Subie was driving fine...drove it on highway and went to park and NO reverse. At first, I couldn't shift into park either, but then I was able to shift in park. I can move the gear to reverse, but nothing happens (engine just revs and car wants to roll forward as it is on slight incline. Hubby checked trans fluid and it was a bit low, added fluid, but still no reverse.
View 3 RepliesI have a 2001 Subaru Outback Limited with 135K miles on it. In the last year, I had two complete head jobs (the second because the new water pump failed while on the highway). In addition, I have had multiple water pumps, lots of thermostats and a new radiator installed. The last thermostat is an OEM. The car had been running fine for about a month and now overheats after about 30-40 minutes of combined, but mostly highway driving. At first, the gauge would rise to about 3/4 and then drop after about ten seconds, but now it goes to almost red and drops to 3/4. If I blast the heat, it will drop pretty fast. My mechanic told me that while diagnosing an earlier overheat issue (just before the good period), he noticed that the gauge would rise, but the computer temp would remain stable. He tried a new sensor, but said it made no difference, so he returned it. What is left to replace?
View 12 RepliesWhile driving my 2000 Subaru Outback (197,000 miles) the speedometer, tachometer stopped working but the fuel and temp gauges were working fine. The transmission felt like it was slipping. When I used the brakes they were grabby, jerky and made a loud clunk. The engine began sputtering and I was barely able to keep it going as I tried to get home. At stop lights I had to put the car in neutral and rev the engine. We also noticed that while the engine was running the power windows were very slow to open and close and the turn signals and emergency flashers did not work at all. Now the car is in the driveway dead as a doornail and the key stuck in the ignition.
The battery is one year old and the alternator is the original. The fuel tank is 3/4 full. I bought the car new in 2000. What the problem could be?
My 2001 subaru outback wagon when put in park doesn't shift out of that position unless I access the little hole for releasing the shift module and put it into gear. What is the problem? The fuse for the transmission is good. outside fuse box.
View 1 RepliesI have a 2011 Subaru Outback with 40000 miles. For the third time since I've had it (6 months), the engine suddenly gets very loud at highway speeds while I am on cruise control. The RPMs go up about 500 and this lasts for a few minutes before going away. What is going on?
View 9 RepliesI had overheating problem on the highway. Towed car to Automotive Clinic - They said I needed new radiator and hoses, so I installed. Couple weeks later, overheats again, this time said I need new head gasket, so I go ahead. Soon as I get back, my car overheats AGAIN. Now back in the shop, and they told me the head gasket blew again...they have taken all apart, and now say they can't find out whats wrong. The coolant is leaking, but they don't know why...it failed hydrocarbon testing. What can it be?
View 2 RepliesWhile driving my daughter home from daycare yesterday I went over a speed bump in the park and immediately noticed a dragging feeling / sound.
After some inspection, I determined that either my spring broke or the spring broke free from its mount on the strut and was now rubbing the back of my tire.
Anyway, I've heard of the springs breaking on these cars, and I need new struts anyway, and it's older to begin with, so I set about ordering a complete strut / spring replacement for the front.
On 1aauto I found this set, part number 1ASSP00874. They seem dodgy about whether this part is intended for the Outback as well as the Legacy. I can find sites that sell parts that claim to fit one or the other or both. In this case they seem to claim both.
I know the Outback trim was slightly raised from the regular Legacy, but I can't find any other parts.
My 2004 Outback Wagon started making a loud whining sound the other day - but only in reverse. I've been told that it's the brakes.
View 2 RepliesThis has been happening for the past 6 months or so. I recently had new ball joints, 4 wheel alignment, and 4 wheel balance. Even with this I'm noticing a very slight high frequency vibration at highway speeds. I noticed on one of the front wheels that a weight fell off, so this might explain the high speed vibration.
However - When I'm starting at 0mph, and accelerate to say 50mph for example, the car vibrates rather substantially as the speedometer moves from around 25mph to just past 30mph. After those speeds it goes away.
I've also noticed that it tends to be worse if I'm going up hill, which, according to the laws of physics, would tell me that going uphill would put more pressure on the front end, given it's heavier with the engine there. If I'm going downhill it vibrates much less.
When I drive I tend to not accelerate quickly, meaning, I don't 'punch' it, and accelerate gradually instead. If I'm driving on a level, well-paved road, and accelerate quicker than regular, the vibration seems to not be as heavy.
Any other tests for this? Struts, control arm, steering knuckle, drive shaft ?
Yesterday I reversed my 1996 Subaru Outback (manual transmission) out of a perpendicular parking place on a hill, swung around forward and coasted down the hill. Near the bottom, I let out the clutch out without realizing I was still in reverse gear. It made a not-so-awful noise (sounding rather like engine braking) and I very quickly put it in neutral. I immediately smelled a fairly strong gasoline/exhaust aroma and the engine stalled.
The Subaru restarted without trouble, but the check engine light was on. Everything appears to function normally now, and I've reset the engine light by disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery for a few minutes.
Have I likely damaged anything? Is there anything I should check? Should I have tried to read the diagnostic code?
When I started my car and put it in reverse, it didn't move. It felt like my front, right wheel was in a divet or was being blocked somehow (intuitively it seemed like if I accelerated enough, it would eventually move, but since there was nothing physically stopping it - that I could see - I didn't want to break something by doing that). I tried putting it in drive and neutral and the same issue was still there. I put the car up on a jack and checked one wheel at a time - I could move each wheel completely around in both directions.
I could move the steering wheel all the way to the right and to the left. I tried turning off the 4-wheel drive and that didn't do anything. At this point I'm concerned it could be the transmission or the drive shaft, but I'm not sure what to look for in order to know if I need to get it towed to a shop (hoping I can avoid this) or if there's a simple test I can do, or a way to "reset" something if it may be locked. I haven't had anything happen to the car that would have been of concern.
My car makes a high chatter sound when I shift from neutral to either first or reverse but no other time. what does that mean? should I stop driving it until I can get it looked at? it's not slipping or grinding at all, just makes a noise as I let the clutch out and engage the gear.
View 4 Replies2002 Subaru Outback 4cyl auto trans 166.8K miles
Hearing a "clunk" lately when switching into reverse in the AM after starting the car. The transmission seems to drive completely normal otherwise. So I checked the trans fluid and it's fine. Then I started looking at mounts. Upper engine mount has about 1mm of play, lower mounts don't budge. Then I went to the transaxle mount and found that there seemed to be almost 2cm of space (can easily fit my fingers in there) between the stopper and the transaxle crossmember (picture attached). When I have someone put the car in reverse while I am underneath (obviously we have the brake / parking brake engaged so I don't get run over) I see this stopper move upward and can see the entire drive shaft move upwards also. Not just a few mm, but on the order of centimeters. I could not get the clunk to occur to see if I can hear where it comes from.
Is this space and movement in the stopper and drivetrain normal?
If it's not normal, could this cause the clunk to happen?
It it's not normal, should I have it repaired on this vehicle? Is it hurting anything / worth it long term?
If it's normal, any other advice on sorting out the clunk? It does it about 75% of the time I shift into reverse, but seems less likely when the car is warm.
My 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?
My 2001 Outback has a jumpy thumping problem when making a 45 degree turn and when going in reverse. My mechanic has been unable to figure out what the problem is. It only happens once the car has been driven for a while
View 1 Replies2000 Subaru Legacy Outback (or is it Outback Legacy.....I've never known)165000 milesWhite
I have this chronic and intermittent problem with my Subaru. It's been going on for years. I had it to the dealership a few time as well as other mechanics, but of course, it never misbehaves then.
Here's the problem. The car always will start when cold. Occasionally when you go somewhere, primarily short errands etc. the first stop is no problem but when you stop at the next place and come back a short while later (5-15 minutes) it will not start. It does not make a sound. Lights work. The battery is just fine. Stopping on long trips is especially problematic.
At first, it would cure itself after opening the hood, scratching your head, etc. and closing the hood. Or maybe it was slamming the door but you could depend on it starting after some hocus pocus like that. Now it seems to be getting worse. However, there is one thing that so far never fails.... you can jump it and it will fire right up. Remember, the battery is not low, but jumping works.
Actually, the battery is just about a year old. One time it died and when I couldn't get it to start after a long time I thought it was finally my chance to get a mechanic to trouble shoot it. So after towing and about $300 between troubleshooting fees and the diagnosis that the battery was shot, they were confident they had solved the problem. No such luck
I can say confidently that the battery terminal connections are clean and tight. I've checked the wire and mount on the starter too.
Misfire when driving just after warm up and either stoping or slowing down to turn feels like 2 cyls drop off .if turn of key then restart will run fine the rest of the day. changed the coil, ignitor, map sensor front o2 engine has a new timing belt and head gaskets, spark plugs were changed about 200 miles ago wires seem ok I ran a can of bg 44k through the fuel system not sure what to do now,, also it will not through a code of any kind bummer.
View 4 RepliesSubaru 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 have a 2000 Outback Limited with 133,000 miles. I bought the car used and it has had to have a lot of maintenance. Most recently new head gaskets and radiator. Last weekend while doing errands, the car would not start, after sitting for around 20 minutes. The battery is less than a year old and the radio, etc, worked. I had it towed to my Subaru mechanic who checked the battery, alternator and starter, but could find nothing wrong, The car started for him each time he tried. Today, I was driving home from work, stopped somewhere for around 10 mins. and when I tried to start the car, nothing. Not even a noise. I had someone give me a jump, but that did not start the car. I let the car sit for around 45 minutes and it started right up. What is wrong with this beast?
View 17 RepliesSometimes my car, a 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon with 115k miles, when stopped in drive will slip into neutral. It is an automatic and is still in drive when this happens. It does not happen on a consistent basis. It seems to happen more often when it is either wet outside or after it has rained. However, it does happen when the sun is shining brightly too. Sometimes when I am driving, there does feel as though there is a delay when I press on the gas almost as though it needed to kick itself into gear. Any thoughts on what this might be and why this is happening? It has been happening since last fall.
View 5 RepliesI was driving my 2000 Subaru Outback on Friday evening and it completely died at a red light. Hazards wouldn't turn on, couldn't move the car into N or P, couldn't get the key out of the ignition. Because we were blocking an intersection, the police went to a nearby shop and had them tow it there. This is a shop I don't trust. What could this be, so I can be informed when these people call me back and tell me I need significant repairs?
View 19 Replies