Cactus Music

Thanks once again. I will have to let him do what he feels is best. One thing I've learned is never try and tell a professional how to do their job He goes to web sites like this one and asks questions, he also has a buddy working at a Subaru dealer who he e mails for help. .He is actually very good as far as I have dealt with him over 10 years. Generally I ask for and receive top quality service which is money well spent. I used to do all my own work but modern cars are now a mystery to me.I work on the old Explorer( our Snow Plow) because it is not insured anymore. If the car requires major work we will have to sell or trade in on a new or newer model, We did get 12 years of reliable service so I guess that's not bad. And I still have my Legacy with 150,000K and in mint condition Problem is that's been my car,,, the wife took it over already Said she doen't like the idea of her Impreza being only 2wdrive

Thanks GL, Yes it's 200,000 Kilometers. We were planning on driving it for another 5 years as it's basically immaculate, There was a tiny rust spot on the door that we just had repaired at the body shop, Someone had backed into the car so they replaced the front fender and agreed to touch up the little spot free. We bought it new and it's never thrown a fit. We know all about the head gasket issue but what I have gleaned from the thousands of threads about this is ya, some cars are toast, but if you fully maintain your vehicle it's way unlikely it will happen to you. It goes for service every 3,000- 5,000 K depending on what was happening. We don't take it on long trips anymore preferring the much more comfortable Legacy. We need to put miles on the legacy. It only had 80,000 K when we bought it 3 years ago. We live up a mountain and we would not be caught dead without the Subaru's. My nephew was on the ball and before I could even report what I was told here, he will drain the fluid , and replace with that Dodge X brand and run it on the hoist while pulling the bypass fuse on and off. So we will see what happens.

Thanks GD. Yes I figured so much, I wonder if driving the car with the frozen caliper overtaxed the clutch AWD system? seems this is the cause of this unforseen damage. Like it's not normal for this component to fail? correct? Another insight I forgot to mention was on Sunday when we came home, which is a 3 KM climb up a hill and then a gravel road when I got out of the car I smelled burning brake liners?? All 4 wheels were cool, so that smell must have been the clutch gizmo. So this goes back to me pondering why the caliper froze in the first place to cause this damage and why it was not noticed during a service that involved tire removal.

Yes, as I said, we had it serviced and the winters changed over for the summers, We have all our tires on rims so the summers are on the original rims and this will be their second year. They are Michelin hi performance ( Rain X?) and the proper original size.

Hi every one looked at a few Subaru forums and this looks like the place to be and ask. So up until now our 2005 Impreza has been solid as a rock and never any issues. Just turning over 200,000 K We have kept it serviced and only the original dealer and our currant mechanic have ever worked on it.My mechanic just happens to be my Nephew and has been top shelf as far as I can tell. So short history of the issue In May he serviced it and swapped out the winter tires. nothing found. Week later wife found the rear wheel smoking so she drove it the 3 KM to our mechanic. He had to totally replace the rear brakes to the tune of $800, a very first major breakdown for us. Note the brakes had been done only a year and a half prior to this. ? We at this point questioned his workmanship not excluding why had he not noticed the brakes when he pulled the rims?? But he is my nephew and I still trust him 100%,, OK make that 98%.. Pretty much right away my wife complained the car felt like it was trying to stall when you first started out, this was narrowed down to when you turned a sharply while manoeuvring in parking lots. So I tested it and yes , there was a noticeable rumble coming from the left rear when you turned sharp right and applied power. Didn't do it when coasting and didn't seem to do it in reverse. I also have felt her car was was kinda rumbling and loud compared to my Legacy. So my nephew looked at it today and he did the fuse bypass trick and the noise has gone away. I never heard of this and reading here about why the by pass exists makes me realise I'm glad I never had a flat tire. Didn't get a chance to talk to him as he was gone when I picked the car up after work, but I noticed the issue was gone and the car actually seems pretty perky all of a sudden.I know he did the fuse trick because the AWD light is on. Wife is not happy that it is broken and does not wish to drive a Front wheel drive. We are hard pressed to spend a lot of money on an old car. What can I expect is wrong and can it be fixed? Thanks for reading my long post, sorry about that..

Just to share a story about your year and model.. We had the same until our carport caved in on Christmas eve due to rain on 3 feet of snow. The Subaru was flattened to 2' and the tires where like the Back to the Future De Lorian when it flies. My 96 explorer fared better as we all know they have to have strong roofs because they spend a lot of time parked that way. They fixed the Explorer which I still use as a snow plow. The Subaru which we had bought 2 years prior to this for $12,000 they offered us $13,500!! and wrote it off. We bought our 2005 then And my wife was not happy because it had no character compared to the 98. Anyhow much later down the road we run into a local kid who said, hey I think I have your car.. he found a piece of paper with our name.. I couldn't believe they re built it it was a pancake. it's still going strong and looks in mint condition.