May 21, 201411 yr We have finally done it! Madkow is back in a Subaru, and what a Subaru it is! 2006 L.L. Bean edition Outback, 120,000 miles, H6, 5spd auto with the Sport Shift, heated leather seats, 6 disc CD, etc, etc... Overall in pretty good condition, obvious the previous owners took good care of it, but it does have a couple of minor issues... Needs new rear struts (passenger rear is shot - very bouncy) and the accessory belt tensioner pulley is making some pretty ugly noises. Both of these things will be taken care of soon. So, anything specific that we should be on the lookout for with this model? The H6 is a completely new beast to us - the learning curve just got a whole lot steeper... (and no, those are not his actual plates - a little bit of photoshop magic. ) Edited May 21, 201411 yr by heartless
May 21, 201411 yr I've heard good things about the H6. Great looking car! We're looking to get my wife into one of this generation in the near future. Let us know what you find as you spruce it up/drive it for a while.
May 21, 201411 yr Author thanks guys. He is pretty happy with it so far (need to get him back in here and posting - lol). I got to drive it a little on the trip home - aside from the bouncy bad strut it rides very nice, and is comfortable to sit in, too...plenty of giddy-up-go as well, hehe after driving the ol' Mercury for about 1/2 the trip home, getting behind the wheel of this one just felt "right" - everything was familiar, even tho it is a bit different than what I am used to. want him to get the new struts in, then go find some curvy roads and play with the sport shift! LOL
May 21, 201411 yr We have finally done it! Madkow is back in a Subaru, and what a Subaru it is! 2006 L.L. Bean edition Outback, 120,000 miles, H6, 5spd auto with the Sport Shift, heated leather seats, 6 disc CD, etc, etc... Overall in pretty good condition, obvious the previous owners took good care of it, but it does have a couple of minor issues... Needs new rear struts (passenger rear is shot - very bouncy) and the accessory belt tensioner pulley is making some pretty ugly noises. Both of these things will be taken care of soon. So, anything specific that we should be on the lookout for with this model? The H6 is a completely new beast to us - the learning curve just got a whole lot steeper... (and no, those are not his actual plates - a little bit of photoshop magic. ) The serpentine acc belt's tensioner and idler pulleys ALWAYS go bad on these. plan on swapping them every 50-70K miles or every 6-7 years or so. You press in the bearings yourself (I did,,6203-2rsj, OR, Timken 203FF I think?) or just get entire pulleys from NAPA where'ever. power steering pump often sucks air in past an o-ring on the adapter on top of the pump, new o-ring will fix that Edited May 21, 201411 yr by 1 Lucky Texan
May 21, 201411 yr Author Thank you VERY much for that info Texan! I will be sure to pass it on to Madkow. So we should look at replacing the idler pulley as well? Using mech. stethoscope it sounded pretty good, the tensioner one sounded awful, tho - squealing like a stuck pig when car is started - quite loud and grindy sounding with stethoscope...
May 21, 201411 yr take it off and spin it on your finger. If it feels crunchy, def. replace it. I replaced both of those on my 03 before failure - they both felt crunchy/dry though they weren't wobbly. your choice, but it's not good if it throws the belt off while traveling out of town. Might be worth the risk for a car that never leaves 'home base' I guess. here's coupla threads from *ahem* a different forum - for the prev. gen H6 - your set-up should be similar;http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/110-gen-2-2000-2004/36929-ez30-tensioner-idler-pulley-solution.html http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/110-gen-2-2000-2004/16823-h6-tensioner-bearing.html Edited May 21, 201411 yr by 1 Lucky Texan
May 21, 201411 yr read thru those threads, there's some 'gotchas' with nuts that fall off and some torque values and hints, etc. for the swap.
May 21, 201411 yr Nice car! If it has metal pulleys the bearings can be replaced pretty easily. Tractor Supply carries 6203 double sealed ball bearings for about $7. Can get them at Napa as well for about the same cost. Just knock the old bearing out with a large socket, press the new one in with a C-clamp and a larger socket thats the same size as the outer bearing race.
May 21, 201411 yr Author Sweet - thanks for the additional info Fairtax. Ok, since I am home sick today, I have been tasked with asking a question about this car... is there any kind of service interval for the timing chain on the H6? If so, when/what - miles/years havent really had a chance to go through the owners manual/service book in detail yet
May 22, 201411 yr Generally the chains will last 250k. I've seen reports of these over 300k with no chain problems, so I certainly wouldn't expect to have to do anything before 250k. I seem to remember reading about the chain guides wearing and causing some trouble on the early 6s. Pretty sure that was a one year deal though, and not very common. Expect 250,000 out of it before you need to address any possible chain issues, assuming the car is still worth keeping.
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