New Member

[Spiney]

New Member from Reading, PA here.  Way back in the early 80's my I helped my fiance replace here horrible running 77 Chevy Monza with the dreaded Chevy Iron Duke Vega engine.  We found a Cherry 77 Yellow Subaru GL FWD.  My only disappointment was it was an automatic.  Her Dad was a all American Chevy man and not very happy when she brought it home.  Especially when he saw the spare tire under the hood on top of the engine, LOL.  It served her very well and she ended up with a string of Subaru's.  My late Father who was also a big Buy American guy bought a new early or mid 80's GL, loved it and bought a few more after that. 

After our 98 Volvo Wagon's 5 cylinder ate some valves when the timing belt broke, even though we had replaced it on time, we searched for an affordable replacement.  We found our current 2003 Subaru Outback Wagon.  2.5L 4 cyl, Auto ( we couldn't find a 5 speed) and in pretty good shape with 134K miles.
The previous owner was the proverbial little old lady who maintained it well with the paperwork to prove it.  It had many new parts including (2) new 1/2 shafts, new brakes, re-manufactured A/C compressor, etc.  We've had it about 2 years and it's only now giving us some issues.  

Financially I do my own work because my wife was laid off and I know it was done right.  I'm here to find help in troubleshooting it correctly and performing the repair correctly, or knowing what's up in case I need to go to my mechanic.

I'm a photographer with forced early retirement due to 3 back operations and a failed neck surgery.  This limits what I can do.  No heavy lifting, and prolonged bending over the engine bay is not a good thing.  Thanks for having me.  I'll share what I learn.  Spiney-Dave