edrach

There was a time I used Fram oil filters (roundly dissed by others here). The point is I never had any issues with them since I changed oil/filter every 2500 miles. I have since changed to OEM Subaru and I buy them 6 or 12 at a time through 1stsubaruparts.com (by 'phone with Jason in Parts, 866-528-5282). With the online discount, the price is low enough to justify stocking the filters and I go through them pretty rapidly since I have three cars that I do on the 2500 to 3000 mile interval. No need to spend extra money for a "premium" product IMHO.

Lynn thanks for the mention. They mentioned us because we were just out of the award circle. Jeanne and I did have a great time. The roads were exciting to say the least. We didn't get lost but had some issues with working the rally computer. As the old computer saying goes, "garbage in garbage out." I've got to get more consistent if I'm going to get us into the top three. There are some truly competitive teams out here. A great job done by ORG. We'll certainly be back again next year.

I was with a group of nasioc folks. They didn't invite just me, but Jeanne and I were fortunate to be included in this group.

No further information as yet. But if you're just down the road, go for it and enjoy. I'd like to go, but need more confidence that it's really on before I drive 5 hours out to get there.

Not quite correct. Wild West rally has been cancelled. Latest word is that rallycross is still on; Sept. 18 and 19; Garfield County fairgrounds. I haven't heard anything more as yet. http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41674&page=2

Nothing wrong with an adjustable bar if you can afford the price. Whiteline makes an excellent one.

GD.....good points all. But it's easy to lose a thin shim washer in the residual gearoil (been there, done that). As to the cost of used, you're certainly having better luck than I had when going through this. Two used trannys and a dis-assembled tranny in a box (with a destroyed 3rd gear, so I thought the center diff would be okay) and I used up around $400 and about 3 months of looking without getting a working center diff. At that point, I opted for getting a new one.

Yikes, transmission issues AND a torn rotator cuff. Talk about double bad luck. You're wise to have someone else do that transmission swap for you. Best of luck with the repair.

Just make sure you find and re-use all the existing shim washers.

Honestly, I can't be sure what they came off of anymore. Free or cheap doesn't leave much room for argument. I think one came off an RS and the other a WRX. Anyway, the front bar is 19mm and the rear is 20mm. Not quite as beefy as the 23mm bar on the link I sent you. But the really important thing is to get the rear bar replaced. That will help a lot to stiffen it up without getting too "lively" going around corners. My entire purpose was to get it to sit flat in the corners. For rallycross I don't want it too stiff since I want to allow the suspension to work and keep the wheels on the ground and not bounce around a lot.

Center diff is ~$550 plus tax from 1stsubaruparts.com (call Jason in parts at Mike Scarf Subaru..Auburn...and ask for the internet pricing 1-866-528-5282). Replacement takes an experienced mechanic about 3 hours or less (if I remember correctly). That 2000 quote is exceptionally high. I know there was one poster who bought the center diff himself and then did the job in his driveway (search for it). I chickened out when my Forester had this issue and had an experienced mechanic do mine (I can recommend him highly; drop me a PM and I'll pass along his information if you like). You might find one at the wrecking yard, but the PAP yards don't normally get cars newer than '97 (Subaru changed the center diff design in '98...all 5MT models have the same center diff from '98 to '03 I believe). I spent 3 months living with the torque bind looking for a used one and never found one and finally bit the bullet and bought it through Jason. If you're planning on keeping your Outback for a while, I'd go with the new part. My Forester had 125K on it when it failed and I hope to keep it past 200K.

I tried to clarify my earlier post on that. I agree with you about understeer and that's the first thing I tried to correct with my '97 Impreza wagon. Rallycross is my thing and understeer just frustrates me. If it will help the OP, I'd be glad to measure my front and rear swaybars since I've got a suspension that rotates when I want it to, and is fairly neutral when I don't. It's also delightful to drive on pavement with no ugly surprises. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't spend big bucks for the two bars, but bought (for cheap or free) castoffs from others who did spend the big bucks.

23mm sounds a bit too big for me, but you can't beat the price. Also, you need to check which year WRX since only the early years will fit your car. Also, front swaybar won't help the understeer much; might even make it worse. Getting rid of that 12mm rear bar will help your car a lot. I've got to clarify the last sentence. I should have said replaceing the 12mm rear bar with something stronger (18 or 19mm) will reduce the understeer significantly. Just getting rid of it will make the handling worse. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2044922

Got this in my email today. Some of the prices are very nice. http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1267747&m=wc&l=en&html=true

If you have a cable driven speedometer, the VSS is in the speedometer/odometer housing. If you don't have a cable driven speedometer (LCD display of mileage), the VSS should be a small unit on the transmission where the cable originated on the earlier models.

You really want to do this in the winter???

I read well enough; it just didn't sink in. As it was, I think yours was the only suggestion.

Good job; now you can rest for the remainder of the holiday. I think you're correct in that the tranny drainplug is a 21mm and not 22.

Wow, six pages and you still haven't gotten a suggestion on the rear swaybar! Funny how a cute pic can distract the youngsters. Anyway, if money is an object check craigslist or nasioc for an early WRX swaybar for the rear. I put one on my '97 Impreza and it works just fine. I think it's a 19mm but I can measure it to be sure. Whiteline is great and so is Rallitek, but a used WRX 'bar will work just fine until you find what you want. Endlinks can be had from the same source for cheap. Funny how the kids upgrade their WRXs and then practically give away the old pieces. As to stiffening up the ride, KYB shocks for sure. The GR2's are just fine for street use. I found a new set of AGX adjustable shocks here on the USMB for $250 a few years ago and found that I like them with the full soft setting for street and rallycross use. Also Polypropelyne bushings to replace the rubber ones will work fine (check with Sean at Rallitek for those) to reduce the roll a bit more. As for the tire gap on the wheel well. You get used to it. Here's how 14" tires look on my Impreza. I put the 15s back for street use and I'm going to go with 16s next year just to save a bit of gas.

You're correct about removing the air filter housing. I think I managed to replace the gearoil in my Impreza without doing that, but it was a pain. It's also a bit of a pain to remove the air filter housing but that's the way it goes. If you do need a dipstick, I can probably find one for you locally (we have 3 PAP yards within 40 miles of here). The real difficulty is finding a late '90s Forester which has a 5MT.

You probably still have the dipstick; it's just very difficult to see. Here's a pic of the one in my 1999 Forester: The dipstick ring is that shiny curved thing just below the blue connector and above the smaller corrogated tubing. My dipstick ring is black; I don't understand why they didn't make it yellow like the engine oil dipstick. I had to take 10 pics before I got the light just right to see it. The real trick is getting it back into the hole after you change the gear oil.

Pull a part is your friend if you have one near you. Should be the same dipstick for lots of model years as long as it's a 5MT transmission.

Good job. Luckily you got him before he started to build his nest and raise a family in there. Framingham doesn't sound too rural to me. But it doesn't take too large an opening for a mouse to get in. Word to the wise, don't leave anything that looks like food in the car overnight. Otherwise you'll have more visitors trying to set up house keeping.

You forgot to mention it rains incessantly.

I just use the 1/2" ratchet that I have; no socket needed needed for the rear diff. Transmission dip tube and filler access is on the passenger side as you said, but you have to look DOWN; it's not sticking up in the air like you would expect. I used a long necked funnel to fill the transmission last time I changed the gear oil. By the way, remove the fill plug on the diff first and then the drain plug to change the gear oil. Nothing worse than draining the diff and discovering you can't get the fill plug out!