CAR WAS OVERHEATING. TOOK TO DEALER TO CHANGE THE TIMING BELT AND TO INVESTIGATE THE OVERHEATING. CHANGED TIMING BELT AND BLEW SAND OUT OF RADIATOR FINS. INVESTIGATED ON THE WEB AND FOUND THAT THE SYMPTOMS WERE VERY SIMILAR TO A HEAD GASKET BEING BLOWN OUT IN VERY MANY CASES. THE NEXT WEEK THE RADIATOR FLUID WAS BEING PUSHED OUT OF THE OVERFLOW RESERVOIR AS DESCRIBED IN PROBLEMS FOUND ON THE WEB. TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER WHO SAID THAT THE HEAD GASKET WAS BAD.*AK
2008
AIR BAGS
THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON OUR DASHBOARD RECENTLY LIT UP. WE HAD OUR MECHANIC LOOK AT THE CAR AND HE SAID THE CAR WAS NOT PRODUCING AN ERROR CODE. SOME BASIC RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET REVEALED THAT THIS PROBLEM IS BECOMING COMMON AND IS RELATED TO A FAULT IN THE PANEL CONTAINED IN THE MAP LIGHT CONSOLE, WHICH INCLUDES THE PASSENGER AIR BAG INDICATOR LIGHTS. HE REPLACED PANEL AND THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM. I HAVE A COUPLE ISSUES THAT I HOPE YOU CAN ADDRESS. BECAUSE THE AIR BAG LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED ON THE DASH, THE OPERATION OF THE CAR'S AIR BAGS WERE IN DOUBT, IF NOT DISABLED ALL TOGETHER. SO, THIS APPEARS TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN OUR MECHANIC CALLED THE LOCAL SUBARU DEALER (GO SUBARU IN DENVER, CO) FOR THE PART AND ASKED IF THEY HAD THE PART IN STOCK, THE PARTS DESK IMMEDIATELY SAID, "OH, IS THIS THAT AIR BAG THING?" SO, THIS IS A KNOWN FAULT. I TRIED CONTACTING SUBARU TO NOTIFY THEM, BUT THEY SIMPLY TOLD ME THAT ALL RECALLS ARE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THAT I SHOULD HAVE MY VEHICLE SERVICED BY AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. I HOPE THE NHTSA WILL TAKE TIME TO RESEARCH THIS SAFETY ISSUE AND MAKE THE APPROPRIATE RECALL. *TR