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Going to try the cover and the bumper too if it will fit. The taillight is only 3/8" pushed in past the hatch on the left side. The right side taillight is flush with the hatch. Maybe try hooking into the trailer hitch but how to mimic the right amount of force that bent it inwards.

07 outback manual wagon base model, 2.5L, 148k miles. Hit from behind on left side while stopped at a light. Crushed the aluminum bumper on the left. Damaged the trailer hitch and the left side frame rail a bit. Hatch opens and closes but there is a slight offset in the latch. With this amount of damage the car has been totaled. 2nd totaled car for us in the past two months. Car runs and drives ok. On impact, the car was pushed from behind into the next car ahead. No apparent front end body damage but the PS pump sprung a leak which has been fixed (new return side o-ring). The impact sheared a muffler hanger on each side, replaced with spares. https://photos.app.goo.gl/SusTyPs8RqCmTwBA8 How repairable (and necessary) is the frame rail and rear panel under the bumper? It appears that subaru does not sell any body panels for the back end / tire well / frame rail. I could grab an aluminum bumper and cover easily from a parts yard but doubt that it will easily bolt up without replacing or unbending sheet metal or cutting new holes into the bumper. The accident happened in TN so there will be issues with a salvage title / possible re-inspection. Where to get parts? Not sure I'm ready to buy a parts car and have it towed or if this job is even conducive to harvesting the needed body panels. Just learned from my recent front end deer crash that my neighbor is keen to weld, and I'm kind of interested in welding all of a sudden given my track record with totaled cars.

The accident was out of state and my insurance company said that it wouldn't be reportable to Tennessee. So I'm hoping that I don't need a salvage title and all that headache. Car is in southern Michigan right now so that could be a mess.

Yeah I had initially pulled the radiator support forward by hand just to get it back on the road. It's pretty flimsy. I ended up deciding to weld new rad support figuring that there was probably some lateral deviation from all the twisting and crimping, and the hood latch would be wonky.

Car is done! Kept it two tone for the win. Purchased new sheet metal including radiator support, center hood stay, and right/left hand radiator panels for about $160. These come painted (black) from Subaru. Or just cut them out of a donor. I counted just over 20 spot welds for the total weld job. Didn't have to completely remove the fenders to access the weld points for the radiator support, just moved them aside. Removing the bent metal wasn't hard using a 3/8" spot welder hole saw removal tool and a drill motor to punch through the spot welds. For the rebuild, these welds are beyond the harbor freight 240V "pinch" spot welder in my opinion due to the lower section essentially welding to a tube. My neighbor has a HF MIG welder that did an excellent job welding the new metal in place. Just cover the whole engine first with fiberglass cloth to avoid hot slag melting the harness. Before removing any metal I marked the outline of the pieces to help line things up. Having the headlights in place helped line up the two radiator panels (actually they should be called condenser panels) prior to welding. The hood latch was aligned with the hood and clamped prior to welding. After welding, put the condenser/radiator/headlights/bumper/bumper cover back on.

08 running the 07 pump doing fine after 500 miles. 08 stock pump failure could be coincidence/foil scrap/or running without alt belt, which is probably just general good sense to avoid in the future. 07 running 08 pump also fine after driving around town for a few days.

Thanks. Yes, codes cleared after reset. Swapped out the stock fuel pump from my 07. Started right up. Runs without cutting out. There's a fuel temp sensor in the fuel pump, flagged a code when I disconnected the cable. The 07 pump doesn't have the foil scrap. Going to remove it and give the suspect 08 pump a go in the 07. Oddly enough the three little plastic feet on the 08 pump were stuck to the bottom of the gas tank.

Here's a pic of the strange piece of foil on the fuel pump https://imgur.com/gallery/vDzDdMQ/comment/2436129451 And another couple https://imgur.com/gallery/vDzDdMQ/comment/2436129563 https://imgur.com/gallery/vDzDdMQ/comment/2436130359

Quick look doesn't see any piping damage. Pulled out the MAF and looks intact. Intake is still aluminum for 2008. Still keeping this in mind as the only times it has started is with the MAF connector off. I continue to find bits of shrapnel in the engine bay, grill plastic and metal fibers from what is left of the alternator belt.

The fuel gauge tracks upwards with small amounts of added fuel, 1 gallon up a little, two gallons, up a little more than before. Unfortunately starting isn't reliable even with more fuel. Still cranks a lot, sputters. If it starts it dies a few minutes afterwards. So I'm now suspecting fuel pump assembly. All this started after I pulled off the alt belt, so voltage to the fuel pump is less. Maybe less voltage is causing a problem, higher current, overheating maybe, browning out. I have a bit of front end work left to fix from the deer damage so the belt remains off for convenience. So I pulled the fuel pump out. It looks to be OEM. Fuel in the tank is definitely not 3 gallons (what I have added in by hand). Fuel gauge is now reading just over half a tank and there is a lot of gas in the tank which probably agrees with the reported level, just a guess. Anyone know how this generation of OEM fuel pumps typically fail? There is a little sort of loose piece of foil in the lower plastic plumbing of the pump housing. Not sure if that is a failure point. Might swap my 2007 outback fuel pump just to compare if they are compatible.

Uhh yes actually! Low tank. Put about a gallon in and after a few ignition cycles it started up. Runs fine without accessory belts, MAF connector, etc. Stalled when I goosed the throttle but probably because of all the codes, etc. Weird since the gauge is not low and the fuel light isn't lit. So, dive into the fuel level mechanism inside the tank?

Yes! But only after I added a bit of gas. Ha! Got the same CEL codes after disconnecting the MAF (air temp P0113, MAF P0112) so its not a sensor after all.

Could be. Didn't start again this morning. Fuel gauge just over 1/4 tank. Going to check fuses and see if I can hear the fuel pump kick on when I turn the key. Car is on a flat surface. Will try loosening the fuel cap.

2008 outback wagon 2.5L auto 218k miles. Hit a deer a month ago and still working on getting the car back in shape. Damage mainly to radiator (still functional), condenser (also functional). Car was running fine and has logged over 400 miles since the accident even with the damage (mostly highway just limping home) and a couple of trips around town for repair work (drained the r134, no I'm not running the hvac). Today I took off both accessory belts, the crank pulley (bumped the starter x1), and the cracked timing belt covers from the deer impact. Was doing some topside work (power steering connector cracked) and had taken off the MAF connector to remove the airbox. Nothing too complicated. Reconnected the MAF and drove a mile without any accessory belts or TB covers. Air guide shattered at the deer impact so have been running without it, just a wide open slot with an intact air filter in the filter box. Yes the dash battery light is on but just driving a mile not a big deal. Car had been starting just fine. Battery is fairly new. After a right turn, car died and would not start. Just cranks, strong cranking and sounds like good compression. Someone stops to help and gives me a battery charge with one of those electronic fast chargers. Doesn't start. I checked the engine codes and saw a few, but forgot to screenshot it. What I remember is a "heater circuit" and "air temp" code. Plus a MAF code probably from disconnecting the MAF connector on the air box. Its about 60 degrees here outside today. Car wasn't totally warmed up after driving a mile but probably close. Thought maybe the ECU was confused about several things, the weird pressures from not having that plastic air guide. Running without any headlights or bumper or grill so there's nothing buffering the air flow into the MAF. So I tried resetting it by disconnecting the battery for about 5 minutes. Still wouldn't start. Getting 11.5 volts on the battery during cranking which I thought was enough, but tried jumping it anyway. Still no start. Outside air temp sensor could be damaged, is unprotected and maybe got hit by the deer, but it doesn't look damaged. Will try swapping this out. Towed the car home using the stock front end tow point in neutral going about 20 mph or less, about a mile, after reading the owner's manual about towing. No new codes after a few start attempts after the battery disconnect. In fact all the codes got reset. Going to try again in the morning after the car cools down.

https://imgur.com/gallery/vDzDdMQ/comment/2433311575 Found a donor, grabbed most of above, after pic.Not sure about getting it painted to match or not. Might keep it two tone.