craigmcd

Thanks for the input. I notice you have a Brat. There are a couple nice ones in our area. I would love to have one sometime. C

Hi All. Simple inquiry. Our 2005 and 2012 Outbacks each have the 6 cylinder engine. Each car is over 100,000 miles. I use the Valvoline high mileage synthetic blend motor oil, 5W-30. One reason I use this is because I can run the exact same oil in our 1995 Chevy van - so I only have to stock one kind of oil in the garage. I can also purchase it easily nationwide. My wife puts a lot of highway miles on the 2012, but the 2005 only does about 8-10K per year. So, how often would you change oil ? Thanks for the ideas. C

Thanks !

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, I appreciate it. I work on our Subis a lot, and we are on our 6th one. However the nomenclature of "4EAT" and "5EAT" escapes me. I assume 4 or 5 speed, and automatic transmission. What is the 'E' ??

I just serviced our '12 Outback, doing the incremental transmission fluid change procedure. I was expecting an external screw-on filter, most likely toward the battery. When buying parts at Subaru, the guy did not see that, and made a phone call which confirmed it. The only filter they show is a $1000 device in the transmission case, which I did not purchase. Does this seem correct to everyone here ? I did a brief inspection, and followed the lines from the radiator to the tranny, and did not see a filter along the way. Thanks, Craig

Yea Lucky, I think those are part of the problem. C

The maintenance history over the lifetime of this vehicle is exceptional. The original owner put on 250k with full annual services, kept good tires on it, etc. One of the cleanest cars I have purchased. Audrey has had it in Colorado for about 2 years, but has kept it up pretty well. The tires are in good shape right now. This first time this problem came up was on a drive to Denver in July, and they had to stop and buy lug nuts. She had the tires rotated on August 3, and has had loose lug nuts since then. They have been loose on the front right and back left. I would think the garage would have torqued them correctly, but others have noted that it is wise to check them after some driving. The garage is 50-60 mile drive, plus other driving since. Thanks for the input.

Thank you for your comments. I will pass this information to Audrey this morning. I'll check back a little later in case any one weighs in on this matter. C

My daughter is driving a 2002 Outback (277k), and lives in a small Colorado mountain town with dirt roads. On a trip to Denver in July they noticed noise and thumping, and discovered 2 lug nuts gone from one wheel, and a couple loose on another wheel. Today she called because on one rear wheel she found loose lug nuts twice in 3 days - 2 to 3 lug nuts each time. It is obviously dangerous. First question - anybody run into this before? This is our 6th Subaru (I bought it before our daughter got it) and I have not seen this as a recurring problem. Second question - what is the proper way to tighten the lug nuts? She has a T shaped lug wrench, but not a torque wrench. Can the car be sitting full weight on the ground while tightening ? When working on cars, I usually tighten them with just enough weight on the tire to keep it from spinning around (using a jack or hoist). It is possible some vandal is doing this, but that is unlikely for a small town school teacher -- but you never know. Thanks people, look forward to your ideas. Craig

Just to followup. Last week I installed an entirely new drive shaft. It comes as one unit, with three U-joints and a center bearing. The car is smooth and quiet again, with no vibration. Installation is about 90 minutes on a lift. I did forget to buy the rear seal on the front differential, and did not realize that I would have to split the exhaust and lower the exhaust pipe out of the way. That was easy, but I did not have a replacement gasket when I put the exhaust back together. I have to get back to that. The new u-joints have grease fittings, which is nice. The original was all sealed. C

I ordered a new driveline, it cost about $335.00, including shipping. That is quite a bit less than through Subaru, and delivered to my home. C

Some years ago I replaced the entire driveline on a '91 Legacy, a two piece drive shaft. At that time we purchased it completely assembled, and installed it. Is that still going to be my best option for this newer vehicle ? (2005) I have access to a garage with a lift. Thanks for the advice. C

1999 Outback w 2.5 = 25-26 mpg 2002 Outback w 2.5 = 22 mpg 2005 Outback w H6 = 21-24 mpg

BTW - this car has 165 K on it. By driveline, you mean only the u-joints and drive shaft, correct ?

Hi all. My wife noticed an increasing vibration in her Outback wagon the past 10 days or so. After a couple drives we narrowed it down to accelerating in certain ranges. It is VERY noticeable in the 20s mph, picks up a bit at 40, in the 50s again very strong, and at 65-70 the whole inside of the car is rattling where it never did before. I can actually feel this rattle/vibration in my jaw. Most of these speeds are in the 1700 - 2200 rpm range, and only during acceleration. It is accompanied by an increasingly loud noise, kind of a roaring sound. When coasting at ANY speed, the car smooths right out, no vibration. When going about 25 with the door open, there is no discernible noise. My wife hears a clunking noise once in a while, usually while pulling out of the garage. I seemed to hear a very soft metallic whirring noise a couple times, but not sure about that. The vibration and noise are throughout the cabin. Some things to rule out: The tires are good, and I think balanced. The struts / shocks are only a few months old on all four corners. Both rear wheel hub / bearing was replaced last spring. I had it on a lift and did an oil change / inspection a few weeks ago and everything looked fine. The tie-rods were done a few months ago. The steering feels fine, though the wheel shakes a little. I am leaning towards an out of balance drive shaft, or bad drive shaft u-joints. Will that cause this much vibration ? Any other ideas are welcome. Many thanks. Craig

In the first reply in this topic he mentions ccrengines.com. We purchased one of their engines in 2010, the engine is running perfectly and has a little over 49,000 miles on it. It had been back and forth between Colorado and NY a number of times with no problems. It never overheated. The overall mileage is fairly low because my daughter has been a student living on a small campus, and not driven a lot on a daily basis. Two weeks ago she rolled this 99 Outback into a snowy ditch - it is most likely going to be totaled. C

Thanks RAlly, I just saw the lengthy thread with practically the same question posted earlier today. I will read those responses. Thanks all. C

Hi, we are well aware of the head gasket issue on older Subarus, having purchased an engine for our '99 Outback some years ago. Can someone please clarify which years of Outback are effected by this plague ? Is there a specific engine to watch out for ? We are looking at buying our 5th Subi, a 1999 30th Anniversary Ltd Outback with the 2.5 engine --- does that have any known issues ? It is low miles. PS: our daughter just rolled our '99 Outback, she landed upside down in a snow filled ditch in the Adirondacks, and walked away unscathed. The car is in very good shape except the top is caved somewhat, but the insurance will total it. Not happy. Thanks, Craig

I just replaced both rear wheel bearing hubs. Here is my experience: The bearing went fairly quickly from no problem and no noise, then to a low hum, and within about 100 miles to a low roar at 40 mph. A week later at 55 mph the roar from the rear of the car was about 94 decibels as measured on an iPhone. I was able to get a hoist (at an Army post facility) and following advice in other posts check out vibration on strut, heat shields, all bolts tight, drive shaft, differential oil, movement of wheel, etc. There was nothing noteworthy. I was able to start the car and idle in drive, with all four wheels spinning off the ground. Using an automotive stethoscope, there was NO noticeable / alarming noise from either bearing. In fact the only real noise was from the front of the differential, where the u-joint connects. One of the guys at the garage said that with out weight on the wheels I might not hear the bearing, and he was right. The tires are in need of replacement, and I thought it possible that this is excessive road noise. I went ahead and ordered a set of tires and had them installed. Car drives great, but the whirr from the back is just as loud. Since the 2005 Outback VDC has 160,000+ miles, and we have no idea if the bearing are original (they were), I went ahead and ordered the new hubs (which include the sealed bearings). I combined this work with installing new shocks and coils on the rear. The old bearing off the car made noise when spun, both left and right about the same. The noise was like a rusty dry sound, with a hint of a click. After the bearing replacement the noise is completely gone. The car handles and rides great with the new tires and shocks. By far the hardest part of the job was A) getting the rotor off the hub and getting the hub off the trailing arm. So, it can be hard to pin down the exact cause of the noise, and weather it is left or right. I think that regular mechanics (I am a good weekend mechanic) just know the sound and are able to diagnose after a short test drive. That is my story. PS: paid $107 each for Moog hubs w/ bearing.

You guys are so right ! A few weeks ago I got a recall notice for brake lines on the under carriage and had a dealership inspect it. They reported no problems. I did not think of them spraying anti-corrosion films on some of the fittings, but that must be what it is. The greasy consistency helps it stay in place. THANKS. c

2005 Outback 3.0 R. Today I noticed a little plastic door on the passenger side just forward of the rear tire. This inspection door opens to a brake line junction. The brake lines, junction box, and surrounding area has a fine coating of a white greasy substance. You can see that it has pooled a little on the bottom edges of the lines and nut. The greasy substance has no smell, and is fairly thick, like Crisco. The brakes work fine and the reservoir is full. There is no sign of a brake problem, and I have never worked in this area. What is this substance, and should I be concerned or take any corrective action ? Is this part of the ABS system ? Thank you - I appreciate your help. Hopefully you will see the photo, but it is attached.

Heartless, I am leaning towards OE springs. Those with the new struts will be good enough for our family car. I was hoping to buy some heavier duty shocks in case I ever put a tow package on the car, but they are harder to locate then one would think. Thanks for your input.

Thanks - I will be doing the KYB struts. Don't know about the King coils, the are pricey for sure. Can anyone recommend a place to buy King ? Primative has a pair for $249, which I consider expensive. Are there any alternatives, particularly to beef it up a little ? Thanks much. C

At CCR it seems we paid $2500 - plus one of their guys did the install for a very reasonable $500. Of course they kept the core. Keep in mind this is 4, maybe 5 years ago now. I remember it being our most expensive option, but it also came with 3 year/30K warranty - well beyond the other places we talked to (they were at 90 days). The other places built all kinds of engines, while CCR only rebuilds Subi, so they know the engines well. The proof is in the results. That 1999 is with my daughter in college, and has done many many highway miles back and forth (CO to NY). Since we tend to hang onto cars for a long time, it made sense to me to install a quality engine at a price well below an unknown used car. If you are looking to sell your '99 after fixing the engine, than you will never get your money out of it. BTW, Audrey consistently gets the same or slightly better mpg than the original engine (25.5 mpg)

Howdy, we have the 2005, and it needs suspension work. I am pretty handy and well equipped, and use the lifts at the garage on a military base - however, this is new to me. The garage has a strut / spring compressor mounted to the wall I can use. I need some recommendations for the best way to go about that. Should I just buy replacement struts with the coil (front) and the similar full assembly set up for the rear ? Or should I buy only the struts (front) and shocks (rear) and then reuse the coils ? I reviewed some of the info about ghostwalking, which is not an issue we have experienced. In the solutions area it says... Solution #3: Replace worn rear dampers. The 2005-2009 chassis dampers (struts/shocks) are notorious for premature wear. The rear end is the worst with a floatly/bouncy feeling after only a few years of use. The fix is to replace the rear shocks with a more robust aftermarket brand like KYB Excel-G/GR-2. Using the 2003-2004 chassis rear KYB shocks is a popular option because they stiffen the rear end considerably and are 100% compatible with the 2005-2009 cars. See the main suspension FAQ thread for more info. Would that be the best way to go at this point ?? I am not sure what a "damper" is, unless they are referring to the entire shock / strut assembly. They mention only the shocks, so are they reusing the spring coil ? Any other recommended struts or shocks, or should I stay with OEM from Subi ? Thank you, C