1 Lucky Texan

Sat. returned from 1700 mile road trip to Colorado.

no one on the internet can tell you if a 15 year old car is gonna be reliable. a pre-purchase inspection by a good (preferably soob-experienced) mechanic should help you avoid buying a major headache.

condition of timing belt? can you read any CEL codes? after it died, would it crank and NOW it doesn't crank?

can you create any noise bouncing the 2 rear corners?

Datsun Fairlady? I used to have an SRL311

they should not have been removed but, they can and do break - as well as sway bar mounts. should be easy to spot if they are invlved in the noise.

u-joint is another possibility. just weird that it so intermittent.

can't imagine very many original struts with 180K being in top condition. wouldn't hurt to inspect other components too when installing the struts.

maybe try this trick?

very difficult to overfill.

but it starts right?

maybe post a pic of the area where you see the oil.

yeah - we neeed a better description of the problem. what type of fluid are you losing? rear diff gear oil (it should be full when it runs out the top, square-socket pluf) if auto trans, is that fluid level good? (must be checked while idling) MT or front diff oil ? check the dipstick on the right side at the firewall. engine oil level? could be the air/oil plate on the back of the engine leaking or ???

understood - sometimes you can hammer on the next size smaller English socket - might crack it though. good luck

seems like a bad wire harness or ground. there are 2 sensors built into that one 3-wire unit, one for the ECU, one for the gauge.

try some heat, may only need 10-20 seconds from a propane torch.

if it is flooding, hold the pedal to the floor when cranking and the ECU will cut fuel. It's the 'clear flood' mode. the smell from the rear could be a rusted-thru filler tube.

I'm not really up on all the features in an 08 - if it has VDC or similar, there may be a switch to turn it off. others here will know or you might read-up on features of various models at www.cars101.com the older a car is, the less important the brand's reputation (Subarus is generally good) and the more important the care the car has been given, and its current condition.

more details on car including time since last timing belt service. while trying to start, hold the gas pedal on the floor (yes - all the way depressed) that signals the ECU and it will hold fuel off. It's the 'clear flood' mode in fuel injected cars.

are all the tires the same size? has the car had a transmission or rear diff swap?

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/47546-oil-change/ shawn is a pro with a shop north of Denver you might also find a youtube video. Eric the car guy has some good ones - dunno if he has an oil change vid though. I like to use a new crush washer (Subaru or Dorman 20mm) many people re-use the washer many times with good luck. I also pre-fill my new filter with oil and wipe its gasket with a little oil on my finger. put your car keys under the jug of new oil. people have started their cars forgetting to fill it!

2012 Forry probably has HBAs still, no way to inspect that I know of other than lifting and trying the rock the wheel up-down, maybe feel or listen for vibration/noise/roughness whhen turning the wheel. skip to about the 6 min mark;

packing the Outback to leave from DFW for Amarillo, then CoSpgs later this week. (fingers crossed no car trouble)

diff fluid clean and full? could you detect a temperature difference in the hubs if you compared the hubs L vs R? use an infrared remote therm and nad measure after some highway runs. have you tried rocking it up and down? anyway, it too has 170K on it so, it's no spring chicken.

could be bad battery cables/wiring on that age car - even if it's the second set. or ignition switch issue?