maintenance SUBARU OUTBACK 2006 Owners Manual

1
– CONTINUED –Warranties „ Warranties for U.S.A.All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru of America, Inc. and sold at retail
by an authorized SUBARU dealer in the
United States come with the following
warranties:
y SUBARU Limited Warranty
y Emission Control Systems Warranty
y Emissions Performance Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“Warranty and Maintenance Booklet”.
Please read these warranties carefully.
T Warranties for Canada
All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru Canada, Inc. and sold at retail by
an authorized SUBARU dealer in Canada
come with the following warranties:
y SUBARU Limited Warranty
y Anti-Corrosion Warranty
y Emission Control Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“Warranty and Service Booklet”. Please
read these warranties carefully. How to use this owner’s man-
ual „ Using your Owner’s manual Before you operate your vehicle, carefully
read this manual. To protect yourself and
extend the service life of your vehicle, fol-
low the instructions in this manual. Failure
to observe these instructions may result in
serious injury and damage to your vehicle.
This manual is composed of fourteen
chapters. Each chapter begins with a brief
table of contents, so you can usually tell at
a glance if that chapter contains the infor-
mation you want.
Chapter 1: Seat, seatbelt and SRS air-
bags
This chapter informs you how to use the
seat and seatbelt and contains precau-
tions for the SRS airbags.
Chapter 2: Keys and doors
This chapter informs you how to operate
the keys, locks and windows.
Chapter 3: Instruments and controls
This chapter informs you about the opera-
tion of instrument panel indicators and
how to use the instruments and other
switches.
Chapter 4: Climate control
This chapter informs you how to operateIf your vehicle is equipped with a
navigation system, the display con-
tains mercury. Therefore, the dis-
play of the navigation system must
be removed before vehicle disposal.
Once the display has been removed,
please reuse, recycle or dispose of
them as hazardous waste.

2
the climate control.
Chapter 5: Audio
This chapter informs you how to operate
your audio system.
Chapter 6: Interior equipment
This chapter informs you how to operate
interior equipment.
Chapter 7: Starting and operating
This chapter informs you how to start and
operate your SUBARU.
Chapter 8: Driving tips
This chapter informs you how to drive your
SUBARU in various conditions and ex-
plains some safety tips on driving.
Chapter 9: In case of emergency
This chapter informs you what to do if you
have a problem while driving, such as a
flat tire or engine overheating.
Chapter 10: Appearance care
This chapter informs you how to keep your
SUBARU looking good.
Chapter 11: Maintenance and service
This chapter informs you when you need
to take your SUBARU to the dealer for
scheduled maintenance and informs you
how to keep your SUBARU running prop-
erly.
Chapter 12: Specifications
This chapter informs you about dimension
and capacities of your SUBARU.
Chapter 13: Consumer information and
Reporting safety defects This chapter informs you about Tire infor-
mation, Uniform tire quality grading stan-
dards and Reporting safety defects.
Chapter 14: Index
This is an alphabetical listing of all that’s in
this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
„ Safety warnings You will find a number of WARNINGs,
CAUTIONs and NOTEs in this manual.
These safety warnings alert you to poten-
tial hazards that could result in injury to
you or others.
Please read these safety warnings as well
as all other portions of this manual careful-
ly in order to gain a better understanding
of how to use your SUBARU vehicle safe-
ly. NOTE A NOTE gives information or sugges-
tions how to make better use of your
vehicle.
„ Safety symbol
You will find a circle with a slash through it
in this manual. This symbol means “Do
not”, “Do not do this”, or “Do not let this
happen”, depending upon the context.A WARNING indicates a situation in
which serious injury or death could
result if the warning is ignored.
A CAUTION indicates a situation in
which injury or damage to your vehi-
cle, or both, could result if the cau-
tion is ignored. 000013

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14Table of contents Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
Keys and doors
Instruments and controls
Climate control
Audio
Interior equipment
Starting and operating
Driving tips
In case of emergency
Appearance care
Maintenance and service
Specifications
Consumer information and Reporting safety defects
Index

1
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbagsFront seats .......................................................... 1-2 Manual seat ............................................................. 1-3
Power seat (if equipped) ...... ............................ ...... 1-4
Reclining the seatback ........................................... 1-4
Head restraint adjustment ..................................... 1-5
Active head restraint .......... .................................... 1-6
Lumbar support (if equipped) ................................ 1-6
Seat heater (if equipped) ................................... 1-7
Rear seats ........................................................... 1-7 Folding down the rear seat – Station wagon ....... 1-8
Head restraint adjustment ..................................... 1-8
Armrest (if equipped) ......................................... 1-10 Loading long objects (Sedan) ............................... 1-10
Seatbelts ............................................................. 1-11 Seatbelt safety tips ................................................. 1-11
Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) .................... 1-12
Automatic/Emergency Locking Retractor
(A/ELR) .................................................................. 1-13
Seatbelt warning light and chime .......................... 1-13
Fastening the seatbelt ............................................ 1-15
Seatbelt maintenance ............................................. 1-21
Front seatbelt pretensioners ............................. 1-21 System monitors .................................................... 1-22
System servicing .................................................... 1-23
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-24
Child restraint systems ..................................... 1-25
Where to place a child restraint system ............... 1-26
Choosing a child restraint system ........................ 1-27 Installing child restraint systems with A/ELR
seatbelt .................................................................. 1-28
Installing a booster seat ......................................... 1-31
Installation of child restraint systems by use of
lower and tether anchorages (LATCH) ............... 1-32
Top tether anchorages ........................................... 1-36
*SRS airbag (Supplemental Restraint System
airbag) .............................................................. 1-38 Vehicle with SRS airbags and lap/shoulder
restraints for driver, front passenger, and
window-side rear passengers ............. ............ .... 1-38
Subaru advanced frontal airbag system .............. 1-43
SRS side airbag and SRS curtain airbag .............. 1-53
SRS airbag system monitors ............................. .... 1-59
SRS airbag system servicing ............................ .... 1-60
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-61

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-21
– CONTINUED –„ Seatbelt maintenance To clean the seatbelts, use a mild soap
and lukewarm water. Never bleach or dye
the belts because this could seriously af-
fect their strength.
Inspect the seatbelts and attachments in-
cluding the webbing and all hardware pe-
riodically for cracks, cuts, gashes, tears,
damage, loose bolts or worn areas. Re-
place the seatbelts even if only minor
damage is found. Front seatbelt pretensioners
The driver’s and front passenger’s seat-
belts have a seatbelt pretensioner. The
seatbelt pretensioners are designed to be
activated in the event of an accident in-
volving a moderate to severe frontal colli-
sion.
The pretensioner sensor also serves as a
SRS frontal airbag sensor. If the sensor
detects a certain predetermined amount
of force during a frontal collision, the front
seatbelt is quickly drawn back in by the re-
tractor to take up the slack so that the belt
more effectively rest rains the front seat
occupant.
When a seatbelt pretensioner is activated,y Do not allow the retractor to roll
up the seatbelt too quickly. Other-
wise, the metal tongue plates may
hit against the trim, resulting in
damaged trim.
y Have the seatbelt fully rolled up
so that the tongue plates are neat-
ly stored. A hanging tongue plate
can swing and hit against the trim
during driving, causing damage to
the trim. 100736
y Keep the belts free of polishes,
oils, chemicals and particularly
battery acid.
y Never attempt to make modifica-
tions or changes that will prevent
the seatbelt from operating prop-
erly. 100121

Instruments and controls
3-19
– CONTINUED –seconds to check that the tire pressure
monitoring system (TPMS) is functioning
properly. If there is no problem and all tires
are properly inflated, the light will go out.
Each tire, including the spare (if provided),
should be checked monthly when cold
and inflated to the inflation pressure rec-
ommended by the vehicle manufacturer
on the vehicle placard or tire inflation pres-
sure label. (If your vehicle has tires of a
different size than the size indicated on
the vehicle placard or tire inflation pres-
sure label, you should determine the prop-
er inflation pressure for those tires.) As an
added safety feature, your vehicle has
been equipped with a tire pressure moni-
toring system (TPMS) that illuminates a
low tire pressure telltale when one or more
of your tires is significantly under-inflated.
Accordingly, when the low tire pressure
telltale illuminates, you should stop and
check your tires as soon as possible, and
inflate them to the proper pressure. Driv-
ing on a significantly under-inflated tire
causes the tire to overheat and can lead to
tire failure. Under-inflation also reduces
fuel efficiency and tire tread life, and may
affect the vehicle’s handling and stopping
ability. Please note that the TPMS is not a
substitute for proper tire maintenance,
and it is the driver’s responsibility to main-
tain correct tire pre ssure, even if under-in- flation has not reached the level to trigger
illumination of the TPMS low tire pressure
telltale.
The TPMS gives warning both when a tire
is significantly under-inflated and when
there is a problem in the TPMS. The low
tire pressure warning light operates differ-
ently according to these conditions as fol-
lows:
When a tire is significantly under-inflat-
ed: Steady illumination
When there is a problem in the TPMS:
Flashing
Should the warning light flash, have the
system inspected by your nearest
SUBARU dealer as soon as possible.
If this light does not come on briefly
after the ignition switch is turned
ON or the light is flashing, you
should have your Tire Pressure
Monitoring System checked at a
SUBARU dealer as soon as possi-
ble. If this light comes on while driving,
never brake suddenly and keep driv-
ing straight ahead while gradually
reducing speed. Then slowly pull off
the road to a safe place. Otherwise
an accident involving serious vehi-
cle damage and serious personal in-
jury could occur.
If this light still comes on while driv-
ing after adjusting the tire pressure,
a tire may have significant damage
and a fast leak that causes the tire to
lose air rapidly. If you have a flat
tire, replace it with a spare tire as
soon as possible.
When a spare tire is mounted or a
wheel rim is replaced without the
original pressure sensor/transmitter
being transferred, the Low tire pres-
sure warning light will flash. This in-
dicates the TPMS is unable to moni-
tor all four road wheels. Contact
your SUBARU dealer as soon as
possible for tire and sensor replace-
ment and/or system resetting. If the
light flashes, promptly contact a
SUBARU dealer to have the system
inspected.

Audio
5-9
– CONTINUED –low frequencies).
Automatic tuning may not function proper-
ly if the station re ception is weakened by
distance from the station or proximity to
tall buildings and hills.
T Selecting preset stations
Presetting a station with a “preset button”
allows you to select that station in a single
operation. Up to six, AM, FM1 and FM2
stations each may be preset.
T How to preset stations
1. Press the “FM” or “AM” button to select
FM1, FM2, or AM reception.
2. Press the “ ” or “ ” side of the but-
ton or tune the radio manually until the de-
sired station frequency is displayed.
3. Press one of the preset buttons for more than 1.5 seconds to store the fre-
quency. If the button is pressed for less
than 1.5 seconds, the preceding selection
will remain in memory.
NOTE y If the connection between the radio
and battery is broken for any reason
such as vehicle maintenance or radio
removal, all stations stored in the pre-
set buttons are cleare d. If this occurs,
it is necessary to reset the preset but-
tons.
y If a cell phone is placed near the ra-
dio, it may cause the radio to emit
noise when it receives calls. This noise
does not indicate a radio fault.
„ Compact disc player opera-
tion T To playback a compact disc
V When CD is not in the player
Hold a disc with a finger in the center hole
while gripping the edge of the disc, then
insert it in to the slot (with the label side
up) and the player will automatically pull
the disc into position.
NOTE y DO NOT INSERT TWO DISCS INTO
THE DISC INSERTION SLOT AT A TIME.
y Be sure to always insert a disc with
the label side up. If a disc is inserted
with the label side down, it might be
ejected or the player might shut off.
y After the last song finishes, the play-
er will automatically return to track 1
(the first song on the disc).
y If you insert a disc that the player
cannot read, the player will eject the
disc and revert to its previous mode.
y The player is designed to be able to
play music CD-Rs and music CD-RWs,
but it may not be able to play certain
ones.
V When CD is in the player
When the “CD” button is pressed, the
player will start playback.123 456
500233
FM AM CD
500234

5-18 Audio
frequency band (from high frequencies to
low frequencies).
Automatic tuning may not function proper-
ly if the station reception is weakened by
distance from the st ation or proximity to
tall buildings and hills.
T Selecting preset stations
Presetting a station wi th a preset button
allows you to select that station in a single
operation. Up to six AM, FM1 and FM2
stations each may be preset.
T How to preset stations
1. Press the “FM” or “AM” selection but-
ton to select AM, FM1 or FM2 reception.
2. Press the “ ” or “ ” side of the but-
ton or tune the radio manually until the de-
sired station frequency is displayed. 3. Press one of the preset buttons for at
least 1.5 seconds to store the frequency.
The frequency of the station will flash
once on the display at this time. If the but-
ton is pressed for less than 1.5 seconds,
the preceding selection will remain in
memory.
NOTE y If the connection between the radio
and battery is broken for any reason
such as vehicle maintenance or radio
removal, all stations stored in the pre-
set buttons are cleared. If this occurs,
it is necessary to reset the preset but-
tons.
y If a cell phone is placed near the ra-
dio, it may cause the radio to emit
noise when it receives calls. This noise
does not indicate a radio fault.
„ Built-in CD changer opera-
tion
NOTE y Make sure to always insert a disc
with the label side up. If a disc is insert-
ed with the label side down, it might be
ejected or the player might shut off.
y The player is designed to be able to
play music CD-Rs and music CD-RWs,
but it may not be able to play certain ones.
T How to insert a CD(s)
V Inserting a CD 0
1. Briefly press the “LOAD” button. If the
magazine in the player has an idle posi-
tion where you can insert a disc, the disc
number indicator associated with the idle
position will blink.
If no indicator blinks, it means that there is
no idle position in the magazine.
2. When the “LOAD” indicator flashes, in-
sert the disc. Once you have inserted the
disc, the “LOAD” indicator will go off. The
disc will then be automatically drawn in,
and the player will begin to play the first
track on the disc.
y To insert more discs in succession, re-123 456
500233
LOAD 500239

Audio
5-31
– CONTINUED –low frequencies).
Automatic tuning may not function proper-
ly if the station re ception is weakened by
distance from the station or proximity to
tall buildings and hills.
T Selecting preset stations
Presetting a station with a “preset button”
allows you to select that station in a single
operation. Up to six AM, FM1 and FM2
stations each may be preset.
T How to preset stations
1. Press the “FM” or “AM” button to select
FM1, FM2 or AM reception.
2. Press the “ ” or “ ” side of the but-
ton or tune the radio manually until the de-
sired station frequency is displayed.
3. Press one of the preset buttons for more than 1.5 seconds to store the fre-
quency. If the button is pressed for less
than 1.5 seconds, the preceding selection
will remain in memory.
NOTE y If the connection between the radio
and battery is broken for any reason
such as vehicle maintenance or radio
removal, all stations stored in the pre-
set buttons are cleare d. If this occurs,
it is necessary to reset the preset but-
tons.
y If a cell phone is placed near the ra-
dio, it may cause the radio to emit
noise when it receives calls. This noise
does not indicate a radio fault.
„ Built-in CD changer opera-
tion
NOTE y Make sure to always insert a disc
with the label side up. If a disc is insert-
ed with the label side down, it might be
ejected or the player might shut off.
y If a disc is inserted during a radio
broadcast, the disc will interrupt the
broadcast.
y After the last song finishes, the disc
will automatically return to track 1 (the
first song on the disc) and will auto- matically play back.
y The player is designed to be able to
play music CD-Rs and music CD-RWs,
but it may not be able to play certain
ones.
y Single CDs (i.e., 8 cm/3 inch CDs) are
not supported, and if inserted, they will
be immediately ejected.
T How to insert a CD(s)
V Inserting a CD 0
1. Briefly press the “LOAD” button. If the
magazine in the player has an idle posi-
tion where you can insert a disc, the disc
number indicator associated with the idle
position will blink.
If no indicator blinks, it means that there is
no idle position in the magazine.123 456
500233
LOAD 500239

8Driving tipsNew vehicle break-in driving – the first 1,000
miles (1,600 km) ............. ................................. 8-2
Fuel economy hints ............. .......................... .... 8-2
Engine exhaust gas (Carbon monoxide) ......... 8-2
Catalytic converter ............................................. 8-3
Periodic inspections .......................................... 8-4
Driving in foreign countries .............................. 8-4
Driving tips for AWD vehicles ........................... 8-5
Off road driving .................................................. 8-6
Winter driving ..................................................... 8-7 Operation during cold weather .............................. 8-7
Driving on snowy and icy roads ............................ 8-9
Corrosion protection .............................................. 8-10
Snow tires ............................................................... 8-10
Tire chains ............................................................... 8-11
Rocking the vehicle ................................................ 8-12
Loading your vehicle ......................................... 8-12 Vehicle capacity weight ......................................... 8-13
GVWR and GAWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
and Gross Axle Weight Rating) ........................... 8-14
Roof rail and crossbar (if equipped) ..................... 8-14
Trailer hitch (if equipped) .................................. 8-18
Connecting a trailer ................................................ 8-19
When you do not tow a trailer ............................... 8-20
Trailer towing ...................................................... 8-20
Warranties and maintenance ................................. 8-20
Maximum load limits .............................................. 8-21 Trailer hitches ......................................................... 8-24
Connecting a trailer ................................................ 8-25
Trailer towing tips ................................................... 8-26