alaskanjer

Thanks GD and Lucky Texan, I'll look for a NTN stamp when I go back. idosubaru: The green dots aren't from the yard. The yard does paint numbers on parts, but they use a yellow paint marker. They look like they were put on the straps right where they join, maybe to indicate if the boot has been tampered with or replaced. The boots felt noticeably softer than the green one they also had (that I did buy.) There was more a a "silicone" texture to the rubber, too.

I went to the wrecking yard to pick up Subaru some half shafts, and the first one the brought me wasn't green. It did have a couple of flecks of green paint on the bands that seal the boot, but the body around the upper joint wasn't green. Here is a picture. It came out of a 2001 Outback. Am I correct in thinking that all of the genuine Subaru axles are green?

is the way I'm measuring runout, except I am measuring the runout at a few different diameters, not just near the top of the brake track like he does in the video. Both front rotors have 1 thou or less lateral runout. I believe 1 thou to be within spec. I have smooth movement of the caliper bracket back and forth so I have been spared the rubber bushing/slider pin gremlins that some folks have had. Also, with pads removed and partner gently pressing brake pedal both pistons of both front calipers seem to move pretty much in unison. (as opposed to one of them binding and the other doing all the movement.) I can't entirely follow you suggestion to do a moderate bed in first because I already did an aggressive one a couple days ago. And it definitely didn't make the pulsing go away, but I didn't think about that making a possible cementite issue worse. Good idea, thanks for that suggestion. I will take it for another spin and see if things got worse since I did that. I did swap wheels around and couldn't tell any difference. I swapped front to back and also swapped between my summer and winter wheels/tires. I should also mention that I am the only one who has changed wheels on this car since way before the brake issue started and I ALWAYS use a torque wrench (75 ft. lbs.) and I tighten the lug nuts in the normal star pattern. I did not. Thanks, another simple check i should have done. I haven't re-bled yet. They were last bled 3/3/12. I didn't think it could be ABS because it is so much slower than (properly functioning) ABS, (about once per wheel revolution vs. 60 times per second,) and the more the car slows down, the slower the pulsing gets. Also, I can't hear it or feel it in the brake pedal, and I can when the ABS kicks on when I am on ice or in a panic stop.

I’m having a braking issue that I’m hoping for some help diagnosing. When I apply the brakes moderately hard at 30-40 mph, I get a pulsing feeling as if there were a warped rotor or uneven friction material transfer. I don’t feel it in the brake pedal at all or the steering wheel in those circumstances (I do feel it in the steering wheel in light braking at hwy speeds). It feels as if the brakes have more power at one half of the wheel rotation than the other. It doesn’t pull to one side or the other. It doesn’t feel anything like ABS (way slower, no sound, can’t feel it in the pedal.) It happens with equal intensity on my summer wheels and my winter wheels w/studs. The car is a ’98 Outback with 248,000 miles. I have checked everything I can think of with the brakes and I can’t find anything wrong. The rear pads and rotors have 70,000 miles on them. Pads are about 75% gone. The rear rotors (brembo OE) are at 50% (9.25mm, down from 10mm new.) I measured runout yesterday and it is .001 on one side and .0015 on the other. I measured two places, near the top and near the bottom of the brake track. Front pads/rotors have 40K on them. Pads look great for the miles, definitely more than 50% remaining. Rotor (Napa Ultra Premium) is less than 24mm but greater than 23.5mm (24mm new.) I measured runout in three different revolutions on the front rotors (top, middle, bottom of brake track.) Left was .001, .001, and 0., right was .001, .0005, and .001. Pads are Napa “Adaptive One” at all four corners. Last time I bled the brakes was two years ago when I did the front pads/rotors and replaced a frozen front caliper. This problem started showing up about 6 months after that and I thought it would probably be a caliper seal from the (poorly) remanufactured caliper. There were a couple of minor pits in the pistons and I figured they were weeping brake fluid and contaminating the pads. However I couldn’t find any evidence of leaking or contamination on the pads. So I don’t know what to check next, but pretty much everything in the suspension and steering is original.

They (or maybe just the right one) might have been, but I replaced them so I don't know for sure. I think the vibration had something to do with brake getting hot. It would always show up the minute I hit highway speeds but only last 5 minutes or so. The frozen piston was caused by water getting past the stretchy wrinkly dust seal (I don't know what it's called) but not the square cut O-ring. Of the four pistons on the front of the car, this only happened to one, and that one was the only one without silicone grease inside. So maybe (I'm definitely not an expert) when you rebuild calipers, it might be better to use silicone grease to lubricate the parts upon reassembly, rather than brake fluid.

Well, color me embarrassed. I went to pull the other axle and re-boot it and discovered a lot more brake drag than there should have been. Also, the pads were just about gone on that side when the other side were still in great shape. I cracked the bleed screw to see if it a caliper problem or something else. It turned out that one of the brake caliper pistons was frozen. I swear on a stack of bibles that I never noticed the vibration until I put the Empi axle on, but it must have been there before because when I fixed the frozen caliper and installed new pads, the vibration totally went away. It wasn't the Empi axle after all. I still need to re-boot that other axle. Any idea who MWE or Subaru gets boots from? Is one company's boot pretty much as good as another? And thanks 1 lucky Texan, for the tip about switching sides, that's smart and I wouldn't have thought to do that.

OK, that makes sense. Now that I think about it, it was in the "older gen subarus" forum that I read that. And no, I didn't massage the boot at all, so I'll give that a go. @grossgary and 1 Lucky Texan Axle nut was torqued to 140 ft. lbs. (with a newish but budget oriented torque wrench) Haynes said 123-151 ft. lbs. so I figured I'd shoot for the middle in case the torque wrench is a little out of spec. This was done with no weight on the wheel. Pin was installed on on the tranny side. grossgary, thanks for the tip on rebooting. I already got rid of the one axle because I didn't realize the boot was torn until it started going "wacka wacka wacka" on tight left corners, and I assummed that once it starts making noise, it was too far gone. Next time I'll try and save it. (well, next time I'll try and prevent it...) I will definitely reboot the other side rather than toss it. Should I get OE Subaru boots? Do I need a special kind of grease? The Empi axle I did install was for the 2001+ cars that need the tone ring. (I was careful to make sure it wasn't for the 2005+ cars when the axles got an inch or so longer.) However, I didn't remove the tone ring. It didn't seem to be in the way of anything, but I only checked with the car in the air. I'll check for any evidence that it is rubbing on something with suspension/steering movement. And if massaging the inboard boot doesn't yield results, I think I'll also take your advice and get another Subaru axle from the salvage yard. They are a little bit more in my neighborhood ($50) plus boots etc. but it sounds like they are worth it. And if rebooting is as easy as replacing the axle, then it should be a snap.

Alignment was done last spring, about 12,000 miles ago. Tires have about 20K on them and were balanced when new, but not since then. I haven't installed the other one yet, because it will be easier to return if it is the fault of the Empi axles. I'm sure it is at least related to the axle I installed, because the vibration wasn't there before and it showed up the first time I drove it after changing the one axle. I think mostly what I am asking is this: Is it likely that the new axle is making another existing problem (like maybe worn out mounts) more obvious? Or is it just that all non-Subaru or MWE axles are so substandard that I should expect them all to have a high probability of producing vibration like this?

Maybe i should clarify: "at speed" means starting at about 50mph, worst at 60mph, and becoming less noticeable over 65-70 mph.

Well, I checked out a local upholstery shop and he quoted "at least $300" to do both pieces of the driver's side seat. The local salvage yard has several, but pretty much all of them feel just as beat down as my seat. There was one seat in a 2005 that felt a lot better than mine, but the guy at yard said 2005 wouldn't fit. Can anyone shed any light on the difference between 2005 and before? I'm decent at fabricating shims and customizing, but I'm not a wizard like some, and I don't want to kill a whole weekend making something work. The yard wants $100-$150 per seat depending on the mileage. Also, some of the seats have airbags. I'm assuming that doesn't matter if I don't plug them into anything.

I bought a pair of Empi axles and replaced the drivers side. I know, searching told me that OEM or MWE are the way to go but I cant afford Subaru at the moment and MWE never returned my calls. Also, I live in Alaska so shipping original and core will double the cost of the MWEs. Local salvage yard has some subaru axles, but none with 50k or less. Soooo It seemed Empi was the next choice and I bought a pair of those. I got one installed and it vibrates at speed for a while (about 5 min.) and then it seems to go away. Searching further I ran across the advice to replace the motor and transmission mounts too? The vibration might be from worn mounts and the old axles had enough slop to hide it. Does this seem right? It is a 98 outback 5 spd. with 200k. Also, should I re-boot the other side that didn't tear a boot, or should I be happy that I got 200K out of it and not try to nurse any more life out of it?

I have a 98 outback and the springs and padding in the seats are worn out. I am going to be making some long commutes this summer so I would like to get chairs that are a little more supportive. I was thinking that the easiest thing to do would be get some out of a newer wrecked Sub with low miles. Does anyone know what years will fit? Do I need to look for legacy/O'B seats only, or will seats from an Impreza/Forester work too? Is there a better or more cost effective way to get seats with better padding and more support? (Mostly, I am after lower back support.)

Thanks for the replies. Do you know about when they improved them? The reason I ask is because I have a 98 OB that got a new engine (shortblock) under warranty from the dealer in late 2002. The warrantied engine now has almost 150,000 on it. The HG are fine right now, but if there is a high likelihood that they will go soon, I'd rather do it now as I have some time and help. FWIW, I have the paperwork from the warranty transaction. It lists: gasket seal kit part # 10105AA401. I don't know if the HG can be identified when it comes as part of a kit.

I think I remember reading somewhere on this site that part of the reason for the head gasket troubles for the DOHC 2.5 engines was that the original OEM HGs were not up to the job. Once Subaru noticed the problem, they improved the head gasket. The improved head gasket still doesn't have a perfect track record, but they have been a lot more reliable than the originals. Now when I search I am not finding any posts to that effect. Did Subaru change their HGs for that application, or did I invent that idea in my head? (Or more likely, misinterpret a comparison between the DOHC engines and the SOHC, or maybe OEM head gaskets vs. something else?)

bummer... I was hoping for reasonably priced 4.44 gearing in my 5 speed someday.

If you are REALLY motivated you can. Check out this 3 minute video where a guy put a 4.44 out of an auto into 5mt.

grossgary, if you lived within 100 miles of here I'd be on your door step with a case of beer (or scotch or perrier or whatever). It was the plug wires. I had the point (that these cars are very picky about their plug wires) driven home when I got interrupted halfway through swapping the wires. I had just switched 1 and 3 when I needed to run to the store, and the car wouldn't even start. First I thought I must have missed a connection so I checked but they were good. I tried a few times more and it was pretty clear it wouldn't start. I didn't flog it to death but I did try 5 or 6 times for several seconds each time and nothing. So I pulled the old wires off 2 and 4 and put the shiny new expensive ones on and it started right up (despite smelling a little flooded.) And it ran better than it has in a year, at least. None of the weird hesitation that has had me pulling my hair out trying to troubleshoot. I've got plugs but I haven't had a chance to swap them yet. I didn't do them yesterday because I wanted to do it stepwise to know what change improved or fixed it. And today I got to spend some quality time with our plumbing digging my 4 yo daughter's toy watch out of the toilet. So I'm all up to date on my R-rated words in case spark plug # 4 is as ornery as they say.

According to my records, the injectors were "serviced" when the engine was replaced. Is this also something I should address? And sorry Fairtax4me, I didn't intentionally steal your words. I didn't see your post before I replied.

Timing belt/idler pulleys and bearings were replace with OEM last year at 178,000. I haven't ever done any with the valves. I doubt they have been touched since the engine was replace at 75,000. Is this something that should be part of a regular maintenance schedule for this engine? Plugs/wires have about 95,000 on them. Opps, I thought I had done them more recently, thanks for making me check. They are OEM and the replacements will be too. I've read here that these engines are very picky about their plugs and wires. Any chance that old plugs and/or wires could produce a hesitation at exactly the same RPM every time?

I have '98 O'B 5-speed, 2.5. It has this weird hesitation problem that showed up about 25,000 miles ago (190,000 on car, 115,000 on new warrantied motor (short block only)) and has steadily been getting worse. It has progressed from extremely minor to annoying and finally to pain in the arse status and has resisted everything I have tried. When I am accelerating from low RPMs, there are several consistant dead spots where the engine hesitates for a half second before resuming normal acceleration. The hesitation ALWAYS happens at the same points on the tach, with the worst occuring at about 1750, and the second worst happening at about 2100. There are a few other spots too, but they are all below 2500 rpm unless I have the gas pedal fully depressed (3rd gear trying to get up to 75 in a short merging lane.) At full throttle the hesitation is more pronounced and happens at semi regular intervals all the way to redline. I have searched and searched, and the post that makes the most sense is this one: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=115064 I have checked or replaced all this stuff (from above post) "Eliminate all external influences, such as an incorrect or dirty air filter, loose or tracked intake duct, dirty fuel filter, low fuel pressure, PVC system, or low engine vacuum that would indicate an external leak or an internal engine component. " I haven't (and don't know how) checked the timing while driving. I was occasionally getting CEL and codes for knock sensor and EGR and I have replaced them as well. I still sometimes get a code for EGR (P0403) but it usually goes away on its own after a week or so, and stays off for months. Idling in cold weather for 5 min or more is what seems to trigger the P0403, so I don't think it is related to the hesitation. A friend said it could be the TPS, but it seems like if it were the TPS then it would be more linked to the throttle position and not at all linked to specific RPMs, but I am by no means an expert. Any ideas?

I'll be towing it with the 26' truck that U-haul rents. I made the trip down with a fully loaded 17' U-haul truck pulling the car on a trailer and there were definitely times that I was glad the trailer had brakes. But man it was a dog. Any slight incline or twisty road (and that seemed like most of the way) and I was limited to 35mph. I am hoping the bigger truck with aproximately the same load would have a little more pep on the climbs and have the braking capacity to not need a trailer with brakes, but i don't really know. The dollys that u-haul rents don't have brakes like the trailers do.

It's a manual. I agree, the four wheels down idea sounds like way more time and energy than it would be worth. Sounds like the dolly is the way to go. Thanks

I'm moving back up to Alaska and will be towing my 98 OB with a big U-haul truck. On the move down I trailered it, but all that extra weight (trailer weighs 2200 lbs.) made for slow going and awkward handling and I'm sure affected gas mileage too. I think I got about 6 or 7 mpg. I did some searching on this forum and found I could disconnect the drive shaft and use a dolly which would would save about 1600 lbs and is cheaper to rent also. That got me thinking. Is there any reason not to pull the front axles and tow with all four wheels down? The odometer is hooked to the transmission, right? so I wouldn't be adding miles to the odometer. Is it hard on a car to get towed like this? The trip will be about 2400 miles.

Yea, I've looked into that option, but I think it would push me over the edge in the "replace vs. upgrade what I have" debate. I think I am sort of at my limit in what i want to take on with the above mentioned changes. I guess getting a complete rear end with brakes and everything might beat swapping out a rear diff...

Ahhh... The wife is done with school and we're moving back to Alaska at last. My plan has been to buy a used OB to replace the Legacy wagon before we make the trip. We're moving to a neighborhood where the extra clearance will come in handy at least a few times a year, plus I like being a little taller. Anyway, I've been poking around and found some interesting posts on doing a suspension lift on a regular wagon to obtain the ride height of an OB (with bigger wheels too.) If I understand it correctly, all you need is OB struts. (Probably a 4 wheel alignment, too?) If I did that I would also want to change the 3.90 diffs to the 4.11 as is on the manual trans OBs. If I keep our non-OB wagon, I will have to pull and fix the tranny anyway, as the main input shaft bearing is rumbling (goes away when the clutch pedal is depressed halfway or more,) and the throw-out bearing is squealing (when I start to apply pressure to the clutch pedal.) Basically the car needs a clutch and tranny work. Finding a tranny with a 4.11 (rather than fix this one) shouldn’t be too much more expensive, right? Then I just need a 4.11 rear end to match and presto! My custom Outback without the two-tone trim around the bottom. Possible things to dissuade me. My wagon is a '96 Brighton. I have never felt like it has inadequate braking power for my fairly conservative style of driving, but it does have comparatively small (to the rest of the legacy family) front brakes and just drums on the rear. Will increasing the wheel diameter from 24.2" to 26.3" overwhelm these brakes? Will it make that much difference? Have I done my homework correctly? Or am I hopelessly naive and optimistic?