The Dude

There are many different opinions concerning synthetic oil. Like a great many things in life, these opinions usually are the result of personal bias, and not scientific data. First, let's look at sythentic (syn) oil. All things equal, a quality synthetic oil will not harm your engine. Synthetic has much greater heat resistance than regular "dino" oil, but that is of very little benefit to most car engines. Most car engine would sieze from overheating well before their dino oil suffered thermal breakdown. A number of studies have shown NO significant benefits for synthetic oil over regular dino oil.The most important thing with ANY oil is to change it and the oil filter regularly. So, here is some anecdotal information for you. Many people feel that syn oil is a better solvent than dino oil. Your engine developed sludge deposits after years and miles of operation. If you had continued using dino oil, those sludge deposits would have happily stayed in the oil pan, causing no harm. But syn oil is a better solvent, those sludge deposits started breaking up and circulating through your engine. Bad stuff can happen. That's why the garage flushed your system before installing syn oil. They did the right thing. But did they get all the sludge? How do they, or you, know? If it was me, I would have stayed with dino oil. There are no proven significant benefits to using syn oil. It is more expensive. And a Subaru engine properly maintained on dino oil has a very good chance of outlasting the other major components of the car. Another piece of anecdotal car wisdom goes "start with dino, stay with dino-start with syn, stay with syn". There are also anecdotal stories of seals leaking when a car is switched over to syn oil. There are plenty of people on this board who have switched over to syn with no problems. Good for them. There are plenty of people who have posted saying that they have had problems when switching over to syn oil. Who knows? Like I have said, hard facts are awful hard to come by on the subject of oil, and opinions are a dime a dozen.

My guess is that you have a compromised cooling system. The cooling system can not dissapate the heat of an engine operating at highway speeds. But add the little extra cooling capacity of the heater, and you're OK. How about a partially clogged radiator? Drain and back flush that puppy. Maybe some of the debris from changing those parts got into the system. But first, try purging the cooling system of air again. I have a very steep driveway. I just park the car on the steepest part and burp away. Works every time.

It's astounding. I'm originally from NY, but now I live in South Carolina. Twenty year old trucks and cars are commonplace. Without road salt, a car can last a long, long time. My 99 Forester, 172,000 miles, no rust at all.

I change the fuel filter on my Forester first thing in the morning, after the car has sat all night. It could just be my car, but after letting the car sit all night I never have had pressure in the fuel line. I always have a rag and safety glasses ready, just in case.

I own a 99 Forester with 172,000 miles. Personally, I would wait for a 99 or later MY as they have the 2.5L SOHC Phase II engine. Also, at high mileage expensive transmission repair or replacement is looming. BTW, its about $4,000 for a Subaru rebuilt AT.

Sorry, duplicate post. I will try to delete this message.

Well, the problem you have is this, you have a car known to be prone to head gasket failure with 145,000 miles on the clock. Under these circumstances , I think the burden will be placed on you to prove that the repair shop acted negligently. One other consideration, it seems in MOST cases that if a driver with an overheating Subaru stops the car car as soon as it starts overheating the head gaskets are not damaged. In other words, if the overheating is caused by a bad thermostat, air in the cooling system, failed cooling fan, or failed water pump, then quickly turning off the engine will usually save the head gaskets. On the other hand, if the overheating is caused by head gasket failure, obviously the head gasket are already toast. So, if you did not continue to operate the car after it started to overheat, gasket failure most likely CAUSED the over heating.

If you're lucky, among other things, the overheating could be caused by a failed radiator fan. Do a "search" on 2.5L DOHC Phase I engines. Your car may, or may not, have blown head gaskets, BUT you should be aware of the symptoms. Also READ and understand the owner's manual. Overall Subarus are good cars, bur it is easy to do a lot of expensive damge through ignorance or neglect.

So far, I'm fairly pleased with my 99 Forester. But for sake of argument, let me bring up the Subaru 1.8L engine. If I remember correctly, this engine had an oil pump with defective "O" rings. Air leaked into the oil pump and an oily foam was delivered to the valve train. If the driver was lucky enough to detect the problem in time, the fix was no big deal. But a number of owners had their car's valve trains destroyed. I'm pretty sure that the leaky "O" ring problem went on for a number of model years. Which reminds me of a couple of on going Subaru problems: Bad fuel level sensors. Ok, nobody is going to die from this. But come on, these things have been a problem for years on Subarus. A reliable fuel level sensor should be an easy fix for a company like Subaru. Screws backing out of the oil pump. Kinda reminds of the old 1.8L problem. Ok, it's not a problem on most Subarus. But does it have to happen at all? Can anyone at Subaru say "Loctite"? Bad wheels bearings in Foresters. This went on for a number of model years. Clutches on early model year Foresters. Gee, the more powerful 2.5L engine needed a more powerful clutch asembly. Who wouldda thought it? Subaru finally nailed this problem. But there were several model years of pretty unhappy MT owners. So, overall Subaru is a pretty good car. And every car manufacturer makes mistakes. Personally, I think Subaru could apply fixes a little more rapidly.

Why not just install the FWD fuse?

If you knew anything about hyploid gears, you'd be draining that ATF first thing tomorrow morning. Why take a risk? The only cure for worn hyploid gears is to replace the whole pumpkin. A car can run forever with worn hyploid gears but the LOUD ROARING noise is usually unbearable.

In the past, Subaru has had problems with faulty O2 sensors. You may very well have a bad sensor. If you can lay your hands on a comprehensive scan tool, you can easily check the O2 sensors.

"4EAT" is the model number of the AT used by Subaru. Do a search for "4EAT" on this board, you should get a lot of good information. A Subaru rebuilt, dealer installed tranny is probably the most expensive way to go. BTW, how many miles on your OB?

I believe that amount is about right for a rebuilt transmission purchased from Subaru. There are, of course, other alternatives. The 4EAT transmission is used by several car manufacturers. If you have a trustworthy tranny shop in your town you may look into having rebuilt/repaired locally.

A number of things: 1. When you went back to the mechanic with a slipping tranny, he didn't even check the ATF level. Very, very bad. For anyone with the intelligence of a tapeworm checking the AT fluid level would be a no brainer. 2. You didn't check the ATF level. Get used to checking the fluid levels on YOUR car. BTW, have you checked the front diff oil level? ALWAYS check the oil and ATF when anyone has worked on YOUR car. 3. Given the short distance, you PROBABLY didn't damage the AT. Anyway, it would be very hard to prove that any damage was caused by this particular shop. I like Subarus. But I will tell you this. It is very easy to do a lot of expensive damage to these cars through ignorance or neglect. Read and understand the owner's manual. Know how to have the car towed. And always check the fluid levels when anyone, including a Subaru dealership, work on your car. Nuff said.

At this point I would operate on the assumption that the AT was not properly filled with AT fluid. OR that the drain plug was not properly tightened. Check the AT oil pan for evidence of AT having leaked from a loose drain plug.

There are no recalls. Subaru hasn't even acknowlegded a head gasket problem with the 2.5L DOHC engine. You are ten thousand miles out of warranty. Make sure you get the LATEST revision head gaskets when you replace them.

.......... you could check the fuel delivery pressure downstream from the regulator.

First, the really obvious things. You have checked the ATF level, right? Second, I would drain the transmission and refill it with the proper ATF fluid (Dextron III, I think, but check). An AT is not like an engine. There are no combustion by-products and carbon particles floating around in an AT. The TCU doesn't have to reset after a fluid change, that's pure BS. I had one quickie oil change place drain my AT instead of the crankcase, so watch out! Fortunately, I always check the oil and AT whenever ANYONE works on my car.

I've been reading the Subaru boards for the last five years, I own a '99 Forester. I'll tell you this, it is extremely unlikely that Subaru is going to do any warranty repairs on noisey 2.5L DOHC engines. If the engine actually stops running during the warranty period Subaru will most likely cover it. Other than that, FORGET ABOUT IT. IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. The only 2.5L DOHC owners that got replacement short blocks, and there weren't many, were NEW car buyers who screamed really, really loud, and had the AGGRESSIVE support of the selling dealership. Subaru will cover the 2.5L DOHC for the warranty period, but that is it, period. These 2.5L DOHC powerplants are not good engines. There are very good reasons that Subaru developed the 2.5L SOHC engine. It would appear that Subaru has decided to cut their losses with the 2.5L DOHC. They will cover their warranty obligations, but don't expect any post warranty "good will". And in a way, Subaru is right. Four or five years from now, for most people the 2.5 L DOHC will just be a distant memory. No one will really care. In five years Subaru buyers will only care about the CURRENT engines and models. BTW, the 2.5 SOHC engine STILL has piston slap.

Yes, you can get a FUMUTO drain valve for Subarus. Iv'e had one in my Forester for the last five years. They are worth every penny. I highly recommend them .

.....My 99 Forester has 273,600 kms. The second CV boot just ripped. Other than that nothing, nada, zippo. Total repairs....2 CV boots over 171,000 miles, not too shabby. Three things. I live in South Carolina-no winters. I do a lot of highway driving (150,000 miles on one pair of brake shoes). Tomorrow the the engine could fall out, you just never know. Do ya?

Yep, 170,000 miles and the driver's side inner CV boot is torn again. Anyway, this time I'm thinking about replacing it myself. I would appreciate any advise on the following: 1. A good souce for rebuilt axles? 2. Where is a good solid place to put thea jack stands when replacing the front axle 3. Any advise on the axle replacement would be welcome. I have the Haynes Legacy Repair Manual, it looks like it should be close enough to the 99 Forester. Another question. I want to tighten the bolts on the oil pan. There are access holes in the cross member. But the holes aren't even close to lining up with the rear oil pan bolts. Any suggestions? TIA

I have a 99 Forester too. I am not aware of any other Foresters having the same problem. It is most likely that the spark plugs were improperly installed in your car at some time. The use of a torque wrench is mandatory when installing plugs in the Forester. Too tight, and the threads are stripped or damaged. Too loose, and the engine will "spit out" the plug, again stripping or damaging the threads. Due to the overhead cam, the spark plugs can be very difficult to install. You can not see, or even feel, how they are going in. I use a special articulated spark plug tool with a "friction" holder for the spark plug. If the plug starts to cross thread the friction holder lets go, preventing damage to the threads. It is possible, although not likely, that the heads are defective. Also, the damage could have been done some time ago. It is probably impossible to assign "blame" to one individual or shop at this point.

As much as I dislike the 2.5L DOHC engine, I would say replace the head gaskets, if and when, they blow. Frankly, they may never blow. This engine appears to have a very significant head gasket failure rate. Even so, the majority of 2.5L DOHC engines probably never experience a head gasket failure. Some 2.5L DOHC engine owners have posted that they're on their fourth set of replacement head gaskets. But the vast majority of 2.5L DOHC appear to be permanently repaired after one head gasket replacement. The lastest version of the head gasket seems to be a pretty good "fix". I would have avoided a car with the DOHC engine in the first place. But now that you have it just play out your hand and hope for the best.