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Subaru Legacy/Outback Wagons Maintenance & Repair

8641 messages,  Last post on May 03, 2013 at 9:35 AM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Wagon

Messages Page 810 of 865

#8088 of 8641 2003 Legacy Wagon by gjksn

Aug 26, 2009 (8:47 am)

I took my car in Saturday for an oil change and also because I was noticing that the front wheels were "binding up" when I had the steering wheel at full lock for maneuvers like parking. The service people noticed it too and said they'd have to tear down the (manual) transmission ($690 but 98% sure it's covered by the last month of my Subaru Gold extended warranty) to get at a differential. It's a 2003 Subaru Legacy wagon with 51,400 miles on it. I bought the lifetime oil change service ($300 well spent) when I purchased the car, so it has always been babied and serviced only by the dealer, Bloomington Subaru. Right now, I'm in a 2009 Outback loaner with an automatic which reminds me why I bought a manual. Can anybody explain to a mechanically challenged person what might be going in layman's language? Or why this might be happening? I'd be appreciative.

#8089 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [gjksn] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 26, 2009 (10:21 am)

Replying to: gjksn (Aug 26, 2009 8:47 am)
Basically it sounds like your viscous coupling in the differential might be the problem. When a car turns, the two front wheels enter the turn at different speeds, so the coupling has to slip to allow this. If it holds both axles tight, you'll get this binding, since the two front wheels cannot possibly turn at the same speed and be "locked" while in a turn. Subaru AWD systems are something like 80% front wheel drive.
 
Subaru AWD systems are prone to this type of failure from time to time. It's certainly not unheard of in an Outback, but usually happens much further down the time line.

#8090 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [Mr_Shiftright] by gjksn

Aug 26, 2009 (12:58 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 26, 2009 10:21 am)
Thank you so much for your reply. Sounds expensive. I assume the $690 is for the transmission teardown, but it's sounding like a much more expensive proposition than just that. Any idea of what range of prices might be reasonably expected for a repair like this? The spoiled brat part of me thinks, "Woo hoo, time to trade in for a new one while this one is still worth something." The part of me that writes the checks thinks, "I have a seven year old Subaru with only 51,400 miles. It should be good for a few more years." So much for the Three Faces of Eve.

#8091 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [gjksn] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 26, 2009 (1:32 pm)

Replying to: gjksn (Aug 26, 2009 12:58 pm)
Well the viscous coupler, if that's the problem, is not serviceable as far as I know, so that's about $500. Then we have about 2 hours to swap that out and get the diff all back together, and then we have labor to R&R the transmission itself, which is what...?....another 6 hours (I think). So yeah, we gotta be looking at $1500 bucks here....and of course, "while we're in there" we'd want to look at the clutch.

#8092 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [Mr_Shiftright] by gjksn

Aug 27, 2009 (9:44 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 26, 2009 1:32 pm)
Thanks Mr. Shiftright. I got the car back last night, and the service advisor at Bloomington Subaru told me they had replaced that viscous coupler (differential?) and that my Subaru Gold warranty had paid for everything and saved me $1300 or so, meaning it almost paid for itself. It was just slightly less than your estimate, so thank you again for the good information. Much appreciated. I'll have to give them a call to find out if whoever worked on it remembers anything about the clutch. Speaking of that, it's nice to be back to a manual transmission, although the 2009 automatic Outback loaner was very nice -- and appreciated. I'm just a geezer who's had manuals for 40 years.

#8093 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [gjksn] by ateixeira

Aug 27, 2009 (10:45 am)

Replying to: gjksn (Aug 27, 2009 9:44 am)
Sweet, score one for Subaru Gold.
 
I had one on my 02 and may still get one for my 09.

#8094 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [ateixeira] by ths258

Aug 27, 2009 (10:57 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Aug 27, 2009 10:45 am)
Please do keep us posted if you find a good deal on that Subaru Gold policy.

#8095 of 8641 2005 outback wagon ignition-to-starter problem by jogaohes

Aug 26, 2009 (7:13 pm)

#8096 of 8641 2005 outback wagon ignition-to-starter problem by jogaohes

Aug 26, 2009 (7:13 pm)

I am currently having all sorts of problems with my outback. To be up front, it has 104,000 miles on it. ( I work in the trades, got to go where the work is...) I have a brake light that comes on occationally for no apparent reason, then it switches to the engine light with a flashing cruise light, then nothing at all for a while. But the biggest problem I am having is with the ignition. I went camping with my family, and one evening, my son left the rear door light on. Then the alarm was triggered. We shut that off and reset it via directions in the manual. Then we couldn't start it. battery was fine, we tried to jump it just in case.
 
However, we could push start it.
 
We got it home with no issues until we turned the car off. All we got was clicking. This is what we know. Not an alternator problem, not a starter problem, not a battery problem. There is current available to start the car, .my husband, an electrician, was able to manually start the car by bypassing the ignition system, and then trace the circuit to the plug that goes into the starter from the firewall. he fixed what may have been a loose connection, but got no readings anyway. This has to be something between the plug and the ignition that is causing the circuit to be broken. This is what we know, what we don't know is what might be between those two points that is disrupting the flow. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

#8097 of 8641 Re: 2003 Legacy Wagon [ths258] by bigdadi118

Aug 30, 2009 (11:58 am)

Replying to: ths258 (Aug 27, 2009 10:57 am)
From quotes I received from dealers, Basic and Gold+ price is add 200 to 300 on top of 50% of suggested price.

Messages Page 810 of 865

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