I own a 2003 subaru outback. Tonight when I took my keys out of the ignition my car kept running. It took several turns to get my car to shut off. I don't know if this is related but about a month ago a friend of mine started my car after dropping my keys in the snow and the next morning I found ice in the ignition. What caused my car to run without keys in it? Or how to fix it?
View 18 RepliesMy engine starts to overheat (the thermostat creeps up towards the red) when I run the a/c. This started this summer. If I turn the a/c off, it settles back to normal. Mechanics said a/c pressure sensor was defective and caused a/c clutch to stay on all the time. so they replaced the a/c receiver dryer (whatever that is). didn't fix it. they looked again and said a/c fans were cutting out and causing overheating. they replaced them. that didn't fix it. now they're proposing exploratory open heart surgery: opening up the engine. if it only happens when the a/c runs, seems extreme.
View 5 RepliesI have a 2000 Subaru outback (150,000 miles). Recently after starting, the car will feel sluggish or like it's pulling. When I come to a complete stop it will shake and feel like it's about to shut off... and recently it has been shutting off. Last night I changed the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and fuel filter... after that the car was driving worse. My check engine light is on and the code is for a knock sensor. Also there was oil on my spark plugs which I believe is an idication that there is a broken or leaky gasket. I am at a loss... would the leaky or broken gasket cause car the run sluggish and stall, would a faulty knock sensor cause the the same? I also need to get my rotors changed but I don't think that would cause any of this.
View 3 RepliesIntermittent problem: put car in park and key will turn to off position but not "lock" and therefore cannot be removed. Subaru specialist could not replicate problem, Theories include need a new factory cut key, dirty console, cylinder/steering column tumbler, solenoid, switch , but we think it is some connection between the shifting into Park. Speedometer was replaced about 2 years ago--possibly jumbled something ??
View 2 RepliesI sold my older 03' Subaru Outback a few months ago and bought a 2013 Outback, 2.5 premium model. I really like a lot about the car, everything, except....the seats. When I test drove it, I noticed right away, that the seats were different, harder, a bit shorter. I thought, well, I'll get used to it. I haven't. I am always playing with the buttons to adjust the seat, and there are lots of ways to do so. I just don't feel comfortable.
I drove it for about 2 hours straight, and came out with a cramp down my entire driver leg. I am quite frustrated, I feel like maybe I should just sell the car, and get something else, but there is no guarantee that the new car will feel better. Is there anything that I can do to make the seat more comfortable. It's hard, and short, and I feel if there was not this hard cushion behind me, and the seat was about an inch longer, I could live with it.
I have a Subaru Outback '03 wagon. About 4 months ago, I had a new driver side front axle installed. Right after that, when my car was stopped at a light, and my foot was on the brake, the car would have a vibration from the front end, I took the car back to the place that did the work, they checked the work don, and also the engine mounts, and bearings, and anything else they could check. They couldn't find anything wroing at that time with the car. I then took the car to another dealer who said the same thing, although he did not do a thorough inspection of the care.
I just had my oil changed, and took the car back to the orignal mechanic, and he checked the car out again as a courtesy, with the same outcome. They can't find anything wrong. The care still vibrates when I am stopped and in drive, but when I take my foot off the brake, the vibration dissipates a littel, and when I put the car in neutral or park, it goes away completely . I am hesitant to take it to the dealer and spend lots and lots of money to diagnose. The previous two mechanics said I should not be worried about the car's drivability, just wait and see what happens, although this vibration bothers me.
I have an "03 subaru Outback, with 164,000 miles on it. I have had a bad cat convertor for one and a half years, but up until a week ago, the car ran fine. My mechanic(s) said not to fix it until inspection, and then decide whether to ditch the car, or repair it. One week ago, the car was very infrequently lugging and missing, but only for a few seconds. It only for about 6 times, smelled like gas coming out the rear of the car.
I don't know what to do about it. I took it to the mechanic, who said it could be many different things, but not the convertor causing symptoms . He said: fuel injectors, gas coils, plugs, all sorts of stuff. I am concerned now, because I just put a lot of money into it, and would like to keep it, but don't want to spend tons more on it. I LOVE my subby, but maybe enough is enough? Also the smell. I am concerned driving it because of the missing.
Subaru Outback 2003 4 cylinder runs ok first several minutes then starts to skip. Appears to be maybe EGR related? Plugs/wires/dist ignition are ok. The car was double filled with oil the started, smoked. Could that affect the ECR or PVC? Could this damage the fuel injectors?
View 5 RepliesI'm looking for a car that is cheap to maintain. I have to have something that allows for interior cargo space.So far, I can find either of these two models for under $8k in clean condition.
I like the Subaru Outback (H6 engine), but I know that more parts can likely equal higher priced maintenance. AWD involves a front and rear differential and a transfer case that can go bad anytime and it has a more complex set up than a basic truck. Then, there's the computery crap that can go wrong.
The Xterra, if I can get a basic 2 wheel drive should, I'd guess, be fairly cheap to maintain, no? Sure, I loose out on the driving advantages offered by the Subaru Outback and gas will cost more.
I love driving the Subaru, but I'm guessing that once a bunch of rattles, leaks, and other issues start cropping up that I might not be so happy with it. The vehicles in my price range are all sitting at 100k - 120k miles. The Nissan Xterra is a truck. It drives like a truck. I might be happier with it, knowing I won't have to pay for high priced repairs. I drive rather conservatively with the intention of keeping my vehicle in good condition. It would be a daily driver for the next 18 months.
Even with higher fuel costs (Xterra will likely get 16-19 mpg), I'm thinking I'd be better off buying the Xterra than the Subaru, yes or no?
I bought this Subaru outback with 100,000 miles- clean car fax, etc, did the timing belt, water pump, thermostat at 102,000. Now at 116,000, the head gasket is leaking ($2,200 estimate) so the repair shop is working on that and they called today to say the #2 cylinder is scored and the engine needs to be rebuilt. ($4,000 estimate). I'm not sure if I should have them proceed with he work- that's a bunch of money or look for another engine, or what to do !! Its a great little car- but geez- what to do-
View 5 RepliesI have a 2003 Subaru outback and sometimes when I go to back into a parking space or straighten out after pulling into a parking space my steering wheel becomes incredibly difficult to turn. It used to only do this when I was backing into a space but now it has started doing it when I pull forward into a space as well. This happens most often when I am driving to multiple places and have to park several times over a period of a few hours. I've monitored my power steering fluid and the power steering pump was replaced not too long ago. What's causing this?
View 1 RepliesMy 2003 subaru outback wagon, manual transmission, starting revving about 1500-2000 rpms higher than normal today. When I put the car in neutral, the car revs high sometimes increasing in rpms. Also when i left off the gas the car doesn't decrease in speed or rpms almost like the gas pedal is sticking. I revved the engine while in neutral a few times to try to see if I could get the rpms to drop but that didn't work. I had two belts changed yesterday (excluding the timing belt) and everything was fine with car until today, after driving 70 miles.
View 2 RepliesMy Outback gets the DTs in the steering wheel. 2003 with 300K highway miles. New tie-rods, brakes, brake master cylinder, alignment & balance (all from great shop with great rep) have failed to eliminate the problem. It comes on suddenly at highway speeds, usually in cold weather (below 20); but not necessarily in snowy conditions. Slowing down to 30/20 mph does not stop the shudder (though it slows and reveals itself as a fierce twitch to the right). Eventually the shudder is accompanied by a rhythmic scraping sound somewhere in the left front wheel well, which maybe is there all along but inaudible at higher speeds.
View 5 RepliesHave an '03 Subaru Outback Ltd. 184k miles. Great car all in all. Has been burning 3-4 qts oil between changes every 3-4k miles. Stated idling rough after warms up [intermittently], slight 'shimmy' at stoplights. Check engine light on always, flashes at times when warms up but even then doesn't flash all the time. Took it to dealer for upcoming smog check, have a bad oxygen censor and possibly bad catalytic converter, but also said low compression no.2 cylinder--which is what I'm wondering about.
Without further diagnostics they're talking about perhaps new pistons, and/or valve job and/or short block rebuild. My questions are 1-is there any more diagnostics possible to narrow it down without pulling it apart? and 2-is it worth a rebuild or should I sell? Great car otherwise, they're talking 3-5k range for repairs, blue book on the car is 4-6k rough estimate? Been a great car all in all, aside from clutch replacement this is the first major repair issue.
Is this dangerous? just started: subaru outback 2003...
View 2 RepliesMy 2000 outback wagon has only 67k miles. About a month ago, the check engine light came on. I took it to an Auto Zone and although unfortunately I didn't write down the code, the person who checked the car seemed to think it was probably just a bad tank of gas. I ran through that tank of gas and filled up with premium gas. Light didn't go off until THAT tank was near empty. Filled up a third time and light remained off until tank was near empty and it came on again. It has not yet gone off. I'm not sure how many more tanks of gas I should run through! The car isn't running poorly so I thought the bad gas was a good explanation.
A side note: about 6 months ago I had to have the head gasket replaced. I argued with Subaru and got some extra work done in exchange for the head gasket payment since my car missed the recall by a few digits but I was obviously stuck with an inferior product. I'm hoping they didn't do an inferior job. Even though it was 6 months ago, it wasn't that many miles ago - you can see my the year/mileage on my car that I don't drive a lot. Does that gas explanation sound reasonable? Anything about a head gasket related?
Having problem with corrosion of the tie down on a battery? The terminals are fine. It's just the metal plate that holds the battery in place with bolts. The paint has corroded off. I clean it up and cover it with dielectric grease. I have to do this every 4 to 6 months or so, because the corrosion keeps coming back. I had the same problem with my 2004 Subaru Legacy, and had to replace the battery holder as a result.
View 1 Repliesmy car has tge 3.6 motor and has 2500 miles and seems to be loosing coolant...
View 2 RepliesOur 2011 Subaru Outback 3.6R, which we bought brand new back in Feb ’11 and only has 4k miles, seems to be having issues with the cooling fan. The cooling fan will come on when the engine is cold and it will stay on the entire time the engine is running. I’ve read that the cooling fan will run the whole time when either the A/C is on or the vent control is set to defrost, regardless of whether the engine is cold or hot. In my case, the cooling fan comes on when the engine is cold, even with the HVAC off and it will remain running at full speed when the engine is running, again with the HVAC off.
Every time I go to start the car after it has been sitting for an entire day and the engine is cold, when I turn the key to the “On” position, before the engine is even started, the cooling fan comes on. How is this possible when the engine isn’t even running and the engine is cold. Again, the HVAC is off. Once the car is started, the cooling fan will remain on until the car is shut off. The fan is running as such a high speed you can hear it over the noise of the idling engine. Once I turn the car off the fan shuts off.
Since we’ve owned the car there were two other issues First, the transmission pan gasket wasn’t properly installed and it was leaking transmission fluid. That issue was fixed and is good now. The second issue was that oil was leaking from the timing chain cover. It turns out that the timing chain cover gasket was also improperly installed. This too was fixed, and doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.
I purchases a 2012 Subaru Outback i2.5 Premium in January. The car has been stalling out after getting gas; I've put gas in it about 10 times, and it's stalled out or nearly stalled out after 4 or 5 of those times. The first time it happened I had to have the car towed back to the dealer. At the time, they thought it was bad gas, but the repetition of the problem has them stumped. There are no warning lights or error codes. I have had the car back to the dealer on four occasions, and unfortunately they can't replicate, find, or correct the problem. Now Subaru is involved. The car also runs rough and shifts rough, compared to the identical 2012 Outback I was given as a loaner the last time I had it in.
View 6 RepliesWhere the heck is the gas cap release. Just bought it to get back home as the jeep needs broken motor mount fixed and had to leave it in town. The subaru is pretty beat up so the gas cap release could be hiding (as in handle gone) ?
View 5 Replies