mwatt

I know it isn't the safest thing to do but someone should ride in the cargo area to help isolate the rattle. Did you check the pull-out cargo area cover to make sure it's not the source of the rattle? That cargo cover rattles on my '99 and it's because the rubber insulator "pads" in each quarter trim panel (where the cargo cover fits into the quarter trim panels on each side) have shrunken over the years.....

If the car were constantly bounding up and down while driving, I'd concur that struts were the problem. But my '99 Legacy GT is doing the same thing as your car. Any road imperfections (grooves, ruts, pavement joints) cause the vehicle to "dart around"--only for a second or two. It's not "bouncing"--the car darts to the left and to the right. There's no play in the steering rack, because the car responds to the slightest input from the steering wheel. I'm thinking the front hub bearings are worn, causing the steering to follow the road imperfections. But my neighbor, who is a shop foreman at a Subaru dealer, tells me "no, you either need an alignment or you've got a tire problem"

my wife's '98 Outback and my '99 Legacy GT both have that "throbbing" from the engine at idle. It is not a misfire; both engines run very well. The automatic trans cars seem to be suffering from this because they place a load on the engine at idle in "D". My "theory" is that as these cars age, the rubber in the motor mounts, transmission mount, and the rubber bushings in the "pitch stopper" (the bar that ties the engine to the firewall) are all drying and hardening, thus transmitting more engine vibration/throbbing (at idle) to the passenger compartment. I've inspected the engine and trans mounts in both of our vehicles and nothing is physically broken so I'm gonna' live with the "throbbing" at idle also.

Sounds like you have an engine oil leak or a CV joint boot leak. The "fresh air" intake for the A/C system (which includes the heater) is in the area below the right windshield wiper--more or less. So that odor is probably being pulled in from the engine compartment. The odor of leaking coolant is much different than the odor of oil burning off of a hot surface. When coolant leaks from anywhere, it has an unusual "sweet" smell (sort-of like cotton candy mixed with fish oil, for lack of a better description). If the heater core were leaking, you would smell coolant all the time, not just when you turn the heat on. That's because Subaru does not use a heater control valve---coolant is always running thru the heater core, even when the heater is "off". Most manufacturers do it that way. The most obvious sign of a heater core leak is constant windshield fogging along with that "cotton candy-like" odor. When a heater core leak gets bad, you'll see steam coming out of the windshield defrost outlet on top of the dash.

have you ever taken that car to Jiffy Lube or a similar "quick oil change" kind of place?

What Nipper said with one addition---it's down low on passenger-side of firewall--it's a rubber hose that sticks thru the firewall and the end of the hose is "closed off" to prevent stuff from going backwards thru it. Only problem with that design is that the slightest amount of dirt will restrict the hose where it closes off and it becomes plugged.

Thanks for your help! Sounds like I'm gonna' be replacing both rear wheel bearings. I'm lucky enough to have a neighbor that's the shop foreman at a Subaru dealer so he's got access to the correct tools.

I apologize for barging in on this thread but I'd like to know what you hear when rear wheel bearings begin to fail. My '99 Legacy GT is beginning to sound like a car that has snow tires--it makes a "roaring" noise beginning at approx 20 mph or faster. Tires have been rotated frequently and they're not cupped or worn irregularly. Is that the sort of noise that you heard?

It is important to read Subaru's definitions of "severe driving conditions" in the owner's manual. As a former service consultant at a dealer (but not a Subaru dealer) I'm willing to bet that your definition of severe driving conditions and their definition of severe driving conditions won't match. Subaru's "severe driving conditions" may include "frequent short trips" or "extended operation in temperatures above or below (whatever)" or "stop and go/city traffic conditions". And that list may go on and on..... You should look thru that owner's manual page-by-page until you find Subaru's list of "severe conditions". If the owner's manual doesn't make it clear, contact Subaru customer support and ask for a printed list of them. Don't give them a chance to stick you with the line "lack of proper maintenance" if you have a warranty concern...

I know we're comparing apples to oranges but the symptom you describe is exactly what my wife's '98 Outback Limited did when it's right inboard CV joint failed. Sudden "jerking" in the steering (enough to scare the living s--t out of me on a 2-lane road at 45 mph) with no real pattern---just did it randomly. Do you hear any "clunking" noise (once with every revolution of a wheel) when the jerking occurs? You mention "CVs look fine" but the outer appearance of the CV boot won't tell the whole story.....

Check battery connections: make sure they're clean and tight. Does everything else (A/C blower, windows, etc) work properly? Will the vehicle take a "jump" start? Next suspect item is the alternator.

One of the other reasons Subaru provides a separate parking lamp switch is FMVSS #108, which became law in 1968. That safety standard states "vehicle exterior lighting must provide adequate illumination of the roadway, and enhance the conspicuity of motor vehicles on the public roads so that their presence is perceived and their signals understood, both in daylight and in darkness or other conditions of reduced visibility." If you read deeper through the government-speak, it also specifies " with vehicle ignition on or off " and "while vehicle is in operation or when parked" Most people probably never give this a thought, because the headlamps and parking lamps on most vehicles operate with the ignition "off".

To check the amount of play or wear in the ball joints of my '99 Legacy GT----is that procedure the same as other cars where you put the car up in the air and just pry between the lower control arm and the joint to see if it "clunks" ? I want to check the ball joints because the car pulls to the left and to the right over any road imperfections but steers nice and straight if the road is perfectly smooth. Michelin Pilot tires have 15K miles on them, pressures are to spec, and they've been rotated 3 times in 15000 miles.

Are you talking about the weatherstrip that surrounds the sunroof glass? If that's the case, I don't think the dealer is lying to you. I called Jason at 1stsubaruparts.com to see if that strip was available for the sunroof glass on my '99 Legacy and he told me "no, you have to buy the entire glass assembly..." Very frustrating but if it's any consolation,it isn't just Subaru that does things this way......

Yes, I did. Back in December '05 I replaced both axle shafts with Subaru reman parts (got them from Jason at 1stSubaruparts/Auburn Subaru). And before I did the job I knew about the possibility of a replacement axle shaft being a different length from the original might cause "vibration" at idle---so I carefully measured the replacement shafts against the originals and they appeared to be exact. You know the kind of vibration I'm referring to, right? You can feel the engine "throbbing" thru the car as if the engine was sitting right on the cross-member. As soon as you blip the idle up a bit or shift to "N", it's gone. Looking under the car, the motor mounts appear to be fine. but I know that doesn't mean much. Hell, maybe I'll just cheat a little and adjust the "minimum idle speed" stop screw on the throttle body......

I'm considering replacing the motor mounts on my wife's '98 Outback LTD (128K miles). I want to do that with the hope that it will solve the throbbing/vibrating from the engine at idle in "D" (NOT a misfire). The vibration stops if you shift to nuetral. Have any of you replaced engine mounts on one of these? Can I simply use my neighbor's engine hoist to lift the engine very slightly and unbolt the mounts or is there more to this than meets the eye? I also noticed in previous posts that the engine "dog-bone" (pitch stopper) can cause vibration if its bushings are worn. Anyone had success in correcting idle vibration by replacing the pitch stopper?

the engine had to be removed from the vehicle to replace the head gaskets and now you're noticing a vibration or rumble that wasn't there before (you mentioned the engine "sounds rough and loud") ? I wonder if a motor mount is collapsing? You may want to have the dealer inspect the motor mounts. If they're not collapsed, they should try loosening the motor mounts, starting the engine and shutting it off (if it's an automatic they should shift it from "P" to "R" to "D", and then to "P" again before shutting it off), then re-tightening the motor mounts. This helps to "normalize" an engine that's slightly out-of-position, which would lead to a rumbling/vibration.

Have you contacted Subaru of Auburn (also known as "1stsubaruparts.com") and asked Jason for a price quote? Just a suggestion: don't use body side moldings from a wrecked/junkyard vehicle. Body side molding "curls up" when it's pulled off of a car. It cannot be properly reinstalled to look good and "stay put" on another car.

Our '98 Outback and '99 Legacy GT do this to some extent. First, I had the A/C in both cars evacuated and recharged to be certain the right amount of refrigerant was in the A/C system. (It turns out they were charged correctly...) I've been wondering if the temperature sensor for the evaporator is malfunctioning. Obviously, its purpose is to prevent the core from freezing by cycling the compressor on and off. You can see the sensor if you remove the glove box--it's mounted on the evaporator case right behind the glove box and it has a probe that goes into the evaporator core. I've contemplated trying to bypass it to see if the A/C will blow really cold continuously---but I realize that's a bad idea because that can cause the A/C system pressures to be much too high.....

The reason I mentioned the "belt moldings" (the black metal and rubber trim strips at the base of each window on the outside of each door) is because I've got the same problem with them on my '99 Legacy GT wagon. The black finish has become "tacky" and everything sticks to it....I've used alcohol on them, and it works for awhile, but the tackiness reappears eventually....and of course the problem is worse is hot weather.

when you mention "The black rubber weatherstripping seal on the outside of the window around my driver/passenger front and back doors...." are you talking about the door opening surround weatherstrip that the glass closes against, or do you mean the black metal and rubber trim strip at the base of each window on the outside--(some manufacturers refer to them as the "outer belt seal") ??

What Jeep5.9litre said is important. Fluid level and cleanliness are critical. If the transmission "slips out of gear" like it was suddenly in nuetral, that's obviously not normal. To some extent however, the other symptoms you're describing ("hunting" from 4th to 3rd under load and having to floor the throttle to force a downshift at low speeds) are more common. Our '98 Outback and '99 Legacy GT do that. It's almost as if the shift parameters were designed for economy and not for performance .... these transmissions tend to upshift to the next gear early and they stay in higher gears at low speeds unless you force a downshift by flooring the throttle.... I've also noticed that on both of our cars, the more heavily loaded the car is, the more the transmission tends to downshift from 4th back to 3rd when the car is going up a hill at highway speed.......

I think the porcelain on those two plugs may be yellowed because of engine oil seepage around the "spark plug opening" gaskets in the cam cover. Was there any engine oil on the spark plug wire boots where they pass thru the cam cover and attach to the plugs?

My apologies. Sarcasm not intended but I was in a s**t mood yesterday. Do you mean the air deflectors attach to the black drip rail mouldings that go down both windshield pillars? How do they stay attached?

You need to look closely at your car. What are you going to attach side window defectors to ?