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15 Posts
Hi, I am a new user and this is my first post to the forum, this is my first Outback and I really like the car. I know this topic is covered a lot but not in the Gen 5 Outback’s I have been reading the last few days and a lot sounds like mine however I am in a unique situation I am well past my warranty and my car never got the letter for trans extended warranty. I have used this car hard, towed with it and consistently had 500-800lbs of gear in the car for long distances. I have a 2016 2.5i limited with 145k miles on it, has driven great up until now. I have all the sudden noticed extreme acceleration hesitation when accelerating from a stop, it feels like its hunting for gears and the programmed “Shifts” are hard like its slamming in to gear. If feels as if something is clogged, or the friction discs are slipping if this even has them in the transmission.
Yesterday I cleaned the MAF, removed the throttle body and cleaned it. I installed a new PCV valve my first in 145k miles and I put seafoam in the intake. While I was in there, I cleaned up a couple ground wire connections as well as the battery terminals (I had a bad acid problem going on). The car is noticeably better but there is still slight hesitation, stuttering and hard shifting. I am not as worried now about pulling out into traffic as before I almost got into an accident because it bogged down so bad.
I do all my maintenance myself ever since the warranty has been done even all oil changes. I have narrowed it down to a few things now I believe and this is where I need help before I pull the trigger on some expensive repairs. I believe it could be one of a few things:
Before I get called out for changing fluids and such, I had all fluids and I mean all fluids changed at 100k (Trans, Diffs, Brake, Coolant, Oil) by the dealer. Since it is a highway warrior and work vehicle, I was planning on doing full fluid changes every 100k when I do spark plugs. As far as other maintenance I have had all the common problems with these Outback’s you can think of, cracked exhaust manifolds, both CV axles, rear wheel bearing you name it. I will include my detailed list of my repairs if anyone is just curious to see what the cost of ownership is on an Outback that is used and abused.
I need some good ideas out of the experienced guys here since it seems I might be blazing a new trail here having such higher miles on a Gen 5. If it is torque converter it is looking like I will have to pull engine out as easiest route which at that point I need to compile a list of preventative maintenance while I have it out such as water pump and possibly removing fuel injectors to send out for cleaning and flow testing. Sorry for such a long first post but I feel like I am in new waters here and this could be what a lot of you guys are in store for down the road. I have only seen 1 outback with more miles at 180k a while back but I think it was a Gen 4. Let me know what you guys think I have attached a few photos of my maintenance record as well as my car. I appreciate your time and help.
Yesterday I cleaned the MAF, removed the throttle body and cleaned it. I installed a new PCV valve my first in 145k miles and I put seafoam in the intake. While I was in there, I cleaned up a couple ground wire connections as well as the battery terminals (I had a bad acid problem going on). The car is noticeably better but there is still slight hesitation, stuttering and hard shifting. I am not as worried now about pulling out into traffic as before I almost got into an accident because it bogged down so bad.
I do all my maintenance myself ever since the warranty has been done even all oil changes. I have narrowed it down to a few things now I believe and this is where I need help before I pull the trigger on some expensive repairs. I believe it could be one of a few things:
- Torque converter failure
- Valve body solenoid failure
- Transmission failure
- Fuel filter clogged (I would replace whole fuel pump unit as preventative maintenance at this mileage)
- Throttle position sensor
- Clogged catalytic converter? (I have replaced the stock manifold twice due to cracks)
- Some sort of vacuum leak (I have no CEL on so doubtful)
Before I get called out for changing fluids and such, I had all fluids and I mean all fluids changed at 100k (Trans, Diffs, Brake, Coolant, Oil) by the dealer. Since it is a highway warrior and work vehicle, I was planning on doing full fluid changes every 100k when I do spark plugs. As far as other maintenance I have had all the common problems with these Outback’s you can think of, cracked exhaust manifolds, both CV axles, rear wheel bearing you name it. I will include my detailed list of my repairs if anyone is just curious to see what the cost of ownership is on an Outback that is used and abused.
I need some good ideas out of the experienced guys here since it seems I might be blazing a new trail here having such higher miles on a Gen 5. If it is torque converter it is looking like I will have to pull engine out as easiest route which at that point I need to compile a list of preventative maintenance while I have it out such as water pump and possibly removing fuel injectors to send out for cleaning and flow testing. Sorry for such a long first post but I feel like I am in new waters here and this could be what a lot of you guys are in store for down the road. I have only seen 1 outback with more miles at 180k a while back but I think it was a Gen 4. Let me know what you guys think I have attached a few photos of my maintenance record as well as my car. I appreciate your time and help.