My '99 Legacy Outback has 84k miles and a blown front oil seal. It's pretty evident from other posters that this is the result of a known manufacturing defect.
Have any other readers been sucessful in getting their dealers to do a no charge repair outside of the warranty period?
I don't know. I was surprised at how many people have had this problem with I did a google usenet search on oil seal subaru. Plus a couple of mechanics claiming that the problem is from the screws in the oil pump backing out over time, causing pressurized oil to pop the seal.
Does thsi problem exist on later models as well? 4 cyl or 6 cyl?
I just had the front main oil seal replaced, because the oil pump seal was leaking. This they discovered when they replaced the cam belt tensioner, which was causing the dreaded engine ticking sound. These were all fixed under warranty. Two weeks ago I had the left front bearing replaced, not under warranty. Six months ago I had the the rotors replaced and new pads put on the front brakes, half under warranty.
This car, a 2000 Suabru Outback Limited with 43500 in mileage, has been much more unreliable than my previous vehicles. The last car I owned, a Plymouth Voyager had NO problems whatsoever in the four years I leased it.
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