Guest jclay Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Hello all, I'm in the market for an Outback and test drove one today that raised a few questions. It was a 2002 OB Limited Wgn, and it was pretty nice! Automatic with 111,000 on the clock. It is not yet inspected, but is a dealer car so it would be before purchace. At one point while driving, the rpms spiked way up, then went back down and it never happened again, also at times I thought I detected an intermittant rough idle, but other times it seemed fine. The CEL was not lit but I started to wonder if this sounded like that IAC? Also, It crossed my mind to note that it was extremely windy here in MD today, could gustinig winds into the air intake affect the IAC and cause the air/fuel mixture to be off? I feel a little silly even asking that... Also, I did notice that the accessory belts were worn in a few places, could the symptoms mentioned above be a result of the belts? Next, the car has the dual sunroofs (and i REALLY want a sunroof, haven't had one in the past 3 cars I've owned) but the front roof did not vent as it should. I know it only moves up and down and does not retract, but when I operated the switch I could hear the roof motor working but nothing happened, then the rear roof would function fine. Does this sound like some kind of linkage in the roof controls? Has anyone experienced this and was it fixable? As a 2002, am I right in thinking that I could still expect the external HG leak? Am i right in thinking that a coolant flush at the dealership with the coolant additive would help protect against that? Also, although I had two legacy wagons previously, they were both manual trans. This automatic seemed like it shifted a little rough, but I really don't have any basis of comparison...is that normal? I ended up telling the dealer that I wanted to sleep on it and would go back monday for another test drive, as always, all advice and insights are greatly appreciatted! Jared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 jclay, If that front sunroof doesn't tilt up but the rear one still slides, the front sunroof lift mechanism is stripped. Either someone tried to open it when it was frozen in the closed position (ask me how I know), or they forcibly (with their hand) pushed the roof open or closed. The end result is that the headliner needs to be dropped and the entire sunroof assembly has to come out of the car. Not difficult, just time consuming. I had to do my 04 OBW LTD at about year 2. The parts back then ran me about $150, and I did the job myself. A dealership will cost BIGTIME. My 04 also did the external HG leak that was minor (at about 23 000 km), but the warranty had it corrected. The dealership did the coolant additive routine afterwards, but who can say whether it would work in your case. As for the hard shifts, I've had a 97, an 04 and my present 07 OBW's and all were/are automatics. None of them shifted hard. Finally, if the rpm's spiked suddenly .... and the tranny shifts hard .... could the spike be the result of the tranny slipping? 1. Expensive sunroof repair ... if you have a dealership do the work. 2. Known HG leak. 3. Possible tranny on its way out. My personal advice is to not walk away from this car ... but run. There are far too many OBW's of this vintage that won't have the symptoms that this car does. Daddy taught me ..."When in doubt, don't". Good Luck with your car hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hello all, I'm in the market for an Outback and test drove one today that raised a few questions. It was a 2002 OB Limited Wgn, and it was pretty nice! Automatic with 111,000 on the clock. It is not yet inspected, but is a dealer car so it would be before purchace. At one point while driving, the rpms spiked way up, then went back down and it never happened again, also at times I thought I detected an intermittant rough idle, but other times it seemed fine. The CEL was not lit but I started to wonder if this sounded like that IAC? Also, It crossed my mind to note that it was extremely windy here in MD today, could gustinig winds into the air intake affect the IAC and cause the air/fuel mixture to be off? I feel a little silly even asking that... Also, I did notice that the accessory belts were worn in a few places, could the symptoms mentioned above be a result of the belts? Next, the car has the dual sunroofs (and i REALLY want a sunroof, haven't had one in the past 3 cars I've owned) but the front roof did not vent as it should. I know it only moves up and down and does not retract, but when I operated the switch I could hear the roof motor working but nothing happened, then the rear roof would function fine. Does this sound like some kind of linkage in the roof controls? Has anyone experienced this and was it fixable? As a 2002, am I right in thinking that I could still expect the external HG leak? Am i right in thinking that a coolant flush at the dealership with the coolant additive would help protect against that? Also, although I had two legacy wagons previously, they were both manual trans. This automatic seemed like it shifted a little rough, but I really don't have any basis of comparison...is that normal? I ended up telling the dealer that I wanted to sleep on it and would go back monday for another test drive, as always, all advice and insights are greatly appreciatted! Jared Newer subarus do not shift hard, older ones do, as i had a 98 and a 97 that does. the 97 has 281,000 miles on the original tranny so i do not worry about it. Everything you described may be fixable by a tuneup and a service. Worn belts would make me wonder if the timing belt was changed, as those belts get changed at the same time. Sunroof is an expensive fix, as stated above. I would walk away from just the sunroof issue, as who knows when the rest of the mechanisim will let go, and a suspicous timing belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I am thinking that this car has not received the best of maintenance during its life. Prolly needs accessory belts, and a T-belt. There's a possibility that changing the ATF would smooth out the shifts. Like others said, fixing the sun roof would be expensive. You don't mention if the dealer is a Subie dealer, but if so, have the dealer fix the above problems before, or at the time of buying this car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 The sunroof problem is common and not indicative of a worse failure in the future. Typically the tilt one will pop up when pushed up after pushing and holding the 'open' button, and it will lock down when pushing the 'closed' button. It can be fixed, involves taking down the headliner and removing the entire (sizeable) sunroof assembly. I just live with mine, if I really want the pop-up one open I just put a smnall rubber doorstop in it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.