heartless

first off - manual or auto? and where did you fill with gear oil? there are 2 different systems on an auto - passenger side gets gear oil (front diff), drivers side gets ATF

And the 2004 will be coming home this weekend. 185K, 5 spd that runs and drives quite nicely.. good tires all around, interior is pretty clean.. seats could use a good cleaning, but no rips or tears. a few minor battle scars on the body, and a little rust in the right rear wheel well..typical place.. but overall she is pretty clean for her age.

lol, not.. found an 04 locally that is in nice shape.. even the underside is reasonable for the area. and yes, she will be coming home with us this weekend.

Thanks! Outback is already back in our possession - now to get the truck done, and decide what to do with my Foz... going to look at a possible replacement this morning.

actually going to go look at an 04 this morning - 180K, 5 spd... pics look ok, but will be checking things the pics dont show, like undercarriage, clutch, etc.. lol guy wants 2600 for it.. we shall see

Well done, Moosens! Hope she goes well for you.

thankfully, he has a very generous boss who has no problem with him bringing a work truck home, and has also offered the use of a truck he has - if we can find the darn key for it. the Outback is currently in shop to get brake line fixed, and should be ready in a day or two. I personally, do not need to go anywhere again until Friday.. Outback should be done by then. and I could, if absolutely necessary, drive the Forester. Have no idea how long those straps have been broken, could have been that way for a while now.. the back side of the tank is sitting on some rubber caps that are part of the rear suspension.. dont think it is going anywhere on that side. the front side is being held by the front half of the straps & the rock guards that are attached to the strap and the tank. True, driving it with the tank sitting as it is, is probably not ideal, but it could be done if absolutely necessary. and if all else fails.. well, we have a riding mower and a tractor, LOL

and to add insult to injury, the other half's outback popped a brake line today.. three vehicles here, and all 3 are down.. the pickup has a bad water pump, my car has its issues noted above.. and now the brake lines on his.. cant win for losing, dang it

thanks for chiming in GD, but slightly less concerned about the leakage, more concerned about the growling, which i assume are the pinion bearings.. behind the seal

The tank itself is not bad.. but the straps are a mess. new straps were not that much, but getting the old ones out could be interesting.. my concern is with the rear diff i guess - i know that bearings can make noise for a long time before failing completely, and it has been growling for about a year and half now, maybe a little longer.. and i would definitely go with a used one if we attempt to fix it.. still not sure about it at this point. also looking at possibly picking up another cheap (under $4k) car for the time being.. looking at an 04 Forester at the moment, 180K & a 5 spd for $2500 - waiting for a call back on that. Larry... be careful what you offer, LOL, we just might take you up on it! =P poked around on Denver craigslist a little... hmmm...

so.. noticed something hanging under my car the other day.. went to investigate, and found that both tank straps had rusted & snapped.. needless to say, she is grounded for the time being.. and possibly permanently... also noticed, while under the car inspecting those, that the front of the rear diff is wet with gear oil - the front being the skinny part the driveshaft connects to. I am going to assume that this means seals are shot, and this area could also be the source of the low growling i have been hearing for a long time that I have not been able to pinpoint.. (ie: bearings going kaput) we did change the fluid in the rear diff last fall because of the growling noise, and other half said the stuff that came out was pretty clean looking, no chunks, not really even dirty looking. at that time, everything was still nice and dry. new fluid did not make any difference in the noise, either.. so.. now what? do i retire the car due to serious steel cancer underneath? or do i try to fix it? She has almost 270K on her, and still starts and runs very well.. but... Yes, she is quite rusty under there, and the chances of getting things unbolted without breaking things are quite slim... thoughts? opinions?

honestly, would not put Monroes on a Subaru.. they are soft, almost mushy feeling KYB struts/shocks, and either OEM or KYB top mounts. takes a shop all of 5 minutes to squash the spring, pop the nut off the top, swap out parts, and reassemble one. We had the shop local to us do the other half's fronts for us.. in and out in about 15 minutes.

KBB suggests a private party price of between $25,600 to $27,800 for the Outback Premium with standard equipment.. with the customized leather, yeah, that adds value, to the right person.

mine had head gaskets done around 80-85K according the report... i bought it with 214K and it now has close to 269K on it, still going fine.

have you tried here for wiring diagrams? http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

what on earth is all over the top of the block? is that critter debris? holy cats that is a mess.

you can do it that way, and any that have the part will send you a price quote. most wont actually pull a part (if it isnt already on a shelf) until they have an actual order for it. or you do a search for the part, and peruse those that claim to have it... many will list prices, others say to contact them for price. you can search by region & distance from a specific zip/mailing code

definitely car-part.com - you can search by area & most will ship for a fee.

no such thing as a Subaru 2.4L - will be a 2.5 and for my money.. nearly $6k for a 17 yr old vehicle is a bit steep - even for a special edition model. KBB puts it more in the $3500-4000 range. that said.. that generation was prone to headgasket issues, and at that mileage i would want definitive proof that it has had a full timing service as well - not just a belt. If there is proof that both of those issues have been addressed, then yeah, maybe, for a lower price... considering your location, i would be very carefully checking the undercarriage for rust... the plastic lower body panels hide a lot.

yeah, not sure i would trust them, myself... as for the recall - the oldest on the list is about 2003.. other half's 06 Outback was involved, but my 02 Forester was not.

and you know things have rusted beyond safe use when a jack goes thru the subframe... yeah, no way i would use the rocker points for jacking anything but a new car, LOL

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/2008/Legacy 2008/ apparently they are electrically operated.. if manual, there should be a switch, if no switch it is automatic..

front jack stand goes just behind front wheel well, under the subframe.. I usually put mine at the point where it Ts toward the center of the body.. Rears are tougher, but yeah, you should be ok there..

yup, jack up the front, work steering back and forth, lock to lock (engine running) many, many times.. keep on eye on the reservoir & keep it topped up with fluid. you have air in the system still and you need to get it worked out.

oops.. my bad.. wrong year.. try this instead.. LOL http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/2003/