rvanhell

I'm ashamed to admit to having had the plugs changed when I had my summer tires put on... so I don't know how they looked. The spark plug wire connectors look good. The car has about 120,000 miles. I'll look into SEA foam. Who knows?

Hi All, I've looked through the forums and have not found a precise description of my problem, so here goes: I have a '99 Impreza Brighton 2.2, 5 speed. I have had hesitation problems in the past, and they have temporarily resolved themselves to some extent over the years. Lately, though, things seem to have changed. Up until yesterday I was under the impression that because my car burned a small amount of oil (not enough to show up in the exhaust) the plugs were getting fouled. So, I would clean/change them and that seemed to resolve the issue for a time (about 6 weeks). Yesterday I replaced the plugs, and the car's hesitation/stutter actually got worse. Let me describe it: At idle I will get the occasional "bump", like it misses. If I rev it, it will cough on the way up sometimes. When I accelerate at low rpm and then pin it, the car will hesitate and then lurch violently. Often when I accelerate from a standstill, but not hard the car will just misfire (or so it seems, but I get no check engine light), and not accelerate but rather lurch. While it is doing this if I keep my foot on the gas, I hear a chirping sound coming from the back of the car. Lately at highway speeds, if I accelerate hard, no matter if it is reving high or low, it will not respond very well and the engine will feel like it's running a bit rough. This can happen cold or warm. I have adapted to the acceleration from a standstill by giving a bit more gas before I lift the clutch. Most of the time this works, but sometimes there's nothing to do but disengage the clutch and try again until the engine decides to cooperate. I don't often accelerate really hard, because of how I expect it to respond. The chirping sound has always intrigued me, but I've gotta say that this hesitation in general really bums me out. Anybody with any ideas or is this just a standard "plugs/wires, MAF cleaning, fuel/air filter replacement etc." hesitation problem? Thanks!

Oh, it's gear oil alright. It stinks. I called the dealer just now, and he said that the shampoo that they use will smoke, and that's probably what I saw. I must say I didn't notice the smell of the smoke that I saw because I was out of the car and walking away at that point. So, I guess there's a gasket between the two halves of the transmission that runs its length. Does that mean they might have not re-seated that gasket together after replacing the viscous clutch?

Does anybody know where, on the transmission of a '99 Impreza, you could get transmission leaks? The guys at Subaru say the only place is between the clutch and the transmission, where apparently there is a seal and a gasket. This morning my Subaru dealer spent another 2 hours on the transmission, saying that it is not the seal between the clutch and transmission causing the problem, this time, but a gasket that was not properly seated. I just drove it and after I park I see the same frikken smoke from diff oil leaking on my exhaust pipe. I'm praying that this is just some residue, and not a sign that it is still leaking. Can anybody help me here?

Hi everybody, I thought I'd give you an update on what is going on with the replacement of my viscous clutch last week. This is a follow up to the thread "Strange Behaviour in Tight Turns". After bringing the car in last week, I noticed a smell of burning gear oil when I drove home. It got worse over the next days until I noticed a good amount of smoke coming out of the bottom of the car. I looked under the car and I saw oil dripping onto the ground and also onto the exhaust pipe. I brought the car in on Monday and they said that the seal between the clutch and the transmission hadn't been replaced and it was faulty. So, while I waited most of the afternoon, they replaced the seal at no cost to me. I left and I still noticed the smell, but I thought it was probably just some residue. When I got home last night, I got under the car and I saw oil dripping onto my driveway (a couple of drops) and onto my exhaust pipe (a bit of smoke). I just called Subaru and they said to bring it in tomorrow, but they think it is just a question of cleaning off the oil. I said it was dripping down, but they said they can't imagine it is anything other than that seal that they just replaced, so it is probably just residue. So, here's my question, is it possible that there's that much residue that it drips down 2 days later? I looked under the car just this morning after my commute, and it looks like a couple of more drops were forming. Btw, the car is a 1999 Impreza Brighton, 2.2, manual transmission, 100 000 miles.

So, that's that. The viscous clutch was replaced yesterday, and the problem has disappeared. Hopefully this thread will help others in the future. Thanks for all your help.

I had the struts replaced last week (what a difference!) but of course the diff problem remains. I have it at the dealer now, and I clearly said to the guy in service "I assume that this is going to fix my problem" and he obviously said that it would. If it does not, you can bet that they are going to face some serious complaints from me, and a demand that they put back my old viscous clutch and find the real problem. It goes without saying that I will not pay for unnecessary work, so they'd better be sure of what they are talking about.

So, I went to the Subaru dealer who spent about 45 minutes with the car. I saw at least 2 mechanics drive it and then 3 or 4 standing under the car when it was on the lift. There seemed to be a committee meeting going on. Anyhow, the verdict is that the viscous clutch is seized and the whole assembly needs to be replaced. That will cost (let me convert from Canadian to US dollars here) about $1000 taxes and labour included. I asked how it is that the problem only occurs after it warms up, and the guy said that the oil thins and then the clutch seizes. I then asked if it wouldn't help to replace the oil, and he said it might help on more minor cases, but in this case it won't make a difference. All along I said I heard the problem in the front, but I was told it is in the back, but because it is in the transmission, the vibrations are transferred all the way to the front. Anyhow, I hope this is the end of the story, I certainly hope these guys know what they're talking about, because if I'm paying a grand, it had better fix the problem. Also, they noticed my back left side strut is leaking badly which I already knew. They said a new one is $230 (USD). Is that a reasonable price, or really outrageous? Thanks again for all the input.

I haven't brought the car in yet... I'll make an appointment for Wednesday. As far as the off road question goes, I don't do any off road, and only a small amount of gravel driving, and very little in the last year. Of course it can be argued that driving in Montreal is a reasonable imitation of driving off road, lots of potholes and the like. Also, winter driving provides a fair number of rough surfaces. I think the key to the problem lies in the fact that if there hasn't been at least 5 or 10 minutes of highway driving, the problem does not appear. I'm about to do some reading on torque bind, just to be sure that this isn't the problem. Thanks again for the input.

Right on! I do have 2 problems. I finally checked ALL the shocks, and my back left shock is gone, bouncy as hell. So that is definitely the change in behaviour on the straights. As for the turns, I was out last night and checked the main problem again at home. The problem still occurs in forward and reverse and is noticeable at slow speeds in moderately tight to tight turns. I still think I feel it only on the right, but to be honest, I can't be 100% positive. I would put it at about 80% sure that the problem is isolated to the front right-hand side. The mechanic found nothing yesterday. I will bring it in to the dealer next week to see what they say, and I will report back with their findings. Now that I know that I have to do at least the back shocks, would it be worth it to get Subaru to do them with OEM parts, or does it not matter? These ones have lasted 100 000 miles, so I'm thinking it might be worth it to spend the extra cash.

I hear knocking and it is on the right front side. But, as I said, I couldn't reproduce it at the mechanic this morning (the mechanic is 3 minutes from my house), so I'm assuming that it takes some sustained highway speeds to make it make the sound. I checked the CV joint boot on the right side, and it seemed in tact. The car has about 100 000 miles on it, btw. If this guy I went to this morning can't find anything (and he hasn't called, so this is what I'm assuming), I'll take it to the dealer and have them have a look (and that will take care of the sustained highway driving). Thanks for the help, I'll let you know how it resolves itself.

I am using the standard size tires for the car, it's never worn a spare. It is a manual 5 speed transmission on the 2.2 liter engine. The transmission is stock. Is that what you meant by what tranny I have?

Sorry, it's a manual transmission. Of course this morning I brought it to the mechanic and I couldn't reproduce the problem. The only thing I can think of is that it only does it after a good amount of highway driving. It drives me nuts when that happens! Thanks for the responses, I'll let you know if the mechanic finds anything.

Hi everybody, My 1999 Impreza Brighton, which has run like a gem since I got her in late '98 is showing some strange behaviour and I was wondering if anybody has experienced the same thing. When I turn the wheel almost all the way to the right or left at low speed, the car drives as though it is running over rough ground. It's even more pronounced when I turn the wheel and back up, it's like I'm backing up over large corrugated iron or something rough. It's bad enough that my passenger noticed it. The problem seems to be on the right side front wheel. I've looked at the wheel an I see nothing, I've tried to wiggle the wheel manually and it seems solid. Nothing seems to be leaking. I just don't know what it is. Two other things that are going on that may or may not be related: - When I go over small bumps now, the car shudders like the shocks are going, but when I do the bounce test by pushing the car down to see if it bounces, the shocks behave like normal. - After driving about 10 to 15 minutes on the highway and then stopping at an idle, I get a smell a lot like hot used oil in the car. I have no leaks and see nothing amiss in the engine bay. If anybody can give me an idea what's going on, I'd really appreciate it. Rob.