabel on ebay motor in parts section.

Reminds me of the story a buddy told me. He had an old Nash Metropolitan that he parted out. The resulting carcass he buried on his land out in the back 40.

I googled tauranga. It is in New Zealand.

Yea, looks like coolant vaporizing. Agree, cracked head, or bad head gasket is the problem.

Pretty sure bodies are the same, motor is different.

Nice catch,,,,,,,,,,way to go.

Thanks Fairtax for the advise. I appreciate it.

Bought a new wiper transmission, but can't figure out how to pull the plastic ball and socket connectors (bushing assembly) apart to disassemble. I tried to wedge the assembly apart with a pry bar without success. I finally gave up before I got too frustrated, and would break something. Looking ahead, how do I assemble the socket onto the ball at the end of the wiper motor. I don't see much room to get my hands in the cramped space to do anything. With almost daily rain here in the midwest these days, going without wipers is a real pita. Rain-X only works well if going 50 mph+. Thanks for any advise....................Rooster2

Agree with this estimate. You don't mention what year Subie your daughter has, but saying it is high milage implies that it is older then 10 years old. Glad to hear your daughter was not injured. Hope insurance pays for your car. There is a "parts for sale" on this forum if you want to part the car out yourself. If not, then then sell to a yard, or keep it as a back up car for your self, if still driveable.

Do you have a "u-pull" yard in your area? If so, go to the yard with wire cutters, and remove just what you need, the connector, bulb socket, or what ever. Cut the wires as far back as you can to give yourself extra wire to splice in the new unit. I did just that to repair a Toyota that had cracked and broken plastic sockets for the turn signals. A U Pull yard will not care if you remove just a portion from a wiring harness.

I have a 99 Outback.........just use 10W X 30W, or 10W X 40W (in summer). My valve covers leak oil, so I add a container of oil "stop leak." It doesn't stop the leak, but reduces oil flow amount by about 50%. Been doing this for many years. Car now has 226K miles on the odo, and runs great. I use Wal-mart house brand oil, and that works just fine. I don't drive much, but do check the oil level the first of every month, and top off the oil as needed. I have read that the newer Subies call for thin oil, like 5W X 20W, or less. I am old school, so using thin oil concerns me that it could cause problems, as the car ages. However, I don't know that to be so. There was a discussion on this forum a few weeks back. Your doing a forum search should turn up that discussion.

yea, wondered if maybe a valve problem.

Yes, just a single "pop" when starting the car.

The transplanted 2.2 in my 98 OBW will make a single back fire when engine firsts start from crank of the starting motor. This seems new. Is this something to be concerned about?? Engine runs fine, no CELs. Just seems strange. Got me concerned.

I checked with the dealer, bushings available only when purchasing linkage rods. Bushings not available otherwise. I bit the bullet, and ordered new wiper transmission from ebay seller. $42 delivered, best I could do.

No, it will not work. Wire harness and electronics are different.

My 99 has a bad bushing in the wiper transmission. I replaced the broken bushing with one designed for a Nissan from my local parts store. None available for Subaru. Well, that worked for about a week, until the replacement bushing pulled apart. I am guessing that buying a replacement wiper transmission is the only solution.............unless someone has a less expensive solution. I can buy a transmission off e-bay motors for about $48.00 Any advise please.

Nice work. would suggest you coat the repair pipes the best you can with that muffler putty. It has been my experience using the repair pipes, that they are made out of cheap metal that rusts easily, and go bad in about 2 years. Coating the pipes will add some rust proofing, and buy you some more time.

You may want to use a Dremel tool to cut the pipes off at each end. It may take a while, but since the pipe has some rust, it may cut through rather quickly.

Don't think shaving tires is an option any more. I live in Indy, and inquired about doing a shave on a tire not long ago. Learned that there is not a shop in Indy that does that anymore. Guess there is not enough profit in doing that to make it worthwhile for a shop to offer that service. With AWD you are correct in needing all tires to be nearly the same tread depth. With 10K miles left on current tires, you are pushing the limit of simply just replacing all the tires. Suggest you upgrade to tires with wear expectancy of 60K miles plus. A good set of Michelin tires will go that distance if you have them rotated and balanced every 5,000 miles. Also, important to check the air pressure in tires. I try to do that at the first of every month, and air up tires that have lost a little air. If I find a tire down 10 pounds, I suspect a leak, and will monitor that tire closely, and check to see if there may be a nail in the tire causing the problem.

If you kow of a good "mom and pop" family owned muffler shop that does a "torch off", and "weld on" approach to pipe repair, then I would go that route. I say mom and pop shop, because the major chains like Midas and Car X will only want to repair by replacing the entire exhaust system from the cat converter on back, and charge you $400 to $500 bucks. My local mom and pop shop is Ralph's Muffler. Charge for a repair like that would be about $50, and would be done in about 15 minutes. Otherwise, if you don't have a torch, and try to cut the pipe off with a saw, it is going to be some work to get both pipes cut off. Let us know your solution.

Well if I did my math correctly, your are somewhere around 202K miles, or what ever that works out to in KMs. How much longer, or how many miles, or kms are you planning to drive the car?? If not for long, then don't buy the best one that is the most expensive. If it were me, I would buy a timing belt kit that includes tensioners, water pump, and pulleys from ebay at a reasonable price. I did that on my old Subie with 224K miles on the odo, and continue to drive on.

yea, at 5 years, it is worn out or nearly so. Bet all is well with a new battery.