Stevo F

Actually I thought of alternators too. I had it fail on two different Subaru’s in the same year (both were close to home luckily) I replaced both Denso remanufactured since Denso makes OEM parts so hoping they are good

The fuel pump recently went bad on my dad's low mileaged 2000 Outback (luckily it was in the garage and just didn't start). That got me thinking about whether I should replace the fuel pumps on some of my older Subaru's with far more miles (my my 2005 Impreza with 257K miles) than his. All were bought used so I'm guessing maybe still has the original fuel pump. Should I go ahead and do this so I don't up stuck out on the road someplace (even though there's not been a hint of fuel issues on any of my Subaru's) It doesn't seem like a hard job especially if you buy the entire assembly (with sending unit, etc...) as one unit and just swap out for the original. I'm also wondering what recommendations are for replacement units (OEM?)

Thank you. The car otherwise runs fine so for the P0028 I suspect the switch or solenoid is at fault, vs. an actual VVT issue. So you are referring to the oil pressure switch that sits next to the solenoid and recommend replacing them both? For the P0171, I do have some MAF cleaner so I will try that. I assume the MAF on this model is located between the the air box and intake duct (like it is on my '98 Legacy with MAF).

Not sure if these two codes are related or a coincidence. We've owned our 2008 Forester since last year and recently started getting CELs for first P0171, I did a couple of ECU resets, then we got both the P00171 and P0028 codes. For the P0171, my mechanic advised it's most likely a vacuum leak but I didn't find anything obvious wrong, so not sure where to proceed from there. For the P0028, I've read this is Intake valve control solenoid circuit. I'll start with the obvious- clean the connectors for the solenoid and the oil pressure switch. Also the oil level is fine and the oil is clean. If the cleaning doesn't work, would it make sense to replace the oil pressure switch since it is an inexpensive part? Since the cheapest OEM solenoid is nearly $100, I don't want to put money into replacing it until I've been able to test it or rule out other issues.

Actually I'm thinking of getting an additional set of wheels/ tires (from a 2001 Legacy) for my '98 Legacy on which I installed 2003- SG Forester front brake calipers and rotors and am curious if there would be any clearance/fitment issues with the 15" wheels with this particular brake system

I may swap the passengers side tires and see what happens. My guess (assuming the tire guy was right) is the more severe steering wheel vibration I felt when I first bought these wheels (and still had bad tires on them).I was hoping that vibration was the tires

I knew a couple of the rims on my 2005 Impreza Outback Sport, with automatic transmission, were bent so I bought a set of Snowflakes with bad tires and had my nearly new tires mounted on them and balanced. I asked the tire place to let me know if any of them were bent. They told me one had a very slight bend and one other was a bit more bent and the other two were true. They put to two slightly bent ones on the back I can fell a slight vibration in the car starting at about 45 MPH but it actually is more noticeable in that steering wheel than the body of the car, even the the two front tires and wheels are balanced well. Im wondering why I feel more of the vibration in the steering although the offending wheels are mounted in the back. The car is high mileaged- 256K and likely the steering ?rack and struts are originally and probably somewhat worn out.

Unfortunately it's 3 tires + 1 tire (no LSD on this car though)

I'm not concerned with age really (the Sumitomo set is a couple of years newer than the other tires). Main concern is what is the likelihood I'll have issues down the road with the mixed set. Even Subaru's I have with matched sets of tires still have up to 1/32" difference between them (possibly lack of rotating or other factors). These tires have no more than that difference between each other. I'm also concerned because there is a definite shimmy with the wheels I bought and the crummy tires on them now- it's a lot worse than any vibration I had with the old rims . I really hope it's just the tires and not the new rims. I feel like the old rims currently with the Sumitomo's mounted on them would be a failsafe if the new rims are bent and I don't find out until I've paid to have the Sumitomo's mounted on them and it's my only set of wheels and tires and still may have the same shimmy as the new wheels do now. If I have the other tires put on mmy new rims, I'd still have 2 sets of wheels/ tires to use

Since two of the rims were bent, I recently bought another set of rims (Legacy GT) snowflakes with bad tires. Plan A is have the 4 Sumitomo tires taken off the existing rims and mounted on the new ones for around $100. The tires have only about 4K miles on them, but from what I've read I'll be lucky to get 30K miles out of them. Actually they are measuring an even 8/32"' of tread (which is rather shocking since I believe they had 10/32" when new, 4K miles ago). Plan B is to reuse 4 other tires- 3 Mastercraft's that were on my '98 Legacy and one General Altimax RT43 that used to reside on my previous 2005 Impreza (all same size). All tires measure between 7/32" and 8/32" of tread and they all have between 15- 20K miles on them which means they are all wearing a lot better than the Sumitomo's. Since they don't need to dismount a total of 8 tires, the tire place will charge $80 for mounting and balancing these. In addition I need a 16" spare for my Legacy wagon so I need a decent tire mounted on one of the old Impreza rims for that, so with Plan A, that's an additional $20. I would like have two more iull size spares for other cars, but not a need at this point. Plan B would provide the extra already mounted tires as spares. I'm not sure what risks to the center differential Plan B would cause on a well used 256K mile car (which incidentally came to me with 4 well worn tires from 3 different sets, but surprisingly not one sign of torque bind). The car is an automatic, BTW.

Definitely water pump.

Don't go by the gas gauge alone. I would calculate the MPG's after a couple of tanks of gas. My 2003 Forester will get 20- 22MPG in around town driving and 24- 25 MPG on the highway, so yours should get at least 20 MPG or higher depending on the type of driving.

I’m thinking you’re right. Tried the ‘97 unit I have in my ‘98 and everything fits and works the same. I’ve heard it may be a different color for the A/C button but I’m not sure.

I'm chasing the normal HVAC control gremlins in the '98 GT (directional controls stick on dash only) and would like to install the control unit from out old '97, but I notice most places list units for '95- '97 and then for '98- '99 with no interchangeability between those years. Everything looks identical between the earlier and later control unit so I wonder what the change was.

I think you may be right. Took a look at a spare differential and there is a plastic plug that comes out pretty easily. Unfortunately it can’t be checked with the differential installed. My mechanic is going to go over the car again anyway also for a new noise it’s making

No the boots are all tight. I had trouble identifying what the smell was as it’s a bit sweeter smelling , and less than typical hypoid gear oil. I pulled the fill plug in the rear diff and it’s the same smell

My mechanic recently rebuilt the rear differential with new bearings and reinstalled it in my 2005 Impreza Outback Sport. I didn't notice anything after a couple of short drives but ever since I dr=ove it about 100 miles round trip last weekend there has a been a pretty odor of differential fluid wafting from under the rear of the car, especially when it was garaged. Even several days later, the odor persists. Tonight, I jacked up the rear of the car and examined the differential carefully. There is not even the slightest fluid leak at any of the seals, nor was there any residue of differential fluid on the outside of the case. My mechanic did use a heavier fluid than spec (75W- 140), but I can't imagine that would cause any issues. The differential case seems sealed, with no vents that I can see, so I'm not sure why I keep smelling differential fluid when I'm around the car. Also, there's no odor from the front of the car at all, nor when lifting the hood, so I doubt it's the front differential, but it really is stronger around the rear of the car. Also, I thoroughly checked in the back of the interior of the car to see if anything had spilled back in there, but nothing was found.

Sounds like my issue (the the light initially went out after messing with the under seat connector but came back). I was able to run the diagnostics and pulled a code of 12 which unfortunately has lists multiple issues. I was stuck at this point so my mechanic took it on. Unlike newer cars, which will list more specific error codes on the diagnostic scanners most mechanics use, the older Legacy's needed a series of connectors hooked up to scan the codes with more detail. Luckily my mechanic had the cables (being in the business for 40 years), and checking it this way, my mechanic first suspected the ABS computer module. I was able to get 2 used ones on Ebay for $25. My mechanic installed it and said not the problem. He said the codes he was reading were also for the clockspring. Luckily I had a spare clockspring from my '98 wagon. I let me mechanic do the repair since it involves removing the driver's airbag and steering wheel. For me that took car of the problem. In hindsight, I would have tried the clockspring first as it is a common failure because it is a moving part. Like was posted earlier, a sign of a bad clockspring is if the horn and cruise control don't function. In my case, the horn still did work and the cruise control has never worked since we owned the car.

I'd say wheel bearing, especially if the noise changes when making a turn

I would rule out air in the cooling system since recent work was done on it before assuming headgaskets. Although they are can overheat sometimes, the more common headgasket failures on the 2003's (EJ251) is external coolant leaks. That being said, when the recent headgasket work was done, if the heads were warped and that wasn't checked or if the headbolts weren't torqued properly, leaks can develop, but I'd check the simple things first.

Actually from what I could see, the valve cover gaskets look pretty clean

It means there is a detected issue in your airbag/ SRS system so it is diabled. Also, in many states it will fail inspection. Just had this issue on my '98 Legacy and in my case, the clockspring, which is behind the steering wheel, needed to be replaced. Also a common cause is if the wire connector under the driver's seat gets loosened by someones foot (in on our Forester a water bottle rolling around under there. With the ignition off, I would unplug and replug this connector a few times to see if that makes the light go off. If that doesn't work, there is a procedure out there to read error codes, but on our older Subaru's, the codes are fairly generic and not that useful. My mechanic had to use his scanner along with the older wiring harnesses to read it and diagnose the problem.

Here's a pic that shows the headgasket area and front cover a little better. I do see a bit of oiliness on the bottom of the front cover although it doesn't seem very heavy.

It’s a brand new filter and one one did the same thing. I’d see a bit of oily residue under the timing cover so a leaking seal is a possibility. A complete timing belt job is due, so aId rather it be that than headgaskets.

No I don’t see where there is an oil cooler on this one. I had cleaned off the honk on the bottom of the engine including around the headgaskets. I don’t see any new signs of seepage from them at this point (not really driven since It was cleaned up) and don’t see any fresh oil seeping from around the head area since the oil change