Latida Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 This is my first post, hope this works. My wife drives a 99' Outback/Legacy, 120,000 miles. Just had valve cover gasquets, waterpump seal replaced plus a few other things done. Since then, I can here a slight metal to metal grinding noise coming from the engine. No idea about that one. So besides that I have two other possible major things that could be wrong. 1. Weird vibration coming from the engine or tires when i turn to the right, now it seems that its doing on the left side now? 2. Engine overheats when stopped. The car is fine when driving? Any help is greatly appreciated.......... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 This is my first post, hope this works. My wife drives a 99' Outback/Legacy, 120,000 miles. Just had valve cover gasquets, waterpump seal replaced plus a few other things done. Since then, I can here a slight metal to metal grinding noise coming from the engine. No idea about that one. That could be many things. Could be something loose and rubbing against a pulley - could be a bearing going out in an accesory. Only help I can give you is to purchase a "mechanic's stethescope" for $10 - $15 and check around till you find the source of the grinding. They look just like the one's the doctor's use but instead of the suction cup thing they have a steel rod that you can place against suspect surfaces and listed to the vibrations in that area. Should be able to at least narrow it down for us with a little hunting. So besides that I have two other possible major things that could be wrong. 1. Weird vibration coming from the engine or tires when i turn to the right, now it seems that its doing on the left side now? Sounds like a front axle going out. Often the inner joint of the axle (half-shaft in Subaru speak) will cause vibration when they start to get sloppy. Check for torn boots and leaking grease. This is very common with Subaru's in general and is a relatively easy fix if you have a modicum of tools at your disposal. 2. Engine overheats when stopped. The car is fine when driving? This could be as benign as a malfunctioning radiator fan. Check to see that they come on when the engine gets hot. If they are comming on and the temp continues to rise..... The engine you have (known as the Phase I EJ25, or DOHC EJ25) is renown for it's propensity to eat head gaskets. Chances are very, very good that if they haven't been replaced already this is either your problem right now, or will be in the next 50k miles. They rarely make 200k without blowing. Just the nature of that engine. They can be replaced but now I have to ask what your technical level is? It's about a $1500 job at a shop, but it's mostly labor and you can easily save $1000 of that if you do the job yourself..... assuming you even want to bother. Many, many folks dump these cars to people like myself and other's on this board who replace the head gaskets and drive them for another 150k or sell them. Any help is greatly appreciated.......... Thanks Your welcome of course. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 if this car never used to overheat then they did not properly bleed the air out of the system, have it fixed immediately. whoever just did this work didn't do it right. what exactly was done, what is a "water pump seal" (there is no such replacement part on this engine) and why was it "replaced"? was there previous overheating or is the terminology just getting lost? i'm guessing you had the axles replaced at some point? vibration is likely axles. use Subaru or MWE only axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugs Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 if this car never used to overheat then they did not properly bleed the air out of the system, have it fixed immediately. whoever just did this work didn't do it right. what exactly was done, what is a "water pump seal" (there is no such replacement part on this engine) and why was it "replaced"? was there previous overheating or is the terminology just getting lost? i'm guessing you had the axles replaced at some point? vibration is likely axles. use Subaru or MWE only axles. DITTO except the axles. Aftermarkets ones work just as well and are way less then suby axles. I have replaced hundreds and have only had about a 1/2 dozen premature failures right out of the box in the past ten years of professional wrenching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 (edited) DITTO except the axles. Aftermarkets ones work just as well and are way less then suby axles. it's definitely a higher risk proposition. i've seen a lot of them fail within a year, i wonder if you're just not seeing the long term failures. they're not returning, don't have the car any more, etc. folks familiar with other makes say this isn't Subaru-only issue either, so it's known elsewhere. doesn't really matter, a search here shows how common of a problem it is, so if someone is interested they can peruse real world experiences, no need for either of us to be right or wrong. it's just risk management and how you value you're time. i agree, New from Subaru is hardly an option at all. MWE is $60-$100, well worth it for high quality axles. used subaru axles can be had cheap (buddy picked up two this week for $60 shipped to his door....oh wait, all because he didn't listen and bought new aftermarkets a few months ago and now they're vibrating....that's awesome ). oh...and a subaru i recently picked up has two brand new axles on it...i mean shiney rubber and metal, spotless....yep, vibrate like nuts. awesome?! Edited September 4, 2009 by grossgary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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