The Dude

I have a 99 Forester with the same problem. It is more than likely that you have a leaking crank or cam seal. A relativley small amount of oil is leaking form the seal and dripping on an exhaust system component. This is a problem commonly associated with Subaru engines. Leaking oil has been known to cause the timing belt to fail prematurely.

There have been many, many people posting on this board with reports of HG failures on their Phase I engines. Interestingly, I can only remember a few where serious secondary damage occurred. The vast majority of drivers escape without cracked blocks or damaged heads. There is a good bit of additional scheduled maintenance on a AWD car. Maintaining matched tires is critical. A Subaru has lower mpg than a comprable FWD car. I own a Forester primarily because of it's towing capacity. I lve in SC, not much snow here. I've been fairly lucky with my Forester, but I may not replace it with another Subaru. If you NEED a AWD car, it's worth considering. I've driven in Boston, what you really need is a tank.

This car has the Phase I 2.5L SOHC engine. At the very least, I would approach the purchase of this car with caution. 1. Do you personally know the seller? Are you POSITIVE the head gaskets haven't been replaced? 2. Many of the Phase I head gasket failures seem to occur around this mileage. Do you know the seller well enough to KNOW that he isn't unloading a lemon on you? 3. How the car is maintained has NO effect on head gasket failure. The head gaskets seem to fail as the result of a design or manufacturing fault. 4. Early head gasket failure can be very difficult to detect. Reportedly, some Phase I engines have passed exhaust gas in coolant tests right before dramatic head gasket failure with overheating. 5. Phase I-some never fail, some are OK after one head gasket repair, some owners are on their 4th set of repalcement head gaskets.

CONGRATULATIONS. You have a late model car that cost well over $20,000 that has been repaired with breakfast food. Since it will cost SOA very little, you will probably get a 100,000 mile warranty on an engine that I would expect to go 150,000- 200,000 miles trouble free miles ANYWAY. BTW, if you went into a Subaru dealership with a leaking out-of-warranty radiator do you think the mechanic would just scratch his rump roast a few times and say, "Hell, we'll just throw a litte stop leak into the cooling system. That otter fix the little puppy"? Maybe I'm imaging stuff, but I think that a lot of mechanics might tell you that stop leak was not a reliable repair and that the stuff has the potential to clog up the system. I could be tripping here, but I think many, if not most, mechanics might recommend replacing the whole damn radiator. Kinda makes you think, don't it?

I would guess that if you left the engine running, installed the FWD fuse, and put the tranny in neutral, everything would be OK. The FWD fuse energizes the duty soleniod, that allows ATF under pressure to disengage the clutch pack, placing the car in FWD. For there to be ATF pressure the AT pump must be running, so the engine must be running. Also, having the AT pump running will ensure that any parts in the tranny that move while being towed will still be lubricated and cooled by ATF. Of course, if the engine stalls you're toast. Once again, this is an untested theory. Maybe when my Forester has 300,000 miles on the clock, I''ll give it a try.

Everybody has a bad day, and even a Subaru is still just a thing. I am not a AT expert. Every incident that I am aware of where an AT has been towed has resulted in major damage to the transmission. A number of posters have reported serious tramsmission damage after towing their AT Subaru only fifty feet. Exactly what breaks inside, I don't know. Everyone in this situation has reported that a tranny rebuild or replacement was required. It's probably worth a call to the local tranny shop for some free advise. Sorry.

First of all, usually only the clutch pack in the automatic transmission is damaged when the car is driven with unmatched tires. It is not a cheap repair, but it isn't a transmission overhall or replacement either. When you have four matching tires put the car back into AWD and check for binding. Take a very sharp turn at a low speed, like heading into a parking space. If the car shudders, you probably have a problem. Keep the car in FWD until you have replaced the tires. You should get off the compact spare ASAP. Besides, riding around without a spare tire is an open invitation to get thoroughly hosed by some tow truck operator. It is not safe to operate the car on a compact spare. It is designed an emergency stop gap measure only. It may not be necessary, but wouldn't hurt anything to have the AT fluid changed. It depends on the condition of the clutch pack before the incident, and how badly the tires were mismatched. But I would not be overly suprised if you got lucky, and the clutch pack is still functional. You did however, probably put a some amount of abnormal wear on the clutch pack during that 50 mile ride.

Unfortunately, the odds are very good that you have a head gasket failure. Try checking the overflow reservior for bubbles after thoroughly heating up your engine. You may also have a test for hydrocarbons done on your coolant. Also, make sure the timing belt has been replaced on your interference type engine. The following comments do not necessarily pertain to your car, or the seller of your car. It can be very difficult to diagnose a head gasket failure on this car. Often, a little oil in the coolant, or bubbles in the overfill after a long run are alll you see until the "big event" happens with coolant spewing out of the radiator and the resultant overheating of your engine. So, the original owner of a Phase I sees some bubbles in his overflow tank, and decides its time to sell this POS. The buyer can do an extensive test drive and never know that there is a problem. Or, maybe the original owner just decided to sell his car, and didn't know it had a problem. But the temptation to dump a potential lemon like this is there. I'm sorry it's little late for you, but I always recommend that buyers avoid any car with the Phase I engine. Some Phase I engine never have a head gasket failure, some engines are OK after one head gasket replacement, and some victims, I mean owners, are on their fourth set of replacement head gaskets. Also, if you don't have an owner's manual, GET ONE. I don't wan't read about you destroying your drive train by towing the car improperly when the engine overheats. If you get away with one $1,500 head gasket repair consider yourself lucky.

1999 Forester AT 162,000 miles. The heater/ac blower motor is starting work intermittently. I am positive it's the brushes in the blower motor. The blower assembly is very easy to remove form the car. But the motor seems impossible to remove from the plastic plate. Has anyone replaced the brushes on the Forester blower motor? The blower "assembly" is well over $200. That seems like a lot when all it really needs is a $2 set of brushes.

BTW, Edmunds.com gives the EPA mileage for the AWD V50 at 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway. Where does 31 mpg come from?

There are many, many cars that are heavier, have more HP, have bigger engines and still get equal or better mileage than a Subaru. Why, is a good question? Here is my guess. The Subaru H-4 engine generates full HP and torque at VERY, VERY low rpms. So, the car is producing full power (and using more fuel) earlier in the power band. Subarus pack an unusual amount of usable storage space into a relatively small car. So, the car shape is optimized for usable storage, not fuel saving aerodymanics. I could be off, but I think I remember that a Forester has about 2/3 or 3/4 the carrying capacity of an Explorer. Subarus have high clearance, a ground hugging body is best for low fuel consumption. Many Subarus come standard with a roof rack, once again not good for high mpg. Also check the final gears ratios on the cars. I have some real problems with SOA, but I have found the Forester to be an extremely versatile car. It tows 2000 lbs. (much more really),handles and accelerates well, hauls a ton of stuff for a small car, and I've transported 18' long pieces of lumber on the roof rack. Not too shabby for one little car.

We can all dream. But if you have an external head gasket leakage, at most, expect a dose of the stop leak. Oatmeal, anyone?

Actually, I think a lot of dealers are full of crap. But then again, you bought a car from a company that won't EVEN acknowledge that there is head gasket problem with the Phase 1 2.5L engine. And they're handing out free stop leak to the early Phase IIs, not because there is a problem with the engine, but because that's just the kind of guys they are. The most likely suspect is a leaking hose. BUT your car has the classic symptoms of a Phase II external head gasket leak. But that's impossible, because Subaru said they have taken "countermeasures" to stop Phase II external head gasket failures. Damn, I'm so confused. I know, let's go with the "they're full of crap" theory. Check for a very slow coolant leak from a HOT engine from the head/block seam towards the back of the engine. Sorry, I don't remember if it's ususally on the driver or passenger side.

I own a 99 Forester with an alarm system. The is ONE way to stop the alarm from chirping-but it envolves using a hammer. Actually, there is NO way to disable the chirp. That function is found on MY 2000 and up. Get used to it.

Many of the Japanese car manufacturers have the same parts suppliers. I get deja vu whenever I get into a RAV4, lots of interior parts in common with the Sube.

The coolant additive is ONLY for the Phase II 2.5 SOHC engine. The additive is supposed to prevent/repair the EXTERNAL head gasket failures associated with that engine. THe EXTERNAl head gasket failure is usually nothing more than a slow coolant leak. The Phase I 2.5 DOHC engine is plagued with the much more serious INTERNAL head gasket failure.

I'm sorry to hear of your problem. But how does an engine nearly seize? Either it seizes or it doesn't, not much middle ground there. Anyway, which engine is in your car, and exactly what happened to it? How many miles on the clock, etc.?

99 Forester 160,000 miles. The heater/ac blower motor (in the cabin) has become intermittent. Sometimes the blower will not come on when the car is started. Once it starts, however, it works perfectly for the duration of that trip. Moving the slider from recycle to outside air usually gets the fan going. My guess is the blower relay or the motor brushes. Does the blower motor have replacable brushes? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like your doing fine. I hope that is the problem. I like cheap fixes. Since the problem can up after working on the cooling system, the odds are very good that it is air. You didn't put the thermostat in backwards, I hope.

A big air pocket in the cooling system might respond as you have described. Use the air bleed screw on the radiator, if you already haven't do so. Parking the car on a steep incline (front end up) while working the air out of the system can help. It can be a real job to work the air out of some of the Subarus. All aluminum boxer engines don't take overheating very well, so watch out.

In my view, the first, and all important, question to answer when considering the purchase of a Subaru is DO I REALLY NEED A CAR WITH AWD? Because among AWD cars, Subaru is a real contender. However, if you don't actually NEED AWD there many, many other cars to consider. I will say that a Subaru has a very good "blend" of desirable qualities even when AWD is excluded. But other cars without AWD, have greater reliability than a Subaru, or get better gas mileage than a Subaru, or have more power than a Subaru. AWD requires a lot of extra maintenance expense, if you don't need it, why pay for it? I live in the deep south (no snow), and I have been pretty happy with my 99 Forester. However, I probably will not buy another Subaru. Subaru is a very good AWD car, but for me the liabilities of AWD outweigh the benefits. This is just my personal situation, I know that a Subaru may have been the best possible choice for you.