copyboy311

I'll be looking at those caliper pins, because the calipers were replaced as part of the brake job. Seems all-too suspicious.

Looking for help diagnosing some front-end noise on my 2011 Legacy. A little history: Had the struts replaced about 20k miles ago and then recently had the ball joints and brakes/calipers replaced. The car is now making extremely annoying clunking noises over rough roads from the front end suspension, most noticeable at speeds under 50 mph. Sounds like a box of rocks being shaken. No noise on smooth roads, and the worst of it is mostly dampened at speeds over 50. I do know that some of the bushings in the control arms are toast, and I will be replacing the arms next. Is there anything else under there that might be causing this noise? The guy who did the ball joints and brakes says nothing he can see is loose or failing, other than the bushings. He did say one of the (not very old) struts is leaking, but I can't see how that would cause this noise. Is it likely the control arms and bushings will clear this up? What else could be replaced?

^^^^ Nice! I hope mine makes it that far. I'm at 134k miles with a CE light on. I think it's an O2 sensor. Still running fine while I make time to get it fixed.

After my teen son drove too far into the garage and crunched the grill against a wheelbarrow, I did the same blackout treatment on my new grill, using PlastiDip. Like the look. Damn, those Subaru badges are expensive, though. I paid $60 and that was the cheapest I could find.

It's amazing how much price gouging they do for a plastic badge. I paid $19 for a brand new carburetor for my Honda lawnmower. And the carburetor is a heck of a lot more complex.

I had a 2003 GT 5MT, and since it was a fairly rare variant of the model, I had to drive it back home to Nevada from Texas. That said, i chose it as a safe family car for my kids who were just babies at the time. The car was fun to drive, had four airbags and had 16k miles when I bought it. When I sold it at 178k miles, it was still running on its original clutch, although it had started to slip by then. It wasn't without problems over those 10 years. The viscous coupling gave out at around 90k miles, and that was about $1500 if I recall. Leaky seals seem to be common on these too. Overall, though, it was a good car, and I moved on to a 2011 Legacy, which is a bit bigger, and more problematic. I like the handling of the 2003 better. Good luck finding one that's not driven to the moon and back and is still in decent shape.

Probably. I know a lot of people here debadged or rebadged, so thought there might be some OEMs laying around. Talk about a profit center for Subaru. $60 for this item at the dealer. A chunk of shiny plastic the size of a calculator.

I replaced a damaged grille on my 2011, but it did not come with the blue badge. Not really finding it anywhere besides eBay. I don't even see it in the dealer inventory. Anyone have a lead on those or have one for sale?

Besides the struts and springs up front, are there any other suspension or steering bits in the front that I should consider? Some of the bushings look pretty dried out and useless, but I'm not sure which bushings they are.

Does anyone have any feedback or opinions on this quick-strut kit from FCS? https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8556948&cc=1446525&jsn=845&jsn=845

If I'm replacing all four corners on my 2011, do I also put the 2013-14 spec rear shocks on? And in the case of the KYBs you're buying the springs from the dealer? RockAuto does show a quick-mount setup available. From FCS?

I think this is incorrect. The 2010-2012 2.5 turbos used the superior MLS head gaskets, but the NA 2.5s did not, and have shown frequent failures. If replacing your gaskets on an NA 2.5, be sure to use the MLS gaskets that were used on the turbos. Same fit, much better reliability. Subaru will still sell you the original shitty gaskets, and you'll be replacing them again in 100k if you're not lucky. Some owners got a little more mileage out of them by doing coolant changes and adding the coolant/gasket conditioner in the little blue bottle. Before problems arose, of course.

Which one is faster? ;-)

Do all trim levels come with the same spare tire size, regardless of whether the car is sold running 16, 17 or 18-in. tires? I upgraded to 17-in. wheels/tires on my car, but my spare is a 16-incher.

This and the current generation could have made for a really nice GT. Looks like that ship has sailed and will not return.

Still cleans up nicely and looks good from 10 feet, anyway.

I can't believe that after all these decades that the head gasket thing is still a thing. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen to my 2011, as I've already had to replace the clutch at 90k, cam seals at 95k (along with a premature timing belt/tensioner replacement because the original was soaked with leaky cam oil), and now at 110k I'm troubleshooting a leaking A/C system. I'm on my fourth and probably final Subaru.

Ah, so an opportunity to fix the plug tube seal issue!

OK, well they still offer a 2.5i on the base 2020 Legacy. How different could this engine be from the one ending in 2012?

I dunno. I had a 4.0 Cherokee with 140k miles (bought it with 20k, so I know the gaskets were never replaced), and I don't recall if the rear main weeped, but it certainly didn't leak drops of oil. Same for the valve cover. No oil spots on my driveway, and they stopped making that engine in what, 2003? I'm talking about an engine Subaru still makes and still has the same issue. The Subaru tube seals just seem like a very common problem that could be addressed; along with all the other Subaru quirks. I used to be a Subaru defender, but having now owned four of them, I'll buy something else for my next car. They no longer have a lock on the AWD market. My 2011 now has 107k miles, but has had many annoying things go wrong with it, seemingly a bit too soon. Two wheel bearings, cam seals, clutch at 95k (this is not a GT), a/c leak somewhere, spark plug tube seals, steering wheel radio controls no longer work, the exhaust shields that always rattle themselves loose, etc. I guess I haven't had the head gasket issue, so that's good. I'm not going to fix the tube seals until it starts misfiring or leaking at the valve cover. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

I respectfully disagree on this one. It seems to always be the tube seals that fail. I'm at 107k with leaks, and I don't know how long they've been leaking. My valve cover gaskets are fine, and so were the ones on my 2003 with 178k miles.

I changed the spark plugs over the weekend to discover some oil on my old plugs and on the coil boots, some more than others. (Plugs looked pretty good still for 107k miles, but new ones improved the start-up response.) I had this same leaking seal issue on my 2003 Legacy, and I see numerous complaints about other owners having leaking tube seals in all of Subaru's models. In over a decade of engineering, Subaru can't redesign a problematic spark plug tube seal? I put in my new plugs and cleaned up the oil, but am not going to do anything about it now, as it's not such a big leak that it's causing misfire or leaking out the top. It's beyond my skill set and/or patience to do it myself. I assume it will be a pricey repair if and when I need to have it done by a professional. Anyone else have experience "ignoring" this problem?

To offer an opposing view, I've had a K&N filter in my car for at least 40,000 miles, two cleanings with the oil and haven't had any MAF sensor issues. Maybe I fell for the marketing and the less-waste aspect of it. I don't know that I'll get another one since I've been influenced just as much by the people who say they're not a good product. I'm not in love with the product, but I certainly can't say anything bad about it.

OK, I was wrong about the spark plug change interval on the Legacy. I was thinking of my other car. That said, I'm at 107k miles on my Legacy, and although I am about to change the plugs I haven't had any issues. It seems a waste to toss an iridium plug at 60k. They're designed to go much longer than that.

Definitely change the PCV valve. If it gets plugged, there's a good chance it will blow out the cam seals, which is what happened to me at about 95k. Stick with the NGK Iridium plugs. They're good to 105k miles, I believe (recommended replacement interval).