ThosL

I went there mainly for the front end noise, I have had grinding noises in previous Subarus along the similar lines, cv joints make all kinds of noise when they go bad but the ones I have in there now are relatively recent, so I figured bearings, etc.. It will run at 65 mph without a lot of noise or vibration, frankly performance issues are not a big deal.

When do these front end problems become a driving hazard? The shop that did the diagnosis made it sound like I should not be driving the car. The grinding sound is pretty mild at this point, only made worse when making sharp turns or turning around in a particular way.

I see you are from Canada, so is that in Canadian dollars?

My sister goes to a guy locally referred by my brother, I figured he would charge more than the junk yard shop out in the sticks. Connecticut is expensive compared to other parts of the country. Give my regards to my cousin in Stevens Point.

Thanks for the quick responses. They said it could take 5 hours and they usually run into extra problems and were allowing with that in the estimate, business is probably slow for F and S now, hence the $$$, they said their hourly rate is $85.

Hi, I went up to a Subaru shop today, they put my 99 Outback up on the lift. Wheels wiggle, the bearing is that bad. They said I needed one new wheel bearing and an inner tie rod and a ball joint, though both wheels have a lot of play in them. They said it would run $750 including alignment afterwards, $600 without. I'm on a budget, low income. Is this reasonable? I think I did a front knuckle assembly once, ordered the part online used, my current living situation that is not going to work. Would appreciate thoughts on this job. The shop said that the car should not be driven that much, "how far do you have to go?" etc, which can be sales gimmick, in this case I doubt it. They said most Subies of that vintage have already worn bearings so putting in a knuckle with the used bearing is not recommended, and though they have many junkers around to get parts from, they said it might be hard to find a knuckle with a ready to go good bearing.

OK, I will check her receipts. She regularly goes to "Oil Star" and shells out $50 for the oil change, much more often than she needs to as much as I advise her to look around for the $25 specials; on the tune up, it may be overdue, but frankly for someone who rarely puts more than 30 miles on the vehicle on a given day, it is hard to see why she would need much in the way of replacements.

It is running fine now, but the flashing check engine remains a mystery. She has had tune ups done regularly and puts about as many miles on it as your grandmother.

I drove my sister's Legacy to church yesterday with her; the CEL started flashing and power got weaker though not basket case situation; the problem went away later, I refilled the anti-freeze this morning. Personally I would not be concerned but she is disabled and worried as she has a lot of "professionals" who help her. My thinking is running it by Auto Zone they would do a free code check and cel reset. Any clues, could the low reservoir antifreeze fluid have triggered this?

I;ve gone through a head gasket replacement job as well as a new engine, this time I had a low mileage 2.2 installed instead of the faulty 2.5. You could baby it with attention to all issues relevant to keeping the systems functioning and running as cool as possible.

I changed mine yesterday, it took fifteen minutes which will probably cause the mechanics to laugh, but hey, I used a dysfunctional wrench. The old one did look clogged up a little, too bad it is not automatic to offer a replacement when they are changing the oil. There is no lube needed on 99 outbacks only oil and filter so what's the big deal? Why do they need to exagerate the mystique of mechanic work by charging so much? My sister is paying $50 per oil change, and she hardly drives her Subaru while I have nearly 245K on mine.

I changed it yesterday, $3 at Advance auto and a fifteen minute installation.

Ok, thanks for the warning. I will try to check mine today.

OK, thanks. It never leaks except with filling up with the older style pumps.

Hi--I have a problem with my 99 Legacy outback; when I fill the gas, the station pumps becomes the issue whether I leak significant gas or not. Apparently the gas fill area has rusted and I will leak with some pumps but not with the good ones. J and J said the part and installation is a $400 job or so. What are my option with this and what is the secret to going to gas stations with the right pumps? Also I noticed I was down two quarts of oil recently probably due to the excess heat effects. Should I use Restore, Lucas or other oil additive to correct the issue as I changed the oil at Walmart yesterday?

I have the same problem with a partly rusted/closed rear hatch opener. I push it all the way down and then use the key or electric opener and am able to get it open that way.

Now that I recharged my A/C and have had it on, miles per gallon definitely dropped; what caused me to not use the air conditioning years ago was the evident poor mileage when it was on, technology has improved however. My take away on this discussion is to use your discretion, but those who are physically handicapped should use it whenever the humidity and or heat dictate. Having your sister develop a body heat of 103.5 are require an ambulance and hospital stay for two days after a trip to the beach, is not something that I would wish on others.

My sister's A/C is a medical necessity; I charged it yesterday with an Auto Zone recharge product and it is ice cold now in her 1996 Subaru 2.2. I mistakenly told her that A/C puts a burden on an engine, so she did not use it and developed heat exhaustion after a three plus hour trip and spent two days in the hospital recently. How many people here never or almost never use the A/C in their cars? How much does its use affect miles per gallon and other issues? Thank you!

I had the same problem, it was the head gaskets on the 2.5 and eventually the problem became too serious to let go so I paid the $1500 or so for the head gasket job, only problem is the pressure came up after the job so the crank started making noise. I ended up looking for a replacement which happened to be a 2.2 from a 96 or so. The car has been mostly been running like a top ever since. A couple possible short term fixes could be add another fan; get the best coolant, I think they make a special synthetic for high heat zones; turning on the engine heat on a hot day may make you uncomfortable, but may wick away enough heat to keep the engine from over-heating. I also tried Blue Devil, an expensive additive, but that did not help much and they refused to refund my money until I contacted the state AG with the complaint. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. Yes, one of the sliders was stuck. How important is it that they can adjust freely and not be frozen? Thanks.

I have noticed that one of the wheels, the metal part of the brake pads in the wheel, have been very hot after running after I changed the brake pads yesterday. I jacked it up again, pulled off the tire and did not see that anything in the brakes was improperly installed. What could go wrong in a brake pad installation where lines were not bled, it was simply a re-installation of what was taken off with the new pads after the pistons were forced back in? There are no sound or performance issues but the metal is extremely hot to the touch after running for 15 minutes.

I had a couple of curve balls on this job; I had the Subaru jacked up ready to install new pads, but channel locks would be no good on that like the older models. So I checked with neighbors for a C clamp, no one offered one. I put the wheel back together. Later I went back to Advance, they have a free loaner brake tool set for around $100; that I used just for the C clamp tool to push in the four caliper pistons. Unfortunately the ground was not level this time and the car fell off the jack, but I used the wheel under the car ploy in case this happened. So I was able to re-position the slightly damaged jack properly and finish the job. Another curve ball; the 14mm bolts holding the caliper in took a lot of positioning to get to properly go back in. The guy at Advance gave me a packet of anti-seize to put on the bolts. I should be OK now; I think.

Thanks for the advice on the cat. but what I saw was that there is a fix but that mechanics do not want to do it because of the law; I went to F and S in Roxbury today that has hundreds of junk Subarus in their yard and was able to diagnose the MAF/MAP sensor problem, so now there are no problem codes, no check engine light. I will put it through emissions at the next logical time.

I ordered the cat converter from discount catalytic converters for around $170, mechanic wants $100 to install. The other unit is OK. Once I get that done I will try to get the other issues nailed down through the mechanic.

I don't have the answer to that question, others may know whether WD40 or PB Blaster would work. I have fears of something dropping into the spark plug holes and doing engine damage, possible if you are not attentive. Advice here is to just use OE NGKs not Bosch or any of those platinum, iridium, quattros etc....