brus brother

2005 Outback The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (actually, it's still pretty) 202 K miles leather interior, dual moon roof, good tires, auto transmission fine and cared for, no rust, body has one quarter sized ding on drivers's door from parking lot engine runs fine, leaking HGs and VC gaskets. leaks about 1/2 quart per week. Never overheated. Regular oil changes. constant P0420 that I have cleared to pass emissions for the past 6+ years. I have the original passenger cat. Replaced it with aftermarket but friggin' code came back. Located here in snowy Connecticut. What's it worth?

did you try Ctrl + h on your pc to pull up the entire web search/visit history? you can search for key words or just scroll through the dates you might recall BTW, it's called OldTimer's Disease for a reason...

I'm sure it will work out...

Hi Mike Check this LINK and this guy LINK is easy follow I think this is your engine, if not YouTube knows all.

nope had the vc gaskets and plug seals done less than 5 k miles ago when problem first arose. serious leakage back then. checked them again last night and verified they are dry now.

forgot to mention it always seems weather related like If the car has been sitting in my damp garage. which is why I started spraying water around looking for arcing.

130K miles. been getting intermittent p0303. Sometimes full on crappy running, sometimes just a pending code. swapped 1 and 3 wires and code stayed 0303 assuming coil sprayed water but didn't get a sparkly light show any other possibilities other than coil? If coil any thoughts of Intermotor brand from advance Auto?

I wish there was an updated sticky that reported on best and fair priced TB kits or components. The same would be nice for updated best and fair priced replacement axles. USMB members in the trade would likely have a larger sampling than the casual wrencher but all shared experience contributes to the discussion.

Thanks. I'll check on the "directional" aspect.

Front tires showing outer edge wear. 2008 OB Rotate direction? Front Right to Rear Right / Front Left to Rear Left OR Front Right to Rear Left / Front Left to Rear Right

"surprised a lot of them even know how to put gas in.. " Like this?

Could be a clogged cat. Friend's van had same issue and disconnected the exhaust to be able to roar home. Dumped the loose pieces out of the cat and ran it now for about 5 years.

Did this symptom exist before the recent work or only after?

any rattle over bumps which could just be a bad top mount? but don't see this affecting your alignment issue.

Had similar problem with 90 Loyale. Used a coat hanger and threaded it up from the bottom gently. Don't know the location on your car. Obviously better to access from top so as to not ram more junk up the tube.

Trim level? My 05 and 08 OBs only had manual passenger seats.

or when the owner explained that they had no idea why the engine seized, noting in passing that the "Genie lamp" was lit up on the dashboard for the past few months...

aka the battery killer switch

Had a similar experience. USMB taught me about starters getting stuck. Until I got around to replacing mine, I drove around with a 3' length of 2x3 so as to reach down to persuade it. I'm sure I was a sight getting out of my car wielding a big stick...

Latest MY changeover was 2020. Notable that SOA provided extended CVT warranties on up to and including the 2017s up to 8 yrs. 100K miles. The original drive train is 5 yrs. 60K. The 3 year 36 bumper to bumper would likely be gone by summer for the 2017s unless it was a later year purchase. Always a crap shoot but a trusted tech suggested that if considering an extended warranty that it MUST include the electronics i.e. infotainment panel. That or bank the $ and take a chance. It sounds like you're treating your current ride right so... keep on truckin'

made by man keep the code readers at the ready

86 y/o MIL...that ain't nothin' ;-) My mom is 102! From the discussions here, looks like USMB is graying group! OK back to the discussion before I forget what I was talking about and start repeating myself... OK back to the discussion before I forget what I was talking about and start repeating myself... In regards to later years, I just spoke to a reliable source. Experience tells that even the latest MYs are showing software (at least) issues with the infotainment consoles. Issues started with the Harman Kardon introductions, 2018+. The CVTs got extended warranties from SOA to 8 years/100K miles up to 2017. So if you consider the Lucky Texan's recommendation of 2016+ combined with my research, staying within and not beyond 2017 you end up with a narrow range, manufacture dates of September to early November and only Blu(?) colored cars heh heh. Good luck Nipper. See you at the used car lots. Now, in the spirit of our aging community, get off my lawn.

Hey Nipper. Been looking around myself. Retiring same age 05 OB and mileage 201K, doors nearly off. Just stumbled onto a clean 18 Premium but then read that there are a number of issues with this MY. The new "infotainment" devices can be buggy and are costly to replace. I always suffer from buyer's remorse, so of course any negative statements will immediately lead me to conclude that should I buy this car, it will spontaneously combust with the first turn of the key off the lot. Wear a mask. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay away from me. Regards, Your namesake in my avatar

generally you can use large stainless hose clamps to tighten the heat shields. bang around and see where the shield has come loose and add a clamp.