Wallis_93

Okay so I cleaned it up a little bit to better identify the leak. Is this a headgasket leak or something else? http://rs1377.pbsrc.com/albums/ah64/zx6r_wallis/Mobile%20Uploads/20151026_183824_zpsveqnros8.jpg~c200

Ok so I found out today that my car is leaking a lot worse now. I left two decent sized puddles where I usually park the car. Checked the dipstick and its down close to the low line now but I'm not sure how much oil that is exactly. Also my coolant is incredibly low to the point that my overflow tank is almost empty. Probably have about an inch worth of fluid in the bottom but thats all I have. I was in some really bad traffic on Friday for about two hours and it never overheated one bit. I am pretty sure this is my headgasket going because of all the coolant lost but maybe I'm wrong. I appreciate any suggestions and if its bad enough, would I be better off just selling the car? Thanks.

Well I went to an exhaust shop and they put in a new pipe and welded it all up for $80. Exhaust is pretty much back to normal now.

Yeah I did fine but pushed it a little hard at the very end (was going up a crazy steep hill with deep ruts) and banged it at the top of the hill. Anyway, I've been looking to lift it for a while so maybe I'll do that before I do anymore serious off roading. I definitely try to pick good lines because I know I'm limited a lot by my ground clearance(at least where I was). I should have my exhaust welded back up this weekend and that's probably the best route to go and the most cost efficient. Thanks for recommending a ss exhaust... I wonder how much stronger it would be in case I ever did that.

Yeah I've been trying to use a relatives suv when I can and I plan on getting it welded up sometime this weekend. I wish they made more aftermarket exhausts for the H6 because it sounds amazing except that it is definitely too loud. Also I was wondering what the best way to protect the exhaust system would be. I know you can get skid plates but I don't think they will protect a good bit of the exhaust. I can lift my car but that won't be for a little while. Then again I try to drive the best I can when I'm off road to hopefully avoid hitting the exhaust.

I'd really like to get my outback close to looking like this. Those tires do look awesome!

How much lift did you go with? Really like the way it looks in the last pictures.

Would it be an ok idea to remove it until I can get it fixed? I've already gone close to 500 miles with it like this...

Ok sounds good. How does the website work? Do I just find someone near me and go pick it up? Thanks for all the great advice btw.

So why not just reboot my axles? You guys said the clicking means I need to replace the entire axle, right? How would I know that an axle I buy wont click? Also am I just looking to buy an axle shaft and boots and reboot the axle and then install?

Wow I didn't know the axles could be bought that cheap. Any reason to go new over used? I am overdue for an oil change so I guess losing some oil isn't bad. I was just a little worried.

Thanks a lot guys. There's a bunch of other regular maintenance stuff I need to do and I'll do this while I'm doing all that. Hopefully before it gets too cold because it sucks working in the cold haha. I mentioned I had a similar noise coming from the rear driver side tire/axle area. The boots seemed perfectly fine last i checked and it usually only makes a noise going around a corner at lower speeds. It is the exact same noise I'm getting from the broken boot up front but to a lesser degree. Would this suggest the axle is starting to go bad? Or could this possibly be more related to the suspension? Its been like this for at least the last 5,000 miles or so and hasn't changed much at all in terms of frequency or severity.

Thanks for the advice! I have a similar noise coming from my left rear wheel area also so I think I'm going to look closely at it and see if I'll have to replace the axle there. I'll check the PCV valve when I can and see what it looks like. Hopefully I'll have my car in top shape in no time!

I've heard of not running the h6 low on oil and that is what scared me the most. I put 1 and 1/4 quart of oil in today. I went about 700 miles and I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on it. I will definitely go with a subaru axle... how hard is it to reboot?

So I made a post about damaging my exhaust off road however this is not related to that. Last Thursday before I left for the trip made, I noticed my oil was pretty low(about halfway from the end of the dipstick to the L). I have gone a couple thousand miles without an oil change so I figured maybe I have a small leak or I'm burning oil somewhere. Anyway, I go to check this morning and my oil is barely showing on the dipstick! Now I did go about 700 miles and a lot of that was pretty hard driving but that is a crazy amount of oil to lose. Not only that but my coolant has slowly been going down and is now just under the low mark. I let my car run about 30 minutes and watched it sit for about 20 minutes when i parked it and it didn't leak a single drop of oil or coolant. I'm a little worried that possibly my head gaskets are failing but not entirely sure. My car does not overheat(according to my thermostat) but it does have a burning smell when I park it. Now onto the other issue. I have a broken cv joint (boot or I think that's what it's called). It's the rubber piece right inside the back of the wheel that's connected to the axle. Do I replace the axle to fix this? It's making a really loud clanking noise when I turn and only when I turn. Sounds really bad... I appreciate any input you guys can give me.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I hardly ever looked at my exhaust before so I didn't know that was where the factory weld was. I'll check the condition of the cat when I can. It'll suck to lose the cool sound but it's just going to get me in trouble anyway haha. On a side note, I should probably invest in some skid plates.

I'm having a terrible time trying to upload a photo. To describe it better, it is immediately after the 2nd o2 sensor. Maybe half an inch at most.

I'll post a pic when I get home

It is broken at 31362

Hello everyone, I recently damaged my exhaust while doing some off roading and would like some input. I will try to explain this the best that I can as I have not been able to jack the car up yet. I have a 2003 H6 Outback sedan. Basically I didn't have ground clearance in one area and bumped the exhaust on the ground/mud/dirt whatever. It is the area where the exhaust meets up and becomes one pipe. I am saying bumped because I could not see any dents or damage so feel like it was possibly just jarred lose or something. There is heat coming out of the tip of my exhaust but I cant necessarily feel it blowing any air(just still gets hot). If I turn on the car and rev it a little I can feel air coming out on both sides of what I can best describe as a mid pipe. I can feel a slight loss of torque and the car is extremely loud but sounds cool lol. Anyway, I feel like if its going to be hard to fix or expensive, I might just install a test pipe. Is this a good idea? Also, I do not have a check engine light on but like I said the car does feel different under hard acceleration. Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks for the info. I'll throw him a quick cash offer and see how it turns out. He said he can show it Monday so I'll see how it works out.

How should I address the 3 rust spots already on the vehicle? I've never done any body work or anything.

Thank you guys for all your opinions. I'm hoping to go take a look at it tomorrow and if everything checks out, then I will be purchasing it. I do have to say that so far you guys have given me a boost of confidence. Around here most people just run there cars to the ground so it's rare to see cars with higher mileage.

Recently I was looking through Craigslist and found someone selling a 97 Impreza sedan. He says everything works great and that he has taken great care of it and has kept to the recommended maintenance. Has receipts for various parts put on over the last few thousand miles. Mostly rotors, pads, cv joints, etc all basic things with nothing serious. It has 326k miles on it and still has original engine and trans. Body is in decently good condition and the owner says there are three small rusts pots beginning to form. He is asking $800 OBO. Is this something I should grab or would it be too much of a risk? I'm wanting to lift it and have fun with it. Nothing serious but maybe just for snow and at the beach. For the price he's asking I don't think I'd lose much if something went bad but I am not an expert. What do you guys think?