NOMAD327

If it was done by a dealer it will be in the computer. If it was done by the owner or an independent shop, the only way to be sure would be to find receipts or a maintenance log for the vehicle.

The light blinking on startup is like a check engine light, but for the transmission. My sole experience was 16 blinks every start, and indicated a failure of the AWD FWD (duty-c) solenoid. I suspect that is the most common problem with the automatics from reading posts on this board. I have heard the problem may go away and come back in some instances, but it will need attention from a dealer or other expert in time.

My 99 Outback always starts in second if the lever is in drive. it's obvious, because should I have to gas it to move out into a tight spot, there is always a downshift after an awkward moment followed by a strong upshift back up to 2 and so forth, more or less normally. I can avoid this by moving the lever to 1 if I anticipate a hard time pulling out from a stop, but then need to move the lever out of 1 in a timely manner so it will continue to accelerate. I believe putting the lever in 2 blocks out all gears but 2, but have not tried this. I have heard the clutch packs give a 50/50 torque split in reverse, and 1 and (possibly) 2, this being a small concession to low speed off road capability. My car has a very agressive hill braking downshift and gear retaining transmission program and may do the start in 2 action for the same reason. (agressive program) I have heard the dealer has a more subtle program than can be put into 99's at least, but I like it the way it is for the most part.

If putting the fuse in makes a difference, that proves the internal solenoid is able to work. The duty solenoid as it's referred, is normally cycled by the transmission computer to regulate torque distribution front to back. If it's on all the time, as with the fuse in, It's FWD only, and the coil windings are now subject to more wear. Torque bind is most simply caused by different diameter tires front to rear as has already been stated. If that's not the cause, the other remedies discussed may help, but it's probably something more complicated than that.

What I have heard about regular grade gasoline is that it contains a bit more energy than premium grade and as such would give slightly more economy. What I really notice is when they switch from Summer grade mix to Winter grade mixture of regular, I gain and then lose up to 2 MPG with every vehicle, and it's a sudden change over a period of one week as the old mixture gets sold out. With Subaru, I have gotten 25 to 28 MPG highway, and drive well over the limit at times, I have seen as low as 19 in town, but usually about 22 to 23, it's a 2.5 auto 99 outback wagon

The outbacks come with a very nice rubber tray which will catch the junk and can be easily slid out for cleanup. There is a nice grade of carpet underneath and a lift up lid which covers the spare tire well. The lift up lid would make the installation of a traditional bedliner that went up the sides (which are a wipeable vinyl) difficult. If that isn't good enough, you could probably talk a spray on bedliner dealer into doing the interior panels up in the stuff they use on pickup beds, I have that on my ford pickup and it's very tough and beats a regular bedliner in that it holds objects in place while driving while a regular bedliner lets everything slide around with every vehicle movement. An extensive amount of masking would be required to do this and I have no idea how many vapors would be released into the cabin while curing

You could try regular parts store stop leak, as the biggest detriment to that plan is that it might block up the heater core which is otherwise going to come out immediately. I would not personally put a used core in, just out of fear the dashboard might have to come out a second time. I currently change out my antifreeze every two years specifically in hopes of getting a slight edge regarding the heater core corroding and developing a leak. When you do eventually do the job, wipe down the inside of the air box, any coolant residue left behind will prolong the coolant smell inside the car, even with a new heater core in place.

scotchbrite pads are great for a lot of things and come in many grits, the tough ones will probably take chrome off metal. I think the worst ones are red, and then lesser ones are grey then green then white, not sure!, I like them and as said, would definately try one first and see how it worked.

Here’s a list of the stuff I did at 60,000 and it’s probably about what the owners manual called for. It may have already been done on yours, but the only way to be sure the work was done, is to do it yourself now. It may be possible to slip through some of this stuff, but most should be done for sure. I would do an antifreeze replacement every 3 years on this car. I never used to do coolant swaps, but have seen more failures in recent times, with so much more aluminum in use in the cooling systems. I do it every two years now on all my vehicles. I just drain a gallon, and add a gallon of 50/50 mix more or less. I am normally worried about heater core failure, and having to pull out the dashboard, but the rest of the engine cooling system will benefit as well. As the engine is prone to head gasket failures at a greater than normal rate, keeping the coolant fresh can't hurt, and may give an additional benefit here as well. The way the Subaru is made, the engine thermostat is where the bottom radiator hose connects to the water pump. This makes it hard to refill the engine. There is a small screw vent plug at the top passenger side of the radiator, but the trick in engine refill is this: After getting a good drain on the system, close the drain and add a couple of quarts of mix to the radiator to get started. Next, pull the top radiator hose off at the radiator, and pour coolant down the hose into the engine. That hose connects to a pipe that goes to both sides of the engine. Now with coolant up into the hose a little bit and the engine backfilled, reconnect the upper radiator hose and fill the radiator. You will get it over 90% full doing this, and it’s way easier than any other thing you could do. Now you can run the engine with no danger of overheating. Do a final fill after it’s been fully purged. It drains a bit better with vehicle aimed downhill, and fills a bit better with vehicle aimed uphill, but can be done on the level with no real problems. I did my thermostat while doing the coolant swap, and at every 60,000 miles from now on. If you do replace it, Use a genuine Subaru thermostat (and gasket), it’s an oddball item. You should replace the fuel filter, it’s a real easy swap, located on the drivers side shock tower under the hood. It’s fine to get one from NAPA, or Autozone for this, I used a Subaru filter, as I was already ordering the thermostat and some other stuff anyway. Only trick with the fuel filter is to have the fuel system depressurized. I usually just let the car sit overnight, and it will bleed down pretty good. A bit of gasoline will come out, so be careful. It’s necessary to replace the spark plugs. I like NGK plugs, but any double platinum is probably OK. For my engine, NGK were $10 each at advance auto and $15 everywhere else. There are good alternatives you may want to pursue, Best alternative is probably an Autolite Double Platinum APP3924 (A bigger Wal Mart may sell these, ours only had the single platnum AP3924). I believe these are about $5 apiece. Another choice would be a Denso (ND or Nippondenso) PK20PR11. I think these might be near equal to the NGK, and list for about $10 each. I decided I was not going to pay $15 each, but hated going with another brand. (I like NGK or DENSO in Japanese engines, and Autolite in American brands). I found that advanced auto sold the PFR5B-11 discounted to $10 each, and that is what I got. The Autolite would be fine to use, in any case, these are all probably a special order, call ahead one day ahead of time from your supplier. All these plugs are double platinum design and are gapped to .044", use anti-seize compound on the threads here and any other time you are threading steel into aluminum. Replace the air filter element now and maybe every 40,000 to 60,000 thereafter with a Fram from Walmart, or really any brand you care to use. The cover is tricky to get on and off, so take your time with it. There is about a 1" diameter hose that comes off the bottom of the big rubber hose up to the engine throttle. The 1" hose likes to pull off doing this filter and the motor will not run with it disconnected, so be careful to slip it back together. This stuff all has to come off to do the spark plugs, so that’s soon enough to do it for now. Subaru recommends replacing the front and rear differential fluids every 60,000 miles. I’ve never changed gear oil on a car, but decided to do it on this one because of the way the all wheel drive system works. The back is very conventional with a drain and a fill/check level pipe plug. The front differential is between the engine and the transmission, and has a yellow handled dipstick on the passenger side of the motor back by the firewall. The front drain plug is on the drivers side in front of the drive axle. Use an 80W-90 GL-5 gear oil, this is the most common variety. The front holds 1.3 qt. and the rear holds 0.8 qt. I had a tire store do this, because the car needs to be lifted while level to get the levels correct. I also changed the automatic transmission fluid, once every 60,000 miles should be fine for this service. The filter is external and is a screw on type (99 and up). The Filter is not normally replaced and is a bit expensive if you do replace it. The transmission has a drain plug so the pan does not need to be removed. You can’t get a 100% drain on any automatic transmission, so either do a drain and refill and then drive a bit and do it all over again, or have a professional flush done, or be satisfied with only a partial change. That is a lot more than most people do. The brake fluid should be changed about every five years on all cars, but nobody ever does it. What happens is brake fluid absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and becomes corrosive. It is especially hard on aluminum. These cars have an aluminum master cylinder, and an aluminum ABS regulator. The latter is probably an $800 part if I had to guess. Fluid replacement is quick and fairly easy to do, one quart of DOT-3 brake fluid (the regular stuff) will be needed. Takes two people and all four wheels have to be briefly removed. Manual says to bleed at each wheel till clean fluid is visible, do in order, Passenger Front, Driver Rear, Driver Front, and finally, Passenger Rear. Suck the old out of the top and put in new first thing, then make sure you keep adding fluid to the reservoir as you bleed to prevent getting air into the system. I would change the oil now, to be sure it was done, A refill is supposed to be 4.8 quarts including filter. I use Purolator 14460 oil filters which are sold by advanced auto for a couple bucks. The factory oil filters are made by Purolator, so why not? The engine oil drain is on the sheetmetal pan just under the engine. To avoid confusion with the other two drain plugs which are much farther back on the transmission. It is easy to do the drain and the filter on these cars, they are close to the front, and you can even reach them without jacking up the car. The oil dipstick on the other hand never seems to read right, always lingering oil from the dipstick tube messing up the reading. The timing belt interval is 105,000 miles by the way, and it's important to have it done on schedule. I would replace the water pump at this time, as it's driven by the timing belt and should it fail, it is the same as a timing belt failure, which is bad. You may find a bad timing belt idler at this time, but probably not. It is important to service the oil pump when doing the timing belt too. The pump itself does not fail, but has three potential leak paths, and oil leaks are a bear on these engines. The major source is the lip seal that rubs on the shaft and is pressed into the front of the pump. With the belt out of the way, it is easy to remove the pump and replace the o-ring between it and the block. There are several screws on the back of the pump that have been known to work loose, It is best to clean and loctite them in place to prevent any future loosening. The pump body itself is then glued to the front of the engine block using a grey engine assembly RTV sealant. That should take care of the work you would be likely to do in the near future.

Foglights project a fat short beam and were originally intended to use with headlights off (just park and tail lights on) to prevent bounce back in heavy fog. True driving lights project a narrow long beam or an extremely narrow extremely long (pencil) beam. They are super high beams and should be wired only to come on with the high beams lit. True driving lights are not generally sold in local stores. Brand names that come to mind are Cibie, Hella, Lucas PIAA and a few others. The old rule was bigger diameter was necessary to get higher performance and you would always see the old rally cars running around with 10" diameter lights bolted to the hood or the roof. The newer generation lights are frequently smaller and use lenses or exotic reflectors to have a smaller housing, They didn't get cheaper when they got smaller of course. It is a big disadvantage to mount the lights low, but that is where there is room to put them, careful aiming can compensate a lot for lower than ideal mounting, and is necessary to avoid blinding other drivers in any case.

Thanks for maintaining the fine site on headgasket replacement theotherskip. It was a major help in doing two headgasket jobs, just at my house. I have recommended it to other people as well, so that's a lot of good work done.

I run bridgestone firestone tires on all my vehicles and have had excellent luck. My dealer told me his Subaru customers were only getting about 35,000 to 40,000 miles on those tires and welcomed me to use them and come in for warranty replacement should they in fact wear out ahead of time. My original michelin tires on my 99 lasted almost 65,000 miles and i decided to stay with michelin on that basis. Hydroedge are near $120 a tire so they had better hold up!! I actually got them for $99 a tire at sears on sale, and they are wonderful! Very good all around handling and as good in rain as advertised. I had no problems driving in snow and they are quiet. The only thing i'm not crazy about is they are unidirectional so they can only be rotated front to back. As they are supposed to go 80,000 miles, I want to keep the wear as even as possible.

I've had convertibles for years, what amounts to having extra fun for me without spending any extra dollars. I like my subaru, but in pennsylvania, I get about ten days of real use out of the AWD per year, and I get about one hundred days of real use out of the convertible top feature per year. I also think it's funny that my politically incorrect Mustang GT gets 3 to 5 MPG better fuel economy than my liberal darling Outback ever does. The outback is also the first car I ever bought that wasn't on consumer reports "never buy this" list, and it's the first car I've ever worried about having an engine failure with. all that aside, I really like the outback and will probably have one subaru or another for the forseeable future.

It's important to use double platinum rather than single platinum for correct operation. The reason is with our ignition system, half the plugs the spark jumps center electrode to side electrode, and the other half the spark jumps side electrode to center electrode. There was a very long discussion on how and why this is in the past. Regular plugs will wear differently between the two sets over time, and this will affect operation.

The key should be a woodruff type which is a half circle in shape. The timing gear is slid off the key first. You tap down on the back side of the key, which starts to spin it out of the rounded slot it's in a bit. you can then tap the exposed front toward the end of the shaft with a small cold chisel or screwdriver and it will pop right out of the groove. This is a gentle process, no hard beating is required or wanted. To go back together, clean up any varnish or scale and place the key back in the slot lightly oiled. It is easier if it has a very slight slope down toward the end of the shaft, that way it will not catch the gear slot when it starts to slide up over the key. Once the gear is over the end of the key, you can tap down on the back side to square it in the slot or just let the progress of the gear over the key force it into correct alignment.

dcp 2715 jpeg is a great picture of the back of the pump. you can see the screws, and the port where the o-ring goes. there are two flow paths, one through the o-ring, and the other between the pump body and the front of the block which is sealed by the glue job. The work is exactly the same as doing a timing belt, with the extra step of pulling the oil pump off and sealing it to the block with a new o-ring in place. The $2 lip seal on the front also needs to be changed, and is what brought my 99 down at 65,000 miles. It's really not much work once you are down that far, and the o-ring and seal are very inexpensive. There have been several threads here on timing belt changeout that were remarkably complete, someone will probably chime in on that subject with a link.

You should not replace just two tires at a time on your car, it will lead to all wheel drive problems. I have a 1st generation outback that came with Michelin tires that lasted about 65,000 miles. My normal tire dealer said his customers were only getting 40,000 to 45,000 miles with his tires. I bought a set of Michelin Hydroedge eventually. They are usually 120 a tire, which is pricey, but they work great and are supposed to go 80,000 miles. I found them at sears on sale for $99 a piece and there are usually offered with some other incentive. I would buy a brand that had a wear out guarantee and rotate them fairly often whatever brand i bought

I found a 99 specific factory CD disc on ebay for about $20. It covers the entire subaru lineup for that year which includes both DOHC and SOHC engines and more info than you could imagine. I initially thought it wasn't that much, as the disc isn't even full! If you start printing it all, you end up with a foot high stack of paper in short order. and much more to go! Very nice to use.

I will copy over some info from previous posts I have made on the subject. I used PFR5B-11 NGK which I found at advanced auto for $10, best price I found, and yes those are the original equipment plugs for the car. List on those plugs most places is $15 each and a lot of the internet sources wanted $12 or more with shipping extra. My kid who is on a budget bought Autolite APP3924 for about $4 apiece. They are double platinum and made in America. Very high quality appearance and seemed to match the NGK's for dimensions very well. The car runs like it should on them, so they may be OK to use. The plugs on this engine are real difficult to change, so I bought the NGK not wanting to have to redo the job if there were any problems Once you remove the windshield washer bottle and battery (can probably just slide it forward on it’s tray a bit) on the left and the air inlet tube and mass air sensor and air cleaner box on the passenger side, access is fair doing a 2.5 in an outback. I would do the front plug first on each side, as they are slightly easier to do. What makes it the most hard is that the plugs are really far down inside the wells in the heads. The rear plugs on each side are harder because the frame rails are closer in the back. My problem was that an extension was needed, but there isn’t room to get one in with the socket attached. You have to slide the socket into the hole first, then slide in and assemble the extension, and finally attach the ratchet to the end of the extension. I immediately removed the sponge rubber plug protector from my socket, the reason being it will be extremely difficult to get the socket off the end of the plug and out of the hole if the rubber is gripping the spark plug. I didn’t want it on for plug removal either, because there is a lot of trial and error with your socket set as to what gives just the right length for getting the socket stack down into the hole. As I recall, what worked best for me was to use a plug socket in the rear, and then use a ratchet with a standard socket on it to turn the hex on top of the plug socket instead of using an extension. On the front plugs, a 3" extension worked pretty well with the regular spark plug socket and a ratchet. There was at least one plug which worked slightly better with a standard deepwell socket instead of the spark plug socket, but that was not a critical must have item! I would recommend having a small hand mirror on a stick or a ladies compact to be able to glance down into the well to see what’s happening. I’ve done a few of these cars, and on each one, at one time or another, the spark plug socket became slightly jammed on some aluminum protrusions of the head that were down deep in the well. The impression is that the threads are pulling rather than the socket is cocked and dragging. If you experience this, Use the mirror to reconnoiter. If in doubt, reverse direction, and the condition should go away if it’s not the threads. This usually happens when it’s just starting to go real good to scare the heck out of you. Going back in with new spark plugs, make sure you check the gap first, then lube the threads with an anti-seize compound. Make sure there is a washer on the plug or you will wonder later on if it was in fact there. The big trick for installation, is to have a piece of rubber hose that’s about three or four inches long and a snug fit on the top of the spark plug. Stick it down over the top of the plug and use it to guide the plug into place. Twirl the hose between your fingers and you can probably get the new plug in half to three quarters of the way which ensures the threads are started straight. It's also much quicker and easier than a socket wrench as far as it will go. Putting all the stuff back on after the plugs are in, make sure the three quarter inch hose that connects to the bottom of the intake tract after the air flow sensor is reconnected, The car will not run without the hose connected, and sometimes it slips off unseen during disassembly, and you don’t even realize it needs reconnected.

I did both of the sending units in a legacy outback in less than an hour. They are not under the seat, they are under plates just behind the seat. In a sedan, they would be in the trunk all the way forward. As the otherskip suggested, a pencil eraser is a good cleaner, and by gently bending the pieces, you can move the contact piece off of the resistor surface without cutting anything. It fixed my readings right up, big improvement.

Two wheel alignment is for rear wheel drive cars with solid rear axle and trucks with solid rear axle where there is no adjustment between the two rear wheels as they are all one piece. Most modern cars and your Subaru have independent motion of the two rear wheels and a four wheel alignment is required.

I've had a few other brand turbo cars that called for premium and had a provision in the owners manual that would permit regular in emergencys. Unlike an engine that's engineered with high compression and a premium fuel requirement, a turbo engine can automatically lower it's octane demand by cutting back on boost which is what the engine controller automatically does. Most of my turbos did not seem to have much less power when regular was used, but I only used mid grade as my normal fuel. The fuel savings of a couple dollars a tankfull is negligible compared to the amount of the monthly car payment.

There have been several threads regarding cleaning the sending units. They are easy to remove and you clean the wiper area on both. My 99 outback would read high for awhile then drop all of a sudden. I did both sides in under an hour and it fixed it right up. On a sedan, it's probably in the extreme front of the trunk, not under the seat, because on a wagon it's under the extreme front edge of the load floor.

The way I refill the cooling system is to put about a gallon of mix in the radiator, then pull the top hose off the radiator and pour mix down the hose into the engine. it goes to the tube that connects to both heads and fills each side pretty well. once the hose is about full to the top, i reconnect it to the radiator and fill the radiator to the top with mix. The engine is now near 100% full, and can safely be run to get the thermostat to open. There is a small screw plug on top of the radiator near the upper hose that is intended for allowing air out of the system. Once the block is reliably filled, it's like getting the last little bit of air out of most any other type of car.

I would recommend a mitsubishi eclipse for a small sporty car. The first generation 90 to 94 are smaller and have motorized seat belts, and are a bit cramped inside. The 95 to 99 second generation are to me much prettier and have a lot more room inside. They also come as eagle talons and in the earlier years, plymouth lasers. they come as manual or automatic, front wheel or all wheel drive, and hatchback or convertible (fwd only). Most have about 140 HP, but ones with 210 HP are pretty easy to find. There are a few maintenance problem areas as with most cars, but for beauty, handling, and power they match up to most other choices very well. One issue with them would be to find a local garage that can work on them, parts are very easy to obtain, but some times service will be required. If searching on the web, most info is listed under DSM as the three brands were all built by Diamond Star Motors in Normal, Illinois