go_mo_bryth

2005 Outback XT (2.5L) with 85,000 miles on it. Today, I noticed a kind of "zinging" noise from the front end of the car (passenger side). I thought maybe it was the turbocharger giving me problems as I'd just come down on of our roads around 60mph (100kmh for my Canadian friends) but hadn't engaged the turbo (put the pedal to the floor). As I headed round the corner and onto one of the slower roads, I noticed the "zinging" sound (kind of like a power steering pump makes when the fluid is cold or the bearings need replacing). I also noticed that as I pressed down the accelerator, the speed didn't increase as quickly as it had done not 10 minutes before. When I got it home, I checked the fluid levels as I know this is sometimes the cause of similar sounds and problems but found them all good. I then checked underneath and found that the passenger side axle felt loose in my grip - almost sloppy. When I checked the driver's side it felt firm and secure with a titch of movement - not at all like the passenger side. The manual didn't tell me much at all and it was sons who suggested I take a wheel off to see if the axle nut was loose. This, I'll do tomorrow morning. In the mean time, has anyone got any ideas on what it might be? December 29th: I took the front wheel off and checked the axle nut. Everything is tight but there is still (what I consider) quite a bit of play in the passenger side axle. After checking everything and putting the wheel back on, I took it for a test drive. It seems there is NO front wheel drive at all. It starts about 18 mph (less than 20km) and gets louder the more I press the accelerator. Thanks in advance for your help. Gord

Thanks for the advice and info G.D. I will certainly get the car in as soon as possible to find out what the problem is. Can't have this screwing with my Christmas! hahah Or having me stuck somewhere where there's no heat at all and it's -35!

Well, since I put up the first post, I've done a lot of reading...especially the operator's manual...and *blush* I'm a wee bit embarassed to say that if I'd learned how to operate the climate control properly, I'd not have fogged up the windows. Of course, my knowledge of climate control USED to work off the premise that if it's cold outside, you CLOSE out the incoming air and recirculate the warm air inside the vehicle. It now seems that we let outside air IN to the vehicle when we want the windows defogged. That kinda flies against human logic when we are talking about Canadian winters and temps in the -10C to -35C range! The last thing I want to do is let FREEZING COLD air into the cab! lmao. But there is still the issue of the smell of antifreeze. I'll keep monitoring it and see if there is any more smell. And I found out this morning that there is NO block heater! I guess Utah doesn't get winter. lol So I have to put one of them in regardless. Again, thanks for all your info and help. It is greatly appreciated!

OH, I was so afraid of this! I had a look in the Haynes Manual for the car and saw how much work was involved. Yikes! She might end up at our local garage after all. *sigh* And why does this have to happen right before Christmas? Fortunately, my mechanic only charges $65 an hour. I was wondering if one of the hoses attached to the heater core had worked itself loose and that was causing the problem. The other question is...why would the heater core go so suddenly? As one of you said, the car is relatively new! Makes no sense. Thanks for all your offers of advice.

We bought our '05 Outback XT this spring and as it is now winter, we turned the heater on for the first time this past week. Two days ago, I came out to find what looked like water on the inside of the windshield but when I went to wipe it off, it was sticky. When I smelled it, it smelled like antifreeze. I checked all around the dashboard and under it on the passenger side and found no leaks. So I drove home. Today, my wife and I headed out onto the highway and much to my dismay, the windows fogged up and stayed that way for quite a while. We eventually had to turn off the road and sit idling until they cleared off enough to drive home. Occasionally during the drive home, we'd get the sweet smell of antifreeze in the cabin. Anyone have any ideas as to what can be causing this? Thanks in advance for any one offering advice!

Hi there, Back again after a long hiatus and with a new (to us) Subaru. Now have a 2005 Outback 2.5i XT Limited with auto and most every option under the sun...including that sunroof to feel that sun. Would like to convert it to run on synthetic motor oil, gear lube, and tranny fluid but unsure of how to go about the conversion. So I'd welcome any advice on how to do it. Car is a U.S. model and has 59,000 miles on it. Thanks and it's nice to be back! Gord

I didn't say my mechanic's reader wasn't working. I said that it wasn't getting data all the time from the car. My mechanic (Murray) said that sometimes the car gave the reader data and sometimes it didn't. This led him to believe it was a flakey ignition switch. But he wants it to do a hard no-start before he can really do major checking. And it's only gone to this once - thank gawd! hahah That was where there was nothing....no lights on the dash...no cranking...nothing...but the headlights turned on and all the interior lights came on too when I opened the doors. Also, the ignition switch is kinda finicky sometimes...in that it won't come out of lock without a fight.

I take it the "ecu" is the computer/brains in the car? And why would it just start acting up? Or is this something that can go over time? It has gotten to the point where my mechanic has told me to just keep driving and not worry about the "check engine" light. That worries me, for what if something DOES go wrong with the car and I've been ignoring the light all this time? I should maybe just take it into the Soob dealer here but they are not trustworthy guys. They've got a long long history of being, um, shall we say less than honourable. And the next closest dealer is 2 1/2 hours away. I don't want to have to replace this part and that part until I cure the problem. That would be Soober expensive....especially in light of it costing me over $250 Cdn for the inhibitor switch and NEW wiring harness that was REQUIRED but no one told me about before I ordered it.

The inhibitor switch is in and it ran fine for about 3 starts. Then on the 4th, there was the light. So I took it back to my mechanic and he put the reader on it and this is where it gets really strange...sometimes he'd get data and sometimes he didn't. He thinks it's the ignition switch. Do you guys think the same? I do wish we'd find the problem and fix it once and for all before I grow broke or have NO hair left!

Thanks Fairtax4me. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. I am however, taking the car to the mechanic's tomorrow morning. He thinks it might be the "other" neutral thingy but I've got my odds stacked on the Neutral position switch. But if it isn't, well, I'll be ordering the right one and leaving the new position switch in. No taking chances on the old one going and having to go through all this again. Maybe I should have taken it to the Soob dealer to begin with! I'll let you know how things turn out! "Go"(rd)

'95, Auto, 2.2L AWD. Neutral position switch came with new wiring harness because Soob has changed it somehow. So cost me more! I mean c'mon, $165 Cdn for the switch and then another $80 for the harness! Dumbfounded even the parts guys at the Soob dealership. Go figger. I thought it would be a case of just pulling off the old one and putting on the new one...harness and all. But seems I need to be part electrical engineer to do this one too. :-\

Following the advice of the "senior" Soob owners on here, I ordered and have now received the Neutral Position switch for the Legacy LS wagon. I thought I could put it in myself until I read in the manual something about "adjustments" and an OHM meter. Having not used the O-Meter before, how do I do this? Or is there a nice simple just "remove the old one and bolt up the new one" approach? Looks like my mechanic will be paid this week! *sigh*

Okay, I am wrong on this...GM USED to be a shareholder in the Subaru...or rather Fuji Heavy Industries. However, it seems their share has been sold off..."Toyota Motor will buy an 8.7 percent position in Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru, from General Motors. GM, which currently owns 20 percent of Fuji, will sell its remaining 11.4 percent stake into a Fuji open-market share buy-back program, completely liquidating its position in Fuji by the end of the week. The Toyota part of the deal is worth $309 million to GM. The value of the Fuji share buy-back will be depend on the open market value of the shares. The deal allowed GM to restate its second quarter financials to show a $700 million to $800 million reduction in the carrying costs of its Fuji Heavy position. All Saab-Subaru joint developments will be dropped, except for ongoing supply for Saab's 9-2x." My bad! hahah It's still big and clunky and not at svelt and sophisticated like it used to be. Bigger is not always better!

I bought a new battery today (old one almost 5 yrs old) and priced out an inhibitor switch. $65 Cdn (not bad) but not in stock. *shaking head* So will have to try the new battery first and then if that doesn't fix the problem, will order the new inhibitor switch. I'll let you guys know how it all turns out. Thanks for the help so far. It is so greatly appreciated. BTW...saw a new 2010 Outback. *holding nose* Ewwww... don't like it one bit. Whatever happened to keeping them small and sweet looking. It's almost as big as the Tribeca and much less Outback like. Is this GM's interference...being they're part owner? Looks more like an Equinox/Torrent unfortunately. Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone? There was nothing wrong with the old designs. And what's this that they are discontinuing the Legacy wagon? *sigh* sniff* What is the world coming to?

How hard is the Neutral safety switch aka inhibitor to replace by onesy's own self? I had a look at it in the Haynes manual and it doesn't look like fun. Also how much are these puppies new...in Cdn $$? I will be taking the car in next week to get the old command start taken out to return things to "normal" and then see if that clears things up. I hate (as does my mechanic) to put new parts in if'n I don't need to. Oh, I know it means the car will run longer...eventually....hahaha...but don't need to keep throwing new parts at it replacing under the sun until we get just the right part. Want to make sure we get right part now!