idosubaru

Headgaskets seem likely. Look for bubbles in the overflow tank at idle or at first creeping up of gauge, before the coolant gets so hot it's boiling. Plug check as mentioned too. Make sure radiator isn't clogged and no leaks. Check cap. Headgaskets can leak multiple ways, coolant in cylinder, coolant externally onto the ground, oil externally, combustion gases into coolant.. nonturbo Subarus rarely leak coolant into the oil, that's nearly a pointless check only done by people who don't know Subarus. Resurface heads and use Subaru headgaskets. Those gaskets rarely fail and more than likely the engine has been overheated in the past. Used engines: www.car-part.com

Good job trying to verify diagnosis. Sounds like you got a good eye and it's the radiator. Good description too. A leaking cap and hose can spray or drip causing the radiator to be wet. But sounds like you looked closely enough and would have seen that. It depends how bad the leak is but yes as long as enough coolant is circulating and it doesn't overheat it's fine. If it does overheat don't drive it. Carry water in the car. Order online from advance auto parts, if it's not quite a hundred dollars add some cheap windshield fluid or coolant to get it to $100. Then use discount code TRT41 online to get $40 off. $60 radiator. Subaru radiators are perfect for this because most are right around $100. You can pick it up within 30 minutes. I've done it from in the store on my phone and picked it up right there In an emergency before.

For you. Get some friends to verify or help? The following can be done in under a minute. Hardly worth driving to a dealer and wasting all that time driving and talking and filling out paperwork and back and forth and dealing with no t having your car IMO. 1. Pop the engine hood 2. Check Under front center and rear of vehicle Is it more noticeable in one of these areas than others? If it's really strong then it'll be more obvious close to the leak. 3. Is it more noticeable when ambient temps are hot or cold? 4. Is it more noticeable after sitting or driving? 5. Look around the engine and simply follow the fuel lines and look for wetness.

Just looking at the little information we have: you don't mention fuel on the ground or poor gas mileage (symptoms of appreciable leaks) and you've been comfortable waiting 40,000 miles. Makes its not too alarming they haven't found it? There are electronic devices (gas analyzers) that can sense hydrocarbons. I think they're used for emissions, exhaust and headgasket monitoring. some shops have them and would be definitive diagnosis that there is excessive gas. Cars have a lot of smell and people vary absolutely wildly in their perception and abilitly to sense or tolerate smell and sounds. smell is very foggy and blurry to me....if I smell something at all. I probably wouldn't notice it over nominal automotive smells either at a dealer parking lot where the nominal smells aren't that of a rural homestead to begin with.

I was never able to find mine from up top either (different bolt and car). There were multiple layers and folds making it very ambiguous and challenging. I cut a lot and gave up and went from underneath.

Nope, they're universal - other manufacturers are not exempt from P0420 code debacles. Whatever entities set forth these emissions requirements may be to blame, but I doubt it's entirely Subaru desiring this (if at all). Yep - in MD they'll pass the actual sniffer emissions test. so they're passing legal emissions requirements but requiring more converter replacement which increases energy demands - requiring more mining (energy), recycling demands (energy), smelting (energy), welding (energy), processing (energy), logistics (energy), shipping (energy), installation (energy), lower vehicle values and higher turn over (energy).... i feel *really* bad circumventing P0420 codes. LOL

You don't need local junk yards: www.car-parts.com USMB

Okay so it's mainly just front rotors. You mentioned drums and pads for some reason. Rotors - WHICH ones are causing the vibration? One or both? If something is dragging - caliper or failed brake hose - they may not exhibit symptoms every time and be missed? Ive never paid attention to breaking in pads. Clearly it means something but I've never once seen or heard and issue from it and by and large most people like family and friends and myself pad slap cars and drive. Zero issues over hundreds of times, hard to believe it's that big of a deal.

The cheap one I bought from eBay was severely rusted in a year or year and a half. I think it was like $99 so I'm not gonna complain, oddly it was from Canada too.

And don't tell where you put the switch in case they're a member here. Lol

More info. How many rotors has this happened too? How long after the new rotors are installed do the symptoms recur? When you "have problems" - what's the condition of all the pads - are all 4 fronts warn, just one corner, or just one pad (inside or outside) on one corner? When one pad is warn - what's the condition of the pads on the opposite side of the car (like new, or also warn)? Is your braking working flawlessly, like new, or are there some characteristics you could describe? I would wonder if the car feels like it's lightly braking even after you take your foot off the pedal. For instance if you're coasting and let off the brakes - maybe they're still dragging. And is it one caliper or multiple?

We knew it was the axles we just were trying to find a way to convince you. used OEM and reboot www.car-part.com FWE makes great stuff in colorado but you have to deal with shipping and core

The lock cylinders have the 4 digit key code on them which is used to cut a key for any older Subaru. You can google it for specifics, but you don't need an original key. I've called Subaru dealers quite a few times and they've always been able to look up the key code for an XT6 using the VIN.

thanks for documenting. LMAO! It lasted a month.

For interchangeability there are only two EA82 long blocks - dual or single port heads, so you're intake needs to match those. You can swap any EA82 short block. So if you swap the intake manifold and heads you can use any short block in any EA82.

You can drive the car without timing covers. It's done all the time on purpose so it's totally fine for an emergency. Remove and leave them in the trunk until you figure this out. Keep in mind that risking this on a 97 or newer interference engine these usually bend valves if the belt fails. It's also possible to limp a bad bearing home. If it's still rotating and not locked up then get some grease in it. That will get you home. It's hard to get grease past the face seal but a $2 needle fitting in a grease gun pried under the bearing seal face will allow you to pump grease into it. Don't overfill as the grease needs room to move and expand with heat and motion. I rebuild older XT6 timing pulleys like this because they aren't available for anything but absurd prices. Done it tons of times for tens of thousands of miles. Even if you have to damagethe face seal it's not a big deal - at least it has grease. If you can't do it yourself you might be able to remove the timing covers, buy the $2 needle fitting at any auto store and hand it to a shop/mechanic who can do it for you. Or buy a grease gun and do it yourself. Alternately you can spray WD40 or grease in there as well. Might have to keep doing it but it will lubricate the bearings enough to get you home if you can get it past the face seal.

Axle. Get a used OEM axle and reboot it: www.car-part.com

all the parts and subaru stuff is showing both are 242mm?

this: pull the side covers - 3 10mm bolts and takes 5 minutes.

if you find a part you really need/want you can post a thread here asking someone from another country to do it for you. work with a person, not a company.

I wouldn't give too much clout to the previous owners description or memory. Just investigate, this is really easy and not complicated enough to invoke 3rd party unknown skill set previous ownesr IMO. If they recall replacing an axle - that's an affirmative and a good starting point to check. If they don't recall anything though - it's not a verification of anything, you still need to check the axles.

Axles. You really need to check the axles. If you simply google your symptoms you'll find a zillion axle threads EXACTLY like yours. Sure, maybe it's something else, but if there's a glaring and obvious issue - you should start there. If you have a headache, an oncologist is not your first step...although it "could" be cancer, you start simple, obvious, and common first. Normally exhaust shields don't stop as soon as the car starts moving. Even if they did - it is highly unlikely for heat shields to maintain the exact same noise for 60,000 miles over many years. Seems like it should be pretty easy to differentiate exhaust shield over axle - I would not guess - look at the axles and do some inspection, a Subaru person could probably figure this out in less than a minute. You can use your hands (quickly on a cold engine) or some tools - to pull, yank, pry against heat shields while the car is idling and see if you can: A. hear and isolate the noise just audibly with your ears B. find it by poking/prodding/prying the heat shields.

I wouldn't even bother replacing the front strut mounts, their failure rate is miniscule and aftermarkets suck. Even the rears very rarely fail but if yours has been bouncing and weak they may have taken a beating - might want to replace the rear springs too as they've taken a larger brunt of the work load if you're noticing it bouncing excessively. How old are you existing struts and are they 2006 rear struts? For outbacks, it's common to use 00-04 struts on the 05-09 generation which is spec'ed a little light like you're describing, even the OEM struts i believe. I would at first be inclined to look into 00-04 KYB's. People also install baja turbo springs on their OBW's to stiffen them up a little - but people claim it raises the car 1/2" or so, although I didn't notice it, but might not be the best fit for a legacy? 00-04 KYB's and baja turbo springs are a great fit for OBW's and ride nicely.

probably because cost of international shipping is high. ask someone in australia to ship you an axle or three. i've shipped hard to get old school subaru parts to Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Germany...and I'm sure some other places I've long since forgotten.

not sure why you'd want a picture - it's just a caliper on a bracket. but i took one anyway, just couldn't load it last night. top of picture is XT6 caliper on EJ bracket. on the bottom is the XT6 bracket on the right with the larger diameter pin and the EJ bracket on the left with the smaller diameter pin.