mikec03

You would be taking too much of a chance that you can fix the problem and get it running. I wouldn't buy a car that had to be towed anyway unless I planned to replace the motor. Plus if the car has the 2.5 DOHC motor, which is the worst motor subaru has made, I wouldn't buy it under any conditions.

Except that we know that the subaru condition [stop leak] does no harm. Hundreds of people on these many forums have used it. In the case of the OP, it may/probably be a small leak that evaporates and that the stop leak could fix. And don't put too much faith in the MLS OEM gaskets that they started to use in 2010 [on outbacks]. There have been far too many post about hg problems with the 2010+ cars.

bluebird It would be nice if you could update in a year to see if these cheapies lasted a year at least. These are the only people selling complete strut assemblies for the old subarus. The cost of having even a cheap indy place to replace both rear struts is over $500 using monroe so these are an alternative.

Yes, add this right away. A number of posters have said that it does no harm and can actually stop an outside leak for quite a while. I have an 02, and I wouldn't think of not using it.

I couldn't believe that partsgeek had an assembled rear strut for $70+. But I see that they do! It's from FCS whoever they are. For that amount of money, I would buy them, but first check that the spring is compressed with a top hat, as seems to be indicated in the picture. I didn't have any problem getting the bottom bolts off with a 95 and a 97 struts so you shouldn't either. A cheater is necessary of course.

I once thought that way too. But I'm seeing too many failures on the HG Log like the following. Subaru model: Outback Limited Edition Canadian model Year: 2011 Engine Size: 2.5 Mileage: 98,500ish km (58,800 miles)

They sell the spray cans at autozone [although the people there don't know where they are located].

I just had the on again/off again dreaded 16 flashes on the AT light on a 95. It could be a few things of course, but most likely it's an electrical failure on the Duty C solenoid. The 16 flashes will most most likely return. The dealership can pin point the cause, for $65 [when it's flashing or course]. It cost me $650 to replace the solenoid at the dealership. When it flashes, you are in locked up four wheel drive, hence the torque bind vibration when you are turning on dry pavement.

Oops. I misread your previous post. I wonder if 198K on a 00-09 NA engine without a HG replacement is a record?

You should go to an indy shop, BUT only one that has repaired a lot of subarus. A good question to ask an indy shop is "how many subaru HG's have you replaced. If it's a decent subaru shop, they have to have done 40-50+. Another consideration is that your HG may not last much longer. You have 50K on it. Some posters have had problems with dealership or indy Hg's replacements. Of course, maybe your dealership is expensive but does excellent repairs? But that's not the way to bet. As a side comment, I have 15K on my 02 HG replacement, and I would be ticked pink if I get 50K. Also, I bought a 14, but I didn't like the style either. I try not to look at the outside.

The only worrying thing about the 13-15's is oil consumption. I kind of think that subaru has solved that by the 15 model year.

Please, Nonyar, start a new thread.

On the 210-2012 outbacks, subaru finally went to the MLS head gasket. Unfortunately, there have been a few posts about HG leaks on these cars. So are they a good bet? Who knows, but I didn't want to take a chance. In any case, I went with a new 2014 FB subaru outback in hopes that the new engine and CVT trans are going to be reliable.

No, that's not a good place to start. First, it could be the gas cap. Second, for that old of a car [and I have 2 that old] you have to consider that there is a leak in the gas filler tube. Try and see if you can smell gas around the rear passenger tire after a fill up.

If you don't understand how to use a multimeter, then you have to flatbed your car to a dealership or a indy subaru shop.

Use car-part.com to find nearby junk yards or order one if there are none nearby. http://www.car-part.com/

They had better exceed the OE specs! The OE replacement gaskets is just the same old 633 HG that would be likely to fail.

LOL. Painting it would also be good for a few months! The POR may work but you would have to incapsulate the rust on the inside of the fender too. Obviously, one has to cut a big hole to get to the inside. The real secret especially for the fender rust, is to cut all the rusted metal out. Get down to good metal. Then fiberglas or weld metal over the hole,etc

This is tough to guess at. I had a subaru where it would stall while driving and then wouldn't start [ie fire] for a couple hours, and then it would! No codes. It's not quite the same as your problem. It turned out to be an electrical malfunction in the MAF. Trying to duplicate it at home is a good idea. You can also try and squirt some starting fluid into the intake [take the manifold apart] if you can duplicate it. At that time , you could also listen for the fuel pump starting or not. It runs for a second when you turn the ignition to "on".

I'm glad to see someone getting a 95 running again. I just had my son's 95 for a couple of weeks to fix the alternator [junk yard] and Duty C Solenoid [summers subaru]. While returning it to him to swap back for my 14, I could only think while cruising down the expressway at 75 mph, what a great car! Easy to work on, tracks good, and no vibration. I can't help much on your problems, except one thing. I think that when you get a MAF related code, you should just go to the junk yard and swap in a different one. The MAF will cause all sorts of problems and it doesn't even give a code most of the time. Good luck.

I found a post in 2011 on this forum where a guy had the same problem [an intermittent FWD failure]. The guy changed his duty c solenoid but the intermittent FWD failure wasn't fixed! One of the posters said that he found a lot of the TCM's had a transistor failure for the wiring to the duty c solenoid. So I bought a used TCM which I will install in a week. Of course the problem still could be in the external wiring or the solenoid itself. PS The trouble code for the duty c only shows an electrical problem. There is nothing in the wiring to the duty c that would allow the TCM to diagnose a stuck or plugged valve. So its got to be an electrical problem.

The duty c solenoid has started to fail on my 95 with 150K miles. It stops for awhile and I get the dreaded 16 flashes on the AT Temp light. But it then starts to work for a while. This has been going on for a 1 1/2 months. It's working now for example. I've put in the fuse and it's illuminating the FWD light, for example. I verified that it's trouble with the duty c by pulling the code [which is not easy by the way] Does this sound like a mechanical or electrical problem? I'v changed the trans fluid enough so that the fluid now is pristine. Any ideas.

Unfortunately, it could be a lot of things. It's just a matter of process of elimination. My favorite is a fuel pump failure since it just just occured on my 97. To test this, turn the key to on, you should hear the fuel pump run for about a second. Of course, if the pump is running, then you may still have the problem that maybe the fuel rail pressure isn't enough. Another approach is to take apart the intake and squirt a little starter fluid into the intake. The car should then start and run for 10 sec. This would kind of indicate a fuel problem as compared to an ignition problem.

In direct answer to the question, I have bought one alternator form Advanced Auto as well as 3 or 4 starters for 90's subarus. I haven't had a problem with any of them although I think it's a good idea to keep track of the mileage and replace at 100K. I just had a failure on a 95 auto with 150K that I had bought used. The old alternator was not OEM and didn't have any identifying logo on it. So it seems like the generic stuff can't be trusted. I kind of trust Advanced Auto rebuilt stuff.

While not exactly on topic, I would look at the alternator and starter to see if they look new. I've had a number failures with these components on 90's 2.2 engines. Just had the alternator fail on a 95. So you might think about PM on these to get another 100K of trouble free mileage.