hattiewatson

Please be patient, I know very little about cars, and I'm definitely not able to attempt a repair. Background - bought 2000 OB used, now has 222000 KM. Had to replace head gaskets within 3 months of purchase (very expensive). I've had the check engine light on due to O2 sensor for months now. Can't bear to put more $ into this car to fix. Friday I went in for a drive-thru oil change and was told and shown I had almost no oil in the engine. No leak found and I've definitely not seen any smoke. And the oil light didn't come on. Sob story, our dog needs major operation tomorrow, so there is no room on credit card left for car repair. No bus where we live, walking not an option to get to work. Car has to keep ticking. What is my best course of action? I did splurge for the high mileage oil. Pour some stop leak in the engine? Is Lucas any good, would it help? There are an awful lot of products in our Canadian Tire store, I don't know what would be worth the $. Or should I just keep putting oil in the car? Sorry, one final question. I have to take the Drive-Clean test, to ensure the car isn't polluting the air, in the next two months in order to renew the license plate. I think they hook up to your exhaust and test the emissions. Do you think an oil problem like this might make me fail? Thanks for your thoughts. Heather

Question: Can a bad fuel pump cause a misfire code in the SAME cylinder each time? Problem: 2000 OB auto - intermittently sputters, almost stalls, misfires, occasional backfires? (popping noise from rear undercarriage) - only during acceleration from stop or low speed, always on a slight grade (up) or hill. CEL flashes, sometimes stays on, then will turn off on its own. I'm not mechanically inclined, nor do I have any tools or a garage, so I'm relying on the DEALER. EEEK! Dealership said code reads: Cylinder 1 misfire. Replaced ignition coil, replaced O2 sensor, replaced plugs, had wires checked ($$$$) Third visit to Dealer with same CEL code and problem. Now they want to switch the cylinders? and see if the misfire occurs in the same place? They are thinking I may need to have the valve repaired?? I haven't got a clue what those things are..I'll have to get an engine diagram and figure out how it works...in the meantime: I've read a lot here, and it sounds like it might be a fuel pump, but would I get a consistent cylinder 1 misfire code? Wouldn't the misfire vary in each cylinder? My first Subaru and I think I bought a lemon. (bought used w/ 150K km). Thanks!

Our 2000 Outback automatic (new to us in August w/ 150K) had to have the O2 sensor replaced (covered by recall thanks to info found on this site), but only after we paid to have the dealer replace the ignition coil. Two days after ignition coil replacement, the same hesitation and sort of enging sputtering started - read about 02 sensor here, and bingo, problem resolved. It's been two months, we're running the 96? octane Petro Canada winter gas thinking we're doing our part to keep the engine clean. Now we're getting sputtering/hesitation again, and the good old check engine light comes on. Same symptoms that were resolved with 02 sensor replacement last time. Could we be ruining the O2 sensor with the gas we buy? Could we just have very bad luck and had a faulty sensor installed? Any ideas/suggestions?

Hi, this is my first post. First, may I say how impressed I am by this site. It's like having a Subaru mechanic in the family. I bought a 2000 Outback in August. My first Subaru! I live in Ontario, about an hour northwest of Toronto. My question is: Is there a washer fluid reservoir in the rear? I didn't find any reference to a rear reservoir in the owners manual, but thought I should find out before I run out of fluid. Thank you, Hattie