floater

thanks, that does sound much easier.

Really, the Haynes manual recommends removing them.

Thanks for all of the advice. One other symptom I noticed after I was reading on this forum and checked. Car at operating temperature and cap off overflow tank there are bubbles comming up. I am going to do a total drain and flush of raditor. I had to order a 14mm hex drive socket so I can remove the two plugs for the block. Will also clean out overflow tank. I then will refill with new coolant and see how quickly the overflow becomes dirty.

Two previous owners before me. I have all the receipts on the car. I looked through them and don't find it was ever done. I have had it about 4 years.

I'm wondering if I get the radiator/overflow tank tested for petroleum gases. I heard that shops have a device that can do this or it can be done via a chemical test. To me that is pretty definitive.

yeah it is an automatic. it hasn't overheated since I have driven it. I have been adding water/coolant a few times since last weekend when I noticed the temp gauge moved up but didn't go up much and then returned to the normal range. It uses a quart every 500 miles or so. The stuff in the overflow tank is black and gunky and smells like oil.

I don't really put anything in the car except techron in the gas tank right before I change the oil. Is there any confirmed way of testing?

96 Outback 156k miles Noticed that the radiator overflow had some black gunk in it. I put my finger in and it looks like oil. Tank also smells like oil. Car has been using oil. Car has always passed smog. Took it in to shop and gave symptoms and mechanic told me that subaru uses radiator to cool transmission and that they would need to remove radiator and send radatior for testing to confirm it was not transmission oil? WTF? ever heard of this?:-\ What are my options?

Thanks for the info. After reading the responses I went out and really pushed down hard on the brake pedal and walla, into neutral it went! Its funny but I had my foot down on the brake pedal yesterday but maybe it has something to do witht he fact that I had just bled the brakes and was not pushing hard enough? I jumped with my girlfriends car and no start. I'm almost postive its the battery as it barely cranks over on its own.

96 Outback, AT. Have the car in garage after a brake job. It won't start. I tried cranking it a few times and it may be the battery as it was sitting a while. So I was going to shift it into neutral and roll it out of garage and jump start it in driveway except you can't move the shift lever out of park unless the engine is running. Why is this? My girlfriends camry can be shifted, with the engine off, and key turned, from park to neutral.

Rear brakes Have had rubbing of caliper on disc. After removing pads, which were in good condition, I noticed that the lock pin boots are torn. The lock pin was easy to remove with 14mm socket but how does the guide pin come out of the mounting bracket? I ordered caliper rebuild kit from Napa and after receiving it today it looks nothing like what I need. The image attached shows what my rear brake looks like. The lock pin takes two boots, one on each side. The guide pin on top takes one guide pin boot. 1996 Outback

I tried to look by just removing the wheels and even using a flashlight was unable to get a good look at the pads. I will do it again and remove calipers as you suggested. Will check the brackets and caliper pins as well for lubrication. I may end up replacing the rotor as I never turned it. It was smooth. Thanks very much to everyone.

1996 Outback....

Rear brakes. Jacked up rear end and was spinning both wheels and there is resistance as if the brake pads were rubbing on the rotor. The pads appear to be still good. Brake job was done on the car by me a few years ago. Is this normal? I was thinking maybe the rotor could be bad. Hand brake was off.

I find Redline works well in my front/rear differntial. It flows well even at very cold temperatures.