Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

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19283 messages, Last post on May 01, 2013 at 9:15 AM

You are in the Subaru Crew Forum.

Your Host is kcram

What is this discussion about? Subaru Impreza, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Subaru Legacy, Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, SUV

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Your Community Leaders are ateixeira and rsholland.

#1969 of 19283 Piston Slap by getsome

Nov 18, 2003 (1:46 am)

My mom has a 2001 Legacy 2.5L I4 and unfortunately I've had to get involved do to a "piston slap" problem that is not getting resolved. Her Subaru has(I believe) under 30k miles on it and so far has spent entirely to much time in the shop. The short block was replaced but this piston slap continues. From what I've read piston slap is the piston skirt making contact with the cylinder wall until the block/piston warn up enough to fill this gap. I don't agree with SOA that this is a "quirk" of the 2.5L engine and that all 2.5's do this and it's normal. Piston slap is a design flaw that Ford,Chevy, and Subaru have because they shortened the piston skirt to achieve quicker RPM's.

My mom had a early 90's Legacy and she loved it until it was totaled with over 150k miles. She does like this car but I'm not sure at this point if it can be salvaged so to speak do to this piston slap issue. The mechanic said that her engine was rebuilt and the SOA rep said that it was replaced which troubles me. I have also read that there is a replacement piston with a longer skirt that is available but I have no idea if these were installed on her engine.
I guess my question is what can be done to resolve this without have to go to court? The oil is mobil1, valves have been adjusted, short block replaced, and as of three days ago still makes this noise. She has retained a lawyer but as we all know no one will win. I plan on taking it to a friends shop so that we can look to see if the VIN numbers match. Any idea where I might find the numbers? I'll post a follow up when I know more.

Sorry to be so long winded but I'm grasping for straws so that my mom doesn't have to go to court.

#1970 of 19283 by ballistic

Nov 18, 2003 (7:09 am)

Not sure how a shortened piston skirt would achieve quicker RPMs.

#1972 of 19283 remote transmitter problems... by bkaiser1

Nov 18, 2003 (8:52 am)

With the remotes in my Civic, Outback, WRX, and Explorer, there are places/conditions that make the remotes inoperable for some reason. Whenever we go to San Francisco to stay with our friend, we can be assured that our remote unlocking won't work at his house...no matter which car we take. I don't know if it's the fog, the hills, or what, but even standing a foot from the car produces nothing from the remote. Normally, the remotes have decent range, but there are certain areas where they just don't work.

With the problems you're experiencing with your 04 Forester, perhaps you're in one of those "dead zones" for the signal. I know that even here in Sacramento, when it's foggy out the remotes in my cars are far less effective.

Brian

#1973 of 19283 WRX defrost by nmantik2

Nov 18, 2003 (9:00 am)

I have a 2002 WRX and would like it better if the A/C did not turn on when I move the heater to defrost. I tried taking out the A/C fuse, but then the fan for the defrost cuts out. Any Suggestions?

Norb

#1974 of 19283 A new one... by georgeinmd

Nov 18, 2003 (9:13 am)

...for me, anyway. My friend's '03 Forester, MT, <10K miles, became locked in gear, 5th, I think, and wouldn't move. I figured it was misadjustment of the hill holder "feature". But the dealer's mechanic says he's seen several cases of Subaru transmissions having two gears engaged at once due to excessive play in the shifter forks. They're tearing down the transmission under warrenty. Anyone heard about this??

I still love my Forester, but my faith is being tested. How can a $20K automobile have so many design flaws in dead simple, long proven systems? Clutch!? Manual transmission!?! Wheel bearings!?!? -- George

#1975 of 19283 by ateixeira

Nov 18, 2003 (9:29 am)

To clafiry, let's use 2.5l for the normally aspirated 2.5, and 2.5T for the turbo.

Mark: see if you can speak to the dealer service manager about the pistons, ask if those were replaced. It's a good question that should be answered before you proceed.

Norb: easy fix - just put it on the half defrost/half footwell setting. We were discussing this in the Outback thread and someone actually tested this theory, and it worked!

George: two gears at once? Play in the forks? That mechanic is smoking some nice stuff.

But seriously, I've never seen that, really the whole tranny is very reliable overall. The bearings are not a problem with the 2003 and later design, so yours will not be affected.

The clutch has improved, does yours have a problem? Subaru has been good about replacing them if you do, but it's less common now.

You're in a topic called "Subaru Problems", I'm not sure what you expected but that's exactly what we discuss. Look at the Problems threads for any car, any brand, you'll see a lot worse that this: engine fires, stalling and stranded passengers, etc.

-juice

#1976 of 19283 Juice, by georgeinmd

Nov 18, 2003 (9:56 am)

trannies locked in two gears does occur; happened on my BMW when the shift linkage failed; destroyed the transmission; I wouldn't dismiss this quite so disparagingly. My clutch has had the well documented shudder from day one, but, as I've said on several previous occasions, Subaru recognized it after my car was out of warrenty. I recognize this board is about "Subaru problems". That's why I'm addressing "Subaru problems". As I say, I do like my Forester a lot overall, and I know many brands are real dogs. -- George

#1977 of 19283 by ateixeira

Nov 18, 2003 (10:39 am)

I'm not dismissing it at the culprit, I'm just saying it's rare enough that I've never heard of the problem mentioned with regard to a Subaru on Edmunds' Town Hall, and I have followed every Subaru topic for the past 5 years.

So my comment was geared (pardon the pun) towards the mechanic who seemed to imply it happened all the time to Subies. It doesn't.

The only tranny issues I've seen are WRX owners that modified their 2002s up to 300hp and went on to sheer the teeth off their tranny gears. Not Subaru's fault at all - it is designed to handle 227hp reliably, not 300.

For 2003 Subaru added a force-limiting valve to the clutch, which meant you couldn't dump the clutch at high revs and fry the trans, but it also cut complaints about tranny failures almost cold turkey.

Did you get the revised clutch? Just curious.

-juice

#1978 of 19283 CV Joint replacement by altapia

Nov 18, 2003 (11:03 am)

I have over 220K on my 95 Impreza awd auto. Does anyone know where I can find Speedi Boot (split boots)? Kragen Auto and JC Whitney doesn't list any split boots.

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