Rooster2

He has the Outback Sport, the Impreza variant, not a Leggie OBW, are you sure that changing the strut body will work?

Is your car equipped with a PCV valve? Some Subies are, some not. If the PCV valve is clogged, higher oil burning can result. However, with that many miles, your oil burning may result from engine wear. Like others have said, use a heavier weight oil. I use 20w50 except during Winter months, then I use 10w40 oil. A mechanic years ago suggested using 20w50 oil in any car motor with 100K+ miles on the odometer. His advise seems to work well for me.

For what it is worth, I know a guy, who used to work at a Subaru Dealership as a mechanic. He said he has replaced a ton of 2.5 phase 1 head gaskets. He said that he can look at the corners of a head gasket on a phase 1 motor, while it is still in the car, and tell if the HGs have been replaced. So, you may want to find a Subie mechanic, and ask him to look at your motor to see if your head gaskets have been replaced. I don't think a non Subaru mechanic will be able to advise you.

Prices so ridiculously low, that it sounds like a come on.

I agree with the above advise. I doubt that your entire exhaust system needs to be replaced. Recently, my 98 OBW developed an exhaust leak. I took it to Ralph's Muffler in Indianapolis, my local ma and pa weld, cut, and bend shop. They cut out a bad section of pipe, and welded in a new piece. It took 20 minutes of wait time, and a cost of $60 out the door. Ralph's work is a hard value to beat!

Agree with others advise........check all electrical connections, particularly the ground connections. Don't think the EGR is the problem; it doesn't whine. Suggest checking the fuse box for a bad fuse on the radio circuit. You may want to go to a car parts store, where they will give you a free alternator output check, and battery check. Hunting down electrical gremlins is never fun, but if you know that the battery and alternator are good, then you are at a starting point to find the real culprit.

Outback suspensions and wheels are built tough for semi-off roading. I have hit some chuck holes really hard, surprised I didn't blow a tire. Suspension seems to track okay afterwords.

Smart move to make sure car passes smog test before buying!! Hope it works out!

All wiper assemblies are pretty much the same, no matter what make of car. Suggest you remove the nut holding the arm onto the stud, then gently pry and pull the arm straight up off the stud. Once removed, look at the stud to see if the stud splines (grooves) have been damaged. Also, look inside the arm to see if the splines are damaged. Manufacturers usually make the stud out of harder metal then the arm, so if the wiper is turned on with the blade frozen against the windshield, the splines in the arm will strip out first. This makes it a lot easier to replace the arm verses the entire wiper mechanism, called the wiper transmission. If you are lucky, it is just a matter of replacing the arm and blade to fix the problem.

Well, before I would buy their idea that the leaking oil is from the compressor, and causing the belts to make noise (squeal?), I would suggest cleaning the compressor and adjacent area, and do a wait and see, if you can spot any new leakage. Who knows, maybe it is just a fitting that needs to be tightened. Have you been the owner, when the dye was added to the A/C system, or know why it was added to the system? Knowing the answer, might provide insight as to why the compressor is oily to begin with.

Rebuilt units are available from Autozone and O'Reilly Auto part stores here in Indiana for $59. I am sure they are not the best, but they have held up for me. A local garage installed mine for $136 in labor on my 98 OBW. The AZ store includes a life time warranty on their half shafts, in case their unit goes bad. So yea, after market rebuilds are okay in my book.

IMO, buying a car unseen is not how I like to buy a car, particularly if from a private owner. Who knows if the car has been wrecked, in a flood, or what. I hope owner didn't advertise with a V-6 motor. If so, he doesn't know what he is talking about. Subies are horizontally opposed 4 or 6's, no "V"s in the line up. Stay clear of this deal is my advise.

Yea, adding your "US fl oz" numbers, total comes in just little over 4.2 oz. That sounds right. 2 oz sounds like too little. I don't think you have to be totally accurate on how much you add, just close enough will work. Best to be a little over then a little under.

Yep, turn the can upside down to add the oil. I see you have a can of 134 with UV leak detector. It is going to take maybe 3+ cans of 134 to fill your system from empty. I don't think I would use 3 cans of the 134 with leak detector. Use regular 134 cans, and only 1 can of the leak detector cans. Best to use new O rings, when fittings are opened. If you reuse old O rings, you are just asking for leaks. I know, I have been there.

Whenever you add PAG oil into an open system, cap off the system as soon as possible. PAG oil readily attracts moisture out of the atmosphere. You do not want moisture in your A/C system.

It looks like your question really centers around how much Pag 100 you might have lost, and therefore how much is left in the system. The answer to that is prolly impossible to tell. You might be better off to evacuate the entire system of oil and 134 refrigerant, and start from empty on both. Then you will know exactly how much PAG and 134 you need to put into the system. A/C compressors don't have drain and fill ports. I am strictly a "shade tree" mechanic in knowledge here. My experience has been in replacing bad compressors. I swap them out, and pour an ounce or two of oil into the new compressor at the line connections, and rotate the pulley by hand to lubricate the internals. I add the rest at the low side port fitting, then pull a vacuum, and add 134. Be sure to install new O rings at any fitting that you have opened. I am sure others here know more about this, and can add better advise. Good Luck!

Yea, the AZ (their store brand) aren't good. I am using Bosch wires and plugs on my Subie, with good results. Also, like said earlier, OEM wires are recommended.

You might also want to try this: disconnect the positive terminal to your battery. Leave disconnected for 15-20 minutes, then reconnect. Maybe the reboot of the ECU will fix the problem. It is worth a try!

From what you describe, it is a lot more trouble than what it is worth to install the oil cooler. As your daily driver, I doubt that you are ever stressing out your motor to create high oil temps, that an oil cooler could address. I also doubt the cooler could help warm your oil much when the motor is stone cold. If it were me, I would apply my time and energy towards auto upkeep.

I did notice that nobody answered my original questions about cleaning off uneven deposits, diagnosing caliper problems, etc. I am still curious about these issues, if anyone would like to comment on my original post material. I don't think accumulation of "uneven deposits," is a real life situation. The rubbing (wiping action) of the brake pads on the rotor constantly removes any potential deposit that may even think about accumulating on the rotor. When you have a look see, you prolly can't visually see any warp-age in the rotors, but from the problem you described, it is most likely there. If you, remove the pads, check to see that the slides are nice and smooth and crud free, so there is no pad binding going on. However, performing this much labor, I would recommend you replace both front rotors and pads, and see if this work fixes the problem. Most braking action is from the front brakes, so doing the fronts is the best starting point towards a fix. Cost for new rotors and pads is not much more than $100, maybe $250 if you buy the parts from a dealer.

+1, I was thinking the same thing, coolant temp switch, before reading your reply.

I have never run the Yellow Stars, but hold the Hella product line in high regards. All of their products have been top notch in my book. So, think they have to be good.

Yea great call. When I had my 91 with AWD, I knew about the fuse holder, but didn't know when, or where to use it, let alone what it was really for, or what size fuse to use. Maybe it was described in the owner's manual, but who looks at that until the car is disabled. Luckily, I never used it, and when the car broke down, I knew enough to have the car flat bed transported to a repair shop. I wish I had joined this forum back in the day to learn what the fuse empty fuse holder was for.

Yea, I don't think all knock sensors are created equal. I replaced one on a 98 with phase l from Autozone, and it continue to works okay. Try an OEM from Subie, bet that will be a final fix.

I can tell you are going to have fun with this future "mudder.' I lived in the cities many years ago, so I can appreciate the terrain that you are going to encounter with the mudder. From your pics, it looks like you picked a good candidate car to play with. Yea, you are going to have fun with this ride.