[Dick Ellingson]

I installed a new battery in my 2013 Outback 2.5I Premium (a four-banger with a stick), bought new in September 2012. The original lasted 9 years 3 months. Mileage is just pushing 33K, 14K of which came from a ten-week trip in 2017. Over the years, the car has sat idling for hundreds of hours with the heater or A/C blasting full tilt while I run errands, leaving my dogs in the car and in the shade. My pups go where I go.

Nobody in this town - CarQuest, NAPA, O'Reilly's or Walmart - stocks a group 25 battery that I thought would stand up to our -25° to +110° weather, so I ordered my juice box online from O'Reilly. It's an Optima Red Top group 25, rated 910 CA and 720CCA. It registered 923 CA and 736 CCA on my meter. The first car battery I've bought in probably fifty years. Prices have gone up.

Great service from O'Reilly. I had my battery in three days, returned the core to my store and got an instant refund.

The dome lights are really bright now.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I just turned over 33,000 miles on my 2013 Outback; works out to 9.74 per day. Take out the ten week 14,000 mile vacation and it's 5.72 miles a day. And just imagine my low-mileage insurance discount . . .

 

[Dick Ellingson]

It was yesterday, actually. I took my dogs out for a romp at Strawberry Hill Rec Area, about fifteen minutes from home out US-12. Decided to take the scenic route home so I turned off 12 at Mizpah Road and about a mile in, I lost wifi (these are the boonies). A bit farther on, the pavement became well-maintained dirt and gravel. The came a choice - county road 422 or 427? I chose 422 after a virtual coin flip. I crossed a rusty one-lane bridge with potholes over a dry river. Came to a sign warning "Possible flooding on road ahead. Do not attempt to cross!" No water so I kept going, making blind choices at more county roads. Many deer and antelope on the road, a herd of 39 antelope at one spot. Open range with abundance of cows. Also a guy herding horses with a four-wheeler. Fifty miles in on a steadily deteriorating road, it ended as one narrow lane at a house with a pickup truck in the yard. I managed to turn around and, fifty miles later, we were back on US-12 and home was 15 minutes away. That 100 miles took about 3½ hours. Lotsa fun and my wonderful car turned over 34000 miles.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

That sounds like it was quite the adventure. I'm not brave enough to do that with the gas prices being as high as they are. 😖

I bought sixty bucks worth of gas when I got back to town for only $3.99 point nine. Heck, that's less than four bucks per!

 

[Dick Ellingson]

The dogs and I went out exploring more dusty roads and then stopped at an automatic car wash. It was 95° per the dashboard thermometer, but when I got out of the car wash it read 79°. I wonder where the sensor is located. The next day it was back to normal.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

Right in front of the AC condenser down low on the left side, out in the open. Must have gotten a bunch of 79deg water on it

Thanks, MDN. I just found a Youtube video about replacing it, which I'm not. The '13 in the video was kinda rusty under there. I'm gonna go check mine.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I didn't do anything today, but four days ago I marked a decade with my good ol' 2013. I brought it home September 10, 2012.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

Reply So's mine. Must be a good vintage.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I moved from Seattle to Miles City in 2017 when my car was five years old. I've seen only four or five other Subarus here. We wave and chat in parking lots. But pickups are the thing here.

Last year my original battery finally gave out. None of our three auto supply stores - O'Reilly, CarQuest , NAPA - had my size, so I bought it on O'Reilly's website. Straight to my door. All fine.

About a week ago, I tried to buy some filters and things. Struck out again.

This time, I went online to Tacoma Subaru Parts where I'd had good luck last year on some small items. I put in my VIN, ordered what I needed and got the following response about an hour later.

"Thank you for shopping with Tacoma Subaru. Your order number is ----. Your VIN is ----.
For questions, please call us at (253) 473-6200, or reply to this email.
You will receive a second email when your order has been received and is being processed, then another email when your order ships. Please allow 2-4 working days for shipment of your order."

Order Contents:
P/N Quantity Price Each Description
SOA427V1500 1 $ 9.34 Power Steering Fluid. ATF HP/PS Fluid. 1 Quart Bottle.
15208AA15A 1 $ 8.75 Engine Oil Filter
SOA868V9270 1 $ 28.84 Super Coolant Pre Mixed, 1 Gallon Bottle
72880AJ00A 1 $ 22.98 Cabin Air Filter
16546AA12A 1 $ 24.45 Air Filter
Shipping to MT $ 13.95
Total $ 108.31

I'm happy with the prices. Sure beats a trip to the dealer, 150 miles away. If any glitches appear, I'll post. Thought some other small towners might be interested.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I replaced the oil filter, engine and cabin air filters, and added about a cup of coolant to a cold engine. Then we rode dirt and gravel for forty miles on Deadman Road, open range, with lots of cows and five or six deer and antelope to entertain us. They run very fast (not the cows)! Got home and was able to see the coolant.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I'm glad your car's okay. Five years ago, I towed that same 8x12 trailer 960 miles from Seattle to Miles City over three or four mountain passes and almost never used 6th gear, and there were some climbs requiring 4th and even 3rd. Stick shift, 2.5L. Handled fine and no after effects.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I replaced the oil filter, engine and cabin air filters, and added about a cup of coolant to a cold engine. Then we rode dirt and gravel for forty miles on Deadman Road, open range, with lots of cows and five or six deer and antelope to entertain us. They run very fast (not the cows)! Got home and was able to see the coolant.

One thing I forgot to mention: when I pulled the cabin filter out of its slot, there was a broken gasket, 3-1/2 or 4 inches in diameter, just lying flat on top of the filter. It looked cut rather than ripped. I searched "cabin filter gasket" on parts.tacomasubaru.com and found nothing. The grasshopper lying beside the gasket offered no opinion.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

Can you take a photo of the gasket?

Sorry, I threw it out. It was the relative thickness of a Mason jar home canning seal, dark reddish.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I've wondered over the years in my various cars how much gas was left when the needle pegged on "E" and just when a low fuel warning light would come on. Yesterday I found after a trip on the freeway.

I first noticed the the gas gauge on "E" when the indicator said I had fifty miles left. About ten minutes later the low gas warning light came on. I stopped at the next station, sixteen miles later. I filled up, giving the pump one more squeeze when it stopped running. It took 17.09 gallons, so just under a gallon and a half was left. When the warning light came on sixteen miles back, I'd guess two gallons were left.

I had driven 392 miles, mostly around 84 mph, the rest at about 20 mph, and got about 23 mpg. 2013 Premium, 2.5L, stick.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

It was yesterday. I was home listening to the Seattle Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays playoff game two. Things weren't going well so I invited Savvy, my pound pup, to hop in the car. Ten or twelve miles south of town on Montana 59 we made a right onto Tongue River Road, two-laned and paved, through trees and farmland. Toronto was leading 8 to 1 when we lost wifi and phone service. We were cruising at about 30 mph, the only vehicle on the road. About a quarter of a mile ahead, an irrigation sprinkler, maybe aimed wrong, was soaking the highway once on every cycle. It looked like fun, so I timed my approach and got a gravity wash that hit the hood with a Splat! We were heading back the way we came when the wifi came back, the ball game was over and the Mariners won 10-9! !

 

[Dick Ellingson]

We all check our tires, right? There was a gas station here in town that gave away a free bag of hot theater popcorn with a fillup, and had free air to boot. New management came along and threw out the popcorn machine and this morning the air hose was dead! Bye bye! I already owned an accurate tire gauge so today I bought a 120V tire inflator at Walmart, and it works great. One tire was down a pound, one was up a pound.

Next I installed new wiper blades. I bought the Subaru blades online from Tacoma Subaru last week and they arrived today. $70.00 with shipping. Three auto supplies in town, and Walmart, wanted almost as much for high end models, and I trust the OEMs. They came with the car ten years ago.

I searched YouTube and learned how to do the back window, a five minute job. Next were the fronts, which come with an insert that goes between the j-hook and the blade itself. YouTube was no help and it took me an hour for the first one. The second one took two minutes.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

First of 2 trunk or treats for the year for the Outback. I am doing my Fall harvest theme this year. My other theme is a Science lab/crime scene.

View attachment 552431

Good going! That looks great!!

 

[Dick Ellingson]

More details please.

I've never seen these before. I could definitely use one. What size is it? Is it a kit? And what is the RTT you mention?

Thanks.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

I did what I've done at least once a week since I started snooping around this forum: I thought about how fortunate I am to have an old-fashioned low-tech, almost no-tech Outback.

 

[Dick Ellingson]

This is a $200 4x8 HF trailer frame from facebook. Some ideas from Tventuring Adventure Trailer Forum and instagram #tventuring. Custom 3500lbs axle from a local trailer repair company. Leaf spring/axle relocation kit along with the DIY no weld bracket kit from compact camping concepts. The base is raptor lined white and the metal is from custom metals.com and is raptor lined black. Floor is composite deck flooring from lowes. The overall weight is around 400lbs and the tongue weight is 61.6lbs. I need to weigh it on an actual certified scale not a bathroom scale. RTT is roof top tent, two bars with go across the top of the trailer and there are two more that will hold the kayaks, just haven't had time to drill the holes. Overall length is 4x6' I cut the back 2' off and added a tongue from a boat trailer on facebook that was for free. Added stabilizer jacks from e-trailer and a 2' hitch for bike racks. Main issue right now is the lack of tongue weight, lots of raddling when driving empty, I am going to add a spare tire to the forward part to help get a little higher tongue weight. This is the guide I used and I did not weld anything. Tventuring Adventure Trailer Forum-How-to enhance a Harbor Freight frame for use under a DIY Camping Trailer

Thank you.