dhewitt

No doubt, and a fair point. I guess the elite mechanics would do all of that, but it's not unreasonable that some of that searching burden is on the customer in this day and age. Fortunately this board exists, is monitored by sharp and helpful folks on a regular basis, and I know about it!

To be fair to my current mechanic in all this, who is a stand-up smart guy that I completely trust, he had no idea that a previous mechanic years ago fiddled with that screw. Since around here everyone knows these cars and presumably stays away from that screw, he had no reason to suspect it. And he was happy to try the solution and didn't charge me, as he has done in the past for the coolant hose shenanigan.

Once again USMB comes through with flying colors (and saves me cash)! I ran this issue by my mechanic as an alternative to going after a new TB and one of the techs standing in the office said "Oh yeah, I know about that. Had to do it on my dad's truck." Tweaked the screw just a little bit this morning and now the action is all smooth again. For the record, since it was important to part of this thread, the final voltage was 0.75. Not sure what that factory setting is on this model (03 Outback 2.5). Two things linger in my mind about this: 1. The screw was originally fiddled with in 2007-2008 (can't recall exactly when), but the problem didn't show up until this winter. I find that odd, as we've been through a couple wicked cold winters here already before it showed. 2. Just the tiniest adjustment to that screw can apparently result in the butterfly sticking so hard that (in cold weather) the pedal is like a brick wall. Crazy!

It sounds like there are two things to deal with then -- the screw (I can try this if someone can give me a general sense of where to find the throttle body on the car; my manual is buried after a recent move), and also the TPS. I get the messing with the screw, but what's the adjustment for the TPS? And the comment about checking voltages completely lost me.

Uh oh. I wondered about that with regard to an idling issue we had before: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=85699 My mechanic at the time in VA was not real familiar with Subarus and turned what I assume is that same screw thinking it was an idle adjustment. He turned it back, but I don't know if you can really get it just right. Is this screw so particular that you have to replace the whole unit after that? If so, dammit. Odd that it took three years to start showing a problem. It did begin with the hard cold for this winter, similar to what you describe.

The mechanic said he played with all the parts and concluded that it was something in the throttle body itself. I don't know what these things look like, but he said it must involve where the cable goes through the shaft. Any photos anywhere so I can understand what is going on? And how to explain that I'd like to try a cable before the whole shibang? Thanks a lot for the help.

I'm beginning to think we ended up with the 03 Outback with every possible issue. I'm getting really tired of hearing "I rarely or never see this on a Subaru." We've had a new rack and pinion put in, a new half axle up front, a head gasket replacement, a coolant hose leak that took four hoses to fix (go OE!), a fuel line leak (really!), and now... ... the accelerator pedal sticks likes it's glued. With little symptoms beforehand, one day I just had to start slamming the pedal to get it free. Enough that I was worried about breaking something. After it's unstuck, it works until you leave it for a while. Took it in for a throttle body cleaning ("don't see this much with Subarus" -- yeah, thanks) and helped nada. Diagnosis: need a new throttle body -- $700. So my questions are obvious: 1. Seen this before? (found no mention on here) 2. Any ideas to try before a new throttle body? 3. Can you get one from a junk yard to same some $$? As always, I appreciate any and all help!

15 degrees F this morning and no sign of a leak on startup. Will assume that the Subaru hose fixed the problem! Will only report back if I find out otherwise in the future.

Just reporting back... New stock Subaru top radiator hose and double clamps on both ends. Three days so far and no leak whatsoever. BUT, temperatures have been near freezing or above the whole time, so no check in super-cold weather yet. Will report back when temperatures return to normal teens and twenties. Hoping we have it nipped, but I can't for the life of me figure out why the hose itself would be the culprit here. Called the local dealership and the fella said "no way it's the hose, shouldn't matter". Then of course he explained why it would cost hundreds of dollars to diagnose...

So duh, the thermostat is on the bottom so just doing the upper hose and new clamps, and maybe a sealant. Someone mentioned the thermostat gasket, but I don't see how that would help a leak on the top hose.

Thanks folks. We are going to replace with a Subaru hose tomorrow and also replace the thermostat housing. Will report back. So far it's Subaru coolant leak 4, Us 0.

I always add at 50:50, but I cannot say what mix the initial fill on last flush was done at. However, an over-the-counter temp tester for coolant says it is OK.

I have found a couple posts about this issue and have now run into it myself. The first time it got really cold here (< 15 F) a slight drip developed from the end of the top radiator hose where it connects to the engine block. It smelled in the car so I wanted it fixed. My mechanic had done the HGs (yep, I got bit) and agreed to look at this. I am not thinking they were related, but he did it anyway. He replaced the clamps and refitted, but then a small leak developed on the other end where the hose connects to the radiator. He then replaced with a better GoodYear hose and double-clamped each end. No leaks at 25 F, but now at 2 F in the morning it drips and can occasionally be bad enough to leave a few drops on the driveway. This seems crazy! Is there a solution or does one just live with it?

Hey all, Been off USMB for a long time, but finally back. At some point I tried getting back on but it looked like the domain was down/dead... Anyway, I just had this same issue with our 2003 Outback 4-cyl, so thought I'd share. External HG leak on both sides -- small, but worth worrying about. We lived far away from any dealership and had a reputable independent do all work. I had everything documented for the leak being started prior to 100K (~98,000) and religious maintenance, and thought I had a shot at some reimbursement. I opened a claim with SoA and they were real nice about it all, but in the end gave me $250 for the problem, about 1/3 the cost. My wife is now stacked against another Subaru, ever, but that's a battle for another day.

Out of curiosity... is there a place where you can look up which engine specifically is in which years and models? I'm sure this is a bonehead question, but when I see all the EJs and D/SOHCs thrown around, I don't know what I'M dealing with... 2003 Outback Standard auto. trans

me too. i couldn't take it any more. who needs a leash anyway?

yep, replacing it. can't get that thing out.

huh, interesting. odd that Soob would underestimate the plug life so much. our Toyota van says don't even bother them until 100K, but they're iridium, so a whole different story.

Two simple Qs: (1) How the heck do you remove the "strap" on the gas cap from the gas cap door? That little plastic "screw" won't budge. (2) Every time I check the oil level in our '03 Outback it reads a bit different. After a change, I fill oil slowly and check often to be sure not to overfill. Once it gets close, I run the engine a bit, let it settle, then re-check and top off. The next day I can pull the stick and it will be a 1/2 inch higher than the notch on the stick. What gives? There must be a better way, or something I'm missing.

Friends have the Triple Treads and love 'em. Too expensive for us, we went with the Kumho Solus KH 16 and they've been excellent so far. We're about to test 'em in the snow in Oregon, but in balmy VA they're been nice. Oddly, we had the OE RE92s on there until almost 69,000 miles and had no problems at all. I read those reviews when we purchased the new ones and thought "wow, we got lucky."

This turned out to be a popular thread. Sorry for the delay. I think that Jamal here nailed it, that my mechanic missed on the install. When he called he said that he needed to re-do the installation, and this description sounded like what he was gonna do. He called it a 3-step process. For completeness, he never gave me the car back before fixing it, so I never drove it to verify what was wrong. He fixed it and it drives great now. It's a little tighter on the steering and returns to center faster than before, but that could be because the rack was leaking before and I was used to it being a bit too loose. No? I trust you guys all the way, but perhaps if he was used to replacing racks on other makes, the Soob is different and he wasn't familiar with the process? Just guessing. The guy's a good friend and a well-respected mechanic. He's straight up, but perhaps not as experienced with Soobs as the northerners. I'm hoping there's a good Soob guy in Klamath Falls, OR where we're headed. Anyone know?

Sorry so late getting back to this (a new baby at home, free time approach zero). Just trying to wrap this up for future readers. In attempting to figure out the erratic idle surges, we replaced the PCV valve and the spark plug wires and all seems well now. Not sure which it was, but my mechanic showed me where both needed replaced. The PCV valve was sticking open or close and one of the spark plug wires was arcing. All seems well now.

Following up on a comment earlier in this thread about plug life. The service supplement to the owner's manual says that plugs should be replaced at 30K miles on all engines other than the 3.0 Turbo. Platinum NGKs are listed as original equipment and that's what I put in. But I thought platinums were supposed to last longer than that. Any advice on the replacement interval? For completeness, dealing here with NGK G-power single-tipped platinum in an '03 4-cyl Outback.

Well, which part is crap? He said that turning left you needed twice as many steering wheel rotations to get the same turn of the wheels as on the right (or vice versa, I forget). I trust he didn't just lie to me!?

I ordered a new steering rack for our 2003 Outback with 96,000 miles on it. It came from a dealership and is OE. My mechanic installed it and determined that it was not centered. New to me, but he said it meant that I wouldn't be able to turn left without a lot of turns of the steering wheel. I'm not second-guessing him, but does this mean a problem with the rack, or just a poor adjustment job at the factory? Maybe it got knocked out of whack in shipping?