OB99W

As others have suggested, checking your torque wrench for accuracy might be a good idea. Lug nuts on alloy wheels tend to reseat a bit as driven, due to wheel flexing (front wheels typically do more of this than rears), etc., and will loosen somewhat. You should probably recheck the torque after driving a few (50-100?) miles after the initial tightening, and retighten as needed. If you wait until the lug nuts are loose, you are still only doing the initial tightening. As 1 Lucky Texan mentioned, there may be other issues.

I've had a car's battery last as long as 13 years. My experience is that "average" quality batteries seem more likely to perform well for a long time. The cheap ones usually last about 6 years, as do many of the "better" ones with high cold cranking amp (CCA) capacity. I suspect that the failure of the high-CCA ones is due to their having more plates, packed closer together, and if they loose some plate material the sludge formed is more likely to short out cells. Low-maintenance batteries that are kept properly filled, using distilled water, seem to fare better than no-maintenance types. Of course, a properly-functioning charging system is also important.

You're welcome! There's a quick check you can do with an ohmmeter, assuming you have one and know how to use it. The receiver/dryer is a cylinder about 2" in diameter and 7" long, having 2 refrigerant lines attached and a 2-wire electrical connector (my info shows yellow and brown/yellow wires for the '99 Forester). That electrical connection is to the pressure switch. The test can be done with the engine off; pull the connector (be sure to depress the lock tab), and check continuity across the switch contacts in the dryer (not the harness). The reading should be very near zero ohms. If the switch is open, it's likely that the refrigerant level is too low; the pressure switch could be bad, but that's much less likely. Since the last A/C work was apparently done less than a year ago (you said 7/05), there seems to be an unacceptable leak rate, and a shop should check for that before fully charging the system. If there's currently no refrigerant charge at all, the dryer may be moisture-saturated and have to be replaced, and the system should be evacuated; definitely not work for a first-time DIYer .

You could just be low on refrigerant. There's a pressure switch mounted in the receiver/dryer that won't let the A/C engage if the pressure is too low. Of course, there are several other possibilities (open thermal switches, wiring problems, etc.), but low refrigerant is common.

As far as I know, clutch dampers are typically used for two possible reasons: 1) To minimize potential damage to the trans should the driver rev the hell out of the engine and pop the clutch; damping would tend to smoke the clutch a bit more, but that's probably better than stripped gear teeth or broken shafts. 2) To help minimize clutch shudder if there's a tendency towards that happening.

This may be too obvious, but have you checked the underside of the hood? Many cars have the vacuum diagram pasted on there.

A trans cooler leak can certainly put ATF in the coolant, but it will also usually put coolant in the ATF, often seen as an emulsion (like mayonnaise) on the trans dipstick. If the ATF/dipstick look normal, it's more likely to be a head gasket problem. Checking for bubbles, HCs, CO2 at the radiator filler might be telling.

Sorry, that's what a guy who owns an OB with AT gets for giving generic info !

Mostly, it minimizes lawsuits . When it's working correctly, it usually prevents the starter from cranking in any gear position other than neutral, so that if the clutch is engaged the car won't move. (If it's defective or misadjusted, it can prevent the starter from working at all, or allow it to crank in a driven gear.)

According to http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/4EATDiagnosisWin02.pdf the external filter was first used on the '99 models. For reference, there are pictures showing the spin-on filter in the PDF.

Although circuit diagrams I have seen don't show it, a piece of metal such as you describe typically is used for thermal overload protection. If that's the case, a low melting-point solder would usually be used for one joint of the thermal protector; if the solder softens sufficiently due to excessive heat, the metal strip "springs " and breaks the electrical connection. It's possible that the same solder is used on all of the joints in the blower resistor assembly. If you're experiencing regular failure of the resistors, the blower motors may be drawing too much current. See http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/elec/MotorRepairsInfoSp01.pdf Sometimes excessive current draw in DC motors having brushes and undercut commutators is due to conductive material (brush dust, etc.) stuck in the grooves between commutator segments; cleaning that out can often reduce the current to normal. I don't know if Subaru blower motors have undercut commutators, but if so and you suspect high current draw, it might be worthwhile to investigate that possibility.

Ding, ding, ding; we have two winners. Both 1 Lucky Texan and 9pec are correct. Web is what joins connecting rod journals to main journals. Counterweights are extensions of the webs opposite to the rod journals, and serve to balance moving mass. By the way, one of the tricky parts of designing a crankshaft is to keep it as light as possible without significantly compromising its strength (less mass usually leads to a more easily-revving engine). Thin web means less weight, especially since counterweight can also be somewhat lessened, but that obviously makes the crank more fragile. The converse for thicker webbing.

Not to be a wiseguy (well, maybe a bit of one ), but perhaps it's not the connecting rods that made those marks. See http://www.drive.subaru.com/SubaruDrive-Sum02/FeatureStory/Piston-Cranky/Crankshaft.jpg and http://z.about.com/d/autorepair/1/0/Q/B/98716740.gif

The wheels contribute to what is known as "unsprung weight". This can affect several things, and you might want to look into it a bit further. A decent explanation can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight .

A/C that is "weak" but still functional is typically due to low refrigerant; a recharge is often all that is needed, although you might want to add a dye and check for leaks before fully recharging. It could be worthwhile to check the condenser (the "radiator" in front of the radiator) for a bug collection or damaged fins. Also, do the controls seem to be moving things correctly? Are you sure that #8 is a real problem? Most driver's power windows only "auto-down" (my '99 works that way), not up, due to safety concerns.

Dexron III should be compatible even if the trans currently has Dexron II in it. By the way, you may find that what's available is labeled "Dexron III/Mercon"; don't be concerned, since Ford's recent Mercon ATF spec has the same general frictional characteristics as Dexron III, hence the dual-usage labeling.

From http://www.answers.com/stereotypester·e·o·type (stĕr'ē-ə-tīp', stîr'-) n. 1. A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image. ---- Not every engineer is limited in scope to the theoretical. Apparently some engineers are able to utilize their knowledge to design cars for actual production. Others have their own well-equipped shops and know which end of a wrench to hold when working on their cars. Some are willing to share their theoretical and practical knowledge with other members of this forum, and will even admit that they don't know everything.

If brice k is looking at the wrong place (not near the timing scale), that could explain things. Of course, then we're talking 30 degrees BTDC, which would seem to be a bit more advance than usual (by about 10 to 15 degrees), and could be a reason for the pinging. Even though the ignition timing is dynamically controlled by the ECU, that doesn't mean it isn't a good thing to check initially, especially on a car that apparently has non-factory "goodies".

Assuming that the timing light correctly adjusts to zero offset (you might want to check timing of another engine with the light), that only leaves a couple of possibilities: 1) On the 2.5, and I believe also on the 2.2, the groove is at what I'd call the rear of the crank pulley, nearest to the timing scale, and it's highlighted with a dab of white paint. Are you referencing something else? 2) It's possible that your pulley is failing, and that the outer portion has turned with respect to the inner part. Or, someone mounted the pulley without using the woodruff key (but torqued the bolt really well), which could allow it to be turned relative to the crank.

I think we can agree that things don't make sense here. Ignition anywhere near 150 degrees from top center isn't likely to lead to a running engine . Are you sure that you're referencing the proper mark on the pulley? Is there any possibility that the timing light you're using has an offset that isn't correctly zeroed? Perhaps you should try another timing light. Nipper mentioned some things to consider for pinging, and there are others, but verifying the ignition timing at idle isn't a bad starting point.

The battery does more than provide power for cranking the engine. In an automotive environment it acts much like a large capacitor. At idle and low speeds, the charging system isn't capable of providing a lot of current. Therefore, if the demand is high (headlights, seat warmers, window degoggers, etc. on) at low engine speeds, the battery is called upon to "fill in". The other capacitor-like function the battery performs is to filter the output of the alternator. An alternator is an AC generator with diodes that rectify the AC and "convert" it to DC; however, the DC from the alternator pulsates, and the battery serves to "smooth" the voltage. The amount of current drawn by the brake lights isn't insignificant, and that additional load when the headlights are already on is often enough to require the battery to supply some power. If the battery isn't up to it, or if there's excessive resistance in connections due to corrosion, etc., the lights might dim. So, even if the battery terminal clamps are tight, there may be some voltage drop that could be minimized if the connections were cleaned. Or, as others have already mentioned, the battery may not be fully charged. If the alternator belt was loose for long enough, it may take a bit of running before it brings the battery up to full charge. Another possibility is that the battery has some problems, and isn't able to take a full charge or deliver full output. By the way, there's no "free lunch". When the alternator is providing current (either to run things or to charge the battery), the energy comes from someplace, and that place is the engine. The greater the current required from the alternator, the more of a load it puts on the engine. That actually slows the engine somewhat; at road speeds you may not notice it, but at idle and low speeds it can be more easily detected. Naturally, if the engine slows, so does the alternator, enough to drop the alternator output a bit; when the brake lights come on this happens to some degree, and could be another reason for some dimming. Of course, it's possible that the alternator just isn't putting out enough. If that's the case, it might not charge the battery fully or provide enough output to keep lights at full brilliance if the demand is high enough.

Beer, huh? So it's alcohol, not acetone, that does it? At least now I get the "Forester Titleist" reference.

Possibly explained by the fact that a single Excursion is about as big as 2 OBWs.

Why do I suspect that when fnlyfnd says "tension", the reference concerns a force applied to the alternator drive belt, but vic/se is likely referring to "voltage"? (Please understand, I'm not being critical, just making an observation about language usage.)

I agree that it wouldn't hurt to try the minimalist approach at first. However, keep in mind that while slight scratches in the cylinder wall that are concentric with the rings or at a small angle to them (such as what a hone produces) shouldn't be a problem, any sufficiently long/deep ones going in the direction of piston travel can be problematical. If you use a hand-held pad-type abrasive or something similar, be sure to go "around" the cylinder wall as evenly and lightly as possible, not "top-to-bottom" or vice versa. Since water was in cylinders #2 and #4, there's a fair chance that the rings are already corroded. Passing them through the rusty area of the cylinders when removing the pistons likely won't make a difference, as they'd probably need replacement anyway. Of course, it might not be a bad idea to lubricate the cylinders before pulling the pistons.