5000fingers

For my wife's 2011 Outback, I recently put in new CV axles (from Subaru), new sway bar bushings (Subaru), new lower control arms (aftermarket, I forget the brand), new sway bar end links (Moog), and new strut assemblies (KYB Strut-Plus). Now the car sits about 2"-3" high in the front. (And before you ask, yes I did properly torque the control arm bushings at ride height). What do you think could be causing it? ChatGPT says that the most likely culprit is the strut assemblies, even though these assemblies are made specifically for this vehicle. ChatGPT also says that a lot of people have reported this problem when using the KYB products in Outbacks. Has anybody else heard of this happening? Aren't KYB supposed to be a good product? On the other hand, they were less than $150 no Amazon, and I'm seeing that most of the better strut assemblies are more than $300ea. What other strut assemblies are good, and what would you do in this situation? Do you agree that the KYB strut assemblies that I installed are likely the problem?

I recently did the following work on my 2011 OB front end: New control arms (after market, I forget the brand) New sway bar end links (Moog) New sway bar bushings (Subaru) New strut assemblies (KYB) New RH cv axle (Subaru) All of these parts visually matched up to the parts coming out of the vehicle. But now, the front end is sitting about 2-3" higher than normal. The car feels like it's going uphill when you drive it, and the front wheel well is noticeably further away from the top of the tire than the rear wheel well. What could be causing that? (And before you ask, yes I did jack up the wheel assembly to normal curb height before I torqued the control arm bushings).

I recently rebuilt the front end of my 2011 OB – axles, ball joints, end links, sway bar bushings, and control arms. It is much more solid and smooth, but there are some road speed vibrations that feel like imbalanced wheels, but they're not, because the tires and new and balanced. So I took it into a shop, and they noticed that the front end is sitting about 2" higher than it should be. And that's true, you can see from a distance that the front end is too high, and it gets even a little higher at road speed. They said that I installed everything correctly, and I know that I torqued the control arms under load, like you're supposed to. But the axles are coming down to the hubs at more of an angle then they're supposed to, and that's probably the source of the vibration. They suggested that I might have installed the wrong strut assemblies, like it was just the wrong part. But these are the KYB SR4384 and SR4385 "Strut Plus" assemblies, and as far as I can find out, they are the correct struts for the vehicle. So what could be the problem? They said that I installed everything correctly, and I know that I torqued the control arms under load, like you're supposed to. I do know what I'm doing. But I can't imagine what could have gone wrong. Any ideas?

2011 Outback, 2.5 with factory audio. It looks like I've got a leaky sunroof, or more precisely a sunroof that isn't draining properly. After a hard rain the rear carpets were sopping wet. I think I have a handle on what I need to do to get the drain tubes opened up again, but now I'm not getting any sound from the audio system, even though the dashboard unit is alive and lighting up, and everything is completely dry now. ChatGPT is telling me that the likely culprit is the amplifier. I haven't removed the seat to inspect it yet, but is this amplifier likely fried? Or is there an inline fuse somewhere that might have protected it? Any words of wisdom for a failed audio system after water intrusion?

Our 2011 Outback stalls intermittently, something like once a day. Usually coming to a stop, especially uphill - and *maybe* a little more often when the engine isn't fully warmed up. What could cause this? And if it's the torque converter, how would I confirm it?

I have a 2011 OB, and I had a problem over the winter with a lot of rain getting in the moonroof, soaking the carpets, etc. And now the stereo won't work. The unit turns on and lights up, but there's no sound at all from any speaker. The fuse under the hood is fine. What else should I look for?

Last week I replaced the fuel filter on my 2011 OB, and checked very carefully for leaks after reassembly, no problems with the car running. Well, yesterday I filled up the tank and drove home. This morning I went outside and found a puddle of gas under the tank, and still dripping. Turns out the gas is leaking from the rubber gasket – which I thought I installed and torqued correctly. The gasket looked to be in good shape, so I didn't replace it. So just now, I tightened the 8mm nuts even further, but it's still leaking. So, off to the dealer to buy a new gasket I suppose, or maybe I did something wrong somehow, I don't know. It seems like a no-brainer, it can only go on one way. The question is what I do now, with a full tank of gas that is leaking out the fuel filter gasket. And I presume a lot of it will come gushing out all over if I take open things up again. In the old days I would just siphon a few gallons out and make the repair, but I know modern cars have rollover valves and other devices that prevent siphoning. So, please advise: 1. How to deal with the full fuel tank in order to open up the fuel pump/filter assembly again. What's the best way to stop the leaking, and do the repair without pouring fuel everywhere? If I jack up the passenger side, would that allow me to take off the fuel filter assembly without gas spilling out? And: 2. What might have gone wrong with my repair?

It does nothing. No sound. OK, but if that's the case, why would the right button raise the sunroof up? Shouldn't it only retract it? I will try that, thanks. Do you have a link to any instructions for how to remove the sunroof without removing the headliner? I can't find that on YouTube anywhere.

I have a 2011 outback that is leaking water in through the sunroof. I tried to slide it back to see if I can clear obstructions from the front drain holes, but I can’t slide the sunroof back. The left sunroof control, whIch is supposed to raise and lower the glass for ventilation, does nothing. The right control, which is supposed to retract the glass, just raises and lowers it for ventilation. Weird. Then I realized that I don’t think we’ve ever even tried to retract the sunroof. Which begs two questions. Do I have a sunroof that doesn’t slide back? Is that a thing? And if the sunroof by design does not retract, how can I access the drain holes to clean them out? Please don’t tell me I need to remove the headliner.

We just had a bomb cyclone of rain dumped on us, and the bottom of our 2011 Outback has waterlogged. I can't find any possible source, I can't see any coming in from the sunroof, or anywhere else. But it's getting in somewhere. So, are there any good ideas for what to look for, where water might be getting in? Secondly, it's causing some weird electrical problems. Even when the stereo is off, I'm hearing lots of cracks and pops coming through the speakers, that are somehow related to engine speed. Weird warning lights coming on and off, seemingly randomly. Are there any ideas as to what's going on there, and whether or not that might be a clue as to where water might be getting in?

I have a 2011 Outback (4 cyl engine), and it is stalling out at stop signs. It is not throwing any codes, or having any other symptoms. What might be going on, and what can I do to diagnose it? The local mechanic is pretty stumped too, saying that the only thing he might try is a new torque converter. But I don't want to just throw parts at the thing, especially when they are that expensive, and I don't understand the issue. I'd appreciate any insight you can give.

We brought it in for some noise in the front drivetrain, and he diagnosed that as a bad CV axle. I can easily swap that out, but in the process of diagnosing that he looked at the CVT fluid. He didn't drain it to check it, just looking at the fluid with the dipstick. So maybe the next step would be to really flush the fluid out to take a look at it, and see if it really does have *shavings,* and not just an expected amount of "glitter." BTW we've had this car for several years. I'm not sure we would go for spending $8K on a new transmission, because to be honest I don't know how durable the rest of the car is. So with the long-term future of owning this car in doubt, if it turns out this tranny is circling the drain, I'll probably just get a low mileage used unit to replace it with.

I have a 2011 2.5L Outback, and our mechanic, who is a very reputable mechanic in our community, is recommending a new transmission, at a nifty price tag of $8K. He says Subaru is the only company remanufacturing these transmissions, and theirs cost $6K. The only symptom that he is going by to recommend the new transmission is metal shavings in the fluid. This transmission is supposedly a sealed unit that we're never supposed to service, and I have my doubts about the recommendation. But the car has something like 150K miles on it, presumably without ever having the tranny flushed, and I'm wondering if seeing some metal in the fluid is enough to recommend such a prohibitively expensive repair. I mean, what transmission wouldn't have a little glitter in the fluid after 150K miles, and no servicing? So I would like to ask this board if seeing metal shavings really is the beginning of the end for a CV transmission? Should I flush the fluid and check again after a few hundred more miles? What would you do in my situation?

I have a 2011 outback, which just started with a clicking sound, regularly and every few seconds, underneath the passengers seat, even with the key off. It drains the battery. It sounds like a relay clicking. Is there a relay under there? What else could be causing it? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the information and expertise (which clearly I don't have). I'm just looking for ways to make some modest upgrades to stiffen up the handling and performance. Maybe the sway bar mounts could be a good candidate for poly then, since those are fairly accessible for lubrication? How often do you think a poly bushing would need to get lubed?