sunking247

Howdy folks, i was recently on the UNofficial Subaru Outback Webpage, where in the FAQs section they talk about the automatic transmission 1999 Subaru Outbacks downshifting aggressively after the introduction of the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) and that partway through that year Subaru changed this part and that 1999 models with this aggressive downshifting problem can have their TCU replaced for free? Is this for real? Here is the qoute: Subaru added a 'grade control logic' program to the auto transmissions for '99 and newer models to help slow the car during long descents. In '99 the program was quite aggressive and would downshift inappropriately and race the engine. Halfway through the model year, Subaru replaced the TCU (transmission control unit) with one employing a less-aggressive profile and this helped reduce complaints. I have been told that any '99 car can be refitted with the new program free-of-charge. I live in Colorado, where I drive in the mountains quite a bit, and have found that while in D unless I am just so feather-light on the brakes on the descent after coming over a pass, the transmission will downshift suddenly with the rpms jumping from around 2500 to 3500 to 4000, it will not shift back up, but rather the rpms continue to go up as I continue to descend regardless of whether I use the brakes to slow the car down. I often have to shift into neutral and then back into OVERDRIVE. this sudden downshift does not seem out of place if I suddenly slam on the brakes because of something on the road, but seems too severe for someone travelling 85 mph who wants to slow down slightly because of someone moving slow in the passing lane. My wife often asks if the "car is alright" when it downshifts, it's that noticable. Does anyone know if this is for real and where I can get it replaced? I worry that this sudden downshifting and then subsequent shift into neutral then back into OVERDRIVE at 75-85 mph will wear out my tranny prematurely. Thanks, Steven

Hello, I recently brought my 99 Subaru Outback Wagon, automatic transmission, 103,000 miles...to a new mechanic known for being thorough (and by the book when it comes to pricing and labor hours estimates). I wasn't necessarily thrilled with their work (I had them replace my starter after replacing the battery and testing the alternator when the car kept having trouble starting...it would click or half start the first few turns of the ignition and then start up). Based on USMB advice i sought out a different independent mechanic to have some preventitive care done (changed out timing belt, cam seals, belts) and was thrilled. (Thanks USMB) The question is that I recently received a reminder letter from the first mechanic with a short list of their recommended services, in this list they have "TRANS OIL:DARK-SERVICE REQUIRED." Now the car is still on its original transmission, and I have been faithful with oil changes and other maintenance, but this is the first time I heard about transmission oil. I typically take my car to a local firestone to have the oil changed and they have never recommended this service, nor did the second mechanic who services the timing belt. Is this type of service expensive? Is it better to just change out the transmission all together? Does any know the ballpark price for this kind of work? I drove this car at least 3000 miles since having it serviced at the first mechanic, up into the mountains and back here in Denver, and have not noticed any sluggishness or anything with the way it changes gears. However it gets me thinking that with this kind of driving, caring for the transmission, if needed is pretty important too. Thanks, and happy new year.

Hi, I own a 1999 Subaru OUtback Wagon with 93,000 miles. The problem is that over the last two to three months I've been having an increasing problem with it not wanting to start on the first turn of the key. This happens only when starting it for the first time that day, usually in the morning after it hasn't been driven for 8 to 12 hours. The spark plugs are only a year old, and I recently bought a new battery after my mechanic informed me that it was losing its ability to hold a charge. I'm still having this problem after installing the new battery (the battery I replaced was only the second battery the car has had). I'm thinking that perhaps the starter is starting to go. I insert the key and hear a click the first few times, it's not like the battery is dead as the clock and radio presets are still correct. I have to return the key to the neutral position, and sometimes have to jiggle it a bit to get it to turn again. on the 3rd or 4th turn (sometimes after the car half turns over) the car starts and then drives fine for the rest of the day. I'd like some feedback on this problem before I head to my mechanic, also it makes my wife and I a bit nervous to drive the car as we worry about it stalling or not starting when we are far from home, resulting in a costly towing bill. The car has been fault-free up till this point. Thanks, Steven

Hi, I live in Colorado and typically drive my 1999 Subaru Outback station wagon (2.4 engine, non-turbo, 4 cyl) up into the mountain passes. The issue is that it has an automatic transmission, and on the downhills, where if I were driving a stick I would leave it in neutral and ride the brake rather than gearing down (I think it's cheaper to change out brakepads than transmissions) I leave it in D (overdrive right?). When I'm gaining speed, on a steeper section, it has a tendency to gear down, causing the RPMs to leap from 2500 or 3000 rpms to 4500 rpms, it jolts the car considerably to the point that the first time it happened I thought something was wrong. It doesn't feel right. It's annoying that the car takes control like this and I worry that it's really hard on the tranny and fuel economy. I would shift it into neutral and ride the brakes, however then i worry about putting it back into drive as the road flattens out. Is that bad for an automatic transmission car? To shift it into and out of D to 3, or 3 to 2, or N to 2/3/D as the car is moving?

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on the flat-panel sub-woofer that was an option for new 2003 outback wagons. Apparently you could have it installed under either the driver-side or passenger-side seats. This would be ideal for my station wagon as I usually leave the seats down to hold cargo, and don't want to worry about an aftermarket bass-tube or speaker box getting ripped off.

I currently own a 1999 Outback, with 90,000 miles, in really great shape. The issue is that the 6.5 inch speakers on the driver's side of the car have blown, both in the front door and in the back door. I was contemplating having new speakers installed. The speakers on the passenger side of the car still work fine, so was thinking about having the new 6.5 inch speakers installed in the rear doors and moving the original passenger side speakers to the front doors. The logic is that the older speakers will act as more of a set of "tweeters" with less bass running to them (less chance of blowing) while the new set in the rear doors will handle the majority of the bass (as they are newer and less likely to blow). Think of it as having the audio slightly moved toward the rear. Or should I just get 4 new speakers for both the front and back set?

I currently own a 1999 Outback, with 90,000 miles, in really great shape. The issue is that the 6.5 inch speakers on the driver's side of the car have blown, both in the front door and in the back door. I was contemplating having new speakers installed. The speakers on the passenger side of the car still work fine, so was thinking about having the new 6.5 inch speakers installed in the rear doors and moving the original passenger side speakers to the front doors. The logic is that the older speakers will act as more of a set of "tweeters" with less bass running to them (less chance of blowing) while the new set in the rear doors will handle the majority of the bass (as they are newer and less likely to blow). Think of it as having the audio slightly moved toward the rear. Or should I just get 4 new speakers for both the front and back set?

Sometimes at slow speeds, like crawling thru rush hour, i can hear the squeak. It's intermittent, and sounds like it's happening just as fast as the wheel is turning. You know...squeak squeak squeak and gets faster as I hit the gas. It still goes away when i hit the brakes or turn though. To asnwer One Lucky Texan's question. Apparently when they replaced the rear brakes, the mechanic did not re-connect the cable from the parking brake handle to the rear brakes. So all they did was take the rear wheels off and re-connect this cable.

I recently had my car serviced at Firestone, wear they repaired my parking brake which was not engaging, at the time they noticed a slight shimmy in my rear driver side wheel, where it would have a slight wobble when the top and bottom of it were pressed alternately, this was undetectable unless the car was on the lift. They advised me to return at a later date to have this repaired. About a week and a half later as I was driving on the highway i heard a metallic ringing noise from what sounded like my rear passenger side wheel. Almost like the sound when you wet your finger and run it around the rim of a wineglass. This ringing is not constant, it comes and goes at both highway speeds and while driving in town. It's volume changes the faster I go, and can get so loud it soundslike something is seriously wrong with the bearings or cv boot or the whole axle. It only makes this noise when i am driving straight. No matter how loud it is it goes away immediately the second I turn the wheel or hit the brakes, but sometimes comes back as soon as I am going straight or take my foot off the brake pedal...and sometimes it doesn't. I am completely stumped, and so are the people at Firestone. I brought it back to them two weeks ago, thinking that something went wrong when they took the rear wheels off the repair the parking brake. They spent an hour and a half taking the rear passenger side wheel off and inspecting it for anything that would be making the noise. They announced that nothing was wrong with the wheel or its fitting and gave it a clean bill of health. A week later the ringing came back, and I am hesitant to bring it back to them again without a specific request or recommendation. I am hoping someone on the message board has an idea, cause I am STUMPED.

But I wonder if I can shift back and forth while I am driving the car?

I know this is a strange question, but it's something I've done for years, since I learned how to drive on a manual and then ended up buying automatic after automatic. I now drive a 1999 Subaru Outback, with 80,000 miles on it, that is in great condition. My question is this, it has 4 speeds (or gears?), D-3-2-1. I understand that D is for overdrive, and is similar to a fifth gear for highways speeds (over 40-45 mph), and in the city I sometimes shift it into 3 in stop and go traffic, but will then shift it into D as I speed up on a large street. As I do this, while I'm going about 45 mph, I can see my rpms drop from 3700 to about 3100 or so. I understand this as shifting from 4th gear to 5th gear in a manual. Am I hurting my car's transmission by doing this shifting manually? Should I just leave it in D, and let the car do the shifting for me? What about when I should use 2 and 1 gear? Can I downshift while I am exiting the highway by shifting from D to 3, like in a manual, to help slow down? Please respond.

Hi, had the oil changed on my 90 loyale wagon, 155,000 miles on her, and runnng strong. The mechanic told me the master cylinder and rear cylinders needed to be replaced as they were leaking badly and I would eventually lost the ability to stop, which would be a bummer. He qouted me $300 total, parts and labor, is this a fair qoute? It's from Brakes Plus, and they offered to knockoff 10% since I have been getting my oil changed there for a while.

Hello, I own a 1990 Loyale Wagon, I replaced the front axle when I bought it two years ago because the front cv boots were both torn. Two years later I live in the big city where potholes and dips (instead of speed bumps) are everywhere. My driver's side cv becomes cracked again, and I replace it before it tears. Notice small cracks on the passenger side but let it go for a while as I'm low on cash and it can get alot worse before it needs replacing. Runs great, but got new tires a couple days ago, and now have a small click click click sound coming from the front passenger side. It's not constant, it's not on sharp turns (rules out the cv boot right?), but rather on straight stretches. It only comes at slower speeds (0-15 or 20mph), goes away when I step on the brakes but comes right back when I take my foot off the brake pedal. I heard a good test to see if the bearing is shot is to spin the tire when the car is up on a lift, if you hear a grinding noise as you rotate the tire the bearing is bad. Did this when I brought it back to the tire place but heard nothing. The tire place inspected it (I was hoping that maybe they had bent some harmless piece of metal on the undercarraige and now it was hitting the rim or something). Brought the car to an alignment place, where the mechanic inspected it and assured me that while the bearing may not be in brand new condition it wasn't that cause for the click. So what is it? Here's a puzzler for all of you. Help! Steven

Hello, I purchased a 1990 Subaru Loyale wagon two years ago from a private owner. At the time of purchase one of the cv boots was torn, and my mechanic rather than changing just the one recommended replacing to whole front axle as I would then get 2 new cv boots for about the same cost. I did this, it ran great, etc... Now two years later, I'm living in Denver where there are dips everywhere used as "traffic calmers" and I imagine my axle is getting a workout. I have noticed a slight shimmy in the steering wheel in the last couple weeks at about 55mph, that then smooths out at about 65 mph. Also, I'm hearing a moaning when I'm turning the steering wheel at slow speeds (like when pulling out of a parking spot) and it goes away once I've straightened out. My girlfriend had an old GL wagon that had the same problems and she's convinced that we must have bent the new axle somewhere along the way. I noticed that one of the cv boots was starting to crack and I had this replaced two weeks ago, but the problems still persist. My question is: Is the shimmy due to bad tire balance/old tires/underinflation etc that can be fixed by getting new tires? (they do need replacing). Or is the shimmy and the moaning part of the same problem, namely the front axle, and if so how can I determine this? Please respond if you have any ideas, we just bought our first house and money is really tight right now, I'd hate to go chasing after the wrong thing. Thanks, Steven

Hello, Was going to check the oil on my Loyale, went to pull the hood release lever from inside the car, and encountered no resistance when I pulled it. Guessing that the cable had broken, I kept pulling...and pulled out the lever handle with about 5-6 feet of cable on the end of it. The other end is frayed and I'm guessing it broke of pretty close to the hood latch. This is not good, especially since my Loyale leaks oil and I usually add about a 1/3 to 1/2 a quart a month. Am trying to get it to open, and have managed to pull the latch hook away from the metal bar that the hood latches onto. However even when I do this the hood doesn't pop up or release. Furthermore the spring loaded handle that I usually reach in through the grill to press (once I have pulled the hood release lever from in the car) in order to fully unlatch and open the hood is not making an appearance when I manage to pull the latch hook. Coming to the point, my hood won't open, what can I do? I called a local independent Subaru place who gave me a qoute of $110 (parts and labor) to replace the cable. Is this about right?

Hi, I have a 1990 Subaru Loyale 3 spd non-turbo wagon, about 147,000 miles on her, runs like a dream usually. She's always had a clicking sound whenever I'm getting up to highway speed or hitting an incline. The clicking is there even when i gear down on a grade. It goes away when I back of the gas pedal and automatically comes back again if I press the gas a little harder again. I try not to drive her so that I get the clicking sound, as I've been told when it clicks it's actually bad for the car. I've been told it's due to either pre-combustion, or carbon build-up, neither of which can really be fixed so that they go away. I live in Denver, so when I do take my FWD wagon up to the mountains for some skiing, I'll run premium in her, and this will give her some more power and clicking doesn't set in so early, sometimes not at all. She does have a couple slow oil leaks, one from the valve cover gasket, but I just check that regularly and keep it filled. The big puzzling issue comes when I'm exiting off of the highway, for those who live in Denver, it's the eastbound 6th avenue exit off of I-25 South. It's a long cloverleaf turn to the right, where I'm turning onto a highway perpendicular to the one I'm exiting off of. No matter how fast or slow I go, once I'm almost thru the turn I hear the clicking sound, much louder this time, and clouds of dark grey smoke are coming out of my muffler. So much smoke that the car behind me has to slow down. I've got my own smoke screen! The smoke stops coming out after 50-100 yards, while it is coming out I can feel the car lose a little power, but once it goes away the power comes back again. Needless to say, I avoid this exit like crazy because I don't want to get pulled over or something. My question is this: What is making the clicking sound, and what's up with the smokescreen? Steven

Hi, this is my first time posting, but I've got a real problem here. I own a 1990 Subaru Loyale Wagon, bought it with 120,000 miles and have since put on another 30,000. The last owner treated it pretty well, but did alot of the repairs himself, and not very well. On a trip up to the Rockies 6 months ago, it threw the timing belt and I was stranded. Long story short, had it towed to a nearby town and ended up spending 2 nights in the mountains while I waited for the par to show up and the labor to be done. In doing the labor, most of the front half of my car had to be removed and then re-installed in order to access the timing belt casing. When it's all said and done, I've spent about $700. 2 months later, a bearing in the tensioner pulleys seized and froze up, and burning rubber smoke starts coming out from under the hood. My poor wife was driving and was able to limp the last mile and a half home, but was literally scared out of her wits that the car might explode on her or something. Anyway, had the pulley replaced, had the belts replaced, good as new right? Wrong, in the last 3 months have had to replace the ac belt twice, both times getting stuck on the side of the road. From the comments of you good people and from picking a mechanic friend's brain, I have narrowed it down to the AC compressor. I think the pulley is slow, putting undue heat and pressure on the belt, causing them to eventually and prematurely fail. Further proof of this is the clicking sound that comes from this pulley any time I turn on any of the heating or ac functions, it immediately goes away once I turn off the defroster, ac, etc... And that my AC doesn't work anymore anyway. My question is: can i bypass the AC compressor pulley and just use a shorter AC belt? Or do i just always have to keep a spare ac belt in the car and be ready to replace it at all times? Steven

Hi, this is my first time posting, but I've got a real problem here. I own a 1990 Subaru Loyale Wagon, bought it with 120,000 miles and have since put on another 30,000. The last owner treated it pretty well, but did alot of the repairs himself, and not very well. On a trip up to the Rockies 6 months ago, it threw the timing belt and I was stranded. Long story short, had it towed to a nearby town and ended up spending 2 nights in the mountains while I waited for the par to show up and the labor to be done. In doing the labor, most of the front half of my car had to be removed and then re-installed in order to access the timing belt casing. When it's all said and done, I've spent about $700. 2 months later, a bearing in one of the pulleys that the ac belt runs on seizes, the pulley freezes, and burning rubber smoke is coming out from under the hood. My poor wife was driving and was able to limp the last mile and a half home, but was literally scared out of her wits that the car might explode on her or something. Anyway, had the pulley replaced, had the belts replaced, good as new right? Wrong, in the last 3 months have had to replace the ac belt twice, both times getting stuck on the side of the road. My question is: could the labor that was done to replace the timing belt have resulted in something in the assembly to be a little off, resulting in my ac belts constantly shredding? Please reply, I need to know, before I go chasing this mechanic down. Steven