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Subaru Legacy/Outback "Check Engine" Light Problems

406 messages,  Last post on Mar 07, 2013 at 11:38 AM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

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

Messages Page 40 of 41

#386 of 406 Re: Chemical Cleaning of a Subaru Engine [mcharlie] by fibber2

Sep 20, 2012 (6:50 pm)

Replying to: mcharlie (Sep 20, 2012 12:02 pm)
Interesting. Can you site a reference? Not challenging you - I'd really like to read this decision as it certainly has industry-wide impact. So they are required by law to post the window sticker with the EPA-sanctioned results, but then have to meet or beat the numbers in some kind of real-world driving (and this real world drive cycle is defined by who???) in order to use the numbers in advertising???
 
You sound like enough of a car guy to realize that there are a hundred test variables that impact mileage results. Who now gets to decide where and how the drive should be done if there are no standardized tests? And this is supposed to somehow make things better? Crazy....
 
You and I both know there are places that local courts just shouldn't meddle. I see a serious appeal in the cards.
 
Interesting sidebar story:
I was talking to someone I'd seen around town before at the gas station near home. She is on her 5th OBW in 13 years or so. Her husband has this thing about trading in her car at 40k miles. She was in her 2012, and I think she said it now had like 15k miles on it, so it was broken in. She complained that the '12 got several mpg less than her nearly identical 2010. Sample differences? Who knows....

#387 of 406 Re: Chemical Cleaning of a Subaru Engine [fibber2] by mcharlie

Sep 20, 2012 (8:49 pm)

Replying to: fibber2 (Sep 20, 2012 6:50 pm)
I'm sure an appeak is n the works...but...it's California...who knows what will happen:
 
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/02/02/california-woman-wins-civic-hybrid-lawsuit-ag- ain/
 
MC

#388 of 406 Re: Chemical Cleaning of a Subaru Engine [mcharlie] by ateixeira

Sep 21, 2012 (8:05 am)

Replying to: mcharlie (Sep 20, 2012 8:49 pm)
Gotta love it:
 
which would see plaintiffs get a $100 to $200 and $1,000 discount on a new Honda and trial attorneys get $8.5 million

#389 of 406 Re: Check Engine light and cruise control blinking/Whining noise when accel [csmilich] by nmfrench72

Nov 15, 2012 (9:01 am)

Replying to: csmilich (Jan 03, 2012 12:02 am)
I started having problems with my 2002 Subaru Outback. First, check engine light came on which was the catalayic convertor. Then, the overheating started which blew a head gasket. Got a head gasket job. Then, the radiator blew, had to get another hg job. While, getting the second hg job they replaced the timing belt kit. Now my car makes weird noises, whines. Mechanic said the power steering fluid leaks which is some of the whinning. Now he told me I need the differential replaced. But never offered to do any of the work. Now, my car whines and when I turn the steering wheel the wheel squeals but there is something wrong with the front tires. Now he says motor is blown we put 20/50 oil in it and is running okay with no knocking from motor but still whines and turns funny or front tires feels funny when you turn the car. What to do?

#390 of 406 Re: Check Engine light and cruise control blinking/Whining noise when accel [nmfrench72] by mcharlie

Nov 15, 2012 (9:35 am)

Replying to: nmfrench72 (Nov 15, 2012 9:01 am)
Time to buy a new car!

#391 of 406 Re: Check Engine light and cruise control blinking/Whining noise when accel [nmfrench72] by jd_24

Nov 15, 2012 (11:13 am)

Replying to: nmfrench72 (Nov 15, 2012 9:01 am)
Get a new mechanic?
Head gaskets are typical for the 2000- 2003? Subaru models. I jsut had ours done on a 2001 Outback. Some of the rest, might just be due to age? However I'm at least wondering about the mechanic's ability. Seems a bit curious it all went bad right after the head gasket job.
 
Time for a new Subie. New ones won't have the head gasket issue due to a redesign.

#392 of 406 Gripes with '07 Legacy by lifeson34

Feb 16, 2013 (3:37 pm)

When I bought my '07 Legacy in 2006, I... fell in love. And, just like a married couple who can't stand each other anymore, I learned to despise some of its traits. Subaru, consider this my application for divorce. Without further ado, here are the recurring issues I have had over 7 years of driving this car:
 
1. Wheel bearing failure. Three times I had to replace the undoubtedly cheap wheel bearings on my car, the first before 30,000 miles. Fortunately, neither bearing seized on the highway, but the possibility of it makes me cringe. Subaru, you ought to know better. Much better.
2. Leaking head gasket + front cam seal before 150,000 miles. Huge disappointment. I bought this car on the premise of better reliability than my previous Mercury Mystique. But hell, in 175,000 miles, my Mercury never developed serious engine problems. Nor faulty wheel bearings, ever. As kids like to say these days: WTF.
3. A pandemic of electrical issues before 150,000 miles. The past two years I must have been stopped by the cops an average of 1x/3 months for broken lights. Boy, how these things went. And then there is the radio which refused to turn on, even with the engine running, before coming back a few days later. Again, never saw any of this in my cheap cheap cheap Mercury Mystique.
4. Oh, the... tires. Three times I had to replace four tires because of a single sidewall cut to a single tire. Stretch a $125 tire replacement into a $500 4-tire replacement anyone?
 
That's right, Subaru. I want a divorce. And I am not sure I want to ever see you again.
 
...despite the amazing ways in which that Legacy zipped through snow while everyone else skidded, especially on slopes. Or the ways it steered, always so tight and responsive, with zero body roll. But. In the end, I want a car that works, not one that doesn't (notice the double-negative anyone?)
 
And what is up with the new CVT? I love the concept, but boy, step on the gas just a bit and does it get loud inside. It sounds like a mechanic hammering metal on metal - at a rate of 4000 hits per minute. Add to that the annoying high pitch drone that accompanies the hammering - a drone which, now that I think of it, reminds me of my mother's sewing machine, as its pulley drive system plugged away... Just amplify the sewing machine by, oh, a factor of 100 and you have the Legacy. So quiet.

#393 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [lifeson34] by mcharlie

Feb 16, 2013 (6:10 pm)

Replying to: lifeson34 (Feb 16, 2013 3:37 pm)
Perhaps you should have gone someplace that sells good steel bearings...Heh.....as for the CVT trans.....the CVT in my 2011 outback is quiet and oddly enough, efficient. Thought you had an Outback..the CVT trans was only available in the 1989-1994 Justy's, then Subaru discontinued the CVT box until the introduction of the Lineartronic CVT in the 2010 cars. Now..I *DO* take Subaru to task for their mileage quotes for the 2011 Outback/Legacy line...they say the Outback gets 29 highway..best we get is 26 (90% highway driving of 70 miles or more)..even thinking about taking Outback to court because of the advertised mileage figures don't come near to actual. I have enough Outback and Legacy owners (Right here in my small area alone!) to join me in a class action against Subaru, for misleading mileage figures. I have already talked to the DSM and he IS worried, as he knows the courts have already sided with the customer on poor mileage complaints. (Against Honda, wasn't it, last year??)

#394 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [mcharlie] by xwesx

Feb 18, 2013 (10:07 am)

Replying to: mcharlie (Feb 16, 2013 6:10 pm)
Was there one against Honda? I know that Hyundai was taken to task on their Elantra claims.
 
The CVT certainly sounds different than other automatics (DSGs sound different than others, too), I didn't find it noisy or unresponsive in the Legacy I drove.
 
I certainly agree with lifeson34 about the handling on the third generation outback and fourth-gen Legacy cars. It was wonderful; night-and-day different from the fourth/fifth generation (2010+).

#395 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [xwesx] by mcharlie

Feb 18, 2013 (10:23 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Feb 18, 2013 10:07 am)
I just looked it up..it WAS Honda..the hybrid model. I never drove an earlier Outback, so have nothing to compare. I know our 2011 is very nice...but, oddly enough, it is not as wind stable as our old 2000 Forester.....Not as stable on ice and snow either, but still quite good. We had opportunity to rent a new, 2013 Forester a few months back. WOW..what a piece of crap..sounded like we were in a tin can....not solid at all...close the door and instead of a 'THUNK', it sounded like a stone dropped into a bucket. Sure glad we didn't find a 5 speed Forester and opted for the more cush Outback! Now..if only Subaru would get the electrical issues ([Check Engine Light] park brake, cruise control, etc.) solved, I would feel a little more secure on trips with the car.

Messages Page 40 of 41

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