Stevo F

I decided to take another look at it tonight. Turned the key to start a couple of times and just heard a little noise, but no crank. The third time I tried I held the key in the start position for maybe 5- 10 seconds, then it just stated cranking at normal speed and started up. Hit a few more time and starter continued to crank fine at normal speed. Doesn't seem to indicate a generally low battery. It seems like something flaky.

I bought the GT on Saturday and had no issues with starting it all day (it had been run prior to my looking at it) so all of the starts were with an engine that wasn't stone cold. Forward fast to Tuesday morning. I realized I left an interior light on the night before, and I go to start the car and it won't crank. Thinking I drained the battery, I jumped it off my 2014 Impreza sitting next to it in the garage and it fired right up. Ran it for 3 minutes, shut it off and restarted fine and restarted fine the rest of the day. Last night, I tried to start it, got a couple of clicks, then tried it again and it started. Again started up fine the rest of the evening. I let it sit until this afternoon and again not turning over. Since I had some time, I grabbed my volt meter and measured 12.25 volts from the battery, and headlights are nice and bright. I compared the voltage to 3 other cars here and all the batteries were 12.2- 12.5 volts, so battery seems fine. The battery is a 10 month old Duralast Gold. My guess would be a connection to battery or starter, or the starter itself. The connections are all tight, but I'm thinking of cleaning them all Saturday when I have more time. I thought previous owner told me the starter was recently replaced, but if so, it's likely from Autozone, which makes me think it's pretty sketchy. I find it a bit odd that it wouldn't crank at all with a cold engine, but cranks normally if it's been run in the past 6 hours, and it would be a connection or bad starter, but maybe. The outside temperatures have pretty much been in the 40's here, so not super cold.

A friend steered me to an ad for a 2004 Forester XS, 199K miles, timing belt, headgaskets done by Subaru dealer at 182K (same dealer I've taken mine to), almost new matched set of tires, body has some dings but rust free.Sounds like it needs nothing currently. He is asking $3,800 for it. I checked Edmund's and they appraise it at $2,256 and Kelley (which is usually a bit high on pricing) appraises it at $2,978. I'm going to try to see it Wednesday. I'm wondering what a good offer would be, assuming it's in solid shape. Despite the high miles, I'm thinking the recent work and new tires do add some value over an average 2004 Forester. Actually looking for this for 16 year old (soon to be driving) son, and will likely part with our 2005 Outback Sport (since non of our boys is interested in learning stick). Here is the ad: https://www.facebook.com/groups/351592831617218/permalink/1086358388140655/?sale_post_id=1086358388140655

We replaced one of the O2 sensors (can't recall if it's front or rear) . I ended up having my mechanic apply heat to the old 02 sensor because the thing was jammed in there so bad. It threw a different, more specific code then though. Also have had codes for a couple of leaky evap hoses that were replaced. Thought that code had come back again, but the last two CEL's were P0420's.

I pulled a P0420 code (Catalyst System; Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold) from our 2005 Impreza Outback Sport (EJ253 with 5 speed manual) yesterday. It originally popped up back in October (about 1,000 miles ago) so I reset it to see long before it would pop up again. Kind of a generic code- Is it more likely an O2 sensor (which I know will throw a different code as we already replaced one of them on this car) or is more likely the catalytic converter itself? Most likely will sell this car in the next year so I hope not to sink a lot into it at this point,as it otherwise runs well.

Thank you. Actually since it's for my son, he doesn't really want a wagon (my middle son has our '98 wagon and calls it a "soccer mom car"). I personally love the wagons (and my daily is a 2014 Impreza sedan). I'm wondering how consistently the headgaskets fail on the EJ251 engine (I know the previous EJ25D's pretty much consistently fail around 150K miles give or take). I haven't personally owned one of the 2000- 2004 EJ251's, although my parent's 2000 Outback only has 55K miles on it so theirs may never fail at that rate).

Continuing to look for a potential car for our 16 year old to start learning to drive on and I saw an ad for a 2000 Outback sedan for sale locally. Looks very clean in the pics. The owner says timing belt done 25K miles ago, runs well. Potential issues are AT temp light comes on occasionally, sounds like it has an exhaust leak and it will need a new set of tires before too long. It's never had headgaskets done and he says it's never overheated nor is it leaking coolant. He's asking $3,500 which sounds high- wondering what it really would be worth? http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/cto/5914813870.html

I had an ad pop up on Facebook today for a '91 Legacy wagon that won't stay running (the owner says they were told it's the coil- will start and run for a minute then quit), 175K miles, body looks fairly solid except for normal quarter panel rust.Owner claims car drives OK otherwise. They are asking $300 and will haul off to the junkyard in a day or two if no one takes it (which would be a shame in any case, IMO). I'm wondering if its worth the 50 mile drive to look at it. The owner says they can tow if (not sure ho far they are willing to go). Do the '91's need to be towed on a flatbed like newer Subies? Also, if the car ended up being a real beater, would it be worth the $300 for the EJ22, and would a '91 EJ22 swap easily into a late 90's Outback? (If I can locate a cheap one with a bad EJ25).

I ordered a new master cylinder, slave cylinder, and hydraulic hoses and installed them today. I bled the system pretty thoroughly and when I went to try the pedal- same thing as after I bled the system last weekend- pedal will only come halfway up on it's own and the slave cylinder movers the clutch in a little but not enough to fully engage it to shift the transmission. It still feels like there i sair in system. I suspect my vacuum brake bleeder may be at fault- maybe it is sucking air into the system from somewhere, so I may buy a different one and try it. BTW, the clutch pedal is already adjusted to come up as far as I can adjust it for maximum travel.

I went ahead and tried to flush the system yesterday, as I noticed I was losing even more pressure in the system after driving it yesterday morning (the pedal was now seldom returning all the way up after being released). Now the problem is even worse- barely enough pressure in the system to engage the clutch at all, even after pulling about 1 pint of fluid through the hydraulic clutch system. So I am going to go ahead and replace the master cylinder, rubber hydraulic line, and a new slave while I'm at it. Does anyone have any particular aftermarket brands they like, or avoid at all costs? I've generally gone with Beck Arnley when I order form Rock Auto. Also, regarding the rubber line replacement- how does the line disconnect at the rear coupling where it connects to the steel line? The fitting on mine is pretty corroded there and it's not obvious how to remove it.

Thank you. I inspected the rubber line and it looks OK, but it's also covering with a plastic sheathing that might be hiding a pin hole. It seems to be that an air bubble got into the system somewhere and may have caused the laggy pedal (it now feels OK). I'm think of just doing the whole system (master, slave and hydraulic hose). I can get Beck- Arnley components from Rock Auto for about $106 shipped.

When I got in my 2005 Outback sport this morning, I noticed the clutch pedal wasn't coming all the way up, so I had to pull it up all the way with my foot, then it was working OK. Go back to 2 years ago- I noticed it was grinding gears occasionally and the pedal was getting sluggish to come up all the way. I replaced the slave cylinder and all was good until now. I'm thinking some air has gotten into the system from somewhere... I'm thinking of replacing the slave again or maybe the slave as well as the master (original I believe). There are no signs of any leakage and the fluid level has not dropped.

Yes, seems to me too. Also gave me more info: Absolutely no rust, thats why i got it. Even undercarriage is clean behind rear wheel wells. Clearcoat is in okay shape, it would shine up pretty well with a full detail job im betting. No clear coat peeling of any kind though. No torque bind that i ever felt, all tires are matching and same size same tread depth. The only common Subaru problem it had when i got it was oil separator plate was leaking so i replaced it and did all the timing components and pressure tested cooling system. Found a couple minute cracks in the rad so replaced it did genuine subaru water pump and thermostat at the same time as all of that was done.

I ran across a Craigslist ad for a '96 Outback today. A big plus that than manual transmission model has the EJ22. From the ad, it sounds like the owner has replaced most anything it would need at this point. He also told me that he just replaced the front axles and the tires only have about 4K on them (I presume they're a matched set) I like the lift from the Forester springs/ struts, but I wonder if that will cause alignment/ uneven wear issues down the road. It has not be realigned since the lift. Here's the ad: http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/5651694803.html

I saw an ad on Craigs List for a '99 Outback with a '97 EJ22 (so it piqued my interest). 220K miles on the car, 130K on the engine.Lots of stuff replaced- axles, front wheel bearings, struts, etc... Timing belt, water pump done 12K miles ago. He does mention that the transmission has a rougher 1- 2nd gear shift, depending on throttle position (which I know is not uncommon with the 4EAT), but saws it only started when the transmission was recently rebuilt- how concerned should I be about the rebuild, in this case? Car sounds rust free and sounds like it needs nothing for the most part. Asking $2,500 If I'm looking for a longer distance daily driver for a few more years, how concerned should I be about 220K miles on the car or that the transmission rebuild may have issues down the road?

Could have been nothing more than a loose gas cap. My wife has apparently set that code off on my 2014 Impreza again.If it's a continuing problem, it will return. Mostly likely culprit are O2 sensors or problems with the hoses going to the evap canister (has these 2 CEL's on my 2005 Impreza)

I didn't think the older EJ25D's suffered from external oil leaks from the head gaskets. I would think that it would be mixing oil with the antifreeze before it would leak externally. My '05 Impreza is seeping a little oil from the headgaskets, as is common with the later ones..

I was inquiring about a '97 Outback on Craig's list and the seller indicated there is an oil leak from the top part of the engine and he has to add about a quart between oil changes. What might this leak likely be from and how bad a repair would it be?

I tapped it with a pick hammer. Some more metal flaked off, but there is still some solid metal there (not sure how thick). Hoping I can get at least a couple more years out of the car.

My 2005 Impreza Outback Sport spent its first 9 winters in Northern Pennsylvania before I bought it. I already replaced the front subframe because it was rusting out. My concern is a couple of areas of the rear suspension that have heavy surface rust and a little flaking off. I wonder if this is compromising the structural integrity of these components at all, as I hope to keep this car a few more years. I attached the some pics as files and are at the Dropbox links below. https://www.dropbox.com/s/e9xvo5n5jrttvxd/IMAG0650.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/frkkbzan74efzrf/IMAG0651.jpg?dl=0

Thank you. I let it pass anyway- From the Autocheck, looked like somebody rolled the odometer about 50K a few years ago. Good suggestion about the FWD fuse though.

Not my car, but a '96 Outback I'm looking at on Ebay. It initially sounds pretty good, headgaskets and timing belt just done along with tie rods, brakes, CV boots. I asked about torque bind and the ownder described what he feels as "The car is shuddering sometimes on initial acceleration while turning. Not every time though, and it may not even be noticed by a less perceptible person. I researched the issue and it likely is the torque bind starting to rear its head". Does this sound like torque bind or another issue? There is one tire with approx 1/16" less tread than the other 3 nearly new tires so it sounds like it was run with unevenly matched tires for a while.

My 2014 Impreza Premium has the CVT and I generally like it. With the 2.0 engine feels laggy in comparison to my '05 Impreza with EJ25 and 5 speed manual. Also, I drove a 2016 Legacy with the FB25 and CVT and the acceleration quite a bit smoother with the extra power. I would definitely only want the CVT with the paddle shifters, if for nothing else than the benefit of engine braking on slippery roads.

Bill Haas of Haas Automotive in Manassas has worked on Subaru's for many years (worked as a Subaru mechanic and has had his own shop for a number of years). My parents have taken their 2000 Outback to him since it was new.

I cut out the rust with my Dremel tool, then pop rivet in a piece of galvanized duct metal (just did this today on my Impreza). I also spray undercoating on the back side of the patch panel. In the past, such repairs have lasted 5 years or more before rusting though again