I just aquired an auto S that had 85k, but I just drove cross country (Philly to Seattle to Colorado Springs) so it now has 91k. No complaints at all!

 

Except 2....

 

The oil pump seals went 5-6000 miles ago and were replaced by the shop I use, but I have a hunch they've failed again (or I am just paranoid and think I am seeing smoke again).  The underside was a mess with oil, so I just washed it and we'll see how that fares in the coming days.

 

Number 2 is the more serious issue - lack of power- it's like being in a higher gear and not downshifting to accelerate; even when leaving a stop.  I am new to the subaru sound, so I don't know it if sounds normal or clanky, but it does not have a loping idle and it does not randomly stall.  I noticed around Idaho/Nevada/Utah (I don't really remember exactly where) that I had lost power.  Trying to get up the mountains was a constant issue where it had not been before (no power under acceleration, constantly dropping gears).  I had thought this was from the sudden altitude change (sea level to a couple thousand feet is huge, but it was over a couple days, so that shouldn't be the issue) or maybe cause the gas there is terrible (regular is 85).  I ran two tanks and now that I have realized this, I am back to 88. A little googling tells me there was a MAF recall years ago, so I will call a dealer about that (free parts are good). I had to stop at a jiffylube in Boise for an oil change as I had no tools to change it myself and I remember them manhandling the intake trying to get the air filter out, as they do. (They weren't even pulling on the right bits for the filter.) I wonder if they broke something doing that, I'll look at that today too.  I also need a new filter now that I think about it as there was a bit of oil blowback.  Is this normal for this model? I've not seen that much oil on an air filter before.

 

Has anyone experienced this and have recomendations?

 

Also, there are no lights on the dash.

has the timing belt system been serviced in the life of the car? could have slipped a tooth.

 

 

knock sensors will affect performance.

 

it's worth scanning the system for pending codes - post any numbers found here - like P0303 or w;ever (Pxyz)

Since the car was originally in my mom's name after the neighbour gave it to us, she had the head gaskets and timing belt replaced around the 83-85,000 mark.  I have a light out right now, so I'll go scan when I get that today.

Update: I'm an idiot and my teachers would be so disappointed in me.  After actually looking under the hood, what I should have done first, I found a clamp undone on the large collector box in the intake.  Closed that, ran to the shop and everything seems to be running normally.  Also, no codes pending.

 

Fault: vacuum leak from JiffyLube dude. 

 

Freaking vacuum leaks.