mikec03

Adding the the subaru conditioner stopped the leak! It took about 1 hr of driving. At first, turning on the heater and fan made the inside of the car look like a turkish bath. Fog all over inside. Today, one day after adding the conditioner, I can't see or smell anything when I turn the heater on. That "stop leak" conditioner really works well. I would never have believed it. Anyway it's the goto solution for anyone who has a heater coil leak. One poster says that the conditioner stopped a coolant leak for 30K miles. I guess I will find out. Thanks for all the help and information.

Thanks GD. That's what I was afraid of. What is the most common type of failure on the coil? Is it a pin hole or a crack or?. What I'm wondering is whether the subaru coolant "additive" would seal it.

I have a 95 subaru with a leaking heater coil. The service manual calls for the removal of the AC evaporation coil to remove the heater coil. From the manual it's hard to see why. Isn't it possible to slip the heater coil in without disconnecting and removing the evaporation coil? Update 1/30/19 Alas, the Subaru stop leak would stop heater core leakage for a while, but after cooling down and reheating, it would eventually come back! It wouldn't leak much but enough to smell it. Maybe some product designed just for radiator leaks would work, but I'm not going to try it. I will have the heater core replaced tomorrow.l

The second poster "Heartless" had this problem nailed immediately! And then none of the subsequent posters even asked the OP to specify how old the SP or wires were,and he never specified. Almost everyone besides Heartless missed the easy, first step.

You didn't mention that you had gotten the idle control valve sensor code! Of course when you get that code, it's a no brainer to replace it. I had that failure on a 97 where it would hesitate and nearly stall in traffic. Yes, the adjustment is critical. It doesn't require the use of the "subaru select monitor" but it did require sticking pins through the wires of the sensor so that the voltage could be measured. Use the search engine to find the procedure. And cleaning the throttle body in place isn't totally effective as SSI implied. Maybe it would work and maybe not. You can't be sure. But if you got the code, then fix the ICV sensor.

A bad MAF doesn't always set a code at least on the 90's subaru. Cleaning it is not the answer. Just go to a junk yard and get another one.

I had the dealership replace the duty c solenoid for $600 in my 95. This gives the Op some idea as to the cost.

Yes, 15-16 mph is too low. Obviously you should change the o2 sensor since you got the code. I call that a no brainer. The knock sensor is also suspect. They do not always send a code. So change it. Get back to us after you make the changes and run the car for a month.

What was the typical mileage at failure.

Yes, change the MAF. As was said, don't bother to clean it! The only other thing that has caused one of my 90's subarus to stall was the TPS. It's kind of a pain to calibrate if you change it. A failure of the MAF won't set a code most of the time. However, when the TPS failed for me, it did set a code. We assume that you are telling us of all the codes that have been set. If not, do so. It's kind of unlikely for a 90's subaru, but for later years, it was necessary to change the knock sensor and the upstream Oxygen sensor to avoid hesitation or stalling. So I would do both just because. The bosch O2 sensor is cheap as well is the KS off the internet.

Both forester2002 and HASx11 suggested that I check the battery, terminals, and cables. My first thought was, "Do these posters think I'm an idiot?" But since I was completely out of ideas, I decided I would check the battery and terminals AGAIN. The positive terminal was tight and the cables look good. The negative terminal was really tight, but as I put pressure on it with the wrench, I noticed that the cable moved! The clamp was snug but I could still rotate it a little. I looked closer and saw that there were washers preventing the clamp from completely tightening. I removed the washers, tightened the clamp a couple of turns, and wonder or wonders: The problem was solved! Unbelievable. LOL Thanks to forester2002 and HASx11.

UPDATE Well it has nothing to do with the lock out. The car will just lose all control power randomly. Dash lights, radio, vent fan, .. everything. But after sitting, sometimes the dash lights, radio etc will work. Sometimes it starts. I just had it running. It idled for 5 min and then just stopped dead. Again, no dash light, etc. So what is common to everything? The ECU? The ignition switch? I had the ECU out. It looks OK. No rust. Where is the ground for the ECU? I'm grasping for straws. If it's the ignition switch, can I jump a wire somewhere to check it?

It has a remote start only but its factory. The key fob does not work however, so it's worthless to reset. The label in front of the engine says to push the button under the dash but the button definitely not there. There must be some contact that I can ground and reset the engine control. Of course, I'm assuming it's a lockout. I would take any course to start the engine, lock out or not.

I pulled the fuse box under the hood and the wire going to it looks fine. I pulled a few fuses and they have power going to them. All the fuses are good. The might car is locked out. no radio, do dash, no nothing. I have tried to find the lock out button which you are supposed to push to reset the start after a battery disconnect. But this car was made in 7/97 so it seems like it still has the 97 wiring under the dash. No keyless entry control module at least where it's supposed to be. I know where the reset button was on the 97, but it's not on this 98 at that location. Does anyone know a way to start the car? Even radical way.

I bought a used 98 outback with 235K. It ran OK for a month. I've had problem with an occasional lockout on the strater but now the I've lost all power. The fusible link looks OK. The only sound that I get is the beep when I insert the key. Nothing else is getting power radio, lights, etc. The battery wires are tight and it has 12.6 volts. i previously sanded the body ground so that must be OK. This must be easy to trace but I don't know where to start. Update: Well I just went out and it started OK once, Then I turned it off, and it won't restart. Again I have lost all power. I have full voltage on both sides of the fusible link. I checked a few of the fuses in the fuse/relay box under the hood and there is power to them and everything there seems to be good. There is no power to the windows, radio, lights, etc in addition to the starter control wires. What could turn all these things off.

I see on ebay what I should be looking for. It's big. I probably can't miss it. LOL No, on the 98 outback, the lock timer is on the drivers side next to the steering column.

Well, I got one module out and it reads "door lock timer." It's black and about 3x3 by 3/4". I assume that this is not the module i'm looking for. I can't feel anything in the wires to the unit so there is no button there. Help!

I had already found the car101 but it doesn't talk about where to find the button. I know it's between the steering column and the the hood release. One guy on the internet even had a picture of it, and I can tell exactly where it was, but there is nothing there on mine except a square hole. It would be helpful if anybody knew where the remolt keyless module was located on a 98 outback or even what color it is. I think it's about 4"x4" x1" and black.

I bought a 98 Outback, auto, with a remote luck and unlock key fob. Under the hood,it says that if the battery is disconnected, the ignition needs to be reset either by pressing the unlock on the fob or a button under the dash. The problem is that the fob doesn't work [new battery] and I can't find the button. On my old 97, the button was white and hund done loose on a wire. But this isn't the case with the 98. Does anyone know where the button is. Even what color would be a help.

The CR April mag. is their auto issue, and it is not kind to subaru. In particular, it lists the 2008 Outback as one of the "worst used cars." I know of a lot of problems with subarus, but I don't know what happened in 2008 specifically to be worthy of special mention. Any ideas? CR has greatly improved their auto issue. It used to be completely worthless in my opinion. But now it at least lists the last 8 years in their "reliability" section [instead of 5].

You have to get the trans dipstick out because that's how you fill the transmission! You should of course do a drain and fill on the fluid ASAP because it's liable to really be bad. It's really hard to get a straight pull on the depstick. How about trying vice grips between the hoses? You can put a hair dryer on it for a while to get it hot. Good luck.

I have had a lot of experience with the 95's and 2.2 engines. The MAF is a likely suspect. On one car, it caused random stalls without a code. Don't clean it, just get a used one from the junk yard. Another car had a stall from a bad TPS, although that set a code so it was an easy fix. And +1 to replacing the spark plugs with NGK copper. Old spark plugs with cause hesitation and stalls. Just be sure to replace at less then 30K intervals.

I have the same engine in my 2002. I changed everything over the last couple of years to fix an unsteady idle and hesitation during acceleration, especially after a stop. The only two things that made a noticeable difference was changing the knock sensor and changing the upstream oxygen sensor. Problem all fixed now. Another thing to look at is oil on the ignition wires, although this causes a slightly different symptoms such is missing at high speeds.

I've had four late 90's subarus. The only thing that caused stalling to a stop was a failing MAF. Cleaning the MAF is a waste of time in my opinion. The problem is in the solid state electronics. In my case, it didn't set a code for the first 4 times it stalled the car. Finally it did. The OP is in a position that he has to start guessing. The first guess should be to go get a used MAF and put it in. It only takes 5 minutes.

Update. I don't think that the Conquest "Dextron III/Mercon" is actually in their stores, just internet and maybe not 1 gal containers. I see on the internet that Valvaline Maxilife claims compatiblity with "Subaru ATF and ATF-HP." That's probably alright. I'm not looking for something to take off "varnish," I just something like I have been using for many years. Ps. I was going to buy a 2098 figuring that would be an incentive for Subaru to keep me alive until then.