Suzam

Wheel bearings get my vote. I had the "whoom-whoom" noise on a bad front bearing.

I belive the leaking gas lines was on the Phase II 2.5's

Another Delawareian! There's been some discussion about putting in a fuse and running FWD. The biggest problem is the weight, not drag on the drivetrain so little is to be gained. Search the board and you'll find the pros and cons and that most everyone who tried it got about the same milage. The only reason that I can figure anyone gets better milage is that with the fuse in the front wheels spin easier from a standing start, so you take it easier. I get about 22-24 in our MY95 sedan in daily driving, and 28-30 on a very long highway trip. In the winter it drops 1-2 MPG which I blame on the winter formulated gasoline.

Seems to be a popular complant for 95-96 models right now, they all seem to be experiencing the plugs getting older and melting. You can put on an aftermarket plug, they come with a several inches of new wire on them. For saftey and good connection cut off the old plug then splice and solder the wires together and use electrical heat shrinking material to seal the connections. There was a couple of posts in the last week about this.

Well it distributes power to the front and rear sets of wheels, unless there is closed a differential on either end, both AWD and 4WD will be stuck. My friend had 2 blowouts on a jeep CJ10 pickup, one front and one back on the same side during a heavy snow storm (hit a stand pipe while 4 wheeling in a construction site). He could go nowhere. The 2 rims just spun inside the tires, if 1 tire on the front and one on the back don't have traction with open differentials you are stuck even with a locking transfer case.

I bought a set of Michelin Pilot XGT H4 from Costco about 12k miles ago, they are much quieter and smoother running than the OEMs (which only lasted me about 44k) and Costco is having a $60 off 4 tires sale right now on their web site, so if you're not a member $40 gets you a year membership. I have similar sized tires on a Toyota Camry and they have given me over 40K and so far I'm still happy with them since they still have plenty of tread. I'm hoping to get the same performance from the one's on the Outback also.

Normally a MY98 Phase I headgasket fails internally. Chances are if you have external leaks it could be valve cover gaskets and/or cam seals which could appear around the head. Rear seal leak is possible however, you can always fix the easy one(s) first and see if the major ones are still an issue.

Since you posted twice, does that mean that both are smashed? The Outback lights aren't easy to replace with aftermarket because of the size. I have seen some OEM on ebay for between $89 and $129.

Funny you mention this, last November I was in a gas station in Vermont where a guy pulled up and left he engine running while filling up. As soon as he was done he turned around to replace the nozzle and a guy ran up jumped into the open door (which he had left open to jam with the radio) and took off. The other thing I'm amazed by is the driver's who go into the local 7-11 for a cup of coffee and a newspaper and leave the car out front running (to warm up or whatever) and are genuinely surprised at the fact someone would steal the car.

149K miles on MY95 2.2 and the 4EAT has developed what I would describe as a low howl coming from the front. At first I thought maybe a noise from the driver's side driveshaft. My local mechanic took a look and said the oil was low in the front differential and upon further inspection said the ATF was higher that it should be and looked contaminated. His diagnosis is a bad seal between the front dif and transmission that caused the oil to migrate and result in low lubrication and the bearing to wear. Solution is a rebuild of the tranny. For now an ATF flush and refill the gearbox. Next oil change he'll check the levels and see if they have changed any. The noise sounds similar to a rear differential gear whine I had in an old van--it begins at about 35mph and rises in pitch (not volume) as speed increases above 35. Gearing does not matter, 2, 3 and "D" make no difference in this sound. However, the whine/howl goes away when no accelerator is used, only when applying gas, and this can be a very light load on the drive train just to take up any "slack". When coasting off the gas the whine is not there. Has anyone come across this before and verify for me if this could be a seal issue? If so I guess I'm in need of some transmission repair. Or any other possibilities? So far after about 2k miles the noise is still the same, but I am keep the car at shorter trips for now.

I'd go for a water pump also, should be about $100 more since they are there now. Cheap insurance against failure.

If the dealer can confirm via records that the sealant was put in, then you are covered to 100,000 miles. It would be really nice if they would do both gaskets, but I'd bet they'll only replace the leaking one.

How long are your blocks? Seriously... do a search for burp on the board. It will explain how to remove a bubble of air trapped in your cooling system. Your radiator can appear full even with a bubble. This may cure your water sound.

Have you bought the replacements form the same place each time? If so try a different source, I had a string of brake/tailights that burned out every 2-3 months and went through 3 double packs (in 8 months), then I happened to purchase some at a different store, hasn't burned out yet after 2 years.

Search the board for info on the sending units in the tank. There are 2 in each tank that get dirty and worn contacts. Some on the board have replaced them for around $100 each. Others have had success cleaning them up. I just keep using the trip odometer and filling up around 300 miles.

Instead of miles per tank, how many gallons are we talking about? I know my MY95 fuel gauge is screwy so when it says I have less than 1/8 of a tank I can only fit 8-11 gallons and only show 240 miles on the trip odometer.

I agree, check your coolant level. Do a search on the board for "burp" or "burping" to make sure you remove all air in the system. The dealer didn't want to claim they knew what is was over the phone, I guess you can't blame them, too many "but you told me it was...". Plus you can go in and get charged for a sevice.

You may have a bad pump, a replacement might cure the leak. Are you keeping this car when you get the Forester?

Our MY95 Legacy automatic MPG drops every winter. Right now I'm getting an average 20-21 when I usually get 23-24 in mostly local daily driving. I think there are 2 factors in my case. #1 is the winter mix gasoline. I know the oxygenated formulation reduces my MPG. #2 is the automatic transmission (I know yours is a manual). The extended CAT warm-up in winter weather keeps the tranny from shifting into overdrive for at least the first few miles of travel. If I get on the Interstate which is .5 mile away, it revs high for 3-4 miles. I keep it under 50 until it finally shifts up. I Also know if I take a long highway trip the 29-30 MPG I get in the warmer weather drops to 27-28 in winter. Tire pressure drops in the winter a couple of pounds, have you checked them?

I'd call it an Outback Sedan.

Here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49366

SuSu, you might want to change the message title to reflect your request. You may get a quicker answer.

How long have you had the car? Sometimes if there is a problem like torque bind the pervious owner could pull the FWD light bulb and put a fuse in so that the problem isn't apparent to the prospective buyers. Unfortunate, because if the buyer doesn't check for a fuse installed they are getting cheated.

Yeah the LSD in the MY01 Outback (Limited) does make it nicer. I've climbed over a few snowplow piles and up a few inclines I know would be more of a challenge without it.

Well "all four" might be a little strong, I'm not churning all wheels like a 4x4. But I can get it into a powerslide in an open area. Climbing up a small incline the rear end will slide out to the side if I jump on it, so I know there is power to the rear while the front is spining too. And there is a BIG difference if I put a fuse in to run it in FWD only, the front will spin and slide side-to-side while the back end just follows where ever it's lead to by the front without sliding on it's own. BTW, the MY95 AWD seem to kick in fast than our MY01 Outback. I guess this is due to design changes , the mother-in-laws MY98 seems to be closer to the MY95 than the MY01 setup.