I have a 2005 subaru outback wagon. This weekend, on hard packed ice roads, the back wheels would "float", sway out from under my vehicle. This has happened previously in black ice conditions. I was traveling 20 MPH slower than the rest of traffic to maintain control of my vehicle, and thus creating an additional hazard to the vehicles that could handle the conditions. The below email thread is a good description of what I have experienced in the past and other subaru outback owners are experiencing as well. The vehicle has new tires and the alignment was recently verified. Thanks, cale streeter http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11267&perpage=20&pagenumber=32.
2005 Subaru Outback transmission complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 17 of 17, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Both rear wheel bearing hubs went bad between 55k and 58k miles. They were fixed with a replacement part. They caused a loud noise while driving.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. Intermittently, the rear of the vehicle loses control in slick road conditions. The contact stated that there was mechanical failure with the electronics in the all wheel drive. The failure occurs while driving between 20-45 MPH. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The tires were replaced twice. The vehicle was realigned, but the failure still persists. The current mileage was 25,800 and failure mileage was 12,000.
I own a 2005 subaru outback 2.5i wagon. At 44000 miles (26 months) the rear wheels were making a lot of noise at both low and high speeds. Upon inspection it was found both wheel bearings had to be replaced or they would have soon failed.
2005 subaru outback legacy station wagon the limited slip differential (rear) malfunctions under wet or snowy conditions. It begins a rhythmic transfer of power back and forth until the rear of the vehicle loses traction and then spins out... This has happened several times and has been taken to the dealership for diagnostics and repairs. They have performed alignments but indicate that they cannot duplicate the complaint... So, they say there is no problem. We have taken the vehicle in to the dealership without any repair made to resolve this dangerous fault. The repair would involve replacing the entire unit (lsd)... Because parts are not available separately... We have had it looked at by an independent repair facility and they were able to duplicate the complaint... We have replaced the original "potenza" tires with an aggressive all weather tire hoping to remedy the problem... Subaru will not admit that there is a problem with the limited slip differential on this 2005 outback! We would like to have this taken care of before someone is injured or killed. Thanks!
I have been experiencing a problem while accelerating from a stop or from coasting, such as when a red light has just turned green. I begin to depress the accelerator and the engine just about dies. This has nearly caused me to get "t-boned" at intersections numerous times. I have brought it to the attention of two different subaru dealers and they say that nothing is wrong with it. I have heard that other subaru owners are having this problem but subaru will not admit that this is a safety issue.
On two separate occasions, my 2005 subaru outback got stuck after incurring a minor obstruction (several inches of snow in one case and a somewhat sharp incline in another case) while driving in high altitudes (10,000 ft to 11,500 ft). On both occasions, the car suddenly lost most of its power and no wheels would turn. Despite pressing the accelerator to the floor, the engine never went above 2000 rpms. Fortunately, on both occasions, there were people around to push the car. Once the tires were totally free of any obstruction, normal engine power returned and the car could be driven. I took the subaru to my home dealership in olathe ks (jack miller) on june 29, 2005, a couple weeks after the first incident. Dealer said he could not replicate the problem , so he could not fix it. The invoice notes: "2000 RPM is appox torque converter stall speed." following the second problem on july 20, I took my car to john elway subaru west in golden co. Dealer invoice says:" if tires were not spinning, car had traction and was not able to build boost at altitude to produce power." dealer, however, said they could not replicate the inability to build boost, and were thus unable to fix the car. I filed a verbal complaint with subaru of america on july 27 and followed up on july 29. As of then, subaru of america was still trying to contact the dealer. Subaru markets its cars as having superior performance in the mountains, snow and in difficult driving conditions. Subaru enjoys a large market share in the colorado mountains, where both my "not able to build boost" problems occurred. My car cannot be safely driven in the co mountains, particularly on mountain passes or dirt roads, because help may not be available to get the car running again. I do not know if my experiences are isolated or part of a larger problem. In either case, I am disappointed that subaru has been unwilling or unable to fix this potentially serious safety issue.
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