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Subaru Repair Questions and Answers

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Question: 1998 Subaru station wagon mileage: 92,500. The service department at the Subaru dealer is recommending that I clean the fuel injection system for $109, even though it isn't mentioned in the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual. I keep a car for 10-12 years, and the service technician says in order for the engine to last that long I need to clean the fuel injection system, preferable every 15,000 miles. Is this correct? I'm suspicious because the maintenance record in the owner's manual NEVER mentions cleaning the fuel injection system.

Answer: Cleaning the fuel injection system at 15,000 miles seems early. We suggest servicing this system at approximately 50,000. The mileage will vary depending upon driving conditions and the quality of gasoline used. Some of the major oil companies add a fuel injection cleaner to their gasoline. We have seen some cars with over 100,000 miles that have not had the fuel injection serviced and appear to be fine. If your car starts idling poor and losing mileage, you will need to have the system cleaned.

Question: 1986 Subaru Brat GL 4WD 1800 cc mileage: 117,000. Runs really good, but won't pass Calif. smog. Any pointers for things to replace, where to buy and list in the order of highest probability of causing smog check failure. I replaced, oil/filer, air filter, PCV, points, condenser, distributor cap, rotary, wires, spark plugs, set timing with vacuum advance on distributor removed and plug to 8 digress BTDC using a timing light. I don't know too much about the EGR Valve, Anti-After burn Valve, and ECS canister...novice mechanic but can follow directions...any advice appreciated. Also, I need a driver's seat and have been unable to locate one.

Answer: We would bet that your catalytic converter is "dead". A new converter really helps clean up the exhaust.

Question: 1986 Subaru GL Non turbo carbureted 1800 mileage: 160,000. My Subaru was overheating and lost power. I replaced the spark plugs, spark plug wires, thermostat, and fuel filter. This didn't help. I took it to a mechanic and told him the repairs I had done on my own. The next day he said he replaced the thermostat and said it was fixed. I got 4 miles from the shop and it started to overheat so I took it back. After about a week he said it was fixed. He flushed the radiator, changed the water pump, spark plugs, fuel filter, and timing belt. He said the plugs were corroded and the fuel filter was clogged even though I just replaced them. I got in it to leave and it wouldn't start (I have never had a problem with it starting). He said he worked on it outside his shop and it rained so he replaced the distributor cap because it got wet. Picked it up the next day and drove it about 1 week. During this time, it stayed on the verge of overheating until it overheated again. This time he said it was a water bypass hose. Drove it about 4 miles and it over heated again - told him to keep it until it was fixed. After almost 2 weeks, I went to him and he said he inspected the water pump and timing belt and couldn't find anything wrong. He said it must be a blown head gasket. I had already spent over $400 on repairs and now he wanted at least $400 more for the head gasket. I asked him if there was anyway to be sure it was the head gasket before he did it and he said there was no way without taking the head off. I told him I wanted my money back and I would take it somewhere else since he hasn't done any repairs that fixed the problem. He wouldn't give me my money back and said that I didn't understand the method of auto repair. He said you start with the least expensive thing that could be wrong and work your way up to the most expensive until it is repaired. I started questioning his ethics as a mechanic. He threatened to hit me. I got in the car and drove it about 8 miles with it running hot. If it was not a head gasket, I am sure it is now! What do you think I should do about the car and the mechanic? I am thinking about taking him to small claims court. My question mostly is was there a way for him to check for a blown head gasket when I first took it to him.

Answer: If you had brought your car to us complaining of overheating and especially losing power, the first thing we would have checked would have been for a blown head gasket. This is easily down by a compression check and checking for exhaust in the cooling system with the engine running. Sorry to hear you have had such an unpleasant experience.

Question: 1995 Subaru Legacy mileage: 40,000. I have a question regarding viscous couplers. We just bought this car last fall and shortly after drove it in all the gears, including the lowest. It then began lurching at a low speed. We had it checked out and they said nothing was wrong, that perhaps the viscous coupler had gotten stuck and to release it one needs to drive it in small circles. Last Saturday we drove it down a mountain hill in low for a bit and now it is doing the lurching again especially with turns to left and right. Is this a viscous coupler problem? Why would it be getting stuck? Is there anything else involved? We've not had a Subaru before and it doesn't seem to be the smoothest shifting car even though this is an automatic. Thank you.

Answer: The problem you are experiencing is probably caused by the viscous couplers. Viscous couplers stick when they are failing - they are not supposed to stick. You very well may have to replace them to fix your problem.

Question: 1993 Subaru Legacy Brighton 2ltr mileage: 100,000. My car makes annoying water bubbling/flowing noises under the dash when throttling up or down (especially after idle). I suspect that it needs to be bled correctly - however I've tried removing the bleed screw, and then filling, with no success... Is there something I've missed or some trick to this model? I've taken the car to 4 Mechanics (1 was a Subaru agent) - all have failed.

Answer: It sounds like your water pump may be pulling air in at higher rpm. A new water pump should solve your problem.

Question:  1999 Subaru Outback mileage: 16,000.  Should a new car "consume" oil?  Where does it go?  I have checked my oil level 3,500 miles after my last oil change and found the dipstick reading dry or just a bit of oil on the tip.  The dealer says my oil consumption is normal (~1 qt per 1500 miles).  I asked if the oil burns off, and got the answer that it consumes oil.   Does this sound accurate?  Is it related to the type of engine?

Answer:  One quart in 1500 miles is not excessive oil usage.  A slight amount of oil is used to  lubricate the piston rings and is then burned in the combustion chamber.

Question:  1994 Subaru Loyale  mileage: 84,000.   The person in the car behind me stopped me to tell me there was "fluid" dripping from my tail pipe.  Once I got home I could not tell what it was since it had stopped.  What could it have been?

Answer:  It is normal for a car to drip some fluid out of the tailpipe when first started and for several minutes afterwards.  The fluid is condensation (water) that occurs.  Sometimes, it can pick up some black soot from the tailpipe, which would give it a dark color.

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