Martinjmpr

Hi, folks. Just wanted to sign off and thank the many, many knowledgeable folks here at USMB for all their assistance while I owned my OBW. The g/f and I decided we needed a truck we could camp in (she hates sleeping on the ground) so the OBW has been traded in on a 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4. I'm loving the Toyota but I did enjoy my Subaru. For all it's minor faults it was a sweet car, and I'd definitely recommend Subie to anyone looking for a good priced, reliable car with some surprisingly advanced features. In fact, when my g/f gets ready to replace her aging Chevy, I might try to push her towards a Legacy, Impreza or Forester. Anyway, thanks again and keep the rubber side down!

As I understand it the main reason for the fuse is for when you have the undersized spare tire on the car. Putting the car in FWD lessens the likelihood that the slightly different tire size will cause damage to the transaxle/AWD system (which, as we know, is very sensitive to differences in tire circumference.) As for the reason there is no appreciable difference in MPG, I think part of the reason is because the Automatics have a 90/10 split in power. IOW, under normal conditions, your front wheels are getting 90% of the power anyway. It's not until you start to slip that the % changes, up to a maximum of 50/50. So, even under the best of circumstances, you would only have a 10% difference in power used and that is probably consumed by all the spinning metal and extra weight (which is still there whether the rear wheels are under power or not.) Contrast this with the MT models which are 50/50 at all times (which also explains whey the MT models don't get any better MPG than the autos.) Presumably a MT car could benefit more from disabling the RWD, but of course the MT cars don't have the ability to disable the rear drive so it's a moot point.

I thought a CCR 2.5 motor was over $3k installed? Also, will CCR put a 2.2 into a vehicle that previously had a 2.5?

You know, we should have someplace on the forum where we can keep this kind of institutional knowledge alive. It would certainly be worth it to new members who come in here with questions or issues. Maybe it could be something like a general "Subuaru Repair and Service experiences, Good, Bad and Ugly" or something of that nature. I, for one, would be interested in knowing the different experiences of other Subie owners in the Denver area, since we have so many independent Subie shops here.

I don't know if this will help but last month I had a kind of funny problem with my car. I was driving along and all of a sudden I started to get this vibrating, chattering noise that varied with the speed of the car. It would come and go, but finally it got so loud I had to take it in. One thing I did before taking it in, though, was that I disabled the AWD with the fuse and sure enough, the noise went away. So, here I was thinking maybe my tranny or rear end were going bad, or maybe I had a bad CV joint on the back (do they even have CV joints on the back or just the front?) or that the U-joint in the driveshaft was bad. Either way I was anticipating major $$$ to get it repaired. So, took it to the dealer and it turns out that when I was driving on muddy roads back in October, I packed a bunch of mud into the tunnel that holds the rear driveshaft. That's all it was. Then they charged me $60 to clean it out. Actually, they should have charged me $5 to clean it out and $55 for being a *********************. Anyway, I'd say before you contemplate major work, make sure it's actually the rear end making the noise and not the driveshaft. Could save you some money.

In the Fall of '05 I was quoted about $1500 at Strictly Automotive, down at 10th and Santa Fe. I think that also came with a 1 year warranty but it may have been 6 months, not sure. It turned out my HG was fine but I then had my timing belt and water pump replaced there in February of 06. Total cost was just a hair under $1000, as they had to replace several of the T-belt pulleys, too. I've never heard of a comparo between the various independent Subie shops in the Denver area. I think the ones that have been in business the longest have the most to lose, reputation-wise.

Indeed, almost all cars have some "issues" that show up after a while. My last long-term vehicle, a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero, started burning oil excessively at around 80k miles. This was a well known problem with the 3.0l V-6 motor, caused by the valve guides slipping down, or something like that. It was so well known that any decent Mitsubishi shop had a "service package" for exactly this issue. Cost was around $1500, P&L included. I finally had it done around 130k and the truck was running fine when I sold it for $3300 at 147k. Now, $1500 for repairs sounds like a lot, but it depends on how you think about it. It wasn't that long ago - maybe 20-25 years - that cars had 5 digit odometers because by the time a car hit 100,000 miles, it was usually ready for a complete rebuild or at the very least some serious work. Nowadays we routinely expect our vehicles to last 150k, 200k, or even beyond. But every mechanical thing is going to wear out or break eventually, especially a car which gets so much abuse just from the activities of daily driving. The other thing to think about is this: If a car has over 100k on it, it's usually paid for. IOW, you aren't making car payments on it. So what is $1500 - maybe 5 car payments? Hell, nowadays, some people are paying upwards of $500/ month on a new car. So just imagine that you are making 3 to 5 "car payments", and after that, you have an engine that will last at least another 100k. No head gasket issues for me yet (knock wood!) but at 120k, if I were to have such an issue, I'd bite the bullet, have the work done (there are plenty of independent Subie shops in Colorado and most of them will do a 2.5 HG for about $1300) and drive on. I wouldn't be happy about it, but if the alternative was getting myself into a new vehicle that would cost me $350-$400 a month for the next 5 years, it's a no brainer. The car is so good in every other respect that I'm willing to give Subaru the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Yeti and Nipper: Why were your engines replaced? Was there a major failure or does it just get to the point where, after a certain number of miles, so many things need replacing or repairing that it's more cost effective to just replace the whole thing with a remanufactured one? And what are the costs on a remanufactured engine? Assuming I don't have the skills to put it in myself (I don't, nor do I have the tools or the space) what would it run me, about $2500?

Mine has hooks on both ends. Yes, it's more dangerous but also much easier to use. If I was a 4-wheeler and pulled people out (or needed to be pulled out) on a regular basis, then I'd probably invest in the two-loop kind (although in order for those to work one vehicle, at least, has to have a tow hitch or pintle.) Really, it's a calculated risk. I've literally only used this tow rope 2-3 times in 20 years, so I'm willing to accept a little extra risk if it makes it easier to use the rope. And besides, even if you have the two-loop kind, you still have the risk that it might not be the tow strap that fails, it might be the point where it attaches to a vehicle - the tow hitch or whatever - which could still result in a piece of metal flying away from the vehicle at near bullet speeds. So the safest thing to do is have everyone stand clear when using a strap. Drivers in their vehicles with the doors and windows shut and everybody else at a safe distance.

Should be getting ready for it's 3rd timing belt, maybe? 105,000 and 210,000, IIRC. I had my pulleys replaced when they replaced the T-belt, it added a couple hundred onto the total but if it keeps the car in good running shape for another 100k miles, it was worth it (hell, $300 is just one average car payment, right?) Good to hear that these cars can last this long. I just turned over 120k on mine and need to keep it at least another year. The only other car I've ever owned for this many miles was a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero that I bought in 1992 with 18,000 miles and sold in 1999 with 145,000. I'm hoping to beat that record with the Outback (1999 model, bought with 42k in 2003.)

Since I'm replacing my tires next month anyway, I'll probably get some kind of dedicated snow tires. Then, come springtime, I'll buy a set of steel rims and have all-seasons mounted on them for the rest of the year. Kind of a PITA to have to swap tires, but I really don't want to have to face the kind of snow we had last week without something better than those all season tires. I'm also going up a size (from 205/70s to 205/75s) to get just a smidgen more clearance. The actual difference is about .8" diameter, which means .4" radius, so I don't anticipate any clearance issues.

Since we had our 5-year blizzard last week, I've been thinking a lot about tire chains or cables. As I understand it most modern cars don't have the fender clearance to allow chains to work, which is why cables are the recommended alternative. While I saw a lot of trucks/SUVs with chains on the road (they were about the only ones moving) I don't recall seeing any cars with those tire cables. I did own a set for an old (2wd) Ford Ranger pickup I owned when I lived in Laramie, but I never actually used them. One thing that seemed like a drawback was that there was some kind of a chart that indicated that they could only be expected to go 20 or 30 miles before breaking, the idea I guess being that they're for emergencies only, you use them to get to some kind of shelter and then hunker down until the roads are in better shape. So what's the consensus for Subarus? Do they really add much over a decent set of snow tires? Difficult to put on and/or keep chained? Do you run them on all fours wheels or just on the fronts? I like the idea of something that will keep me from getting stuck again but if these cables are pretty worthless then I won't worry about them.

In this case the snow was a good 6-10" above the bumper, which was the problem. It's not a question of traction, as the poster above said, if your wheels are not in contact with the road, all the drive in the world won't help.

Can someone recommend a good junkyard in the Denver metro area that has a good selection of parts for late model Subies? I really need to get dedicated snow tires but before I do that I want to get a set of 15" steel wheels from an Impreza or Forester.

Very few tried to get out. Between the deep snow, the blowing wind and the fact that they'd be going uphill, it's a little too dicey. I even saw a couple of jeeps with 10-15" of snow on them - they never even tried to move.