Like I have posted, and will continue to do so as time and information allows is that it seems that Subaru has finally gone to a MLS Head gasket for the 2010 Outback.

above are the differences between a semi closed and open deck block, and while I wont know until we take one apart, it appears that Subaru is also using a semi closed deck block in the 2010 Outback.

Thanks for reading and watching

Justin

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This comes up a lot both for our Local customers, and we get a lot of questions about this from afar.

The old saying a picture is worth a thousand words, I think a video with a little sound is worth many more.  I did make a mistake about the green aftermarket idlers we see in many of the online kits having double bearings, that is actually not correct, they are just a single bearing idler, which is really not the best choice you can make .  It only costs a few dollars additional to get the updated component.

Thanks for reading and watching

Justin

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Above is just a quick video I shot this weekend, about some  of our local customers finding us after they have had brakes done at a tire store, with less than satisfactory results.

After seeing just way too much of this recently, I wanted to try and explain and show there are some pretty significant differences in parts.  Know whats being used, cheap and brakes do not belong in the same sentence.  One shops version of what is right, is just plane wrong if its not what Subaru suggests.

The difference between having an accident or not is sometimes only a matter of a few inches, you want your Subaru to always stop as well as it was designed to.  There is a real good chance if low quality parts are used, that just isn’t going to happen.

After market brakes typically work ok for the day to day come to a stop without haste kind of a thing, but in a panic situation do you really think the cheaper brakes are going to work as well as what Subaru Designed for you?

Never is this more evident as it is in brake calipers, which is why I posted the video.

Thanks for reading and watching.

Justin

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The gasket pictured below resembles the Head Gasket used in the Turbo models, the Tribeca, as well as the 2^nd generation 2.2l and the updated gasket for the 1^st generation 2.5L (I know there’s a lot to follow there).

The new gasket is not interchangeable with the older model 2.5L engines.   But it proves what I have been stating all along, a MLS (Multi Layer Shim) gasket is what is needed!

Thanks for reading

Justin

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She managed to place second in the 134^th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Here are a couple of links to some news articles.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011099796_webdogshow17m.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011110671_dog18m.html

Stacey and her Family are customers and long time friends who truly deserved this win this year, Way to Go Stacy!!

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One of the things I often try to convey is that there is a major difference between in parts quality.  Your Subaru needs what is called a long life bulb or for the point of this article an H7LL in most 2005 and newer Subaru Models.

Per application in many parts catalogues it will call for an H7.   Subaru recognized the standard bulb wasn’t up to the task and superseded the part to another part number indicating a Long Life bulb part number 84920 AG020.  The H7LL bulb has a much stronger element that will last longer than the standard H7 bulb, yes it is a little more expensive but only a few dollars.

In the pictures below, I have tried to point out how it’s nearly impossible to look at the bulb and see a difference but on the Box itself there is a different part and catalogue number.

As always it’s up to you the owner of your car to know what is being used in the care and service of your Subaru, I will try to point out trends as I can to help you along the way.

Thanks for reading

Justin

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We are very pleased to announce that All Wheel Drive Auto has met the stringent criteria set by AAA and are now an AAA approved repair facility.   Offering Subaru Owners a choice for the care and service of the Subaru’s on the Eastside.

Our initial returned surveys came back with a 100% satisfaction rate, we would like to thank all of our customers who took the time to fill out the surveys and send them back to AAA.   The remarks left by our customers have really made the entire experience a great one.

All Wheel Drive Auto AAA Approved Independent Subaru Repair

Thank You

Justin & the Crew at All Wheel Drive Auto

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So there are many models of Subaru, many different platforms, or generations.  I will have to break this up into more than one article or it will be just too hard to follow.  This first article will focus on the Subaru Forester, but many of the Subaru models use the same bearing design.

There are many different variations of the wheel bearing and below are some pictures of the some of the common designs of the last few years.

This is the old on the left, the updated in the middle with the release in the race 

Here we have a roller bearing on the left, the updated bearing on the right and a worn/ dmaged hub and tappered wheel bearing in the middle.

The Subaru Forester from 1998 to about 2003 had a pretty significant issue with the longevity of the right rear wheel bearing.  I am going to focus this article on that era first as it will explain a lot of common symptoms, along with showing the differences Subaru has made in the design of the wheel bearing.

The first Foresters came with a roller type rear wheel bearing pictured below.  This wheel bearing had a longevity issue, and some didn’t last 30,000 miles before failing.  The bearing was updated first with a tapered roller bearing, second with a tapered roller bearing with a release in the outer bearing race and finally with a revised installation tool and procedure.

Why some wheel bearings last longer than others has a lot to do with tire pressure, brake heat, driving patterns and habits,  vehicle alignment, suspension system integrity and lastly road crown.

Road Crown?

In areas where it rains a lot like my home state of Washington, there is the need to keep the water off of the road as such the roads are paved with a slight inclination to the right, if it was the other direction the water and you would veer to the left and into oncoming traffic.  This can put increased pressure on some of the vehicles systems such as the right side wheel bearings.

The Subaru Forester is not the quietest vehicle ever produced, and sometimes it can be hard for the driver to hear the audible signs of a failed wheel bearing, but if it seems like the road noise in your Sub is loader than normal chances are one of the wheel bearings has started to fail, and if let go too long, the hub can become damaged.  The hub pictured below is pressed into the wheel bearing and is what the wheel actually bolts up too as well.   Taking your Subaru to a good shop that will keep an eye or better yet an ear on these things can help catch the wheel bearing early.

The latest Subaru bearing is the only bearing you should have installed, there are many aftermarket versions without the release which plays a critical role in longevity, if you own a Forester and have had to have this done over and over you may not of had the updated parts installed.

Make sure you are getting the bearing pictured below.

The front of the Forester uses a tapered roller bearing and while they do fail, just not at the same rate as the rear did.  Subaru and most either All Wheel Drive or front wheel drive vehicles use a similar design. 

The days of taking out the bearings, cleaning and repacking every so often have long been gone.  When the bearings have symptoms in a modern vehicle the result is more expensive but there is no maintenance like there was in the older vehicles. As such it is unreasonable to expect the grease in the wheel bearing to last forever, and the bearing will overheat if not properly lubricated or can fail for a long list of other reasons.

So if confronted with a wheel bearing issue in a Subaru know it’s bound to happen, there are 4 of them, and slowly over the life of the car all 4 will probably have to be replaced and the right rear more than once.

The next Wheel bearing article will cover the captured type wheel bearings found in the 2000 and newer Outback and Legacy and the ones under an extended warranty by Subaru

Thanks for reading

Justin

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Oil Changes

Subaru Scheduled Maintenance, AKA 30/60/90k Service

Subaru Head Gasket Repair

Check Engine light Diagnoses & Repair

Clutch Service

Timing Belt Service

Cv Axle & Boot Service

ABS Light Diagnoses & Repair

Air Bag Light Diagnoses & Repair

Suspension System Service & Repair

Light Bulb Replacement

Head Lamp Lense Refinish

Brake Service

Struts/Shocks Replacement

Transmission Repair, Rebuild & Replacement

Wheel Bearing Service

Cooling System Service

Performance Upgrades

Exhaust Repair

Engine Repairs

Tires and Wheels

And Much, Much More.

All Wheel Drive Auto offers real solutions to all of  the typical Subaru problems not just repairs!

Most services we provide carries a 1 year 15k warranty,  with the exception of oil changes.

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Nowhere is this more obvious than their oil filters and how they have changed, superseded and morphed through the last few years.

The O.E. oil filter you buy for your older model Subaru today looks nothing like the one it came with or was installed for years, but in Subaru’s quest to keep things simple they have decided to not make available the older oil filters, but instead have shrank the size of the filter and dropped the older part numbers from production and inventory.

Pictured below are the last 3 oil filters used by Subaru for the 4 cylinder model.  The black one in the middle was first used on the 2002 WRX turbo models, the reason for this is the Turbo models exhaust system runs very close to the oil filter and it was necessary to shrink the filter down to keep the oil filter from getting to hot and thus increasing the oil and engine temperature.   Here is where things have gone from there, we used to install the black filter on the turbo models, the white filter on everything else except for the H6 and the Loyale.   Then Subaru dropped the white filter from production, but wait a minute any one can see the white filter is bigger!   The oil filter now used by Subaru on all 4 cylinder models is the blue one, which is even a little smaller than the black one and yes still much smaller than the white one that was used on your non Turbo model Subaru for years. I also want to point out the location on the engine for the oil filter on the 4 cylinder Subaru models has not changed since the Legacy came out in 1989.

If you own a Turbo model Subaru and don’t change your oil and filter at least every 4,000 miles you will most likely buy a Turbo or worse an engine, this is the current theme in the 2005 and newer Legacy GT, Forester XT and Outback XT models.

Before there is any argument about synthetic oil and oil analysis, the oil filter used by Subaru is very small and will not last the 7,000 miles your synthetic  oil may last, oil analysis has no way of catching the slow clogging of the oil feed line to the turbo.  Damage from extending the oil changes can happen very gradually over time or can ruin your trip in mere seconds and be very costly.

If you change your oil twice a year versus 3 to 4 times a year you will save roughly $800.00 over a ten year period.  The bad news is you will most likely buy a Turbo and the Turbo will cost over $1200.00, just for the part!  Add to that labor, gaskets and the possibility of the Turbo damaging the Engine just for fun.

If you own a older model Subaru (pre 2005) and the dealer is now installing the blue filter you are now cutting the filtering capacity and oil capacity down from how it was originally designed, and if you exceed the ability of the filter to filter, it doesn’t filter and contaminants in the oil will circulate around in the oil rather than be caught in the filter, this is done as the filter becomes restricted by the bypass to protect the engine from ever being starved for engine oil.

Subaru changed the exhaust lay out of the header pipe in all of their four cylinder models to resemble the Turbo models and now all of the 4 cylinder models have the exhaust system running very close to the oil filter rather than on the turbo models.   So all current production models get the small oil filter as such there is no need for Subaru to keep making available the bigger oil filter even if it would be more beneficial to your 2004 Outback or your 1992 Legacy.

At our shop we use the Blue filters on cars still covered under A Subaru warranty to just keep things simple, and try to explain that the ramifications of going to long with the little blue filter won’t show up until the car is out of Warranty and its all your car.  We install a large oil filter on models that don’t have a turbo or newer exhaust system.  For turbo and 05 and later models we use a filter closer in design to the black filter as the Blue filter leaves a lot to be desired and anyone (minus the engineer who designed it) when holding the blue and black filters in their hands side by side will agree the quality of the filter is just not the same as it used to be.

The good news is Subaru did lower the price of the blue filter a little.

When I see things like this I will always try to find a solution to deliver more value than just going along with a corporations desire to cut costs.  While I will also never claim to be as clever as the engineers, I will also never lose the argument that reducing oil capacity and filtering capacity is a bad idea.  I kind of seriously doubt accounting ever consulted the engineers anyways.

Thanks for reading

Justin

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