The Subaru Outback is a type of car that combines features of a station wagon and an SUV. It's great for driving on different types of terrain and is often used for outdoor activities.
The serpentine belt is a belt in the engine that helps power things like the air conditioning and power steering. If it comes off, those systems can stop working.
Metal shavings are tiny bits of metal that can come off parts of the engine when they wear out. Finding them can be a sign that something is wrong and needs to be fixed quickly.
A knock sensor helps the engine run smoothly by listening for unusual sounds that can indicate problems. If it hears something wrong, it tells the car's computer to make adjustments to fix it.
Belt slipping happens when a belt in the engine isn't tight enough and starts to slide instead of turning the parts it's supposed to. This can cause problems and make strange noises.
A torque wrench is a special tool that helps you tighten bolts to the right tightness. If it's too loose or too tight, it can cause problems, so using this tool helps make sure everything is just right.
Tire tread depth tells you how much grip your tires have left. It's measured in small units, and if the number is low, it means the tires are worn out and need to be changed for safety.
Tire rotation means changing the position of your tires on your car so they wear out evenly. This helps your tires last longer and keeps your car safe to drive.
Mileage credit is a way to get some money off when buying new tires based on how much you've driven on your current ones. If your tires are still good but worn, you might get a discount when you replace them.
A mileage warranty is a promise from the tire maker that their tires will last a certain distance. If they wear out too soon, you might get some money back or new tires.
Toyo Tires is a brand that makes tires for cars. They are popular for their good quality and are used by many drivers.
LIVE
Hello, hello, hello, everybody, coming at you with another edition of the Subi Scoop.
It is 28 degrees right now where I'm at, which I know some people are going to be like, that's
not cold, but for us in the Houston area, that is cold and has a feels like temperature
of 13.
The actual temperature is supposed to get down to 14 tonight, Sunday night.
I know this is coming out on Monday, but I can't record it on Monday.
So we're going to have a pretty cold evening and then it starts getting warmer again throughout
the week.
But yeah, so that's cold for us.
Unfortunately, no snow here.
I've seen some videos on Instagram of people getting snow up in the Dallas area where
my girlfriend is, they're getting a lot of sleet.
So they're getting a lot of just packed ice, which is not good.
So I'm hoping that people are not getting out on the road because that's just not good
because I'll admit it.
People here don't know how to drive in the ice and snow.
I mean, if there's, there are some Subaru's here, but we don't really know how to
drive in that kind of climate, although a Subaru would do much better than most
cars.
But for everybody that is in dealing with some really cold winter weather right now, whether
it is just cold temperatures or tons of snow, I was chatting with Sam who goes by that wandering
Fawzi and he was showing me that they had gotten some pretty decent snow and that
they were supposed to get two more feet of snow.
And from my perspective, I'm like, man, that's crazy because to get like, and then you kind
of snowed in depending on where you are and how much snow you get, of course, I don't
really know what I'm talking about, but just from the looks of it, it doesn't look
like anything that you would potentially be able to get out in.
I know that you've got snow plows and stuff that can plow the roads, but yeah, it's
just, I just like, I can't even imagine walking outside and seeing everything covered in tons
of snow.
Of course, I've went out to Moon Rocks for my 50th birthday and saw a ton of snow there
because I know they had a record snowfall right before I came out there, so I have
seen it, but I've never lived in it.
So I know that it's completely different to visit rather than to wake up every day
and see that kind of stuff.
So I know that just from people I've talked to over the years that it can get kind of lonely
and depressing, especially if you're not able to get out and you live alone.
So if you know of somebody, just reach out to them, say hello and make sure they're
doing okay.
Just check in on your buddies because that's always important and it means a lot.
It really does.
I'm never in a situation here where I'm stuck indoors and I can't go anywhere, but I'm
alone a lot.
So I know what it's like to be alone and to not have people around, which is one of
the reasons why I get out a lot and like just go to a shopping center, an outdoor shopping
center or something because I just, I'm alone a lot and it gets lonely and sometimes
it gets depressing.
So, but you know, again, I'm able to get out.
The weather here is always such that we can get out pretty much every day of the year.
But for those people that are not able to, it's, I think it's really important to reach
out to them and just see how they're doing.
So we had another car adventure earlier this week, actually it was last weekend.
My son was driving his outback and he was with some friends.
I think it was Sunday night and the 18th and he, yeah, it was 18th.
He was out with some friends.
They were in town and he called me and said, Hey, my belt came off.
My serpentine belt came off.
There's a bunch of little metal shavings inside the engine compartment and I, you
know, I don't know what happened.
I don't know what's going on.
So I called triple a then I drove down there to meet him and his friends so
that I could give them a ride back.
And we found out that the one of the bearings in one of the pulleys had just
gone out and that's what all that's what all the metal shavings were.
We're all was like the bearings just getting pulverized.
And so it just spit out all the little metal shavings everywhere.
And then the belt itself was getting worn and then the tensioner was not
doing so great.
So we took it to Houston Car Garage.
They set us up with a new belt, a new tensioner and a new pulley, the one
that had like he showed me the pulley with the bearing and it was just it
was loose in there.
It was just shaking around.
So thankfully it wasn't anything like catastrophic because that's what we
were worried about in the belt coming off, seeing all the little metal
shavings because we don't know looking in there.
We don't really know what we're looking at.
We didn't know what it was going to be.
But, you know, we were kind of thinking the worst that like maybe
something really bad happened and like, oh, you need a whole new engine.
And but again, thankfully it wasn't that bad, but we got it all fixed up
and now it's driving again.
And oh, and so the what's crazy too is we had just replaced the
knock sensor on the driver's side.
We we did that ourselves and right after we replace that or a few hours
after we replace that is when this happened with the belt.
So we thought maybe we knocked something loose or something.
I think but his his he heard squealing in his engine, you know,
because usually it's like a belt slipping or something.
But I think it was the bearings that were going out is what he was
hearing from now, just kind of looking back and using context clues
of what was going on.
So I think it was just inevitable and it just happened to happen
after we replaced the knock sensor, but they were unrelated.
And we had the shop check the knock sensor to to make sure that we
had it tightened enough.
We had a little too tight because apparently you have to
torque it at a certain, you know, torque specification.
And we've actually bought a torque wrench.
But when we were tightening it, the torque wrench never clicked.
And I've used a torque wrench before, but I've never like had one on my own.
I've just always had somebody like set it up and say here, this is
what the spec is.
And then I use it and click and then OK, cool.
So I don't know if we just did something wrong with a torque wrench,
but he checked it.
It was a little too tight.
He adjusted it.
So that's good.
So the knock sensor we know is good and and he's back out on the road.
So that happened on Sunday.
My birthday was Monday the 19th, so we didn't really do anything.
And a lot of places were closed because it was MLK.
And so I ended up calling Houston Car Garage on Tuesday.
I had it towed on Tuesday and then we picked it up on Tuesday.
So we had everything done in a day and he was able to get his
car back really quickly because he had just started school also.
And so like, you know, he really needs his car.
So we're just really thankful that everything worked out OK
and that he's able to drive it again.
So more car adventures.
But you know, hey, it's it just it we just keep it going.
I mean, it's a Subaru, right?
He's at a two hundred and fifteen thousand miles now also.
And then I think I may have mentioned it previously in either
the earlier Subi scoop, but Pearl is over one hundred and forty thousand miles
now and still doing OK.
So that's that's good.
I saw that Ghost X Trek just hit fifty thousand miles.
So that's cool.
And she's hers is like, I think a year older than mine.
She has a twenty twenty and mine's a twenty twenty one.
And I'm at one hundred and forty thousand miles and she's only at fifty thousand miles.
I also saw that Sherman Starscream twelve oh one hit two hundred thousand miles.
So we've got some pretty cool miles or mileage milestones going on around.
So yeah, let's just keep them rolling and just keep them keep them going
and keep building up that mileage.
I still want to see how many miles I can get out of Pearl.
I mean, for having one hundred and forty thousand miles, she still drives great.
I mean, there's rattles, but don't real rigs rattle.
I mean, I guess she's a real rig.
She's been off road a few times.
But yeah, I was also looking at tires and because mine, two of them were at like
four thirty seconds, another set of the other two were at like five thirty seconds.
And I went to get my tires rotated at discount tire and they were like,
hey, you probably should get some new tires soon.
I'm like, hey, I don't have a job, so I can't get any right now.
But I did find out and I was this was never mentioned to me before.
And I guess maybe I just didn't know my tires go long enough.
But you can get a mileage credit.
So like the tires are rated at like sixty five thousand miles, I think, or sixty
thousand miles. And when it gets to the four thirty seconds, if you haven't
reached that mileage warranty period or like the rating, then you get a credit.
If you haven't reached the rated mileage, I didn't know that.
So that could be good because it seems like it's a pretty decent discount.
And so whenever I get tires, hopefully soon, then I can.
Yeah, I can save some money on getting some more tires because I'd
I'd like to get Toyos again because I really do like them.
And, you know, they're readily available here.
So that makes it easy.
But speaking of the job front, I have been getting unemployment, which is good.
So that definitely helps.
And then I I was talking to this woman with like the Texas Workforce
Commission and I just like because I was doing drafting before.
And I don't really have like, even though I've done drafting for years,
it's been very niche and I don't have like a lot of experience
and a bunch of different like drafting styles and stuff.
And a lot of the jobs that I was looking for have like very specific
requirements that I didn't meet.
And so when I was talking to that woman from the Texas Workforce Commission,
she suggested that I look on LinkedIn because it has very good resources.
And I've had a LinkedIn account for years and years and years,
but I've never used it.
I will like update it when I get a new job.
And that's pretty much it.
But I went into my account the other day and I saw that I still had the job on
there that I was working at the job that I got laid off from.
So I changed that and updated my profile and did some other things
and changed my picture too.
But I start I put in that like for my I guess like what I'm looking for
as far as the type of job is I put in hybrid and remote.
And I've been getting like notifications of remote drafting jobs
that I'm actually qualified for.
So that's been really good news.
There was also this woman that contacted me through LinkedIn and said
that she was like has some potential opportunities that are like,
I guess, alternative means of like getting into a career.
So like, if I have to go back to a drafting job or in that industry,
like in the architectural and engineering field, I will.
That's not exactly what I want to do because I've been in that industry
for so long and I want to do something different.
And, you know, getting laid off sucked and it sucks not having
a full time income again, but getting laid off was also a blessing
because it gives me an opportunity to seek out something new
and different and try to find a new career path for myself
rather than feeling like I'm just stuck doing the same thing
that I've been doing my entire career because I want to do something different.
I don't want to do the same thing forever.
So I'm using this opportunity to just explore different options
and try to find a new path and do something different.
But anyway, so enough of all that.
I hope you all have a great week.
Stay safe out there in the cold winter weather and conditions.
And I hope you all just have, you know, a good week
and we're getting close to closing out the first month of 2026.
Going to be moving into February soon.
So take care, everyone.
And we'll see you next Monday for another regular episode.
And just keep keep them coming for this year, another year,
moving into year six of the Subi and you podcast.
So thanks again so much for tuning in.
Thank you so much for sticking around for so long
and I appreciate everybody's support and my sponsors.
Speaking of, you know, I don't usually do sponsor stuff on these episodes.
But if you haven't been to Subaru gear, go check it out.
They've got a lot of great products.
You can especially go to the new tab
and or the new link and see what is new for Subaru gear.
Go check it out and just see what they have to offer.
And of course, explore all of the collections and the rest of the site.
And when you go fill up your cart, you can use the code
SUBI and you 2026 to get 20% off your purchase.
And if you're if the total of your purchase
is over $50 after the 20% discount,
you automatically get free shipping, which is a really great savings.
So it's almost best to go and find multiple items and fill up your cart.
So thank you so much, Subaru gear for sponsoring the Subi and you podcast.
And thank you to eccentric designs for sponsoring the Subi and you podcast.
Thank you to Subi mods for sponsoring the Subi and you podcast.
And thank you so much to all my patrons.
I really, really appreciate everything.
And just thank you, everybody for listening.
That's like one of the biggest things.
So have a great week.
We'll talk to you later.
Much Subi love, rap.
About this episode
A chilly winter in Houston sets the stage for this episode, where the host shares personal experiences with cold weather and car troubles. After his son's Subaru Outback faced a serpentine belt issue, they navigated a quick repair at Houston Car Garage. The discussion also touches on the importance of checking in on friends during tough times and the host's journey of job searching and career exploration. With milestones in Subaru mileage and insights into tire maintenance, this episode blends automotive adventures with relatable life lessons.
