Survey: How many people on the board own an OB?

Have an 05 OBW with a 1" suspension lift and a 2" body lift kit on the way. Full details on theSuperu. Joined LGT for similar reasons to ScubaSteve44.

holy crap - great site and RIDICULOUS outback, dude! when is the new lift kit coming?

please make sure to post some more pics - especially of the outback "in it's environment"...

I just picked up a 96 OB for use as a "winter beater"... although now that I've cleaned it up a bit it looks like new. It has 178K km (about 110K miles) and came with a complete service history. I'm going to change all the driveline fluids this week as it's been a while since the tranny (4EAT) and diffs were drained. I'm feeling a bit of binding/ jerking in low speed turns so I'm hoping the new fluids will smooth things out a bit.

My summer car is a Porsche Cayman, and this Subie is my first ever Japanese car (well, a US built Japanese car). I guess I'm building a collection of boxer-engined cars!

This forum has already been a useful source of info... looking forward to participating. And my user name refers to the car... being from Indiana and all...

I just picked up a 96 OB for use as a "winter beater"... although now that I've cleaned it up a bit it looks like new. It has 178K km (about 110K miles) and came with a complete service history. I'm going to change all the driveline fluids this week as it's been a while since the tranny (4EAT) and diffs were drained. I'm feeling a bit of binding/ jerking in low speed turns so I'm hoping the new fluids will smooth things out a bit.

 

My summer car is a Porsche Cayman, and this Subie is my first ever Japanese car (well, a US built Japanese car). I guess I'm building a collection of boxer-engined cars!

 

This forum has already been a useful source of info... looking forward to participating. And my user name refers to the car... being from Indiana and all...

Congradulations on the OB. This forum is an awsome resource! However, it mostly deals with the latest body style of Legacies and OBs from '05 on up. If you're looking for help with your '96, go to http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/ which is another awesome site that helped me plenty of times when I had my '98 OBW. It's worth having a look.

Best regards.

Congradulations on the OB. This forum is an awsome resource! However, it mostly deals with the latest body style of Legacies and OBs from '05 on up. If you're looking for help with your '96, go to http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/ which is another awesome site that helped me plenty of times when I had my '98 OBW. It's worth having a look.

 

Best regards.

+ 1

Here is another great site just for Subaru Outbacks

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/index.php?s=

Thanks lekmedm, LongHiway and eVoMotion... I'll check out those links. I did the change of fluids today and the new ATF made a HUGE difference in how the car drives... no more binding on low speed turns, and the shifts are so much smoother. Feels like a different car.

I'm starting to appreciate the elegant and rugged simplicity of Subaru engineering and design. I'm guessing this old '96 OB has a few years (decades?) of life left in it yet!

Cheers!

Thanks lekmedm, LongHiway and eVoMotion... I'll check out those links. I did the change of fluids today and the new ATF made a HUGE difference in how the car drives... no more binding on low speed turns, and the shifts are so much smoother. Feels like a different car.

 

I'm starting to appreciate the elegant and rugged simplicity of Subaru engineering and design. I'm guessing this old '96 OB has a few years (decades?) of life left in it yet!

 

Cheers!

I got rid of a '97 Outback only because I was tired of listening to my wife complain about her old car - that and 2 year 0% financing.

Realistically, the car is good for 200 K miles. If you are serious (and you'll find legions of Outback loyalists) and will little money, 300 + K is very doable.

In a way, I preferred the '97 over the 2006 she now drives for your exact statement, it was rugged and an elegantly simple car. Looked good as well.

Thanks lekmedm, LongHiway and eVoMotion... I'll check out those links. I did the change of fluids today and the new ATF made a HUGE difference in how the car drives... no more binding on low speed turns, and the shifts are so much smoother. Feels like a different car.

 

Cheers!

You were experiencing "Torque Bind", which the 4EAT transaxles are prone to. Old fluid will gum up the works and eventually fry the Duty-C solenoid that is responsible for shifting power between the front and rear axles. It sounds like you got to it before it caused any serious damage.

Did you just drain and fill, or have the whole transmission flushed? If you just drained it, then do it again 2 more times in the next month-or-so to have as much clean fluid in there as possible, and your OB will love you for it.

You were experiencing "Torque Bind", which the 4EAT transaxles are prone to. Old fluid will gum up the works and eventually fry the Duty-C solenoid that is responsible for shifting power between the front and rear axles. It sounds like you got to it before it caused any serious damage.

 

Did you just drain and fill, or have the whole transmission flushed? If you just drained it, then do it again 2 more times in the next month-or-so to have as much clean fluid in there as possible, and your OB will love you for it.

The previous owners had tried for about 3 years to solve the torque bind problem... various mechanics had suggested and done various things, but the ATF hadn't been changed for almost 100K km (60K miles). I guess it never occurred to them that the ATF might be the problem, cuz they sold it to me thinking that it needed CV joints. After I checked the CV joints and found nothing apparently wrong I figured changing the ATF was worth a try, and it sure did make a huge difference. Hopefully the problem that you mention about the Duty-C solenoid won't be an issue, although it seems the car had been run for quite a while with the torque-bind problem and dirty ATF. Other than that, it seems the car was regularly serviced and repaired.

I just drained and refilled, adding Lubegard... and plan to do it again in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the confirmation that this is a common issue with the 4EAT transaxles.

The previous owners had tried for about 3 years to solve the torque bind problem... various mechanics had suggested and done various things, but the ATF hadn't been changed for almost 100K km (60K miles). I guess it never occurred to them that the ATF might be the problem, cuz they sold it to me thinking that it needed CV joints. After I checked the CV joints and found nothing apparently wrong I figured changing the ATF was worth a try, and it sure did make a huge difference. Hopefully the problem that you mention about the Duty-C solenoid won't be an issue, although it seems the car had been run for quite a while with the torque-bind problem and dirty ATF. Other than that, it seems the car was regularly serviced and repaired.

 

I just drained and refilled, adding Lubegard... and plan to do it again in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the confirmation that this is a common issue with the 4EAT transaxles.

This really isn't the appropriate thread for this discussion, but I will give you one last tip that I found on the other board concerning this. Put a fuse in the FWD fuse holder under the hood if you are experiencing torque bind. If the binding goes away, the duty-c is fine. If not, that's most likely the root of the problem.

I do now

It is a very nice car

1. Your state is calling it a Legacy Outback on the registration, I think? What state do you live in?

 

2. Check your tire pressure. Dealers used to under inflate tires. Now with the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems) they tend to over inflate them.

 

Check out: http://www.cars101.com/outback.html

Sorry for the delay but I just found your post. This is a NY vehicle I imported (new) into Canada. My registration says Legacy Outback and I talked to someone who imported the same vehicle (also new) from the same dealer. His car is registered as an Outback. This difference in registration is the source of my initial confusion.

Are you still confused as to what you own? Just post a pic and we'll tell you

There's no confusion about the vehicle, it's an 07 Outback Ltd. I just don't understand why the inconsistencies in registration since everything the same (dealer, model, salesman). I have enjoyed this car so much I replaced our second car with an 08 Legacy SE sedan (you can still get the wagon up here).

There's no confusion about the vehicle, it's an 07 Outback Ltd. I just don't understand why the inconsistencies in registration since everything the same (dealer, model, salesman). I have enjoyed this car so much I replaced our second car with an 08 Legacy SE sedan (you can still get the wagon up here).

Whenever I put the VIN# for my '05 Outback XT Ltd. into any of the sites that reference VIN# (i.e. insurance and such) the car always comes up as just a regular '05 Outback.

I wonder the insurance companies differentiate? It would be nice to think that you could pay the same insurance as for a 2.5i

Hi, I've just joined here today.

I have a 3.0R Premium MY07 Outback. First registered in Sept 06.

Rob

hi ya'all,

just picked up yesterday w/ the wifey an 08 outback 2.5i auto in quartz silver from irvine subaru..cant wait to head back up to mammoth!!! hopefully no sliding out this time

We drive an 05 Outback 3.0R VDC 15 to 17 miles per gallon