Digger19

Just driving home, stopped at a traffic light and the engine started to run like crap in an instant. Looked at the instrument panel. Check engine light on, abs light on, no RPM on tach, fuel qty dropped to empty, and temp very low. Limped her home, shut it off, and now will not start or even turn over. Measured battery voltage. 11.87 volts as I was thinking that because it wouldn't turn over bat was low and possibly the alternator had failed, but I really don't know. All engine lights on instrument panel seem to illuminate dimly when trying to engage the starter, but nada happens.

Found a leak in the radiator. Bought a new one. Have not had any overheating problems since although today after I shut the car off there were some slow bubbling(1 every second or so) occuring in the overflow tank. Is this normal or is it indicative of an impeding HG failure?

The overflow was almost empty. Topped it up and took the car for a drive. Temperature was normal. There was no bubbling in the overflow at all. No white smoke out hte tailpipe. After I shut it down could definitely smell antifreeze in from the front of the car. Nothing dripping on the ground, but am guessing I have a leak somewhere.

Radiator took about 2 quarts of fliud. I am sure this was the cause of the overheating. Question is, where did the antifreeze go? At times I can smell the antifreeze outside the car after I shut the engine down. Does this mean an external leak, or would a blown head gasket let some pass out the tailpipe? Could a bad rad cap cause fluid loss?

Car has 215k km. Have not done a compression test. Only assuming it is head gasket as car started overheating on acceleration and when speed started to get over 90kph. The temp fluctuates quite rapidly between normal to slightly low to very hot depending on load. When I loosened the radiator cap antifreeze wanted to bubble out of the rad. I assume rings are still good as car does not use any oil( have used synthetic from new). Right now I just need to get the car going as it is our families only vehicle.

I have a 97 Outback Ltd. Engine is a 2.5 DOHC. Can I replace the head gaskets with removing the engine even though removing it may be easier?

The car has 180000K. What is this plate and can it be changed without removing the engine?

I have a 97 Outback with 2.5 DOHC. I am pumping oil out all over the place, and most of it ends up on the exhaust. Can't really tell where it is coming from. Starting to get embarrassing. I was thinking about pulling the engine, changing the cam, crank, etc oil seals, and while the engine is out replacing the head gaskets as well as I am starting to consume about a 1/2 liter of coolant every 10000k. Unless there is something more obvious I should be looking at thats easier?? In any case, how long to pull the engine, change the seals and head gaskets and get the engine back in. I have 4 days off coming up and want to do it then. Is it workable?

My 97 Outback has been doing it for the better part of 5 years. Sometimes goes for weeks without a problem, then will happen daily for a few days then quit again. Especially noticeable after a glide down a long hill. Started 100,000 K ago and hasn't gotten any worse or better, so I'll live with it.

Thank you WAWAlker. You hit it right on. Just a shame that I spent $150 and far too many hours repairing something that in the end took only 15 minutes to ultimately fix. And to think that some people think that the internet is a waste of time and resources. Couldn't have resolved this without it. Once again, Thanks to everyone who put their two bits worth in

Thanks for all the help: Both cams rotated clockwise looking from the front of the engine. As I read more and listen to the engine, I am leaning toward a faulty/tired tensioner. What drives me there is the history of the component( at least from what I read) and the consistent yet inconsistent knock. As I would now think that I damaged nothing else during the replacing of the belt, sounds like the logical place to go next.

Question: If when I caught the axle stand on the trailing arm when I lowered the car, could a damaged bushing on the fwd end of the trailing arm cause driveline vibrations and gear noise to be transmitted through the frame/body of the car. The lowering of the car onto the axle stand was the only abnormal thing that happened when I initially ground and reinstalled the rotors. It is not brakes as braking makes no difference in the sound, and the dust plates are all well clear of the rotors. I checked the bushing on the trailing arm as good as I could in situ but not sure if that is really a practical way to check its servicability The more I try to isolate the noise, which when lifting off the throttle at highway speeds sound more like a high frequency metallic vibration/rattle, it sounds like it is coming from the r/h side of the car just fwd of the rear wheel well. At lower speeds 30kph and slowing down I hear what sounds like the whirring sound of gears being slowed down. At 50-70 KPH as a rule I hear nothing. What noise cuold I expect to hear if the drive shaft center bearing is coming apart and could I expect any other symptoms from it?

My suspicion is that #2 was not near TDC if #1 is. #3 or #4 maybe, and that is why i asked about the piston position. Can't quite see all of your tensioner, but it looks different than mine. Mine has two bolts holding attaching it to the blockand I know that on later models they went to 1 bolt tensioners. Having said all that, the noise disappears totally more or less when the engine is warm. The reason I say more or less, is after driving it for 10 minutes yesterday, idling away it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Later in the day, the noise was there as soon as I started the car. Drove for a couple of blocks, the noise disappeared. Arrived at my destination about 5 minutes later and it was there sporatically but regularily. Drove home three hours later, it was there on start, disappeared quickly and was not there when I arrived home. It is quite loud as I hear it inside the car no problem at all. Sounds like someone is taking a hammer to the head of the piston if I could describe it, or the diesel clanking but more rhythmic is also an adequate description. Can piston slap be this loud or have this type of sound? Do these engines have any history of lifters leaking down? If so could this cause the sound I am describing? For the last 5 or six months I had beeen noticing when I started the car up in the morning a ticking sound, much like maladjusted or bad lifters. Went away after a few minutes. Could it progress to this type of noise this fast?

How loud does piston slap get? Can't hear this at all from inside the car, but man is it loud outside. Sounds like a clunky old deisel rattling away. This would be the best way to describe it. The noise though isolated to what I think is #2 cylinder. Because I cant hear it from inside the car this may have been going on for longer than I thought, but then again maybe not. DOHC. Took the timing covers off and all accessory belts this morning. Knock is more rhythmic than I thought with engine cold. When I was listening last night I had just driven the car for about 10K and that may account for the more sparatic sound.

With #1 cylinder at TDC where are the other cylinders relative to TDC irrespective of what stroke they may be on. Reason I am asking is I just changed my timing belt. While trying to break the crank pulley slipped three teeth on the crank gear. After I finally got the pulley off the driver side cams came off the lobes and slipped from their timing marks. Rotated 120 degrees for the top cam. Don't remember how much the bottom rotated when it came off the cam lobes. Put the engine back together last Sunday, started fine and ran fine. Today, I was outside the car with the engine running(for the first time since) and I hear a noticable knocking. Decreases in volume with RPM increase but still there none the less. Coming from the drivers side of the engine. At times I think it is from the #2 cylinder area, and at other times I think it is from the timing cover area. Really hard to tell. The knock is quite loud. It is not erratic but is. In other words it is not like every second or every half second , but is more like 6 or seven knocks rapidly one after the other, then nothing for a few seconds, then the pattern repeats. My thinking is I may have bent a valve when the cams slipped from their timing marks as their is quite the push by the lifters/springs when the cams slip off the top of the lobes. I would think though that a bent valve would have a more consistent knock though. I am going to take the timing covers off tomorrow morning, check things over and see if the noise goes away. Any other ideas??

I usually use a 2x4 and jack on the body panel(same location you would use the factory jack) just forward of the wheel well, then place an axle stand under the body attach point just forward of the trailing arm forward attach point. When I did the r/h brake I had positioned the floorjack in such a manner that I could not get the axle stand in. I started to lower the jack then I heard a clunk. I had for gotten to move the axle stand out of the way and it had caught the edge of the trailing arm at the forward end and then flipped out of the way. Doesn't appear to be any damage to the trailing arm or the bushing though, unless I am missing simething.

Okay, but not okay. Fixed the ABS fault I created. Changed the r/h rear drive axle. Still have the problem with the howl. I am going to change my characterization of the noise to a howl that can be heard as the car slows down and gears down (city driving), as well as a higher pitched howl with an extreme metallic vibration (short lived) that comes immediately after I let my foot off of the throttle at highway speeds. If I listen closely I think I can hear it even under light throttle loads at 30-50 MPH. Still believe it is coming from the r/h side but not so sure. Crawled back under the car, both wheels off the ground. Turned the drive shaft by hand. Feels very smooth and quiet. Grabbed the l/h axle while turning the driveshaft. Feels smooth with some slight pulling of the axle once in a while. Grabbed the r/h axle while turning the driveshaft. Smooth for most of it, then repeatedly and sudddenly I can feel the r/h axle start to want to rotate in my hands. Have to hang on much tighter to prevent it from turning in my hand. Could this be a bearing failure in the r/h output of the differential, and the sound I am hearing is the howl of a bad rear end?

Looking for some info. What are the chances that the r/h rear wheel, axle and bearing hub are the same part for a 96 Outback Limited and my 97? Looking to a wrecker to provide the parts and he has the aforementioned.

I thought about the drive shaft/ differential etal. Had my wife sit in the back seat on the passenger side today.She definitely said the noise is to her right and behind, which leads me to the right rear wheel again. Only thing left there that moves that I have not replaced is the axle. May look to a wrecker for a used one. Will look further at the drive shaft components as well when I have it up. On a side note when I replaced the rear wheel bearing and put it back together, came up with an ABS fault. I know I bent the backing plate a bit trying to press out the bearing. I see the sensor gap is probably about .100" or more and I attribute that to the fact that I did not get the plate straight enough. I am assuming that this is what is causing the fault light. If not I would hate to think about the cost of a new sensor.

Had a busy few days. Changed the timing belt on the front end and changed out the r/h rear wheel bearing. The bearing did not fix the noise. The noise though is more of a slight howl at low speeds and progresses to a overwhelming squeal with some body rattling at highway speeds. Further to my previous information, while the noise is much more pronounced on decelleration, and not present at all in FWD only or under a heavy throttle load, I can hear it faintly while cruising as well.

I removed the fuse this morning. Screech was still there. Interestingly though at highway speeds, when I lift slightly from the throttle, the noise is tremendous. Slip the tranny into neutral and the noise goes away. Put it back into gear and the noise returns. Definitely is the right wheel. I ordered a rear wheel bearing today as the more I think about things the more I lean toward the bearing. Strange though how the first incling I got that there was a problem was immediately after I did the rotors. Can only conclude that the jacking process caused a possibly marginal bearing to become more marginal. Will now for sure Thursday morning.

First cut on rotors I replaced 18 months ago. Only took about .005" off this time. I agree I don't think it is the wheel bearings, as the sound would have not went away when I put in the FWD fuse. Similarly, if the park brake was not seated properly, the noise would not disappear with the FWD fuse in either. I checked the park brake installation twice to make sure everything was all in tact when I first encountered the problem just to make sure. The only things that are affected with the FWD fuse in or removed is whether there is power to the rear wheels or they are in a glide mode all the time. To me the only things therefore affected by power on/off is the differential and the axle. As I can definitely or at least I think I can definitely say the noise appears to be from the R/H wheel, I am leaning toward the cv joint on the axle. I can have it rebuilt for about $75. I thought about the clicking, but ussually you dont get that on a front axle until you are turning and the joint angle becomes more acute. The joint angle on the aft axle is rather flat and the clicking may not be as obvious. With the fuse out I had the noise none stop. With the fuse in I drove 70 miles today to work and back and had no noise at all. I will take it out tomorrow to see if the noise returns, and go from there. The noise is a very high pitched squeal. Reminds me of a dull tool on a metal lathe cutting hard steel at a high speed. But I see no metal anywhere. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I will start off with Friday morning, took the rear brake rotors in to have them turned. Had a vibration under braking and this had fixed the problem twice before. That was the only problem. Reinstalled the rotors. Took the car for a drive. Never fixed the vibration( I think I will do the fronts), but do I ever have a horrific noise/squeal coming from the right rear wheel, but not all the time. Never under load with the throttle pushed. Almost always under deceleration, no matter how slight. Goes away when accelerator is pushed back in. Worse with speed. Ear piercing at 100kph. Took the brakes back apart nothing wrong, nothing rubbing yada yada. Even went as far as backing the park brakes pads off almost completely and swapping the removable parts from one side to the other to see if the problem moved. Then I put the fuse in to engage the FWD only. Problem went away. That would leave a differential problem, but the noise is definitely from the right rear wheel, so I think I can rule that out. A wheel bearing, but I figure I would hear it with the rear drive engaged or disengaged. Lastly a drive axle, and this is what I suspect. Especially because it reacts to power train loading and unloading, and goes away with the rear wheel drive disengaged. Would like to know if I should be looking somewhere else or would my thinking be correct?. What astounds me if this is the case is the only thing I did was jack the car. Nothing was wrong before this. Could the extended travel of the suspension while jacked have caused a joint failure in the axle? Looks as if these are expensive little units. Want to make sure I am changing the right piece before I order one.

Does your horn and your cruise control on the steering wheel work? Only asking because when the clock spring broke on the mechanism behind the steering wheel on my Outback I got the airbag light. When trying to troubleshoot it I realized the other stuff was not working. Won't like the cost of it if you have to replace it.

Had to remove my steering wheel to change out the signal lever assy. As I did not have a steering wheel puller I initially tried pulling on the wheel while tapping on the steering shaft with a brass drift. I couldn't make any headway so went out and bought a puller and got the job done. In any case when it came time to putting everything back together, I notice two things. First is the steering shaft covers(trim), upper and lower now bind on the back of the steering wheel although slightly. Secondly, even with the steering shaft covers off and not binding, the steering wheel has tightened up noticeably turning left and right from neutral. Not significantly, but noticably. I suspect that the steering shaft has moved in(forward) a bit and is causing my problems. Without know what is involved in the shaft installation I dont know if it is something I can reposition, or if I may have compressed something on the shaft between the wheel and the universal. Any ideas?? Thanks Doug