CNY_Dave

My hunch is the fuel filter or fuel pump is much more likely to be the problem. 2000-2003 H6 pump is known to come apart (well, it happened to 2 people...) in the tank and not deliver pressure. Check for pressure and flow at the input to the fuel filter. Dave

The sunroof problem is common and not indicative of a worse failure in the future. Typically the tilt one will pop up when pushed up after pushing and holding the 'open' button, and it will lock down when pushing the 'closed' button. It can be fixed, involves taking down the headliner and removing the entire (sizeable) sunroof assembly. I just live with mine, if I really want the pop-up one open I just put a smnall rubber doorstop in it. Dave

On mine, I had a bit of a sweet smell and crud on the windshield in my '03, was living with it, got a flush at the dealer and it got worse, was not looking forwards to the job (they also want 50 bucks to drain&recycle the refrigerant, like that's gonna happen), then it just stopped leaking. Hoping it does not start when it warms up again. Dave

Is the FWD light connected to anything besides the fuse? Is it ever used as a warning light without the fuse in place? Does it even come on (for anyone) when the key is turned before the engine starts? Dave

That is an odd one. As a first stab, pull the fusebox lid under the hood and make sure there isn't a loose fuse or something else in the FWD fuse position. Dave

For the fronts, AWD actually lessens the strain on the bearings since the axles push the car down the road through the bearings. Dave

If you are looking to up your mileage you should check out brucey's thread (why wait for diesel) on subaruoutback.org, he has done a lot of testing and has made impressive gains. Dave

If they just slapped in pads, could also be the inner/outer rust ridges, where they only really hit the pads when the brakes are applied with the rotors somewhat warm. Mine does this when I just put in pads. Dave

Rescued by a GM product, tsk tsk tsk, you shame us all! Dave

I've been looking for good evidence on whether its the axle too long and it bottoms (no necessarily horrible since the rest position has the axle in its shortest position), or if the inner CV joint is assembled too tightly and there is a bit too much force (more likely stiction, like on a motorcycle fork, rather than once it slides it slides too tight) transmitted down the length of the axle when the joint just starts/stops sliding (which it is always doing as the motor vibrates). Dave

My brake pedal seems a bit hard (significantly harder than our '05 forester, for example), but is the same all seasons, has not gotten worse for 2 years or so. Anything *besides* the booster (or vac feed to it) or several stuck calipers likely to cause this? Dave

An inexperienced installation with a press, sure, that could cut down on the life. A properly conducted installation with a press will not cause any problems. Dave

Similar tweak you could do to some other cars- on my '03 H6 OBW the trans is more prone to downshift/hold a lower gear when ther cruise is engaged- in this situtaion you could hook a button to the TCU pin that signals 'cruise engaged' and you'd have a sport-shift button. Dave

If D2 locks it into 50/50 front rear split it's perfectly plausible and explainable that the braking would be better- generally speaking, the rate at which any given tire could slow down would be lessened, changing the way the wheels and brakes would interact with the ABS control loop. My pickup in 4wd would brake much better than in 2wd. Dave

Coolant near the front of the engine could be from the oil heater/cooler pipes and hoses. Dave

Noise on accel/decel almost always the pumpkin... Dave

Grabbing the strut spring, or placing a long screwdriver between the strut spring and your ear, can magnify the sound of a bad bearing quite a bit. I had to put mine in neutral to be able to spin the wheel fast enough by hand to hear the noise. On these cars the bearing can make noise for quite awhile but remain tight. Dave

I bought a rubber doorstop and called it good. Dave

My '03 needed the left front before 100k, the other 3 still seem happy. Dave

I have replaced my share of wheel bearings, and my 03 outback was the first time the bad wheel bearing got quieter when on the outside of the turn- the more loaded side. The left bearing was bad, and it got more quiet on right turns. The only way I could tell which side was bad was to jack up the front, put it in neutral, and spin the wheel with my hand on the strut spring, and then with a long screwdriver stuck in my ear pressed against the strut spring. Dave

The H6 cars have them stock also. In the winter, it's an oil-heater. Dave

Yeah, talk about a tease! Dave

My '03 OBW does this on high-speed high-throttle 4-3 kickdowns... Wait... wait... wait... disengage, rev, BANG! Dave

Tighter- via stem elongation, the valve 'fluting', or seat recession? Dave

I was in the dealers at 130K or so (10+k ago) and they did not feel checking the valves was high priority. Have had the car from 55k. Dave