The Dude

Congratulations for asking about his car BEFORE buying it. Most posts go," I just BOUGHT a 99 Legacy, what maintenance issues can I expect with this car?". Be very, very careful, frequently the head gaskets just leak "bubbles" into the overflow tank after a hard run before they finally fail all the way. Not surprizingly, some people are tempted to "dump" the vehicle while the head gasket failure is still very hard to detect. You could test test drive one of these 2.5 SOHC equiped vehicles and never know that the head gaskets were on their way out. If you buy this car, make sure you get, and fully read, the owner's manual. Several posters have had their SOHC engines fail on the way home from the car lot. They then had the cars towed back by two wheels. This destroys the transmission. Probably not the best day of their lives.

Why was the timing belt done at 53,000 miles? This is a car with a well known, and well documented, engine defect. Why are you willing to pay a premium for this car? If anything, I would expect a substantial discount when buying this vehicle. On Long Island, they might soak you for two grand just replace the blown head gaskets. And that's IF the heads don't warp or nothing else fries when the headgaskets blow. Add in towing, and rental car for the time that the car is in the shop. Subaru won't even acknowledge a problem with the 2.5L DOHC engine, so we don't have exact figures on the head gasket failure rates. But I'll tell you this, they're substantial. There is a reason that Subaru went to the expense of developing the 2.5L SOHC Phase II engine. And even the Phase II doesn't appear to have the same bulletproof reliability of the 2.2L. Screw these jokers. Assume that the head gasket WILL fail and pay accordingly for this car. That way if the gaskets blow you won't be getting up a half hour early every morning to kick yourself.

Actually there's an easy way. Those other suggestions seem like a lot of work to me. The AT is locked into AWD in first and second gears. Therefore, it's very, very difficult to "chirp" the tires or lay a patch when doing a "jack rabbit" start from a dead stop. Put a fuse in the AWD holder and do a couple of "jack rabbit" starts. You'll be able to tell the difference between AWD and 2WD in a heartbeat.

You're right to ask these questions. In general, interference engines are a bad deal for the owner. Interference engines provide a slight improvement in efficiency. But any problem with the timing belt can leave the owner paying for a replacement engine. The timing belt breaking isn't the only problem that will cause the engine to self-destruct. If the water pump freezes, if one of the idlers fail, if the tensioner gives out, or if the belt just "skips" a notch or two, kiss your engine goodbye. Some on this board will say, " Come on, if they're replaced on schedule, timing belts almost never fail". And they're right, BUT you're taking a pretty big risk for almost NO benefit. There are pros and cons to both timing chains and timing belts. But interefence engines are a real losers.

Sorry, I can't help you with the head bolt specs. But I'm curious, did your 2000 OBW have an internal or external head gasket failure? I understand that the Subaru website has an option where you can access factory service manuals for a fee. Make sure you're on a computer with a wide pipe so you can DOWNLOAD what you need.

I remember having a fuel trim malfunction code on my 99 Forester. It's one of those annoying codes that can cover a large number of components. I tried a number of measures to clear the code, without luck. I had just about decided to live with the problem when a recall notice from Suabru appeared in the mail. When the MAF sensor was replaced with code magically cleared.

I have the same question. Next year I will have over 200,000 miles on my 99 Forester. I will be in the market for a new car. Despite having made numerous revisions to the head gasket design, Subaru refused to even acknowledge the obvious internal head gasket failures with the 2.5L DOHC Phase I engine. Once the Phase I engine equiped cars hit 60,000 miles, the owners were largely left out in the cold, all by themselves. In this case, Subaru failed to meet even my lowest expectations for corporate responsibilty. If I buy a new Subaru that has a serious and wide spread design flaw I already KNOW how Subaru will treat me. Secondly, the 2.5L SOHC is an interference type engine. If the timing belt, idlers, cams, or tensioner fail, or if the water pump seizes, extensive damage occurs to the engine. Gas prices are rising rapidly. Two years from now I may regret not having bought a car with higher mpg. The dollar is plummeting against the yen. Subaru replacement parts could become very, very expensive. Actually, so far I have had a very good ownership experience with my 99 Subaru. Buying another Subaru should be a no brainer. But somehow it doesn't feel that way.

No lie, here in the deep South car bodies seem to last forever. I am amazed by the number of cars I see from the 1960s, and even 1950s. One big exception, deep South ocean front areas. Man, that heat, humidity and sea salt will turn a car into a rusty tin can in no time.

I average about 25mpg on my 99 Forester AT, here in Columbia, SC. Just be aware that the 98 Forester has the infamous 2.5 L DOHC Phase I engine. Do a search on the Phase I engine.

My 99 Forester has leaky engine seals. I'm still not losing even a half a quart between oil changes, but the smell from the hot exhaust has gotten pretty bad. So, at 170,000 miles I'm thinking about changing the T Belt, water pump and oil seals. I'd like to do the work myself. There's plenty of good information for changing the T belt on the 2.5 DOHC. Does anyone know a good source of information for changing the T belt on the SOHC? Thanks. I paid the Subaru dealership to replace the oil seals when the belt was replaced at 100,000 miles. It will be intersting to see if the seals where actually replaced. I think the original oil seals where light brown.

Supermnlives, from your posts you seem like a really nice guy, and I am truly sorry that this unfortunate event happened to you. But the most likely explanation for the loss of your engine oil is that it leaked out throught the oil drain. Consider: 1. No leaks found on the exterior of the engine 2. No excessive smoke from the exhaust 3. No crush washer used during a D-I-F oil change 4. Did you use a torque wrench to tighten the drain plug? 4.5 qts of oil went somewhere. It didn't leak from a valve cover, and it almost certainly wasn't burnt in the engine, so where did it go? Two more suggestions, and then I give up. 1. Pull the spark plugs and look for signs of oil being burnt in the cylinders. 2. Was the engine using excessive amounts of oil when the dealership was doing the oil changes? Usually an engine will GRADUALLY use more oil as it wears. For an engine to suddenly burn 4.5 qts of oil in 3,000 mile interval would require an engine component failure. If you're still absolutely convinced that 4.5 qts of oil was burnt in the engine, go and hire a qualified expert mechanic to tear down your engine and document the component failure. Because I'm pretty sure that nothing less than unimpeacable expert testimony is going to get insurance company to pay off on this claim. BTW, I almost had the same thing happen to me a number years ago. EXCEPT that the manufacturer handed me an offical D-I-Y mantainance manual that was supplied as part of buying the car. I changed the oil, carefully following the instructions in manual. The second day after changing the oil, I again checked the oil level and found it to be about two quarts low. I called the dealer and he said "Did you replace the crush washer?". I said "No, and you've got a problem Jack, because your OFFICAL manufactuer D-I-F manual didn't tell me to". Bottom line: the manufactuer admitted that they had omitted instructions on replacing the cruch washer in their manual. They gave me a letter extending my engine warranty to 100,000 miles. Almost the same situation as yours, except that Subaru didn't hand you an offical D-I-Y manual when they sold you the car.

There's no question that disc brakes are better than drum brakes. BUT 80% of braking is done by the front wheels! Don't expect a big improvement for your time and money.

Do a compression check on the cylinders. It's easy, cheap, and might point you in the right direction.

I agree with you that a crush washer might not be needed IF the drain plug was tightened properly. Pros, like yourself, and experienced shade tree mechanics can tighten a drain plug by "feel". But I have feeling that "suprmanlives" is a newbie, and he didn't use a torque wrench to tighten the drain plug. Most newbies are very concerned about stripping the the drain plug, and as a result tend to undertighten the bolt. With a new crush washer tightening is not so critical because the washer will compensate for a certain amount of slack. Check the engine thoroughly for sources of leaks. Valve covers, oil pan, seals, the usual suspects. There should be PLENTY of left over oil on the motor surface if there was a leak in those areas. There are areas we know where it didn't leak, because if that much leaked oil had dripped on a hot exhaust component suprmanlives would have been driving around with a gas mask on. 4.5 quarts of oil wasn't burnt in the engine. It didn't leak out from the usual spots. Add in a newbie mechanic with no new crush washer, and I think it leaked out the drain plug. Which is why I recomend the Fumoto drain valve for everyone who changes their own oil. Torque the Fumoto valve when you install it, and then forget about it.

An even better question is, "how often was the oil checked". I believe The oil level should be checked daily for at least two days after an oil change. After that time, the oil level should checked weekly. I don't always check my oil weekly. but I ALWAYS check my oil for several day after an oil change, no matter who did the oil change. One quik-lube idiot drained my transmission and then overfilled my crankcase. Fortunately, I checked the oil level before I left the quick-lube shop. The burning smell that "suprmanlives" noted after long highway drives was probably a leaky shaft seal, a very common problem in Subarus. Subaru oil seal leaks are annoying, but very little oil is usually lost.

IF the 3.0L is like the 2.5L engine, there is a metal "crush" washer that must be replaced every oil change. The crushable washer seals the drain plug, and keeps the oil from leaking out of the engine. Given your description, I suspect that the oil leaked out of your engine in some manner. You would probably have a huge amount of black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe if the oil was burned in the engine. IF the 3.0L engine requires the "crush" washer, it is possible, maybe even probable, that the engine oil was lost through the leaky drain plug. The sludge in the oil filter might be the result of the engine and oil overheating. When the oil fell to a critical level, the remaining oil would be "cooked" by the unlubricated internal engine parts. It is possible for the motor oil to be critically overheated WITHOUT the engine overtemp light going off, since the engine overtemp sensor monitors the engine coolant. This is my best guess. Please thoroughly research this problem yourself, before you reach any conclusions.

First two D-I-Y oil changes? Hmmmmm........you know about changing the crushable oil drain plug metal "O" ring EVERY oil change, right? If you didn't change the crushable, one use only, metal "O" ring. , I think I know what happened to your oil.

Which car had the engine failure?

This alarm is the one on which the arming and disarming "chirp" can NOT be disabled. If the alarm remote doesn't work, I thought that you could turn off the alarm by pressing the "reset" button under the dash while turning the ignition on and off three times. Well, I tried it, and it didn't work. The alarm kept wailing away. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

If you can prove that the towing company didn't use a flat truck, you've got their asses nailed. So, it's worth a little effort to see if you can do it. Can you: 1. Post a note in the lobby/common area asking if other tennants saw the tow truck. 2. Any surrounding businesses or other building that might have seen the tow truck? 3. Is there a surveillance camera at your building? How many flat bed trucks does the tower have? If only one, maybe you can prove it was somewhere else while your car was being towed. Check with the Better Business Bureau, how many complaints do they have? You can still nail this guy without proof on the flat bed truck, but it's a tougher job. BTW, if you can prove that they didn't use a flat bed truck, I'm willing to bet that they will settle without going to court. No business wants to look like a low life piece of garbage in front of a judge. Also, small claims court, or not, it's still perjury to lie. Your communications with the tower should be in writing. If the tower had written "flat bed truck should be marked on your receipt", you'd pretty well have him right now. Good luck.

QUOTE=Cougar]Since the two problems seem to be linked together I am wondering if there may be a power problem of some sort to the fuel gauge and to something else that is being monitored by the ECU. As far as I know, a problem with the senders will not cause a code to be set in the ECU. I can actually watch the gas needle go all the way from the top of the gauge to the bottom in about 10s seconds. When that happens, the CEL always goes on. So yes, there is a link between a malfuntioning gas tank sender and the CEL.

It's probably the fuel level sender unit. This is a very common, and welll known, problem with Subarus. In fact, my 1999 Forester has a probem with the sender unit, as well. Small world, isn't it? In fact, Subaru has had problems with their sender units for years. Why don't the Subaru engineers lift their noses out of their rice bowls and fix this problem? Who knows? Anyway, it's not the end of the world. Do a search on this site. You may be able to fix the problem yourself, if you don't mind working on an open gas tank.

I'm curious, since you weren't present, how do you know how the car was towed? Can you provide proof that the car was towed improperly? Small claims court is "joe citizen" friendly, but there are procedures, and you have to know what you are doing. I recommend that read you a book or two on the subject. The towing company is counting on you getting confused and discouraged. Frankly, if you can prove that the car was improperly towed, you're probably eighty per cent of the way to judgement. It's pretty simple 1. Proof that the car was improperly towed 2. Proof that there is damage to the transmission 3. A letter from a qualified source ( say your Subie dealer) that the damage to the transmission is consistent with damage one would expect to find from improper towing 4. If the Subie dealer will state that damage from improper towing doesn't always present itself immediately, even better. But you have to know the rules for your PARTICULAR state. In some states a signed letter is admissable. In some states a letter has to be notarized. And in some states a letter is no good, only a live witness will do. DON'T find out the rules in front of the judge. It's a little intimidating, but small claims court is a worthwhile procees. Not only is your $3,500 repair (don't forget to sue for a rental car while the car is being repaired, if it is allowed in your state) at stake, but you will be gaining some valuable knowledge and skills. It would be helpful if you could provide a little more information in your posts. Do you have proof that the car was improperly towed? What is the form of that proof? That is where this whole process begins. Somehow, I get the impression that maybe you don't have any proof.

I removed the plastic cover from my Forester. I stored it in my garage, in case I decided it served some useful purpose. After two months of driving , I noticed no change in mpg, noise, or even cleanliness of the engine compartment. It is now somewhere in the county landfill. I think the cover is supposed to convence the simple minded that they have some kind of skid plate on their "SUV".

I would get fixed it ASAP. You probably have raw gas washing down your cylinder walls. After the raw gas removes the absolutelty critical lubrication from your cylinder walls, it ends up in the sump where it dillutes your oil. The unburned gas that makes it out your exhaust valve is probably putting your cat into hyperdrive, if it's still working. You can pay $200 dollars now, or you can spring for an engine rebuild or replacement a month or so from now. Some car repairs you can let go for a while, this is NOT one of them.