I picked up a 97 Outback Limited, Auto. The front drive shaft U-joint had failed. It bent the shift linkage so it would not start in Park, but did in neutral.

 

PO thought the Trans was shot, but I think it just has a bad case of torque bind as the FWD fuse does not bring on the light and it looks like the rear tires are scrubbed pretty good.

 

See update at the end:

Edited May 21, 201213 yr by lmdew

The driveshaft didn't snap from torque bind, the joint wore out and slapped back and forth in the yokes until it wore a way out. The driveshaft was making a lot of noise for a long time before it let go.

 

I saw it happen on a forester where the flailing shaft punched the whole shifter assembly up out of the center console, kinked the shift cable which jammed the transmission down into 2nd, and beat the hell out of the exhaust pipe. I saved the broken off slip yoke from that car because it works great for stopping oil from leaking out of the back of a transmission when you're pulling it.

 

Does the AT temp light flash 16 times when you start the car? It may be just that the FWD fuse isn't making good contact, not that the Duty C is gone.

Trans and front 1/2 of the driveshaft is the right fix in my opinion.

The Trans is fine, no torque bind. I replaced the Shifter and both the front and rear dirve shafts.

 

I'm flushing the trans today. The FWD does work, when you put a good fuse in it. It needed the normal things:

 

- Brakes front and rear

- Rear Struts

- Power Steering Pump - held on with 1 bolt bracket to engine

 

It will be a nice Subaru again!

Runs great, but now the temp is rising. The HG have been done about 80K ago by the PO.

 

The temp gauge runs a little below half. Intermittently, it will creep up to about 3/4 but if I rev the engine it comes right back down.

 

I have not checked for exhaust gases in the coolant yet, but there is NO signs of HG failure in the overflow bottle.

 

Sticky Thermostat?

 

A little strange.

Sticky thermostat, WRONG ( aftermarket too shallow ) thermostat, radiator fans maybe not plugged, radiator partially blocked ( feel the entire radiator by hand after warmup ).

 

Just a few things to look for before going for headgaskets. But even if they were replace, I have seen a few cars come in that either used aftermarket ( Ebay I suspect ) gaskets and fail again, OR surfaces not cleaned / heads not planed and then they wonder why it failed again.

 

Just what first comes to mind reading this thread.

Sticky thermostat, WRONG ( aftermarket too shallow ) thermostat, radiator fans maybe not plugged, radiator partially blocked ( feel the entire radiator by hand after warmup ).

 

Just a few things to look for before going for headgaskets. But even if they were replace, I have seen a few cars come in that either used aftermarket ( Ebay I suspect ) gaskets and fail again, OR surfaces not cleaned / heads not planed and then they wonder why it failed again.

 

Just what first comes to mind reading this thread.

 

My exact thoughts yesterday when I saw this. Thermostat, wasn't burped properly, rad blockage, or went cheap on HG's or resurfacing.

rad or air in syestem water pump sticking bad thermostat or headgasket agian

Radiator is hot all the way across, Fans are working. Water pump looks newer.

 

When I get back in a couple of weeks, I'll check the Thermostat and make sure there is no air in the system.

 

I'll pull the Tbelt covers and get a veiw of the Water pump in action if need be.

 

Thanks

Not that I would know but I had a 97 2.2 that did that same thing. It had a very tiny radiator leak for years that was ok if I kept filling now and then, but in summer once I forgot for a while and so even when I eventually did add to the bottle it didn't have enough in engine? I sold it because I thought it was shot but I still see that darned thing driving around sometimes. Back then it had like 330k on it, and that was 2 years ago+.

Yep, aftermarket thermostat POS.

 

Put in a Subaru Stat that I had and it's steady as can be.

 

Thanks