friendly_jacek

It is indeed a great discussion in this thread. As you might know, Subaru recently got its outback reclassified by EPA as light truck so they can comply with CAFE easier. Subaru got some bad press from tree huggers for that. If this switch was such a great idea, all AT subaru cars would have it and suddenly Subary would get an increased fleet fuel efficiency. Yet, it did not happen. As you say, marketing might be behind it, or engineering perhaps... Another anomaly: why would you get so much increase in total fuel efficiency (28 vs 22 mph). In theory, you went from 90/10 to 90/0 power ratio. I would expect no more than 10% improvement. What is your driving pattern: city vs hwy, average speeds and distances. Any changes recently? 22 mph sounds low for forester anyhow... I could try to duplicate this experiment in my 2000 legacy....

Yes, it makes sense to use this option when the the AWD is defective, but using FWD only in good system is an invitation for trouble. If this was so safe, why subary did not put a switch in the dashboard? Besides, do a search here, someone from Australia did this trick for several months and expierenced a failure. He posted a couple of weeks ago. Good luck with your experiment, keep us posted!

Acctually, someone recently (couple of weeks ago) reported here ruining the AT components by using the fuse for several months. So, it is not as safe unless it is very temporary.

Not bad for AT. If you had MT, you would go by 2 clutches or so by now. My luck was worse, my first 2 AT lasted for 50,000 miles only (Mazda and Nissan). That is why I moved on to "better imports" (Subaru and Toyota). Good luck.

The last sentence reads: "Indeed, one is forced to wonder whether an engine with a high-quality PAO synthetic combined with a bypass filtration system and regular filter changes would ever need its oil changed at all." And this is what is done in truck fleets, very infrequent oil change (up to 100,000 miles). However, one has to completely filter the impurities out, something that is not done in cars. The study is interesting but clearly limited by the high oil consumption in the study car. Notice that the average age of oil at 18000 is only 10000 and only 31% of oil is the original oil placed 18000 miled ago.

If you do not have a laptop you can consider an interface for a palm pilot. If you have a laptop (even an old one), look at http://obddiagnostics.com/ B Roadman is a good sport. His support is well beyound the the expected. When I got his interface and discovered that it would not read the A/F ratio sensor in newer Subs (2000+), he wrote new software which does that (v2.3). Very few generic OBD2 scanners can handle A/F ratio sensor (aka wideband O2 sensor).

Ya, it is a goverment thing. OBD2 system was mandated by a law. Not a bad thing in my book. The lack of codes displayed at the dashbord is probably a combination of cost saving and a purpose. Think how many people would ignore the "emission only" CELs if they were obvious. On the other hand, it is not illegal to have your own code reader...

Someone else here mentioned recently that exhaust valves burn easily in subaru. What is the reason for that?

TPS? Knock sensor? Air leak? Water temp sensor? ignition wires/plugs? fuel filter? -these possibilities come to my mind, but I am just guessing. Let the real mechanics on this board answer this!

I would also recommend this OBD2 interface. It is now $88 but worth it! You can see status of the sensors in addition to codes. You need a laptop of course.

I haul 2500lbs boat+trailer from time to time with 2000 legacy AT. Have surge disk brakes installed on the trailer but made several trips before brakes got installed (aftermarket). No problems with braking even in mildly hilly area. No overheating, no warped disks. Be prepared to replace pads earlier (45000 in my case). Mind that the same (or very similar) legacies/outbacks sold in Europe/Australia are "approved" to tow much more than the 2000lbs limit in US.

Buddythedog, Great insight! Thanks for sharing the info. Do you know the reasons for these valve failures? AMCDawes, Make sure the new, improved head gasket gets installed, as 98 is prone to HG failures.

I think he means hesitation on acceleration but I am not sure...

From you post, it did not sound like you worked at a Subaru dealership. Novertheless, I am sorry to hurt you feelings, let me elaborate what my experience was with the local Subaru dealerships so far. Had very poor MPG in 2000 Legacy wagon (16 in city, down from 20-22 normal for the car) over a year ago. Brought to the dealer, car under warranty. I was told, no CEL, no problem whatsoever. Was not convinced, did an oil analysis, showed almost 5% fuel in oil. The dealership would do nothing and even refused to acknowledge my complaint of poor MPG and fuel contamination in writing (on the service request form). I was told that everything was normal. I had impression that the mechanics and the supervisor had no idea what oil analysis was. Problem persisted for several months. I had to change oil often to get rid of contamination, yet the level of wear metals was high. Eventually, engine hesitation and poor AT shifts developed. Once, CEL showed up, P0122, TPS voltage low. Dealership did not act on it, just cleared the codes and sent me home. "Could not duplicate the problem" was the diagnosis and answer to my observation of poor drivibility. Several weeks later same symptoms come back. This time the dealership decided to change TPS. $330 and almost a week later (took that long to get the part, I brought the car on friday) I got the car back. Now the milage goes back to normal (20city/24hwy), more that a year after the problem started. However, the same problem cames back 2 weeks later. The service manager had I blank look in his face when I asked if the replaced TPS was actually tested to be defective, he did not know. The sensor was reconnected and the problem went away. So far so good. Bottom line: the dealership would not do a thing before CEL indicated a code and when they did act they just replaced a component indicated by ECU without giving a thought what the actual problem might be and if the component was actually defective. This is what I call a "scan mentality" My experience and what I read on various forums indicates that this quite common. If your dealership is different, good for you. The second Subaru dealership in the area is 60 miles away and I will never use them after they broke plastic under-engine panels during O2 sensor recall and refused to fix it. BTW, i am not a tech but the reality forced me to buy an OBD2 interface and Subaru service manuals and take things in my own hands. "Physician heal yourself"

there was talk about it recently, go back couple of pages...

Someone reported recently that misfire in #4 can be due to bad gas. Put some quality gas with conditioners. Other than that I have no good ideas. Find a good mechanic or buy a scan tool. In my opinion, mechanics at dealerships are not good at troubleshooting (scan mentality). You mentioned an emission test. Was this a dyno test? Dyno is a nono in AWD cars.

This is good, very good; people with HG problems should be very vocal about it. Remember recent Toyota engine sludge! Only maybe 1 in 1000 cars was affected, yet Toyota owners raised so much noise (mass media, internet discussion groups, etc) that Toyota had to come up with extended warranty to save the image. I just went on the http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/ and there are very few posts Re: Subaru HG (41 posts total on Subaru). Compare with 15000+ posts on Toyota. People outside this forum are generally not aware of the HG problems (I was not before reading here).

Ya, could you elaborate? I found this on delo coolants: "ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants (CTGL), a division of a wholly owned subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corp., recently announced the extension of their coolant product line to include Chevron DEX-COOL Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant and Chevron Supreme Antifreeze/Coolant for the aftermarket. According to ChevronTexaco, DEX-COOL provides cooling system protection for cars and light-duty vehicles for up to five years or 150,000 miles, five times longer than most conventional coolants. The Chevron Supreme product is suitable for both automotive and heavy-duty diesel applications and is intended for customers who want a quality-grade conventional antifreeze. Earlier in 2002, ChevronTexaco introduced Delo Extended Life Coolant (ELC), available in concentrated and pre-diluted form. The ELC utilizes a patented carboxylate technology and contains no silicate, phosphate, borate or nitrate, according to the company, to provide maximum protection of the six basic metal alloys found in most heat transfer systems." Which delo coolant you recommend and why? Also, what "royal purple purple ice" has to do with water wetter and what is "cad ht 4.1"? Thanks

While I have no doubt there are mechanical issues, did anyone look at the issue of coolant? I am aware that GM cars have lots of overheating problems due to the "extended life" dexcool coolant (orange). Some people reported blown HGs. Apparently, this coolant produces sludge when exposed to air in the cooling system. Switch to conventional green coolant without very extensive flush is also bad with dexcool. See also: http://www.nbc4.tv/automotive/2369813/detail.html While I do not know what coolant was in my 2000 Legacy from factory, it was orange. As a matter of fact, I just rinsed some orange sludge from the radiator cap at 45000 miles, 15000 miles after coolant was changed by the dealership. BTW, they used some green stuff at 30000 miles, is the Genuine Subaru Coolant green? So, my point is, if Subaru uses dexcool or similar coolant, this may contribute to the problem.

RE: "Toyota had an issue with head gaskets on their 90-95 3.0 motors and they are will still pay for the cost of replacement to any 4Runner or Truck that is under 100k miles that has an issue, regardless if it is original owner or not. And they did a recall so if you have it done before 100k they will pay even if there is not an issue yet to make sure you do not get stranded." Rweddy, Sorry to burst your bubble but Toyota's reliability and ethics of 80's and early 90's is a thing of the past. Are you aware of engine oil gelling (read sludge) in 1996-1999 camry and sienna? Toyota would blaim the owners and cancel warranty on often new cars with sludge before lawsuits and internet consumer activists forced the recognition of the engine problems. Recently, Toyota's cars suffer from stinky (H2S) exhaust. Toyota blaims it on the bad gas, that is bad fuel ;-)

Guest's Name: Doug.... Guest's Home Page: Don't Have One Date Signed: Wed Jan 15 13:46:27 2003 Referred By: 61,000 miles, 97 Venture, lower intake manifold gasket blown (per dealership); engine bad. Called GM for assistance and they claim they can't provide any. BS, this should have been a recall item: they were out of that gasket all last year nationwide, they just redesigned the gasket, and this is a part that should never never fail. Last 4 vehicles have been GM and will never buy GM again, I am back to Subaru. Too bad, I liked the Saturn and Venture and looked forward to upgrading both.

RE: "My mechanic charges $70 fee for the diagnostic test." $70 is almost enough to purchase your own OBD2 interface to your laptop or pilot and read codes + sensor status for free. Like I said, it took a year for the TPS problem to declare itself by CEL in my case. However, I had planty of warning signs: poor mileage, fuel in oil, hesitations, poor AT shifts. The Subaru dealership could not "duplicate the problem" before the engine light showed up, typical for dealership mechanics these days. If you have similar problems, look into TPS, but it might be a long shot. Unfortunately, many things may produce poor mileage.

Just a thought... http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/redtech3.htm But, may be the subaru coolant "conditioner" is already a water wetter. Anyone using this?

Do an OBD2 scan and see if the TPS is functioning correctly. In my 2000 legacy, I got 16 MPG (city) for a year before a code for TPS showed up. New TPS and $330 later, MPG is 19 city/24 hwy. BTW, Bosch #17018 ($156) is OE part for legacy and outback, I confirmed.

I had some excessive wear also. Stock tires lasted for 25000 miles. Now, wear pattern is not ideal either. I went through a total of 3 alignments in 45000 miles (by tire shop). I blaimed this on competence of people in the firestone shop, but not sure.