New to me 03 obw with a “few” issues lol

2622 Views 71 Replies 7 Participants Last post by ChattownOBW, 3 mo ago

ChattownOBW

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago (Edited)

Hello everyone. Picked up a 2003 outback wagon today. I test drove it last week in a rural middle Tennessee town and it seemed to do great. However, it was 30° out, spitting sleet and I drove about 10 minutes at 45 mph.

Bringing her home today 120 miles was a different story. It was empty so stoped at the first reputable station I could find only to see that the gas cap was MIA. No big deal. Put some fuel in but not too much cause I didn’t know if it would slosh out. So got 20 bucks. A little over half tank.

I opened the door after pumping gas and set the alarm off. Which was strange causeI didn’t even lock the doors with the door or fob.

Continue on to a state highway where the speed limit is 65 and as soon as the road opens up the check engine light comes on. I figure maybe from the missing cap so keep trucking.

Hit 60 mph and thought the steering wheel was going to make an exit out of the car. It would shake from about 55-70 (the fastest I got) so badly that it made me super uncomfortable And I have had a lot of janky cars in the past.

Drove about an hour and stopped to grab a bite to eat. Noticed a smell of antifreeze. And saw an active drip standing in front of the car. Popped the hood and the overflow tank seemed to be the origin. The PO supposedly had all new cooling system parts installed including radiator and all hoses. Overflow tank was pretty full so I figured maybe they just overfilled when they put all the parts on.

Got her home and up on jack stands to crawl under and every bit of rubber in the rear suspension is gone. Both rear shocks are blown and leaking. Driver side boot is torn on the rack and pinion. It the front suspension doesn’t look too bad. And the axles look fairly new.

My ultimate plan for this is to do all new suspension with around 2” of lift total. Haven’t decided on the Rallitek kit or cobbling something together yet but will be doing something. And a little larger, more aggressive tires. That should be about it. This thing will be our little dog hauling, canoe carrying adventure wagon.

Any tips on what to do or how to fix common issues are welcome lol. This is my 4th Subaru with the others being 04 wrx, 01 forester and 05 forester and I am excited to be back in a Subaru!

Wheel Tire Car Automotive side marker light Vehicle

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Wreckster

· #2 · 4 mo ago

seems like you just picked up near the polar opposite of mine. 2003 as well, though the one thing I'm not worried about is how the car runs and it doesn't have any handling issues aside from the bad rear struts. The body, however.. The car isn't beyond saving rust wise, the wheel arches are going to need going over, however. I can live with that, find some patch panels and make it last a whole while longer.

With what you're describing, I would seriously be wondering if a belt had broken on one of the tires. Either way, get it lifted up and check for play, check the tires to see how they're doing, the whole lot.

For the coolant, I'd be veeeery wary that the head gaskets have gone, but there is no saying that for sure over the internet. See how the coolant level plays out, check your oil religiously to make sure it doesn't get contaminated. Head gaskets can be done, entire engine would really suck.

Now for the suspension (I have the same plans in mind) I've researched everything I could to narrow down exactly what I want. I don't want to do a straight spring lift as strut travel would be lessened at full extension. Having built a lifted trailblazer, I have zero interest in raising travel without increasing downward stroke at the same time. What I settled on was 1" strut top mount spacers ($160ish i believe for all 4?). The bolts on the strut mounts get replaced with longer bolts that will actually bolt the spacer to the mount, then bolt to the car, beautiful design. Primitive racing has uprated springs ($369). 'Standard' height will live .25-.5", so figure around 1.5ish inches of lift all together. Not quite high enough to need the rear arm spacers, but still noticeable difference.
Tires, I'm going to pick up a set of Nokian Outpost AT in 215/70r16. Really about as big as you can run, lifted or not, without rubbing.

GL with it. Keep a very careful eye on temps, coolant, oil. let us know how it all works out.

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Wreckster

· #4 · 4 mo ago

New stuff always worries me. Could be very well taken care of, could be they threw everything they could at it to mask a problem. You could definitely be right that they overfilled, the coolant tank doesn't hold much. to be in range.
For the suspension lift, I think you've got the right idea. Spacers will give you a bit more downward travel, so that'll work out. The springs will give you the rest. KYB's seem to be the correct way to go, they don't cost too much more than the cheap stuff.
The only reason I'm keeping under 2", I don't want to spend the money on the rear subframe spacers nor do I want to tempt fate taking those bolts out if I don't have to, the front subframe bolts if they snap look like hell to get out. But more so, budget. This car is 100% budget.

PS, Let me just add, I don't have hands on experience with the lifts, yet. I've just done a ton of research and came up with everything. Another note on tires, I searched for the lightest tires possible as every single pound will matter with these cars. The outpost was I think the lightest of them all. If I'm correct, these would fit if you wanted the falkens - Robot or human?

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Wreckster

· #6 · 4 mo ago

I had a 300d! Man I miss that car so much. Such a nice riding car, the diesel was perfect for cruising. Unfortunately, the turbo started to cease up and I had no way of paying for the parts. Sold it for a decent price.

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Wreckster

· #10 · 4 mo ago

Brakes and regular maintenance, that's it. Aside from the turbo going out (great grandmother had run it low on oil prior) the only things I needed to do were adjust the fuel rack and steering lash. Old as it was, unbelievably reliable.

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Wreckster

· #14 · 4 mo ago

Better option the KYBs I wager, they're cheap enough. Let us know how it all goes.

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Wreckster

· #16 · 4 mo ago

Love/hate for me. I won't say it's beat, but mine is definitely a jalopy for now. Just got the rear struts and mounts, springs are on their way. Not certain if I want to throw those together first or get the fronts and the mount spacers to do it all in one shot.

Oily stuff under the engine looking today, I haven't time to figure out what it is yet, keeping an eye on fluids till I do

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Wreckster

· #18 · 4 mo ago

Everything bushing wise seems serviceable until I get some miles on it. Kyb struts and mounts, king springs from primitive. I'll do the same on the front soon enough.

Rock auto has a front end kit, looks like a good idea really. The rear I'll likely buy entire arms as needed.

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Wreckster

· #21 · 4 mo ago

just started the spray down on mine, though I'm not doing arms right yet. Rear end passes the shake down test, absolutely solid which is surprising. The strut bottom bolts, I've seen that those can be a problem. Good luck with yours, I might be buying an impact to get those instead of trying to find a way to get a breaker on it.

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Wreckster

· #22 · 4 mo ago

haha, so far so good actually. Got the caliper and such off (needs replacements, just ordered those) and the big ol' bolt for the one strut came out without much trouble. Will have to see how the other side goes.

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Wreckster

· #27 · 4 mo ago

Wowwie look at those bushings! There are a few bolts I am happy to not touch right now, sprayed them down good with pb blaster in preparation for when that day comes.

I managed to get the brakes apart and struts out from the rear, no broken bolts. I'd love to have a word with the engineer who decided the caliper bracket bolts should go in those little hiding spaces, took a bit of experimenting to figure out how to get them.

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Wreckster

· #29 · 4 mo ago

How do they look? Rear caliper brackets, use a 14mm deep well socket, should get you there.

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Wreckster

· #31 · 4 mo ago

Finished. I hate doing suspension work, but I really shouldn't complain, I didn't have any issues with bolts or such, no issues at all really. Deep well socket works for the upper caliper bracket bolt, offset wrench works perfect for the other, trial and error with that weird setup.
Next up, shake down everything else then see about getting proper tires for it. Sometime in the summer I may tackle the rear arches. For all I know, it might need an engine rebuild, so first things first.

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Wreckster

· #33 · 4 mo ago

Of all the things to stock up on. Couldn't have been tires or rood racks or such. They'll still sell I'm sure though.

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Wreckster

· #36 · 3 mo ago

Keep chugging along, it's definitely worth it. Can't wait to get the alignment squared away on mine. Small stuff is in the back of my head now, engine mounts, might need the drive shaft at some point, small stuff.

I did purchase the car figuring it might need the headgaskets done at some point, but The way I see it, times have changed to where it's worth sinking some cash into older cars. Other parts of the world are well into this kind of stuff. Engines, transmissions, no problem. Major rust repair, jist part of owning and preserving a car. The major bonus here is that these are so part redundant, such basic technology, every single part can be found at a pretty reasonable cost, everything can be rebuilt or replaced without losing your mind on it. Definitely reminds me of the old 300d in that respect, just old school iron that is easy to work on, minimal parts.

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Wreckster

· #42 · 3 mo ago

Looks good!

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Wreckster

· #45 · 3 mo ago

My top nut loosened on one. Impact drill was able to get it tightened down, double checked with a socket after. Alls well after that

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Wreckster

· #50 · 3 mo ago

Busy for sure. I haven't gotten many miles on mine yet either since suspension, though it is only a runner. Runs strong enough, likely needs a drive shaft due to the noise I hear sometimes. Otherwise, it's a car.

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Wreckster

· #52 · 3 mo ago

I probably should just to be sure. At least it's easy enough to slide under the car to check now.

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Wreckster

· #57 · 3 mo ago

Those bars on the back like hens teeth? I think I'll hunt down the rear diffuser once I get to that point.

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Wreckster

· #63 · 3 mo ago

Few miles on the scoob. Clutch is heavy as heck, but I've heard Subarus will teach you how to drive a little better. No slip or any such. Syncro in 1st is worn a bit, but not terribly so for the mileage, she just doesn't like 1st when cold. There's some sorta sound coming from I don't know what yet. Transmission mount is soft so it wouldn't hurt.

Now what I've been putting off.. finding what the heck is leaking under the car. It's not the heads, those look pretty darn good, except what is either cam cover gasket or power steering on passenger side. I'm not worried about that yet, power steering appears to be working find. The leak seems to be the transmission. Not sure from where or anything yet, I'll have to hose it down good with degreaser and such to see if it's easier to pinpoint. Would hate for it to end up being the input seal, wouldn't be too mad at it being the drive shaft seal (still don't want to) and hopefully nothing more serious than that. I might be on the lookout for a replacement 5speed in the future, there are worse things to be on about.

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