~01~Outback

Id be guessing the Extended Service Warranty covers all mods to the car at the time of sale, unless explicity stated that a certain mod wont be covered! Otherwise they have mis-represented the vehicle and the warranty to you, and they have opened themselves up to a stand alone law suit! Also id be getting either an independant Auto Elect to assess the 'apparent' short and cause of the problem (or Subaru!!??). Id suggest the security system has absolutely nothing to do with the problem in the car! You've already said they are full of shi7, and dont know what they are doing!! This will set you in good stead to pressure them to fix the initial problem, or the ensuing legal action! Good luck, dont take any crap, and get their 'position' in writing!

Just wondering peoples thoughts on having a simple reference point for each vehicle/engine - listing issues and solutions! Any thoughts? Cheers

Yep thats what im getting at!! Ive not had much joy with the search function yet! What im thinking is to post a thread for my engine and simply add to the initial post - hopefully this sort of thing can become a sticky thread (as you mention). this would help reduce multiple postings re the same questions! Ill give it a go, and see! Cheers

Reading this thread, being new to Subis and casually reading this forum over the last few months - ive got to wondering if there is a quick reference point for individual engine/model combinations that isnt covered by Subaru maintenance (eg the idler/tensioner bearing!?)? If not ill start another thread for this point! - Any thoughts!? Scott

Edit - was writing my reply when tcspeer posted! My understanding is limited but here goes - Interference is refering to the valves and the pistons - i.e. the pistons hitting the valves! This issues arises when the timing belt breaks, slips off or generally fails for what ever reason! A non-interference engines set up, doesnt allow the valves & pistons to collide when the belt fails (dont ask me how!?); an interference engine does not have this, and can result in valves staying open while the pistions continue to pump (generally causing damage to the pistons, valves, and ive seen a very bent conrod from a Ducati race engine that lunched itself at 9500rpm and pounded the valves into spagetti...ala interfered with hehe)! Hope this is right! Im surprised Subi went from non-inter, back to interference in 1997!! Anyone got any insight into this?? Is my 2001 EJ2.5 non-interference?? Hope so!! Cheers Scott

If you want to check for residues in your cooling system - take the radiator cap off and have a look at the water in the resovoir! If there is a scum on the surface of the water, or it smells fuelly or is greasy between your fingers then there is a leak! It may not be this obvious though! Also check for bubbles rising in the resocoir when the engine is running - denotes gasses being forced into the cooling system through a leaky head gasket. Also check the pressure of the radiator inlet hose - it shouldnt be rigid, if it is it denotes the system is pressurising and this may be affecting water flow, and contributing to the overheating. All these point to the same thing, a blown headgasket! Im not completely familiar with the subi engines yet, but im just going through this same scenario with an old BMW atm! Head gasket leak, scum in water and overheating sporadically! Have just started a chemi-weld treatment to seal the leak for the short-term, and get some more life from the engine. But this is an old engine on a fairly valueless car, so it will do the job for a while! Im not recommending this on the Outback! I stuffed around with thermos, radiator cleaning etc etc etc... and this was the result! Just thought id share! Good luck!

Yep - my background is VW's, which contributed to my evolution into Subi's! But this consumption is excessive even compared to the bus! I change the oil and filter as/per schedule, which in my experience is really excessive changing, although ive never used full-synthetic oil before this car! Im pretty easy on the engine - most of my driving has been highway, accept for the past 8 weeks, and this is where ive been burning the oil, while commuting. The previous owner said most of his k's were highway aswell, and its got a good service record, as i have all the receipts now! I have run a system cleaner through in the last 1000 kilometers. Ill do a log as you suggested just so i know whats actually happening! From what i have read, these engines are good for well over 300 000kilometers in good driving conditions, so 135 000, with a good history shouldnt be posing a problem! Any other thoughts appreciated - including info on fitting an Oil Pressure guage to this donk! Cheers Scott

PCV? Ive only had the car for 20000k's! So ill check the records tonight, thanks! Consumption - It took the better part of a liter this morning, and i had travelled about 3000k's (or there abouts!). They are really rough figures. High consuimption nonetheless, but its not necessarily constant!! Ill be paying more attention now! Ill pull plugs and compression test tonight! Cheers

Ive been through it but havent found any issues as yet - Im hoping its just the quirky nature of the ABS!? cheers

My Outback seems to be burning oil - I dont have a leak, and my emissions seem clean, but its using oil nonetheless!? The car has done 135 000k's full Subaru service, and mostly highway running! Are the EJ2.5's prone to burning oil? and im considering fitting an oil pressure guage to better monitor the situation! Does anyone have any suggestions on sourcing and/or fitting one of these? Cheers Scott

Thanks for that!! Im thinking booster! I should have added there doesnt appear to be a leak in the system as yet!! I will suss it out tomorrow and post what i find! Cheers

Ive done a search and this has been discussed a little previously but only in relation to cold temperatures. both times ive had problems, the car, and i assume brakes, have been warm or hot - although im generally very easy on my brakes! The problem - when relatively heavy braking, but controlled, not excessive, i have lost braking power significantly! Both times i was turning, and applying the brakes - both dry roads! The pedal went soft - dropping a few inches and i could feel the jutting from the abs, but the brakes were effectively failing. Im not too familiar with the Subi mechanicals, but im thinking it has something to to with brake booster/brake assist! Is the power steering and brake booster linked in someway, because the loss of boost is during turning when the power steer is in use?! The abs shouldnt be kicking in unless the tyres are starting to loose traction, but that wasnt the case! Ill be doing a full inspection this weekend (pads, rotors, fluid etc) and getting the Subi mechanics to take it for a road test so i should have a better idea by the end of the weekend! Any advice or opinion welcome! Cheers Scott

01 Outback - Australia: ran on regular and had pinging under any load; started using premium 98 Octane, and pininging went immediately (less than 1/4 of a tank!) I didnt think it was fuel at first, it sounds like timing lag, but timing is spot on and using premium kills the problem. Id be interested to hear a 3.0 running on regular, to see if it develops the same problem!

Quite simply if the diameter of one tyre is, lets say 1% smaller than the other tyres - over 100km that tyre has travelled 1km more; over 10000 its travelled 100km more!! That certainly cant be good

If your after ride and space, id say the Legacy is your car! the Outback handles great for me, but i dont give it heaps, and im used to cars that dont handle at all, so its really horses for courses! take a run in the Legacy first! Cheers