SubiDuby Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Hi all, My girlfriend just took her 04 outback into the shop for an alignment/oil change and they bombarded her with a list of additional things wrong with it. I'm trying to sort through the mess to determine what is crucial to get fixed and whats not. It's at 220k miles. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's the notes from the shop: -rf outer tie rod end play -rack and pinion maybe leaking -struts due to miles bumpy ride -engine air filter dirty - replace -Steering rack leaking/bellow boots torn -Valve cover gaskets leaking, oil 1 qt low upon arrival -trans cooler lines leaking, leaving puddles -Front brakes metal to metal, rear brakes okay -Rear diff fluid very dirty/ rear diff bushings broken We just had the front brakes done. I also just installed the Whiteline bushing inserts for the rear diff bushings but is the fluid okay to leave as is?. Replacing the air filter should be simple, so I'll be grabbing one of those soon. But what else should I prioritize? This is her only vehicle and we need to make this baby last. Thanks for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 The outer tie rod and leaking trans lines would be my next go to. You can also try to very carefully tighten the valve covers to see if that helps. Usually not, but sometimes it helps while you put some other fires out. Rear diff is not a bad DIY job if you have some ramps. Make sure to have some power steering fluid in the car for quick top offs in the meantime. If you need to replace the rack, that is a pretty significant job- maybe $400-$600 if my memory serves me. Get a new or rebuilt rack. I bought a used one once and it was no better than the one I took out and it was a fairly time consuming job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Make sure you keep the engine oil level topped up by checking it frequently. Keep a couple of quarts of engine oil in the car and add one as needed, same with the power steering fluid (ATF) as mentioned above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubiDuby Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Thanks for your help guys. So is it power steering fluid that you add to the rear diff and where exactly? Sorry, I'm mechanically inclined but definitely not a mechanic. Are the outer tie rod and leaking trans lines DIY jobs? Are these jobs crucial as in could cause problems in the future? Could the valve cover leaks cause issues down the road as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 On 2/4/2019 at 8:55 PM, SubiDuby said: -rf outer tie rod end play -rack and pinion maybe leaking -struts due to miles bumpy ride -engine air filter dirty - replace -Steering rack leaking/bellow boots torn -Valve cover gaskets leaking, oil 1 qt low upon arrival -trans cooler lines leaking, leaving puddles -Front brakes metal to metal, rear brakes okay -Rear diff fluid very dirty/ rear diff bushings broken Outer tie rod end is a major safety concern if it does have play (which doesn't happen often with Subaru's). Without rust they are super easy to replace. I can do them without even jacking the car up or taking the wheel off. Crawl under, loosen tie rod nut, remove from knuckle and twist it off. Count number of turns you removed it and install a Subaru tie rod to the same depth/number of turns. The transmission and engine leaks won't be a problem unless you let the fluid get low. Top it off every week or month...or...etc - depending how fast it's leaking and it's no big deal. The transmission cooler lines should be fixed sooner rather than later. often times you can just cut the last 1" off of the hose that's all cracked and swollen and reinstall the lines on the nipples. No parts, quick labor. steering rack and rack and pinion are the same thing, but typed on two different lines. this should be confirmed first but usually this means the steering rack needs replaced. nothing will happens - if it runs low on fluid it'll just loose power steering which is maybe a little frightening if you don't have the strength to control the car or compensate for power steering going out, returning, going out...etc. rear diff fluid isn't a big deal. people routinely never change rear diff oil for 200k and 300k. no big deal. struts and rear bushing are just dependent how bad they are and how much you can tolerate, they shouldnt' cause any additional failures down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubiDuby Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Hey, thank you so much Idosubaru! Now I have a better understanding of what needs the attention as a priority. I will get to putting attention on the tie rod job. When it comes to the valve cover leak is there a best practice for fixing it? Is it gasket replacement? I also saw a youtube video where some guys use silicon, I'm just curious best and easiest way to remedy the leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 The rear diff uses gear oil 75w90 GL-5 and your user manual will tell you specifically what you need. Others will chime in on what brand they like best or a synthetic alternative, but I just use the standard gear oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 9 hours ago, SubiDuby said: Hey, thank you so much Idosubaru! Now I have a better understanding of what needs the attention as a priority. I will get to putting attention on the tie rod job. When it comes to the valve cover leak is there a best practice for fixing it? Is it gasket replacement? I also saw a youtube video where some guys use silicon, I'm just curious best and easiest way to remedy the leak. valve covers are a rubber gasket, & fairly easy to replace. they get hard & brittle over time and just don't seal well anymore. hardest part of the job is getting the clearance to remove the covers to replace the gaskets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 if the valve cover gaskets leak oil into the plug tubes, that would increase the need to service them. You will begin getting misfures and that stresses the car for power and can ruin the cat. conv. . Probably not good for the coil either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Most has been said. Brakes and air filter should be priority #1 Tie rod end will either be a little inconvenience ranging to a genuine safety risk depending how bad it was. If it was more than just a little sign of wear, they should have refused to do an alignment on it. If you trust the shop to take care of you, it's probably just something to think about in the next year or so. Also possible that they don't care about your safety, or the fact that doing an alignment on a car with bad steering components is a waste of time and money. The leaks aren't an issue, as long as you don't run out of fluids, and don't park on any nice concrete. So make sure to know how to check the relevant fluids (engine oil, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid, in this case), and check them every gas stop. The only exception is if there's a lot of oil getting onto the spark plug wires. Pull the ends out of the heads (should be fairly easy to do that), and look for oil on there. If there's a lot, that can be an issue for the ignition system. Change the rear diff gear oil. I think it's about a quart (have 2 handy) of 80w90 GL-5 gear oil (the most common stuff you can find). Buy a little transfer pump that'll fit on the gear oil bottle. Jack up the car, use a 1/2" breaker bar to pull the 2 plugs (upper fill plug first, if you drain the oil, and then can't get the fill plug on, you're screwed, although if they checked the fluid, they would have just had the plug out). Once the old fluid drains out, put the lower plug in, and pump new oil in the top plug until it overflows. Then put the top plug in and your done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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