Dear Friends,

Please can someone advise me about my problem? I have a 2001 Outback Limited that is not quite 4 years old (and not quite yet paid off!). I have 73000 miles and my warantee is done.

 

During the last two weeks, my car started squealing upon acceleration, shaking upon startup, and making generally worrysome noises from the engine...and finally the check engine light came on and the car started smelling like gasoline. I just moved to the area and took the car to my local subaru dealership. They said that my 3.5 year old car needs a new fuel injector, rear differential, and quite possibly transmission work.

 

I have asked them to replace only the fuel injector and I will take it for a second opinion. BUT what I am wondering is : Has anyone had to replace their r. differential? Also I don't tow anything and I don't do a lot of off-roading. Is it common for the transmission to have issues so soon?

 

I am a graduate student who took a loan from my parents to buy this car. I guess I would like some advice about how to deal with this. I am by myself and am not very mechanically oriented and don't want to be taken for a ride.

 

Thank you very much for any help.

and the car started smelling like gasoline. .

With $ being a serious issue, I would, before doing anything else:

 

Have the purge control (charcoal) canister checked by a mechanic experienced with Subies to make sure it is not clogged. When they do clog, they can cause the gasoline fumes that you mentioned.

 

With respect to the tranny, dump in a can of Seafoam TransTune (available at or through NAPA) into the transmission and see if you experience significant improvement.

 

Standby on this board. There are many helpful people who will have additional suggestions.

Squealing on acceleration sounds like the belts might be loose/worn down, does it happen all the time, or more often when it's moist out?

 

As far as the rear diff goes, I don't think this is a common failure, as long as there is oil in the diff. Since the diff is a sealed viscous unit (not mechanical), I would think the worst failure would be not providing the limited slip function.. Do you notice an strange behavior when making tight turns?