heartless

the chances of finding a shop to do that work are pretty slim. If you were going to do it yourself, yes, it is doable, but not a lot of fun. time to move on from that car... salvage what you want out of it and scrap it, or sell it for parts is about the best you can do at this point.

definitely sounds clutch related to me.. but then.. has been a while since i have had one,...

220k on ours.. still a baby

i live in the rust belt and have never had it happen to me personally... used to see posts about it a lot on the old EA series cars but yeah, gonna have to pull the strut out of the car, get some new metal welded in there, and make sure the other side is ok before you finish up. Or, go to Colorado, get a nice clean body - with or without a good engine, LOL

first off - manual or auto? and where did you fill with gear oil? there are 2 different systems on an auto - passenger side gets gear oil (front diff), drivers side gets ATF

And the 2004 will be coming home this weekend. 185K, 5 spd that runs and drives quite nicely.. good tires all around, interior is pretty clean.. seats could use a good cleaning, but no rips or tears. a few minor battle scars on the body, and a little rust in the right rear wheel well..typical place.. but overall she is pretty clean for her age.

lol, not.. found an 04 locally that is in nice shape.. even the underside is reasonable for the area. and yes, she will be coming home with us this weekend.

Thanks! Outback is already back in our possession - now to get the truck done, and decide what to do with my Foz... going to look at a possible replacement this morning.

actually going to go look at an 04 this morning - 180K, 5 spd... pics look ok, but will be checking things the pics dont show, like undercarriage, clutch, etc.. lol guy wants 2600 for it.. we shall see

Well done, Moosens! Hope she goes well for you.

thankfully, he has a very generous boss who has no problem with him bringing a work truck home, and has also offered the use of a truck he has - if we can find the darn key for it. the Outback is currently in shop to get brake line fixed, and should be ready in a day or two. I personally, do not need to go anywhere again until Friday.. Outback should be done by then. and I could, if absolutely necessary, drive the Forester. Have no idea how long those straps have been broken, could have been that way for a while now.. the back side of the tank is sitting on some rubber caps that are part of the rear suspension.. dont think it is going anywhere on that side. the front side is being held by the front half of the straps & the rock guards that are attached to the strap and the tank. True, driving it with the tank sitting as it is, is probably not ideal, but it could be done if absolutely necessary. and if all else fails.. well, we have a riding mower and a tractor, LOL

and to add insult to injury, the other half's outback popped a brake line today.. three vehicles here, and all 3 are down.. the pickup has a bad water pump, my car has its issues noted above.. and now the brake lines on his.. cant win for losing, dang it

thanks for chiming in GD, but slightly less concerned about the leakage, more concerned about the growling, which i assume are the pinion bearings.. behind the seal

The tank itself is not bad.. but the straps are a mess. new straps were not that much, but getting the old ones out could be interesting.. my concern is with the rear diff i guess - i know that bearings can make noise for a long time before failing completely, and it has been growling for about a year and half now, maybe a little longer.. and i would definitely go with a used one if we attempt to fix it.. still not sure about it at this point. also looking at possibly picking up another cheap (under $4k) car for the time being.. looking at an 04 Forester at the moment, 180K & a 5 spd for $2500 - waiting for a call back on that. Larry... be careful what you offer, LOL, we just might take you up on it! =P poked around on Denver craigslist a little... hmmm...

so.. noticed something hanging under my car the other day.. went to investigate, and found that both tank straps had rusted & snapped.. needless to say, she is grounded for the time being.. and possibly permanently... also noticed, while under the car inspecting those, that the front of the rear diff is wet with gear oil - the front being the skinny part the driveshaft connects to. I am going to assume that this means seals are shot, and this area could also be the source of the low growling i have been hearing for a long time that I have not been able to pinpoint.. (ie: bearings going kaput) we did change the fluid in the rear diff last fall because of the growling noise, and other half said the stuff that came out was pretty clean looking, no chunks, not really even dirty looking. at that time, everything was still nice and dry. new fluid did not make any difference in the noise, either.. so.. now what? do i retire the car due to serious steel cancer underneath? or do i try to fix it? She has almost 270K on her, and still starts and runs very well.. but... Yes, she is quite rusty under there, and the chances of getting things unbolted without breaking things are quite slim... thoughts? opinions?