5000fingers

I just bought a 2011 Outback Legacy (Is it an Outback? Is it a Legacy? I guess they couldn't decide). Anyway, it has about 120K on it, and I'm thinking maybe these are still the original struts because the ride is really rough. I have replaced strut inserts on several cars before, and have my own set of spring compressors. So, two questions: 1. Is this job pretty straight ahead on this car, nothing out of the ordinary? 2. What are the recommended replacement inserts for this car? I don't need a costly high performance upgrade, but I want a quality strut that's going to last.

Good news, the engine just started up again, and sounded fine. Although the battery is obviously low on account of leaving the hazard lights on so long, so it wouldn't start up a second time. Looks like I lost about 3/4 gal. of coolant, so hopefully that wasn't enough to cause damage.

OK thanks, I'll try that. What are the chances that my engine is toast? Would there be a lot of steam, and would my temperature gauge go into the red if the coolant were that low?

I just got stranded on a freeway off-ramp. No warning, the car just stalled and wouldn't start. It acted like the timing belt had just snapped, but I changed that recently so that's not it. I noticed that there was some coolant that had sprayed around a bit in the engine compartment, and the temperature was pretty high - though not in the red. After the tow home ($$), I noticed that the top hose going to the radiator had slipped off. So that explains the coolant everywhere, but it doesn't explain the stall. Other than the temperature reading pretty hot, there were no symptoms of overheating. What would have made car stall out completely like that? Is there some kind of fail-safe that shuts down the car if there's a significant coolant leak, or the temperature starts to get too high? My car is a 2001 Outback with the 4 cyl. engine.

My 2001 Outback is the same green color that I see on half of the Outbacks around here. I have a spot that I'd like to do a little touchup painting. What is a good source for the original color spray paint?

I'm just wondering how to remove the front seat back upholstery kit (leather, with seat heaters) on my 2001 Outback. Has anybody posted a tutorial for that?

I've got a 2001 OB with beige leather upholstery, which is still in great condition except for one panel of the driver's seat, which is ripped and deteriorating rapidly. Most likely it was from pens in my back pocket or something stupid. In the past, when upholstery got old on any of my cars, I would just buy a custom reupholstery kits and install them with the hog rings. So I can do upholstery work, but the dealer said no upholstery is available for this car. So what are my options for restoring this seat other than hoping for a pristine seat at a pick-n-pull (not likely around here), or slapping a seat cover over it (not my favorite idea)?

A while back I had a gift certificate for a free fluid service at a local transmission shop, so I used it for my '01 Outback. I am noticing now that the receipt mentions a leak at my "case connector." He estimate $275 to do the repair. It was really too long ago for any of them to remember my vehicle specifically. Do any of you have any idea what they might be talking about? I do have a slow leak that is starting to stink on my exhaust pipe, but the whole area is kind of greasy and I don't see any obvious source of the leak. I'd appreciate any ideas as to what this "case connector" might be.

What is the "garnish?"

Every good rain I get some water coming into the rear light assembly on my 2001 OB. The bulbs short out, and water comes dripping down when the hatch is propped open. Is this a common problem? And what are some likely paths that the water would be getting in?

I have a 2001 Outback wagon (4 cyl), and I am planning to change the front differential seals. I have seen two different setups for the front seals, is this car the one with the retaining cups that have to be removed in order to change the seal and the O-ring? Are there photos or videos of this procedure with my differential? Also, assuming this car does have the retaining cups, I understand that they have to be installed exactly as they were to prevent damage to the differential. I plan on marking the position and counting the number of turns, etc. But this car has something like 180,000 miles on it, meaning a lot of wear and different tolerances than when the car was new. So I'm wondering if there is a way to do this adjustment at home, or is it just a better idea all around to keep things the way they were?

Good question about the CV boot. There is a torn boot and I'm going to replace it soon. Maybe it's just that? There seems to be a slow leak coming from the front diff though, and the oil burning off the exhaust smells like gear oil. I suppose the CV joint grease might smell the same?

My front diff is leaking on my 2001 Outback wagon (4-cyl). It's probably not a huge problem, the leak is pretty slow, but it's leaking on the exhaust pipe and making a big stink. It's hard for me to see specifically where the front diff is leaking. The Haynes manual doesn't seem to say much about the front diff, so I'm wondering what kinds of issues would cause it to leak, and whether or not this is something I could fix at home. I'm a pretty decent weekend warrior, most repairs don't intimidate me. Any information that you could provide me about how to proceed would be appreciated.

The car runs fine with the new MAP sensor in, and stalled out within 2-3 seconds with the old MAP sensor. So I'm pretty confident the old sensor was bad. What would putting the old one in tell me?

I just had to replace the MAP sensor on my 2001 OBW, and I popped the new one in this afternoon and unhooked the battery to clear out error codes (is there a fuse to pull that would accomplish that?). Expecting no issues, I started the car and immediately got a CEL, and pulled five different codes - P0328, P1112, P0107, P0113, and P1112 (again?). What could all this be about?

So this was just caused by my unplugging the MAP sensor then? Can I just disconnect the battery to clear the codes out?

After not driving my 2001 OBW for several days due to stalling issues (apparently because of a failed MAP sensor), I disconnected the MAP sensor and the car ran well enough to back out of my driveway. But now the AT temp light keeps flashing, even though the AT temperature is cold and that light never came on for any reason before, ever. What could be happening? How could this new light be related to what I did? Obviously the AT oil is not too hot, but how could it be possible that I messed up something with the AT temp sensor while tinkering around the intake manifold to get the other problem figured out?

OK, that was a bonehead move on my part. I must have disconnected the knock sensor or something (whatever is right behind the manifold, duh). I disconnected the MAP, and no more stalling. Is that the end of the diagnosis, then? Is it always a bad MAP sensor when disconnecting it stops the stalling?

Thanks. I unplugged the sensor, and it still stalls out. Does that mean the problem is elsewhere?

This isn't exactly a crank - no start problem with my 2001 Outback (4 cylinder), because the engine actually does start for a second or two, and then it stalls out. I'm getting a diagnostic error code of P1112, and I don't know if that has anything to do with this problem. The car was running great up until now. Any ideas on what this could be, or what my diagnostic sequence should be?

My 2001 OB just decided it won't start, after years of great reliability. No warning, I just walked out this morning and it acted like it was either out of gas, or a clogged fuel filter. The engine turns over, and as long as I pump the accelerator it sort of chugs along (maybe with an occasional misfire of some sort), but immediately stalls out when I stop pumping the gas. I just replaced the fuel filter so that's not it, and there's plenty of gas. What else could suddenly go south on me to prevent starting, with no warning?

I am trying to remove and replace the piece of dashboard trim that goes right over the glovebox. There are a number of screws that hold it on from behind. I took the glovebox out, but I can't seem to get at all the screws. Has someone figured that out yet? How are you supposed to take that side of the dashboard off? Thanks in advance.