rideabmx

I have a 97 Outback with over 190k miles. My VSS stopped working and I am also having weird intermittent loss of power/almost stalling issues when I slow down/stop sometimes. More on that problem of mine here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42826 At any rate, I've driven the thing into the ground (lots of high speed logging road antics with 4-5 people in the car) and I'm surprised it's still shifting at all (which it does quite well, actually). At my mileage, the thing will probably die soon anyway, and it MIGHT fix this weird stalling issue I'm having, so what the hell? I was wondering, then, what else I should look into replacing/fixing if I'm swapping out my transmission. I know I have an exhaust leak I can fix (since the exhaust system has to be removed). I was also thinking about doing the oxygen sensors since they might not have ever been done, and they might be causing my weird stalling problem as well. Is there anything else I should think about replacing? Thanks, Josh Eugene, OR

UPDATE: Replacing the IAC did not solve the problem. It is highly intermittent, with weeks going by without any issues and days where it falters every time I slow down. It must be some sort of electrical issue, as mentioned. I think that I'm going to get a used transmission and replace mine because it needs done, and perhaps this process will fix the problem.

Aerodynamic drag is not an exponential curve; it is parabolic. Others are correct, doubling the speed will increase the drag four-fold. More generally speaking, the drag increases at the square of the velocity (so a three-fold increase in speed will result in a nine-fold increase in drag). If drag were exponential, a two-fold increase in speed would increase the drag 7.38906 times, but this isn't the case (luckily for us). http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/drageq.html

Hmmmm..... This is going to be one of those posts I always find where someone has my exact problem but no one responded so it's totally unhelpful. Oh well, such is life. Once I figure out what to do I'll update this.

This is a fun one. I was driving and my Speedometer started acting up (1997 Outback, 185k miles). It would show the correct speed while I hit the gas, but if I let off the gas it went haywire. I was looking at houses that day so I cruised around for a couple hours, mostly highway. The next day, my Speedometer was erratic all the time. About 30 miles into a highway drive, the Check Engine Light (CEL) comes on. As I'm pulling up to meet the landlord at a potential rental house, the car loses all power, starts running like complete crap, and generally acts as if it's running out of gas or something. I'm sure it looked high class to have the tow truck on its way as we toured the property with the landlord. When the tow truck arrived, the car started up and appeared to run just fine, but I believe that the CEL was still on. I didn't really drive it but a few feet; I had it towed to my very trusted mechanic. My mechanic pulled the codes: p0505 and p1507. One indicates a problem with the VSS (0505) and the other indicates an IAC valve issue (1507). According to posts I've read on here, it seems like both could have caused my loss of power/crappy running problem. However, my mechanic has some sort of troubleshooting flowchart to follow and it says that if both error codes are present and the engine has no vacuum problems (or something like that), pursue the 1507 code and ignore the 0505 code--fix the IAC valve and ignore the VSS code. The problem is that there is no ignoring the VSS code since the Speedometer doesn't work. So, should I do the opposite and ignore the IAC code and purse the VSS code for now? At least one post on here mentions that an IAC code could be related to a malfunctioning Speedometer: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27788&highlight=p1507 (last post in thread) Since the Speedometer needs fixed anyway, this seems like a logical course of events. ...If only it were that easy. He threw in a new VSS and the Speedometer still didn't work (the VSS was also still outputing odd voltages). Assuming that the mechanism in the tranny that drives the VSS is a normal cog-to-cog gear setup, there should be no play if you stick a screw driver down in there. He did that and there was some play. So, he's thinking that the gearing system in the tranny that drives the VSS is stripped. Does anyone know if this can be replaced without pulling out/taking apart the transmission? If so, how?!? To sum up: 1) Should I pursue the VSS issue over the IAC valve? Seems logical since I need a working Speedometer anyway and there is some indication that they could be related, regardless of what the flow chart says. 2) How do you replace the gearing assembly in the transmission that drives the VSS so it can output voltage? Thank a lot, you all are a tremendous resource! Josh Ellis Leaburg, Oregon

Apparently that was their original intent. I used Fix-A-Flat to seal it, and the guy said that Fix-A-Flat doesn't work on anything over the size of a small nail hole (on the inside surface of the tire). When I came back to get the car, he said that it was the size of a nickel and that I needed a new tire (with absolutely no explanation of how Fix-A-Flat held up). Since the tires are under warranty, they're giving me the tire for free, so I'm sure they're not lying. ~Josh

I think the place working on my 97 Outback is confused. I took it in today to have the tie rods replaced (one was noted as lose when I had my alignment done, and both are probably shot after my last Death Valley excursion down the Lippincott Mine Road). After it's in the shop for a while, the guy calls me up and says that Subaru changed the car mid-year (in 1997 Outbacks) such that the tie rods are no longer individually replaceable but rather the entire steering assembly must be replaced instead (I'm pretty sure he said steering assembly). I haven't been able to find any info here or elsewhere on the web about this; all I can find are places selling tie rods. I'm assuming that he is confused and that they are individually replaceable. Anyone have any insight on this? Thanks, Josh

These things are good to know; glad I found this post. Originally I thought I read somewhere that it was a 1/2" difference in DIAMETER. A 1/4" difference in circumference makes much more sense. It's also pertinent to me at the moment. I got a new set of tires in December right before a huge road trip. After we made it down to Death Valley (from Corvallis, Oregon), my girlfriend hit a huge rock on the Racetrack road and put a big bulge in. Got the tire replaced, and didn't worry about size differences because the other tires only had a few thousand miles on them. We went back to Death Valley again for Spring Break (beats the Oregon rain!) and of course ended up with a irreparable tire issue (this time a huge hole) and of course in almost the exact same spot on the Racetrack road. Now that tire has to be replaced (of course), and now I'm a little worried about this circumference thing. I didn't think ahead to buy an extra tire and put it in rotation--that would have been a great idea. Is cutting down tread to match the other tires something that's easily done? What do you all think about having 3 separate tire circumferences on there (2 tires at the original wear depth, 1 tire at the first replacement depth, and 1 tire at the new depth)? Would it be possible to alter the effective "rolling" circumference via air pressure? Thanks, Josh