1998 Subaru Impreza Problems, complaints & recalls

Air bag recall and impending suit against air bag company

98 Subaru impreza 2.5Rs. I had the head gaskets replaced under warranty the first time . Around a year after that,the car over heated again. I had it towed to a auto repair shop that I worked at and had them test the car to see the problem. It was a blown head gasket again. They determined this by testing for any emissions in the coolant. There was also a large amount of sludge build up in the coolant reservoir(oil)as well. Subaru would not warranty there original work so the car sat for a bit before I could...

Head gasket failure engine overheated on 16 hour trip.. Took to subaru dealership, they put in a new "starter bolt" stated it was a bad ground?? On return home car over heated again.. Was repaired by subaru, tech said it was common. 2Nd head gasket failure, two months later, oil in antifreeze... Driving 55-65 mph for 10 min in 75-80f weather, not under hard acceleration. Fear that it will happen again. Current recall on 99-01 models for "coolant additive". Poor head gasket design is leading to failure... Seems to be common problem on 98's (2.5Rs dohc ej25 phase 1) *jb

Intermittent failure/short of power to the main computer (ecu) at appox. 120K miles. Car would not start, no check-engine light. After waiting for tow truck, it starts and runs fine. Took to mechanic, and he says nothing wrong. Two weeks later, same thing. Hook up obd ii monitor and it says ecu recieving "no pwr." Towed to shop. Mechanic diagnosed as failed ecu and replaced. Two weeks later, same symptoms (no check engine light, "no pwr" on obd ii monitor), but an hour later car started fine and obd ii showed no...

The engine kept overheating and air would appear in the radiator. Antifreeze would be pushed out of radiator and the heater would blow cold air. The car had to be shut off repeatedly and allowed to cool down and the antifreeze replaced. A check of the cooling system detected no leaks. We were took the car to a number of garages until finally one garage told us that the engine block was most likely cracked and the engine needed to be replaced at a cost of $3600. According to the garage, they have replaced a number of engines for this particular model, specifically one with the dohc.*Ak

1998 Subaru impreza 53,000 miles and the auto tech at subaru says I have a piston slap, $2500.00 To pull engine and check this out. I have changed oil every 3,000 miles brought it in for the 30,000 mileage over all check up - what is up with this motor? *Jb

This car needed replacement of both rear wheel bearings at slightly over 67,000 miles. No other subaru I have owned or heard of needed such repairs. My previous subaru had over 100,000 miles on it with no defects. The shop personel at the dealer said this was a problem with some other imprezas, as well as foresters. I wrote a letter to subaru america, after six days I haven't recieved any response. I included a copy of my repair bill as well as my rental car fees.

Engine stalls when trying to take off after stopping at traffic light. There is also a rapping noise in engine until its been running awhile. *Jb

THE WHEEL BEARINGS FAILED PREMATURELY.*JB

Transfer clutch on the powertrain of my 1998 subaru impreza bucks and binds in turns, apparently due to the transfer clutch hanging up and staying applied. This has occurred at least since the 50,000 mile mark and continues to date. Despite this problem falling under subaru's powertrain warranty, two separate subaru dealers have refused to fix it under warranty, and instead have "added limited slip differential additive" to the differential-a fix I have been told by another subaru dealer is not an authorized fix for this problem. I am now faced with $900 in repair bills. This problem has been previously reported for 1997 subaru imprezas (nhtsa item number sb053575).

Both the left and right rear bearings on this car failed before it reached 60,000 miles. No injuries -- I'm careful and heard them failing -- but repairs were very expensive. Mr

THE WHEEL BEARING HAS FAILED THREE TIMES. NLM

While driving there was a noise coming from rear of vehicle. Mechanic stated that wheel bearings needed to be replaced. Has had this problem constantly, and had dealer service vehicle on same malfunction 9 times.*Ak

Rear wheel bearing failed twice. I believe that this a potentially a serious safety problem. Subaru is aware of the problem. They quietly superseeded the old ball bearing used in imprezas and foresters with a new roller bearing from the legacy. Please see this url for more info: http://www.I-club.Com/forums/showthread.Php?S=&threadid=110396&perpage=25&pagenumber=1. *Ak

Consumer had taken vehicle to dealer due to a strong fuel smell and burning oil coming from engine. Dealer replaced transmission transfer case/ repaired an oil leak, and replaced piston gaskets.Sometimes consumer had tried to start engine, but it would not happen at all. Please provide more information. *Ak

Consumer states the clutch has been replaced four times.*Jb

The first clutch went bad at about 6500 miles, dealer said it was driver error, replaced for 1300.00, 2Nd clutch went bad about 14,000 miles dealer said was driver failure but honored warranty and replaced, driver modifies driving habits that may be causing failure, 3rd clutch went bad about 22,000 miles went to a private subaru garage and they rplaced it with a older model clutch , stated that many late 90's subaurus are coming in for clutch failure, 4th clutch failed at about 35,000 miles,wheel bearings in rear...

Right wheel bearings have been replaced five times. Contacted dealer, and dealer can't fix problem.*Ak consumer states entire differential is inoperative.*Jb

The left rear wheel bearing went bad at approx 51k miles. The reason the report is being filed is the large number of late model subaru wheel bearing failures I found on the internet. I read many reports of failed rear wheel bearings on 1998 and later subaru vehicles which included the outback, forester and impreza. Several individuals reported having the same bearing replaced two and three times. The alarming part is many were replaced at mileages below twenty thousand miles. I'm afraid I'm going to have other bearings go or the same bearing go again.*Ak

Consumer has experienced numerous failures of left rear wheel bearing, consumer states very noisy and just failed without warning while driving at high speed the car began to vibrate quite violently, causing some difficulty in maintaining control of the vehicle, consumer was able to brake and move to emergency lane. *Jb

Air bag module failed causing the air bag light to illuminate. Nlm

Noise from rear struts. Dealer said that they needed to be replaced. *Ak

The vehicle experienced repeated wear/failure of the rear wheel bearing assembly (29033, 44724, 54813, 58637) which caused noise in the rear wheel arer and vibration while driving. Nlm

Repeated failures of left rear wheel bearing assembly beginning at 29, 033 miles. Most recent repair at 58, 637 miles required replacement of left rear wheel bearing assembly, axle shaft assembly , right rear wheel bearing assembly, and seals. Recent failure occurred without warning at highway speed of 65 mph; some handling problems during failure at this speed. Manufacturer's representative states that subaru corporate policy does not reimburse consumer/operator for incidental expenses -- rental transportation,...

I believe there is a sub-standard part being used in subaru impreza rear wheel bearings. Besides my 2 failures, I know of dozens of other people in my car club with similar rear wheel bearing failures. Currently the failures are being handled under warranty, but as the cars age, the wheel bearing failures seem likely to continue and will start to get expensive.