Hello everyone. I have a Subaru 1998 Outback which has been a disaster since I bought it used in 2001. Although it has only about 80,000 miles on it, I have replaced the viscous coupling, the harmonic balancer, the clutch--and I just paid a ton to replace a blown head gasket. When I brought the car home after having the head gasket replaced, I noticed, when pulling into the driveway, that it exhibited the same problems it had when the viscous coupling had failed in 2002. I took it back to the dealer immediately, who said that indeed it was the viscous coupling. They put some fluid in it and told me to drive it for a few days in the hopes that that would work. Having done so, it is clear to me that the car is fine for errands around town, but after 30 minutes of highway driving, when you pull off the road to park, the viscous coupling is malfunctioning and the car grinds on tight turns.
My questions: 1. is it normal to go through 2 of these things before the car even reaches middle age? 2. could the dealer have damaged something in replacing the blown head gasket--or the harmonic balancer? 3. what happens if I don't get this fixed? I am SO tired to this wretched car that I just want to sell it--but I hate to try to pawn it off on someone knowing that he will have to pay $1000 for the viscous coupling.
Thanks David