Strut broke through into rear compartment 1997 Legacy

[ThosL]

This was a shocking thing to happen.

As I was finalizing a deal with a 2002 Forester, the problem was how to bring up the owner's car and drop him back off in New Rochelle, NY.  

On  the way my 1997 Subaru Outback's rear driver's side strut broke through the wheel well and is a foot or two into the rear compartment.  

The car will still drive at lower speeds.  I tried to just take a couple pictures but am having trouble with my digital camera.  

Is there a remedy for fixing the suspension when the rear strut breaks free?

[el_freddo]

15 minutes ago, ThosL said:

Is there a remedy for fixing the suspension when the rear strut breaks free?

Bust out the welder and weld on a new Sturt top section, I’d bring it down the side of the tower and weld around it too. The weld from the inside of the strut tower, seal it up to reduce future rust. 

Then check the other side. Add a steel strap over the top of that if you feel the need. 

Ive never seen these rust belt issues, but I’ve read of this happening many times on this forum  

Cheers 

Bennie

[lmdew]

Get a rust free body!

One of many problems to surface, I"m sure.

[heartless]

i live in the rust belt and have never had it happen to me personally...

used to see posts about it a lot on the old EA series cars

but yeah, gonna have to pull the strut out of the car, get some new metal welded in there, and make sure the other side is ok before you finish up.

Or, go to Colorado, get a nice clean body - with or without a good engine, LOL

 

 

[ThosL]

So I have to find a shop that does welding and is not that expensive as I am looking to sell the Subaru with 293K miles or so.  This is not terribly dangerous to drive? Or should I keep it parked until I can have it towed?

[moosens]

Fuhgeddaboudit 

trash it

sorry

as mentioned above the EA cars , yeah did that at least a couple times and once down in Jersey had to drive three hours home like that but “a foot or so showing” ? Holeee crapp never had one that extreme. 
 

Pull the good parts and trash it. My opinion. Sorry. The Subarus keep coming. Plenty of good original owners around our area. Yeah I know it’s been rough lately finding a good older Subaru , hopefully these times blow by soon and you can still score while we’re in this funk. 

[heartless]

the chances of finding a shop to do that work are pretty slim. If you were going to do it yourself, yes, it is doable, but not a lot of fun.

time to move on from that car... salvage what you want out of it and scrap it, or sell it for parts is about the best you can do at this point.

[el_freddo]

Not ok to drive it as it is! Emergency drive to get it home or to a shop maybe, but other than that I wouldn’t be driving it any more than that! 

Cheers 

Bennie

[1 Lucky Texan]

yeah, my concern would be where the next weakest rusted-thru spot is....!?

[idosubaru]

Cancerous rust. That needs hospice care not repair. Plan a funeral not a fix  

There’s far more rust in that car even if you can’t see it. It’s there.

Trying to repair it cheap just for the intent of selling it is not dignified or conscientious.

Lets assume you’re okay fooling and tricking someone into buying a car they shouldn’t, or don’t, want.  It’s a heinous repair. If it’s that rusted, more needs cut out to have good metal to attach a new piece to.  then you’ll have to cut out a piece from a yard (hours of hellish work snd most locals might have rust too) or find one somewhere. Clean up and weld that in and hope your rear wheel alignment isn’t trash. It’s a horrible time consuming job. “Weld it in” makes it sound way too simple. I’d rather rebuild an engine than do that job.

“ Easy” way is to fashion a ghetto steel channel across the back of the interior of the car -across the top of the two strut mount areas inside the vehicle and then space it down to bolt the strut too. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by idosubaru

[ThosL]

Thanks for the feedback on this; I listed it yesterday on CL; someone was looking for a 2.5 engine and I had to be honest, though it doesn't have a head gasket issue, and runs strong, it does leak/burn oil.   

 

A friend had these recommendations:  Can u jam a block of wood in the strut tower? Jack car, reset strut? Metal strap? 

Angle iron, hacksaw, drill, bolts, back in business. 

The damage was probably related to the blowout the day before, same side of car, hit the curb at a high rate of speed, around 25 mph, I hadn't slept well previous night.

 

[moosens]

Oh man try living my life and talk about sleep deprivation....causes me to make mistakes too. And losing vocabulary, slow recall, etc. 

I don’t think you want to hack job that rear strut tower. You’re doing the right thing now. Selling it off. At its age it’s consuming oil and you really don’t need to let on. Just say it uses oil like older Subarus do. You’re not screwing anybody because you should expect that. If not then they don’t know enough about older Subarus. My opinion. If it’s something outrageous like losing a quart or more per week then maybe just scrap the whole thing. And sell whatever works if it’s worth your time. 
 

Saw the posting , looks good enough to me for $600 or whatever. At your price it’s a decent parts car or a fixer to a guy with the right parts sitting around. Only issue there is this being CT the low end users like myself are few these days. 

[ThosL]

A guy came down from Derby earlier, said he needed it for "his daughter".  Apparently does the F and S thing, buys for resale.  

Since the strut tower is gone, clean broken through into the rear compartment, it should not be driven though I have driven it 50 or so miles like that.  

[heartless]

yeah, selling that car should be for PARTS ONLY - it is not roadworthy any more. and here in WI at least, the way to enforce that "parts only" thing is to write "JUNK" in big letters across the front of the title.

just because you can drive it, does not mean you should.

Edited September 26, 2021 by heartless

[ThosL]

I had to drive a few miles with it but the transmission would not work when I started it up!

Is there any way to get the tranny to work even in the case of a tow?

[moosens]

Yikes ! 
yeah , I’m sure he knows it’s a parts car. But here in CT things are a bit flukey for lack of a better word. 
 

The fellow from the valley could likely take the car and make it roadworthy all the while our DMV would never know it was inoperable. We don’t have inspections. Do have emissions. Over 25 years old exempt. 
 

It’s kind of easy for folks here to keep or put and older car on the road. 
 

I have a 2000 automatic from a GT wagon if that helps you out. It’s in Milford easy to get to. 
 

Folks like F & S or guys who are working with them will have parts cars they can cut out of and flip it for $3k now. Well , before the tranny issue. They have those too. Little extra work , $4k 

Good luck. 

[ThosL]

I bought a 2002 Forester last week so am just looking to get rid of this one for hopefully a few hundred.

 

But will not shift now, not sure why.

It was running fine, except for the strut issue, but when I came of of TJ's it would start but not shift, no reverse, stuck in park!!!

 

I called Triple A but they said they could not pull it up onto the flatbed then unload it as is.

Any way to get the transmission to work?  Is this a default for safety mode?

[lmdew]

Both Auto and Manual you should be able to shift at the Trans.

Could also disconnect the driveshaft.  That would take care of the rear wheels.  Put it on a dolly and haul it away.

[ThosL]

The transmission will not shift, there was nothing wrong with it, is there some way to get it unlocked?

[lmdew]

Auto?  spoob lock can be manually released.

Manual, have someone rock the car while you try shifting it.

[ThosL]

Spoob lock? Link?  It's auto, how do you manually release it?

 

[heartless]

yup, you should be able to unlock the shift lever

look for either a small hole, or maybe a small cover near the top of the shifter cover.. most commonly on the left side, but i guess there are a few on the right

If there is no obvious hole/cover, you may need to pull some of the trim around the shifter..

if you find the hole, use a small screwdriver in left hand to push down - does not take a lot of pressure - then with right hand, move the shift lever to neutral

 

it is possible that when the strut popped thru, and the body of the car dropped that things got squished/torqued,

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by heartless

[ThosL]

Thanks for the info; I was able to get it to unlock by pulling off the cover and putting a chain saw round file into the hole.  

 

It got picked up and they paid me $315, which I'm not sure how they calculate, but considering its condition I know see how they make much on this.  Car brain is the broker. My guess is they handle a lot of charitable donations of vehicles too.

[ThosL]

The guys who came down from Derby, CT on the weekend said that transmissions on these are profitable for the junkyards, but how do they ascertain whether they are good or not?

 

The 2.5 engine had good head gaskets but it was leaking badly.  I stepped it up to 20w50 oil with Lucas stop leak and still it leaked a lot.

Cat converter was shot, I had used some do it yourself pipe wrap products that were holding the pipes together.

Tires were recent, Cooper, so maybe they can get something out of them.

There was this outfit that advertised illegally in front of the local church with this sign:  

 

Reported to the police, town zoning department, the Catholic church pastor where it is in front of, many months ago.  It is still there. 

 

Earlier today I called KSQ, emailed the vin number on the car, no offer sent.

Edited September 28, 2021 by ThosL

[lmdew]

Glad you got it!