Numbchux

At the dealership where I work, we have a regular 30k mile service. It involves engine and cabin air filters, a bottle of Subaru fuel injection cleaner, flushing a pint of brake fluid, and a drain-and-fill on differentials and transmission. 60k miles adds spark plugs to that list. Certainly on the overkill side of things, but that's not always a bad thing when it comes to preventative maintenance. Assuming it's a CVT and not a manual, front and rear diff just get 75w90 or 80w90 gear oil. But the main transmission gets a special Subaru-only (I am not aware of a suitable equivalent, anyway) CVT fluid. MSRP on it is $13.33 a quart, and a normal drain-and-fill requires just under 6 quarts. I would not trust this to a shop that's not VERY familiar with these transmissions, the drain and fill plugs on the transmission are not difficult to confuse, we field calls on a regular basis from people who have pulled one or both of them incorrectly (DIYers and reputable shops alike).

That'll be a SOHC 2.5l Engine. Bad news, I pretty much guarantee the head gaskets are leaking already. Good news, head gasket "failure" on those is relatively minor. They leak oil externally, and then eventually they will start to burn just a little coolant. We have a 2003 Outback that we've put about 40k miles on since we bought it that had leaking head gaskets then. Check the oil/coolant every time you get gas (we probably have to add a quart, maybe 2, per oil change, and top of the coolant reservoir a few times a year). It is not a catastrophic blow that makes the car un-driveable.

PAG 100. I followed the Service Manual suggestion for the parts I replaced.

Probably oil pressure switch. ~$10 aftermarket, MSRP $22.75 from Subaru. Pretty easy job.

It definitely does

Yes, cruise is disabled on those with any CEL. Read the code, on those it doesn't even require a scanner: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99-do-yourself-illustrated-guides/19053-06-09-how-read-diagnostic-trouble-codes-dtcs.html

Yea, if you get air in the master cylinder, it really needs to be removed and bench-bled to get all the air. The bottleneck from the master bore down into the lines is so extreme that you'll almost never push all the air through it. It's possible you've pushed enough through now to get it...

Almost 650 miles on it this weekend.... A good friend of mine recently lifted his 2013 Forester (It's been mentioned and pictured here...), and he was anxious to bring it up to the OHV recreation area in Gilbert, in northern Minnesota. Several members of the Ziptie Rally Team have some 4WD vehicles, with varying levels of experience, and eager to try it out, so we gathered a group of 5 vehicles and went up. I left straight from work Friday afternoon, and drove up north and stayed at a friend's house. And we all left early Saturday morning to head over to the park. Our group: 13418373_10100460104149457_7171720721831413890_o by Numbchux, on Flickr I was in the Outback (obviously), with by far the most experience up there. The guy with the WJ Grand Cherokee has been there a few times. The other 3 drivers were completely new. Jeep had by far the most suspension travel, but open diffs. FJ Cruiser has rear locker, and Atrac traction control. Forester has a lot of ground clearance, and good tires, but is a manual transmission, so he had a serious gearing disadvantage. Obviously the Outback has a ground clearance disadvantage, but the VTD 4EAT did excellently. And the X5 was cranked up into it's highest ride height, which left a ton of ground clearance, but virtually zero travel, and low profile tires meant the AWD system was working hard, but it still did well. Being that I had the most experience and the least capable vehicle, it made sense for me to lead. So, I did: 13413005_10107744258730360_6110313075677664850_n by Numbchux, on Flickr I dragged the exhaust and the trailer hitch over everything... 13413773_10107744257996830_7770212468363781785_n by Numbchux, on Flickr I now have an exhaust leak, might be a good excuse to get that OBX Stainless, catless, manifold set. Then we drove to the Minneapolis area for a house warming party, picked up a set of 2003 Outback wheels, my cousin's college graduation party, and then home. Car never missed a beat.

This question has been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times. To my knowledge, it was only done once (A brat in england), and as I recall, he regretted doing it... For the rear, the only part that would be bolt-on is the driveshaft-to-differential flange. All the suspension mounts, crossmember, strut mounts, everything would have to be fabricated. It's been done, but it's a huge amount of precision fabrication. You can use some front components with some XT6 parts for a 5-lug swap.

Yep, I put a new key and used crank pulley on, and overtorqued the bolt, and drove it for years. The key should not have any load on it while the engine is turning, it's just there to align things during assembly.

The tape or epoxy won't do squat on brakes, but you can get a pretty good idea of their condition before you leave, and even if it blows, you can keep driving, just cautiously using the ebrake. But the tape will work fairly well on a coolant hose (not perfect, but enough to get you down the road quite a long way), like I said, I've used epoxy to repair rusted steel fuel lines, and a leaking radiator (both repairs held for years of abuse at my buddy's cabin ). It's certainly not a bad idea to bring a few chunks of rubber hose in different diameters for a more permanent repair, but if everything is in good shape before you leave, there's a pretty slim chance of failure. If you've got room, and a donor car (you're not buying a spare part), I would add a fuel pump to my list.

I'd bring an Alternator, distributor, coil, and timing belts/pullies. From there, obviously a good tool set, all fluids (if it's cold, I bring a gallon of straight antifreeze and quite a bit of water, if it's warm, all water), some QuickSteel Epoxy (similar to JBWeld, easier to work with, and won't run. I've repaired a leaking fuel line, and badly blown radiator with this stuff), some Silicone Hose Repair Tape, and zipties. At stock ride height, I wouldn't worry about much else failing catastrophically enough to leave you stranded. Obviously it'd be a good idea to get it off the ground and wheels off before you leave to check ball joints, tie rod ends, bearings, and brakes.

They seem to be quite reliable. We've had to replace a couple, but even when we do, junkyard ones are reasonably priced and easily sourced (which usually means ample supply of cars coming in for other reasons, and fairly low demand for replacements). Like Gary said, you just have to drive it. It's very different, kind of feels like a conventional auto transmission that's slipping like crazy. But, if you can adjust to it, you might like it. They get much better mileage than the conventional automatics. And as ridiculous as it sounds, I recommend the trim levels with the paddle shifters, as it gives you a little control when you want it.

Test drive the CVT. It's strange, but it's perfect for a lot of drivers. My mom loves her '12 Impreza CVT. It takes a little adjustment when I drive it, but generally I like it. And it's a premium, so it has the paddle shifters, so you can tell it to change ratios if you want it to engine brake or something.

11-13 Foresters were the only combination of an FB and conventional automatic transmission, but it was the 4EAT. The FB and 5EAT did not meet from the factory.

FB engine (timing chain, among other changes) started in 2011 Foresters, 2012 Imprezas, and 2013 Legacy/Outbacks. CVTs started in 2010 Legacy/Outbacks (4-cyl), 2012 Imprezas, and 2014 Forester All EZ 6-cylinders (3.0 and 3.6, since 2001) had timing chains. 2001-2004 with the 4EAT, 2005-2014 with the 5EAT, and 2015+ with the CVT.

It can be purchased by the quart (I said "dealer-only", but it can be ordered online from many sources. But the correct fluid is only available from Subaru). Part number SOA427V1660 Transfer pumps can be purchased almost anywhere, some will thread right onto the top of the bottle. Fill procedure

Careful guys, a 2010 Outback with a 2.5L would have a CVT transmission. I *assume* (I do not know) that the torque converter will seat back on just the same as it would with a conventional automatic. But DO NOT use regular dexron or similar ATF in it. Your transmission requires a specific, dealer-only CVT fluid. It has to be pumped in from a plug on the side of the transmission, and then run up to temperature and checked again.

I don't think pulling the engine is worth it, especially if you have a hoist (being able to get at the lower bolts without laying on your back. So jealous). It takes the techs here about 7 hours to do a full head gasket job, leaving the short block in the car. It was necessary to remove the engine on the DOHC cars, as the cams had to come out (and now your messing with valve shims) just to get to the head bolts, but not the SOHC ones.

Replacing rotors with pads is always better. Yes, most of the time it's overkill. When in doubt, a dealership is always going to err on the side of doing it "correct" than "good enough". If they pulled things apart, and saw aftermarket pads in there, they have no idea what quality or material they are, so getting good quality parts in there and fresh fluid is absolutely step one. Cheap pads will absolutely cause reduce brake effectiveness even when new, and may still be your problem. Heck, buying great quality aftermarket pads and rotors (which frequently are oiled to prevent rust) without cleaning things properly can ruin the pads. I bet you'd be even more pissed if you paid the dealership to put a new master in it, and it turned out to just have crap pads..... Virtually all EJ251/253s with original head gaskets leak. They start with an external oil leak, and then begin to burn coolant. It will only get worse until they're replaced. The Superceded gaskets are multi-layer steel instead of the OE composite, and are much better, so once they're done, they will last much longer. We quote US$2k for that job itself, and that's assuming no head work, and no timing components. I just sold the gaskets to a very reputable local shop that is charging US$3k for it. I'm not saying you should have to pay $5k (canadian, I assume...), but I also don't think their crooks for quoting you that much. There's an assumption that cars going into a dealership for repair are going to come out in like-new mechanical condition, that costs extra and is certainly not for everyone. That price sounds a little high, but they're quoting a lot of work to be done, with only OE parts.... All that said, I've never heard of a Master Cylinder failing catastrophically with very little warning. They have rubber seals in them which can leak past, which gives a spongy pedal feeling. If you're sitting parked, put your foot on the brakes (preferably engine running) with moderate pressure and hold them. If the pedal recedes down to the floor, you either have an external leak, or an internally leaking Master Cylinder. If not, step one is to bleed the brakes, make sure the fluid is healthy, maybe pump a couple pints of fluid through the whole system to make sure there is no water or air present. While I have had good luck bleeding the brakes in the more conventional pattern (it's kind of a pain with a floor jack to do it correctly), but considering that you're having issues, do it correctly. Then inspect all caliper hardware. Make sure the pins move freely (remove the pads, and bolt the calipers back on to make sure each pair of pins moves freely together, not just individually). And use a c-clamp to make sure the pistons push back into the caliper bore smoothly. My next suspect would be the front pads. You've established that they're fairly new, but are they any good? If you don't know the history on them, I would replace them. OE ones are nice, but money can be saved on some quality aftermarket.

The 3.6 is a great engine, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to get one (in fact, I'd go quite a bit out of my way...). All the EZ ('01+) 6-cylinders have a timing chain. And an '11 with the 3.6 would have the 5EAT, fantastic transmission, too.

Another 320-some well-loaded miles: 20160530_121745 by Numbchux, on Flickr Load it down, set the cruise to 70+ mph, set the climate control to 68*. Awesome. We spent 4 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area this weekend. And while we ended up getting scattered showers most of the last weekend, right as we were setting up our last camp site, the clouds blew over, and we were rewarded with a fantastic sunset. Many of us rolled out our sleeping pads right on the bedrock and slept under the stars.

I don't believe for a second that oil viscosity has anything to do with it. My mom's 2012 Impreza (right in the heart of the possibly-effected FB20 engines), she bought with about 20k miles on it, it's now about 70k, original engine. We only run Syn 0w20, and oil loss is completely normal, less than a quart over 5k miles, and always has been.

I agree with the above. Only when they get extremely rusty do I replace rear rotors. They don't warp. But, since I have the service manual handy, it says minimum service limit is 8.5 mm (0.335 in).

There are 2 different versions of the Subaru Multi-link rear. The '00-'09 Legacy one has a big beefy trailing arm that is basically also the knuckle and pivots in one place on a bracket that's bolted to the body much like the modified MacPherson rear trailing arms, and then also uses 2 lateral links that bolt to the crossmember. The '10+ Legacy chassis and '08+ Imprezas use a very different setup. There's a separate knuckle again. And there's a trailing arm, a lower lateral link, a rear link that's basically just a tie rod (and adjusts toe just like a front tie rod), AND an upper A-arm (which has a ball joint in it, that is not replaceable separately). That newer setup requires a spacer on top of the strut, and then 4 spacers to drop that subframe down, and it all moves together, and the geometry stays together. And with the complexity of all those links (some of them are rather short), and the angles that upper ball joint already sees, I would not run them at a steeper angle than stock. The older multilink setup can be treated much like the modified MacPherson, where you leave the subframe against the body and just lift the suspension, BUT, because unlike either the MacPherson, or the newer multilink, there is not a pivot between the trailing arm and the knuckle, any increase in trailing arm angle puts twisting force on the bushings at the lateral links. IMO a trialing arm spacer is crucial (whereas, IMHO, it's purely cosmetic in the MacPherson cars). ADF definitely offers trailing arm brackets for the modified MacPherson rear cars. But he does not list or picture them for the '00-'09 Legacies. He just shows a kit which includes "multi-link spacers", which is the exact same description as the newer multi-link cars. From what I've heard, he's a great and knowledgeable guy, so it could be solved with an email, and he'd probably build me exactly the kit I want. But, SJR already makes it. I can see a picture of it. And I want to support him anyway.