ThosL

The shop in Waterbury said the 2.2 is an easier job than the 2.5. You never know what you are going to get when you open up the water pump/timing belt compartment someone said; so we'll see.

I was hoping this was just a leaking hose problem, as "Splash" oil change/car wash said; I ran it by Monroe who after quite a while with a flashlight and looking at the schematic said it was the water pump. $700 estimate there, same at another trusted mechanic for timing belt too, another shop with an hour drive away was around $400.

'99 Outback. What is the likely range of prices for water pump or timing belt? I asked the mechanic whether it was a $400 or more and he was shocked that I thought it would be that little.

The mechanic at the local Gulf station took a quick look and said it was water pump. Car has 275K on it, as I am not the first owner and the engine was a 2.2 replacement, not sure when timing belt was done. I have done water pumps on a GM pick up years ago, I'm just afraid I would be left with a basket case if I opened this one up.

I have had a sudden water leak over the last week; is this likely the water pump going on me as with other vehicles? I checked the obvious places and it seems to be coming out of the center of engine, not hoses. How would I do a proper inspection, or do I need to get to a garage asap?

Thanks for those ideas. Unfortunately this is one of the more expensive parts of the world, Connecticut. I don't think she would rely on her brothers unless they are around on specifics; actually my brother recommended the Norwalk mechanics as an alternative to the chain mechanics and other service stations that charge big time for everything. If I am around I will try to advise her. People with weak minds make bad decisions.

Thanks for the responses. My sister is over 60 has had mental breakdowns and my brother has strongly counselled in the past against doing anything to add stress to her life. The "mechanic" John Soltis in Norwalk supposedly knows Subarus. Fred's Auto in Norwalk sold her the car a few years ago used and I remember the exhaust going out within a month, probably the front part. So my thought was after getting the rejection from Fred's Auto then to go to the state to complain under the lemon law. My brother says it would be stressful for the sister, etc.. So nothing was done and the repair then was $1500. Weakness seems to prevail but I should go on to Angies LIst if Soltis in unresponsive. I deal with a lot of deceptive practices in numismatics which is my main income source.

My sister who is disabled showed me a whopping bill recently on her 1996 Subaru from a local mechanic. I'm wondering if this is a typical mechanic practice of tripling their cost of parts as their main method of profit, and charging less on labor? The bill showed a charge of $247 for the muffler, $313 for the center pipe another $40 or so for gaskets, etc.. Labor was $135. I keep telling her if whatever is going on with the car is not affecting performance, not making enough noise to put it in the police stop category, and since she rarely drives more than 50 miles in a day, it makes absolutely no sense for a disabled person to spend money she does not have and cannot afford. And there are plenty of shops that need a constant flow of money and suckers. I guess she was lucky not to go to Midas?

On my '99 Outback, I have Starfire tires, one blew out last year on a bad dirt road, so I bought a used spare. Subsequently, I replaced three with new tires, and kept one of the tired Starfires it still has tread. Tire places and garages refuse to rotate the tires, I figured it would be better on the rear than driver's side front. How long have they been refusing to rotate tires if they deem them a risk? It seems a lame excuse they are afraid of lawsuits/liability they say. With the cost of these tires around $85 each installed, it sure seems to be a biased approach.

OK, thanks for the feedback on this from the pros. Maybe the topic will help out someone else because sometimes we need to be reminded.

I was at an auto parts place the other day and did not want to spend $5 a quart; I mentioned that to the counter worker and he pulled out a case of part synthetic, I think it was "Parts Plus" brand and cost $2.50 a quart. Is this a significant issue with it being summer and cars running hotter than usual? Somehow motor oil has crept up in price, what are the best options of affordability and quality?

On the front end issue, hopefully I have seen the end of this for the time being. Morales auto wasn't able to get the driver's side knuckle out to change the lower bearing after putting in the tie rods. So I got a used front knuckle for $75 and they installed that the next day. Town Fair does alignments for $70, I am getting that done, has not had an alignment in a while. From the look of things alignments are usually pretty minimal with the newer cars, with mine it should be another story.

http://www.cartalk.com/ Have you ever called these jokers for car advice? An organic farmer once recommended I call them on a car problem, are mechanics in general so reluctant to give good free car advice?

I'm OK most of the time with my gas filler issue, with older pumps the gas leaks, sometimes badly. I just look for modern pumps, etc..

OK, I stopped at Advance today and have an appointment this afternoon for the job. Follow-up; a less expensive garage, Morales Auto in New Milford did the rear brakes for around $111. Since Ebrakes are not required by law, I will not pay to fix mine. That's all I had to pay and it probably wasn't even necessary to do that as they were 60% or so worn. But the fear I went through a few days ago made me think this was going to be an expensive problem which it wasn't.

They did not give me a written estimate. They said the verbal prices they gave me were based on repairing the E brake and the rear brake parts. They just showed me a bunch of loose parts that came out when they removed the rear hub, so I was thinking this was going to be a minimum of several hundred dollars. But it could have been a lot worse I guess. I was passing through New Haven on the way to Guilford, when I hear all this racket and grinding sounds and difficulty in driving. So I call J and J. They said they would charge around $300 to tow it to their garage in New Milford. Then I call AAA and they actually have pretty low rates for towing. Then I called F and S and he told me to get the car jacked up and check out the wheel for play. There wasn't any play in the wheel. So I look for a mechanic at a factory and of course they were afraid of helping a stranger in distress and said they didn't have any one who could help diagnosis. So then I drove it several miles with the terrible grinding sound. As far as I know it is just the broken E-brake that caused all the trouble. Monro gave me the parts they did not put back in a little bag. What a relief.

It turns out that the parts needed to be taken apart. Today I had a terrible grinding noise develop in the rear hub, I thought it was the bearing. I stopped at a Monro dealer and once they got it apart it turned out to be the emergency brake parts that messed up the rear driver's side brake hub. They estimated the job at around $1000 but said they could not get to it for a few days so I asked them to put it back together and they were able to do it safely and charged me under $70 for the labor. Too bad the two basic maintenance jobs I had in the last couple months, one at another Monro, they did not check the rear brake hubs. I will try to get this fixed next week. There was no play in the rear wheel so unlikely the bearing is going. It was the e-brake problem making noises like a bad bearing.

Connecticut may have been a wealthy state at one point, but it is a lot spottier now with many low income people. As a result people look around for better deals but even the discount or budget mechanics still angle for the bigger bucks they raked in during fat times. The bearing makes noise once in a while, too bad there is no way to inject teflon or wheel grease into the affected parts to prolong life.

Thanks, I'll check with F and S in Roxbury, I can't afford over $500 on my income for one of many problems that come along every couple months. Front knuckles in excellent shape may be hard to find but rear ones have got to be more available .

OK, thanks. I will probably seek out a second opinion after this one.

One of my wheel bearings is going on my '99 Outback. It just started making the grinding noises a few days ago so I am limiting my use of the car until it becomes clear what the risks are. I went down to a local shop today and their estimate was $550 as he said both sides should be done at the same time with bearings and seals needing replacement. Labor he figured at $345 for the job. Is this fair? How would other handle the problem?? Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback on this, I replaced the two rears tires, so now they are pretty close in matching. Rotation is next as the tire place did not think that was necessary.

I bought my Subaru after the original owner got the head gasket, etc. diagnosis from his mechanic, so a couple of Joses from Bport picked it up and my guess used the Blue Devil treatment and flipped the car for a huge profit, $1200 to $3000! So the car with the 2.5 ran well for a while until it was overstressed, then started overheating. I tried Blue Devil, which by the way is not the thick "Block Seal" stuff made from ground up sea shells. There are a bunch of leak seal products out there Blue Devil is the only one with a real guarantee. Only when I tried it Advance Auto said they would not refund my money and Blue Devil said they needed more information to give me my money back. So I reported them to the CT attorney general with documentation. They cried "uncle" and called me up saying they were sending the refund. I ended up having the head gasket job done by J and J; only problem was with the increased compression the crankshaft problem emerged with a knocking noise. So I ended up having a 2.2 engine put in to the tune of another $1500. Always make sure the engine you are going to fix is worth fixing.

Maybe that is what J and J picked up a couple of months ago. But I took the car for a second opinion at F and S in Roxbury. They got it up on the lift thankfully and found no rack issue. How often do people give the go ahead on unnecessary mechanical work "just to be safe"?

My Outback is a station wagon. I would be embarrassed if it had a leather bra on the front!