davhaney

OB99W - Good idea. A couple years ago, I cleaned the PCV valve with brake-cleaner spray. At that time, it rattled when I shook it. I also removed and cleaned the hose connecting it. I'll check it again (along with the air filter).

I rarely drive the car such distances, so I can't pinpoint when it started (before or after separator plate replacement). I know it occurred the last three times I drove over an hour (which was two years ago, and again this last spring). The plastic oil separator plate was replaced with the metal one, along with screws, and sealant. While I was doing the work, I also replaced the rear main seal. Under normal circumstances it isn't leaking (no spots on the garage floor, no topping off oil between changes). I haven't looked for oil spots under the car recently. When I took off the oil pump during the TB job, the screws holding the back on were tight enough I couldn't remove them. I did however, replace the O-ring (subaru OEM) while I was in there. EDIT: I absolutely used a torque wrench when installing the knock sensor, and tried to orient the device as specified, as well.

I don't know for sure about where the oil goes. If I were gambling, I'd guess it's losing it. If it were burning that much oil, I imagine it would cause the exhaust to be blue.

Also - MAF has been cleaned, Spark plugs replaced, and Spark Plug wires replaced (subaru OEM).

I lurk on this forum quite a bit, but rarely post. However, this has me scratching my head. I've got a 1999 Subaru Legacy outback, 2.5. Manual Transmission with 150k miles on the clock. Maintinance has been kept up, including timing belt, oil changes, etc. Have also replaced the knock sensor, clutch, oil seperator plate, and clutch slave cyl. However, when I drive at 70 mph for more than about an hour, two observable things occur: 1) I can feel the timing retard, and the engine lose a bit of power when climing up hills, or gently accelerating for more than a few seconds. The feeling is similar to the performance before replacing the knock sensor -- though there is no CEL this time. 2) The car uses approximately 1 quart of oil every 3 hours of highway driving. The car is almost exclusively driven in-town at slower speeds for 20-30 minutes at a time. Under these conditions, it never uses oil, and I never feel the timing change. Temperature is normal, and it idles smoothly. I'm taking a vacation this month, but not sure if I should rent a car, or drive mine. Advice?

I have a 99 outback. I bought the X radials from Sams Club, with the awesome discount. They're good tires, high mileage rating. Consumer reports thought very highly of them overall, with the exception of snow / ice handling. In that department CR rated them roughly average. From my perspective on snow and ice, they were a huge upgrade from the BF Goodwrench tires I had -- and an excellent all-weather tire.

I just bought Michelin X-radial for my Subaru outback. They seem nice enough - perhaps others have additional input?

I have the 99 Legacy, and a 99 Legacy Outback. In addition to the things some of the other folks mention: 1) Check the boots on the CV shaft -- especially the front right inner CV boot. For some reason, this is susceptible to failure. If you catch it early, it is a very inexpensive fix. 2) While you're under there, take a look at the rubber boots on the steering rack (covering the inner tie-rods). Sometimes they get torn, and again, if you catch it early it's a much cheaper fix. 3) Sometimes the speedometer head goes bad on this car -- a bad batch of them were made, and installed in some cars. If it does fail, you may be able to tweak it by running an additional ground wire to it, or it may need to be replaced. 4) There is an oil separator plate which can crack and leak oil on the rear of the engine. It's a simple fix, but you have to pull the engine, or the transmission to repair. However, I think this issue is indigenous to the 2.5 engine, not the 2.2. 5) If you don't have a maintenance history on this vehicle, consider the timing belt job, and a regular tune-up. Oh, and seafoam works well. 6) When you test drive, be sure the check-engine light comes on when you turn the key to the "run" position. When I bought my outback, I discovered the seller had removed the check-engine light from the dash. 7) Check the tires. The all wheel drive on these vehicles does not tolerate mis-matched tires very well. This can cause the fluid coupler inside the transmission to fail later on. The tires should be the same brand / tread pattern / and approx the same wear all the way around.

I have a 99 Legacy outback, and fought this very gremlin a few months ago. As others have noted, It's probably not a sensor. I was able to convince myself of that fact because (in my case) the speedometer would flicker back to life when I pressed in the trip reset button. If you search through the thread archives, there are volumes of good advice. Most of the suggestions involve disassembling the dash, and cleaning the contact points on the speedometer - especially the area where the negative terminal on the copper/laminate circuit board meets a particular ground screw. Another good suggestion I ran across was to supplement the grounding by running a wire from the ground screw to the chassis of the vehicle. Alas, none of the solutions worked in my case. Within a couple weeks, I went to the dealership, bought a new speedometer and the legally mandated sticker for the door frame indicating the car's mileage has been altered. Good luck.

Glad you had a good time with the baseball game, and pulling some car parts (excepting your injured hand). Next time you're in Kansas City, don't forget to stop by Oklahoma Joes... It's in the back of a gas station, and it's damned good. Anthony Bourdain (the food network guy) lists it as one of the 13 places in the world to eat before you die.

Gloyale -- oops you're right. What I was thinking about was a 3rd-row rear facing seat.

I was going to post this very same question! I've seen such seats in (I think) volvo wagons, and wondered if an outback could be fittted with such a thing.

Thanks for the input. So how deep is too deep?

So.. Longtime lurker and first-time poster: I am replacing the clutch in my 1999 Legacy Outback, and decided while I'm in there, I would replace the (plastic) oil collector plate and rear main seal. So far, so good.. right? Somehow, while removing the rear main seal, I have scratched the crankshaft where the seal mates. This poses an obvious problem. I was thinking of gently removing the burr using a dremmel tool on low speed, then polishing throughly with fine emery cloth. * Is this the correct approach? * How smooth does the surface of the crankshaft need to be? Any thoughts or constructive criticism is welcome.