5000fingers

Last week I replaced the fuel filter on my 2011 OB, and checked very carefully for leaks after reassembly, no problems with the car running. Well, yesterday I filled up the tank and drove home. This morning I went outside and found a puddle of gas under the tank, and still dripping. Turns out the gas is leaking from the rubber gasket – which I thought I installed and torqued correctly. The gasket looked to be in good shape, so I didn't replace it. So just now, I tightened the 8mm nuts even further, but it's still leaking. So, off to the dealer to buy a new gasket I suppose, or maybe I did something wrong somehow, I don't know. It seems like a no-brainer, it can only go on one way. The question is what I do now, with a full tank of gas that is leaking out the fuel filter gasket. And I presume a lot of it will come gushing out all over if I take open things up again. In the old days I would just siphon a few gallons out and make the repair, but I know modern cars have rollover valves and other devices that prevent siphoning. So, please advise: 1. How to deal with the full fuel tank in order to open up the fuel pump/filter assembly again. What's the best way to stop the leaking, and do the repair without pouring fuel everywhere? If I jack up the passenger side, would that allow me to take off the fuel filter assembly without gas spilling out? And: 2. What might have gone wrong with my repair?

It does nothing. No sound. OK, but if that's the case, why would the right button raise the sunroof up? Shouldn't it only retract it? I will try that, thanks. Do you have a link to any instructions for how to remove the sunroof without removing the headliner? I can't find that on YouTube anywhere.

I have a 2011 outback that is leaking water in through the sunroof. I tried to slide it back to see if I can clear obstructions from the front drain holes, but I can’t slide the sunroof back. The left sunroof control, whIch is supposed to raise and lower the glass for ventilation, does nothing. The right control, which is supposed to retract the glass, just raises and lowers it for ventilation. Weird. Then I realized that I don’t think we’ve ever even tried to retract the sunroof. Which begs two questions. Do I have a sunroof that doesn’t slide back? Is that a thing? And if the sunroof by design does not retract, how can I access the drain holes to clean them out? Please don’t tell me I need to remove the headliner.

We just had a bomb cyclone of rain dumped on us, and the bottom of our 2011 Outback has waterlogged. I can't find any possible source, I can't see any coming in from the sunroof, or anywhere else. But it's getting in somewhere. So, are there any good ideas for what to look for, where water might be getting in? Secondly, it's causing some weird electrical problems. Even when the stereo is off, I'm hearing lots of cracks and pops coming through the speakers, that are somehow related to engine speed. Weird warning lights coming on and off, seemingly randomly. Are there any ideas as to what's going on there, and whether or not that might be a clue as to where water might be getting in?

I have a 2011 Outback (4 cyl engine), and it is stalling out at stop signs. It is not throwing any codes, or having any other symptoms. What might be going on, and what can I do to diagnose it? The local mechanic is pretty stumped too, saying that the only thing he might try is a new torque converter. But I don't want to just throw parts at the thing, especially when they are that expensive, and I don't understand the issue. I'd appreciate any insight you can give.

We brought it in for some noise in the front drivetrain, and he diagnosed that as a bad CV axle. I can easily swap that out, but in the process of diagnosing that he looked at the CVT fluid. He didn't drain it to check it, just looking at the fluid with the dipstick. So maybe the next step would be to really flush the fluid out to take a look at it, and see if it really does have *shavings,* and not just an expected amount of "glitter." BTW we've had this car for several years. I'm not sure we would go for spending $8K on a new transmission, because to be honest I don't know how durable the rest of the car is. So with the long-term future of owning this car in doubt, if it turns out this tranny is circling the drain, I'll probably just get a low mileage used unit to replace it with.

I have a 2011 2.5L Outback, and our mechanic, who is a very reputable mechanic in our community, is recommending a new transmission, at a nifty price tag of $8K. He says Subaru is the only company remanufacturing these transmissions, and theirs cost $6K. The only symptom that he is going by to recommend the new transmission is metal shavings in the fluid. This transmission is supposedly a sealed unit that we're never supposed to service, and I have my doubts about the recommendation. But the car has something like 150K miles on it, presumably without ever having the tranny flushed, and I'm wondering if seeing some metal in the fluid is enough to recommend such a prohibitively expensive repair. I mean, what transmission wouldn't have a little glitter in the fluid after 150K miles, and no servicing? So I would like to ask this board if seeing metal shavings really is the beginning of the end for a CV transmission? Should I flush the fluid and check again after a few hundred more miles? What would you do in my situation?

I have a 2011 outback, which just started with a clicking sound, regularly and every few seconds, underneath the passengers seat, even with the key off. It drains the battery. It sounds like a relay clicking. Is there a relay under there? What else could be causing it? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the information and expertise (which clearly I don't have). I'm just looking for ways to make some modest upgrades to stiffen up the handling and performance. Maybe the sway bar mounts could be a good candidate for poly then, since those are fairly accessible for lubrication? How often do you think a poly bushing would need to get lubed?

Is there a good source for poly bushings (street grade) for a 2011 Outback?

OK, it looks like that was the "oil level warning light," not the oil pressure warning light. Good grief, what were they thinking?

It's a 2011 Outback, 4 cyl.

During COVID I haven't been paying enough attention to my Subie I guess. When I started up today after changing the sway bar end links, the oil light didn't turn off. So I immediately shut down and found out that it was 2 quarts low. That's bad, but not bad enough to trigger an oil light until just now. So anyway, I immediately topped it all the way up to the full line on the dipstick, and now the oil light won't go off. What is likely the culprit, and how should I diagnose it?

My 2011 Outback has been getting a little loosey-goosey in the front end. I replaced the struts and that helped, but there's still some looseness. The sway bar end links don't look to be in great shape, so I'm going to replace those next. I was hoping to stiffen up the ride a little with a performance upgrade, but it's a family wagon so nothing radical or too expensive. I notice there is a big jump in price to get adjustable end links, but I think that's a little fancier than I need. Is there a happy medium, maybe some poly end links that are better than the OEM, but not as fancy as adjustable end links? Secondly, when I have the front end up on jackstands, I don't have any way to recreate the road conditions that lead to the clunks and clanking that I hear when I go over bumps. If there's play in the tie rod ends or ball joints I can find that, but I don't know how to diagnose things like control arm bushings or sway bar mounts. If replacing the end links doesn't fix the looseness, how am I supposed to diagnose the remaining problems?

We have a 2011 Outback and are on an extended road trip. We'd love to listen to our favorite podcasts while on the road, and have been able to pair my iPhone. However, I can't seem to figure out how to do anything with a paired iPhone other than talk on the phone. For a bluetooth connection, I assume I should be able to play all of my iPhone's audio through the car audio system, but how do I do that?

I'm trying to save a few bucks on a strut replacement. It's looking like I'm going to have to replace my front strut bearings, or at least the one that I have off the car now. Is there any way to just replace the little bearing, rather than the whole bearing assembly? And if so, how do I find the part # for the bearing? All the auto parts stores around me only sell the whole bearing assembly. I'd rather replace a $15 bearing than a $70 assembly, if possible.

I have a 2011 Outback, and just recently I'm starting to hear clicks under the front passenger seat. It sounds like a relay clicking, and it happens regularly every 10 seconds. The clicking happens whether or not the car is running, and whether or not the key is in the ignition. When the car is idling the clicking coincides with the RPMs dropping. If the car sits around for a couple days the battery gets drained to where I need a jump start. What could be causing this issue?

The problem is that the nut is deeply recessed into the bearing mount, so a box end wrench doesn't work - and my dad's offset box end wrench won't even do it. Loosening the gland nut a half-turn or so, just to get it started, is just fine before the springs are compressed. That way you don't have to wrestle with it off the vehicle if the nut is stuck. Personally, I like to minimize the time I have the spring compressors on, and the amount of jostling around I have to do. My problem is that I studied physics, and I know damn well what those springs can do. I'll probably just bite the bullet and buy a pass-through socket set.

I have no intentions of removing the gland nut until the spring is compressed off of the vehicle. That would be ridiculous. I have found that it can be easier to crack the nut loose when it's on the vehicle, that's all. Just to get a start on it.

I understand all that. I have a set of spring compressors and I've done this job a few times before, just never on a Subaru. Specifically, I just need to know how to loosen the gland nut. It tends to be easier with the strut assembly still on the car (at least that's how I've done it before).

I'm trying to replace the struts on my 2011 Outback. I am looking for the correct wrench to remove the top nut from within the engine compartment (isn't that called the gland nut?). My dad has a set of offset box end wrenches, and I tried to use those to remove the nut while keeping the shaft still with an allen wrench. But that didn't work, the offset of the wrench wasn't deep enough. What is the correct tool to use to remove and replace this nut?

I'm replacing the low beams in the new-to-me 2011 Outback. The passenger side went well enough. It had the little wire retainer that you push down and pull across. The driver's side bulb came out after my swearing and banging of knuckles, and it won't go back in. There is no little wire retaining clip, and no obvious way of attaching the bulb back into the housing. I looked at a diagram for the light assembly on one of the Subaru parts websites, and it didn't show a retaining clip. ....is this normal? Or did my driver's side retaining clip get lost somewhere and fall down into god knows where?

I just bought a 2011 Outback Legacy (Is it an Outback? Is it a Legacy? I guess they couldn't decide). Anyway, it has about 120K on it, and I'm thinking maybe these are still the original struts because the ride is really rough. I have replaced strut inserts on several cars before, and have my own set of spring compressors. So, two questions: 1. Is this job pretty straight ahead on this car, nothing out of the ordinary? 2. What are the recommended replacement inserts for this car? I don't need a costly high performance upgrade, but I want a quality strut that's going to last.

Good news, the engine just started up again, and sounded fine. Although the battery is obviously low on account of leaving the hazard lights on so long, so it wouldn't start up a second time. Looks like I lost about 3/4 gal. of coolant, so hopefully that wasn't enough to cause damage.