idosubaru

You probably need to get it serviced somewhere else if A: you don't trust them. B: you have recurring failure. C: they dont' seem able to address the recurrent failure. You said "subaru genuine mechanic". Dealers have a standard 12,000 mile/12 month warranty on parts and services. For warranty you'd be talking to the service advisor and manager. Given typical dealer volumes and models, it seems unlikely that the typical large team of mechanics, multiple service advisors and managers would be conspiring for CV boots. Which boots failed? There's probably a simpler explanation...possibly equally negligent, but less intentional. 1. aftermarket boots can fail shortly 2. maybe you were *told*, or thought you were told, or the mechanic thought they were, but they weren't OEM - and they were aftermarket 3. maybe they were OEM and sat exposed to elements for a long time. I've seen brand new OEM boots installed on axles that then sat for years, break very shortly after being installed - like less than 5,000 miles fast. I'm not sure what causes that - how can just "sitting around" on a shelf, cause a boot to fail when that doesn't seem to happen to boots left in a box? Before that happened I would have gladly took a new boot off an axle I had on the shelf and given it to a friend...now I don't. I don't know why - but I've seen it happen more than once, and no one snuck into my garage and contaminated my axles on the shelf. The rubber just appears dry and cracked. 4. mechanic inexperience - maybe he did something to the boots during install, but not intentionally, that compromised them. 5. lifted vehicles, axles with swapped parts, boots getting stretched for some other reason... All of the above can easily happen to *both* axles. And there are probably other viable options but - I've seen all of the above happen numerous times and stats nearly guarantee something other than "intentionally smearing brake fluid" is the root cause.

You’re not alone. there are two different style EA82 water pumps. This has gotten many old gen subaru owners in the past. The caliper pistons - did someone remove them or are they non-stock calipers? Any EA82 front calipers will work, model or turbo or nonturbo doesn’t matter.

Yes there is. The wires at the TCU and the harness I mentioned by the front diffential dipstick and fill tube. One of those wires goes *right to* the solenoid. Check for continuity, resistance, and/or give it 12 volts all the time to test. if you give the duty C wire 12 volts via the wire that will force it to FWD. if that works you know your soldering and wiring are good. And you can leave it in FWD or just solder a switch on that wire so you can turn ON the 4WD in the snow/off-road. ive done it to a bunch of my Subaru’s so I can intentionally “lock” them in the snow. One wire. One basic switch. Very easy. if it doesn’t work - then yes your wiring is bad. if it does work with 12 volts then my guess is the TCU is fried.

That’s pulley isn’t found on any typical US market 1996-2004 EJ25s. You definitely need something other than a standard kit as far as US market stuff goes. I have seen additional pulleys but it’s been awhile - I think maybe some turbo or JDM engines. first step is to make sure it’s the original engine and it wasn’t swapped at some point to something else. There are plug and play bolt in options for just about all EJ25s. search on a Subaru online website - enter your VIN and search that way to get the right part number.

I’m not good enough with electrical to guide you through it. In a sense it’s actually really easy - it could be tested in 15 minutes by someone really good at testing circuits. There’s not much work, no parts removal, to test it. Yes there are easily accessible wires to test or power the Duty C solenoid. But they are huge bundles. You’ll have to be rthe FSM and look up which wires. It’ll say “RY” (Red wire with yellow stripe)...for example. I don’t remember because there’s 50 wires. But people have posted it before - though a 93 may be different from a 96...etc. On the passengers side of engine bay by the front diffential dipstick/fill tube - is a large connector with quite a few wires like 10-20. Look at it and it goes back to the transmission. OR - look at the trans on the drivers side under the car around the pan and where the ATF tubes go into the trans. There’s a huge wiring bundle that come out of the transmission. Follow that all the way up to the top of the trans until you see a connector on it. Very easy anyone could do that look for wires coming out of trans and follow them. There’s only one huge set of wires like that coming out of the trans Get the FSM troubleshooting diagram, probably a page or two, for the Duty C solenoid and test the wires. FSMs are free online with some searching.

Hey Dave! This is Gary from XT world. You and I still in H6 Subaru world! Haha

Get an FSM and follow the Duty C test procedure. If it tests bad then the circuit is bad. If it tests good and operates with 12 volts applied then the TCU becomes suspect. Old TCUs fail but I’ve never heard of the duty functionality being the failure mode of the TCU.

i guess you need to test the duty C circuit. they are “locked” all the time in 4WD when the duty C has no power to it. So I assume you have a wiring or TCU issue. i would test the Duty C circuit and give the duty C 12 volts directly and see if it goes FWD. giving it 12 volts basically energizes the solenoid and pushes it to FWD mode. Ive done it before by splicing into the wires at the transmission harness on the drivers side of the engine bay. TCU is above the gas pedal if you want to do it there.

Did you have codes before the starting issue? I would be heavily suspicious that the codes and non-starting are related. I wouldn't to quickly from there. Vacuum leak - very very very common. Start at the air filter and work your way to the throttle body looking for any loose hoses or clamps. Twist each connection/make sure each fastener (bolt, clamp) is tight. Make sure hoses aren't cracked - partiuclarly the smaller ones underneath, etc. Make sure all are fully seated and tight. Additionally you can spray starter fluid around the intake hose (or probably brake cleaner/carb cleaner...if that's safe) while trying to start the car. Or put some gas into the intake then start. If it starts then you can guess you have leak. Are you sure it has a brand new timing belt or do you mean the drive belt? Timing belt would impact starting, not the drive belt. If the timing belt *is* new - why is it new? Did it break, were you chasing other issues, this might help us diagnose? What recent work has been done to the vehicle?

Wow, I see why years ago you said cars were headed towards disposable appliance status. You think their use is design, cost, or production driven? I kind of hoped to one day swap older stuff into newer...but that sounds like a total sewer swim. Not for 2005+. An H6 2005+ outback is the same vehicle for practical mechanical purposes - same engine/trans/brakes/steering - minor suspension tweaks but overall suspension form factor and geometry is the same. They took just adapted existing outback mechanicals into the new designing, only changing a few things where they had too. So in terms of mechanical reliability - it can be viewed exactly like an outback. As I said earlier your 2000 OBW nearly hands down subaru's best generation (00-04) in the last 25 years for reliability. The couple of issues they had are easily remedied and predictable.

Uh oh, like worse than doing the wiring for an engine swap? With CANBUS is it true that you can't retain the functionality of the ABS and other systems if you swap in another engine/trans and associated wiring? Like swap a 2003 4EAT and H6 into a 2015 Outback?

Agreed, I was laying out a larger picture - I own one and like it. And have for a long time (210,000 miles of almost zero work and no break downs). It's now basically a work vehicle - I tow with it, haul with it, pull the tractor out of the mud, I work it pretty good for what it is. And I have little kids so the extra seats, if needed, are a huge bonus. I like the space, sitting a little higher off the ground for visibility, and practicality of it for my uses, and the H6. In some ways every Subaru since 1995 has been a downgrade in reliability and issues. Late 90's - Interference/DOHC headgasket debacle, less reliable timing tensioner, wheel bearings, transfer clutches, 00-04 was a good generation, 05+ ghost walking and trashy struts and power steering pumps, later model CVT's, oil consumption/valve spring failures...I could keep going. I'd guess a lot of it is just "keeping up with the jones", "features", EPA driven, safety improvements, etc. There's a lot of moving parts to manage and they've got to make it marketable to a finnicky public consumer who isn't very representative of you and I. Your 2000 Outback was one of the better platforms in the last 25 years of Subaru offerings, back to 1995. So you at least got lucky back then. 1 year earlier and you would have owned the 1999 OBW which was the least desirable of Subaru's engines.

GD can make any subaru sound like that. What he's saying is true - they have some downsides compared to prior generations of Subarus. Keep in mind there's also gobs of them running around without issues. There's also over 200+ used transmissions available across the US. The prices for used trans are also like $400 and up...that's decent. Vehicles with egregious transmission issues usually are much harder to find and higher cost. The data isn't bearing that out or scary if it did happen. I've had friends acquaintenances come to me asking what to do with a Ford or Isuzu like that - where the cost of a used transmission is $1,500 and it's probably just as trashy as the originals....they're kind of stuck. That's not happening here. I'd just run it, get your use out of it, and make your plans to move away from it in the next couple of years if you don't like it. They are discontinued and a poor excuse for a 7 seater in terms of space, likely going to have fast diminishing resale, and I'm not sure the looks started out, or aged, well. But I wouldn't worry about it from a useable car perspective.

Year model mileage? Timing belt issues Read the engine codes vaccuum leak Is the air filter 20 years old?

That's how a decision should be made, it's like a differential equation, not basic addition. How many miles, how much sun will they see, how will it be used, how long you'll have it, how consistently you'll be able to avoid driving in temperatures above 40 degrees, etc...then decide. If someone is going to store them outside, lives in an area with significant warm spells in the winter - buying cheaper snow tires and planning on replacing them ever 2-3 years can also be a good fit. The blizzacks are great tires and are a perfect fit for many people. Just know their limitations. I have seen blizzacks notably worse on long distance commuters by the 3rd year, specifically on steep snow covered grades. Great tires, take note each winter if they're loosing any of their youth - which in a sense is true of any tires seeing challenging uses - snow, ice, towing, racing...

Best to remove anyway to replace the oring. There’s an oring at the base of the metal cap to seal between the cap and the cam carrier. They’re often ancient, rock hard, and ready to leak.

Yep install seal in cap, add oring, lubricate properly, twist to seat. Torque carefully without stripping the bolts.

Sure thing. I learned the hard way. No fun. Hope you figure it out quicker than me! With the right tires you’ll be way better than you described last year.

Depends on the person and where you are. tire regulations vary by state, region and even particular roads or mountain passes. Florida tends tropical commercial fruit farms and you can swim outside most of the year, while western NY contends with 8 feet of snow.

That’s good loads, cooler would be wise I wouldn’t, and don’t, worry about a few short trips a year in my Tribeca. I’m at 210k zero issues. I have a boat over 2k and load down a 7x12 trailer and have towed cars with it. The first issue that manifests is engine temp when towing heavy loads up steep grades in high temp/humidity Like GD said the 5eat is a step down from the 4EAT. But they don’t seem that bad either. Also like he said, a truck is a tow vehicle, a car is not. It can handle some light duty at a higher risk than a truck.

Oh you’ve gone into it. If you cleaned it and the brushes look good I’d just get another starter. Unless you tube brushes are worth a shot. I don’t know if there’s any way to test the brushes?

I guarantee you won’t see better traction over the next 5 years until you buy: 1. studded 2. Nokian Winter tires 3. or maybe if you buy Michellin X Ice (and maybe one other top rated) but replace them every 2-3 years. cheaper tires are not as good. Some aren’t as good from day one. others are good the first year but slowly degrade. Year 2 is less, year 3 is significantly less. I’ve seen cheap tires showing cracking and signs of degradation in 3 years. The same is happening to less expensive models even if you can’t see it as easily. here’s why many opinions are lacking: urban areas where most people live are easy to drive in. They’re better maintained than rural areas/roads with no snow trucks and the driving alone helps clear the junk. many people have flexible jobs and don’t drive (teachers) or flex work hours if the roads are bad it’s easy to drive in snow with that flexibility. many people live in flat areas. Ohio and much of the Midwest is a joke to drive in with snow. Winter tires are nice and helpful but by no means a necessity unless you’re plowing snow with a slammed VTEC. My current commute you will absolutely end up sliding off the road even with low grade snow tires going down a steep switch back unmaintained gravel road. Once you start sliding the car can not be stopped and you hope to hit a snow bank or dirt before a tree. Many reviews and opinions you hear are people that have one, or more, of the above going on. They likely reviewing conditions that aren’t anything like yours . What works for them won’t work for you. I would have been one of those people 10 years ago and swore any of the good snow tires would be great. I’ve since learned otherwise. I get the same average snow fall where I live now as other states I’ve lived in but it’s 3x harder and more dangerous due to the steep grades and unmaintained roads. Even As an essential government worker, driving in states of emergency blizzards, I never “needed” snow tires, would have them sometimes and not others - until I started driving in the mountainous rural areas. Now - the only way I could consistently drive is with studs and maybe Nokians luckily I have more work flexibility now so it’s less important but I still don’t like feeling trapped so I need decent tires

Nah not your fault I was being to lazy to take notes form multiple replies. Lol. So when it’s “not working”, it always clicks but doesn’t spin? If you think the battery, terminals and wiring are grand...which the other starter does imply....then Replace the brushes and clean the starter motor internals (not the solenoid, the actual starter motor).

Not a dedicated one, just the AT “cooler”/heater through the radiator like all Subaru’s have. They have an external trans filter inside the drivers side tire well. Replace the serpentine pulley bearings with quality Japanese or others. They fail all the time I replace them every 60k or at a minimum remove and check them $10 each can both be replaced in less than an hour. Don’t loose the capture but behind the pulleys when you loosen the bolt. Stuff tape or something behind it so it doesn’t fall out.

I’m loosing track of what’s going on and can’t see the car. I’d replace the solenoid contacts. If you’re absolutely positive the contacts are fine then get another used Subaru starter. If another starter works, then it seems to imply the contacts or starter are the issue. That said we can’t see the car. Verify battery is GREAT. Terminals clean, cable clamps clean and tight. Then you need to verify the wiring is good between the battery and starter circuit.