Any Subaru owners?

[JB4310]

Yeah, I almost walked away from this car, for how it looked underneath, could see it had been sitting for awhile. But after I cleaned it up I think it is a decent deal.

This car looks very good on the outside and inside, but is not to pretty underneath, alot of rust and corrosion. I spray bombed it with anti corrosive PB blaster today.

I did the timing belt today along with the tensioner. The timing belt job is really like painting by numbers, it's that easy.
Fixed a bunch of little piddle stuff, like clock, weather stripping, window washer pump. Removed a mouse nest from the blower fan that was so packed the fan could hardly move, the nest material came from the hood insulation.

The tranny is something I'm a little concerned about, although the owner says he had the fluid flushed and replaced. There is a little evidence of seepage between the tranny and trans-axle, and on the trans-axle where the axle comes out.

Trans-axle fluid looked clean and between the marks, but I could not get the fill plug off the rear differential to check the level. And that was with a breaker bar and a 2.5 lb hammer, also a 1/2" Snap-On impact wrench (only 120 psi though). I was able to loosen the drain plug and I see there is fluid coming out, it looks clean, just not sure how much is in there.

JB

 

[SPYDERLK]

Yeah, I almost walked away from this car, for how it looked underneath, could see it had been sitting for awhile. But after I cleaned it up I think it is a decent deal.

This car looks very good on the outside and inside, but is not to pretty underneath, alot of rust and corrosion. I spray bombed it with anti corrosive PB blaster today.

I did the timing belt today along with the tensioner. The timing belt job is really like painting by numbers, it's that easy.
Fixed a bunch of little piddle stuff, like clock, weather stripping, window washer pump. Removed a mouse nest from the blower fan that was so packed the fan could hardly move, the nest material came from the hood insulation.

The tranny is something I'm a little concerned about, although the owner says he had the fluid flushed and replaced. There is a little evidence of seepage between the tranny and trans-axle, and on the trans-axle where the axle comes out.

Trans-axle fluid looked clean and between the marks, but I could not get the fill plug off the rear differential to check the level. And that was with a breaker bar and a 2.5 lb hammer, also a 1/2" Snap-On impact wrench (only 120 psi though). I was able to loosen the drain plug and I see there is fluid coming out, it looks clean, just not sure how much is in there.

JB

What does the timing belt look like at 120K? Mine [1996] still looked ok at 260K when I had it changed. 287 on the car now.
larry

 

[escavader]

Wife bought a 2003 outback new.We lost the head gaskets and waterpump at 30000.Iwas disappointed.Just recently we lost the head gaskets again,AT 70000.She loves the car i consider the engine to be a lemon.She wants a new one ,would the 6 cylinder be more reliable and get us away from these repeated head gasket issues?
ALAN

 

[techwrtr2]

Wife bought a 2003 outback new.We lost the head gaskets and waterpump at 30000.Iwas disappointed.Just recently we lost the head gaskets again,AT 70000.She loves the car i consider the engine to be a lemon.She wants a new one ,would the 6 cylinder be more reliable and get us away from these repeated head gasket issues?
ALAN

There was a redesign in about 2005 which corrected the issues from what I understand. My mother's gotten 120k on hers without such issues (2005 Legacy).

 

[techwrtr2]

Yeah, I almost walked away from this car, for how it looked underneath, could see it had been sitting for awhile. But after I cleaned it up I think it is a decent deal.

This car looks very good on the outside and inside, but is not to pretty underneath, alot of rust and corrosion. I spray bombed it with anti corrosive PB blaster today.

My 02WRX doesn't look especially pretty underneath either. Has never sat for very long (used to do 30k per year). But since I have to park outside and live in PA, I had the double hit of both salt on the road and not really able to wash it much during the winter.

 

[JB4310]

What does the timing belt look like at 120K? Mine [1996] still looked ok at 260K when I had it changed. 287 on the car now.
larry

Not to bad, no serious visible cracks or fraying, but I think it stretched a little.
Engine sounds quieter with new belt.
I did my first one with just 75,000 on it, cause it was 10 years old.
Belt from Subaru dealer is only $75.00, they recommend replacing anytime you remove it for any other work, due to the risk of interference issues should the belt break.
I imagine it tightened your motor up a bit, changing that belt after 260,000 miles, must of been stretched for sure.

Wife bought a 2003 outback new.We lost the head gaskets and waterpump at 30000.Iwas disappointed.Just recently we lost the head gaskets again,AT 70000.She loves the car i consider the engine to be a lemon.She wants a new one ,would the 6 cylinder be more reliable and get us away from these repeated head gasket issues?
ALAN

There was a redesign in about 2005 which corrected the issues from what I understand. My mother's gotten 120k on hers without such issues (2005 Legacy).

I'm well aware of the head gasket issue, but have seen no evidence on either of mine. That's pretty bad to have them go twice in 70,000 miles Don't blame you for calling it a lemon. That's pretty faithful of your wife for still loving the car after the head gaskets fail twice. I do like the way these cars drive, must have something to do with it.

JB

 

[Redneck in training]

We had two Subs. Loyale had zero issues until our son got hit by a truck and totaled the car.
1999 Legacy Outback is second on my list of cars I dislike. It was OK to maybe 120000 but after that it was a money pit costing in avearge 100 a month for something small like sensors, alignment, relay you name it. It had oil leaks, power steering leak etc. It had, considering the size, rather high fuel consumption and was underpowered. Since we live on a gravel road it was great in mud and snow though.

 

[Garandman]

Wife bought a 2003 outback new.We lost the head gaskets and waterpump at 30000.Iwas disappointed.Just recently we lost the head gaskets again,AT 70000.She loves the car i consider the engine to be a lemon.She wants a new one ,would the 6 cylinder be more reliable and get us away from these repeated head gasket issues?
ALAN

Necro thread.

The 3.0 H6's don't have head gasket problems and use a timing chain instead of belts. They also had a five speed automatic instead of four. Mine has 175,000 miles on it, currently.

 

[escavader]

Wow 6 year old thread.we still have the 2003 it's still a good car and my daughter uses it for college .my wife now drives a 2013 outback we really like that one once again we bought the 4 cyl

 

[kf4uda]

I am glad this thread came back up. I have been considering trying a Subaru Forester as my next daily driver. I am driving a full size truck now and am thinking of replacing it with a used Forester and a used F-350 flatbed 4x4 for the farm. The feedback from Subaru owners in this thread has been very helpful....thanks