eryque

I hate to rain on our parade (pun intended), but while you can GO in adverse conditions, you can't always STOP. Gotta slow down when roads are slick, no matter how good your traction control. I met a tow truck driver who has a love hate relationship with SUVs. See, he loves it when cocky drivers of SUVs and AWD vehicles go off the road because he collects more money from them for getting them out of the ditch. He hates them because they go further into the ditch and he has to get them out and it's a huge pain in the butt, hence the extra money.

Does anyone know what retailers sell this stuff? I stopped at Advance Auto last night and found that they didn't have any of this stuff. In fact, they didn't have any gear oil that I thought was all that great, so I walked out without anything.

Betcha a nickel that you've got a problem in the major components of your electrical system. Either it's a failing alternator, bad battery, or bad battery cable.

I don't doubt that anyone sees the potential in this, but I think many of us doubt whether it's actually true. Someone smarter than me will have inform us about this for certain, but I don't think it's possible to increase both the horsepower and fuel economy of an engine, short of switching to a power source like nuclear fusion The fuels you talked about don't have that much more energy stored in them than gasoline. Some do have the potential to burn more efficiently, though. I am truly a lover of new technology and always see their potential to have a major impact, but this one smacks of something that just won't come to fruition. As an aside, want to know a nearly foolproof way to predict whether some new technology will be successful? If it appears on the cover of Popular Science you are nearly 100% guaranteed that it will fail.

It's oil change time. Which synthetic do you guys think is best, based on experience? And what filter is best? I think I've read here a bunch of times that Fram was junk, so I'm curious about what's better.

I assume by "vacuum pump" you mean the servo with the vacuum line running to the intake manifold, right? I did install it.

this does not make me hopeful. I've got the same thing going on, but I was hoping it was just because I didn't have the clutch and brake switches installed.

Ugh, that sounds like a lot of work! But if it has to be done....

My Impreza is leaking in the rain, and it's pissing me off. All of my carpets are wet after the rain. Does this mean that all of my window seals are leaking?

On a car with a standard transmission the power steering doesn't work at all when the clutch is disengaged and the engine is idling, right? I don't have any problem steering without PS. Why don't thy just make an electric car with the same steering rack? No power steering needed, right? The more I think about the electrical Subie, the more I don't see the point. If it's only good for short distances, I'm sure you lose most of the advantages of AWD. Unless your short commute involes a very short trip on mountain roads or up and down a long, steep, and windy driveway, do you really get any advantage over a cheaper green vehicle? I love my Subies for the AWD, but take away that and the the H4 engine and they're sub-par vehicles.

Whoops! Forgot to add in the alignment and the two rear brake lines that needed to be replaced. Add another $200, so the total is $510. I also looked at those rear springs again and found that the rear does sit lower. It's not too bad, so I'm not going to worry about it.

I did reuse the springs, but I think the percieved sag is just an optical illusion in the photos. They were a *************** and a half to get on there! In another 90,000 miles I'll redo everything.

I paid $260 for the KYB GR-2s (including shipping) and $50 to my friend's kid for helping. Actually, he did most of the work and couldn't be disuaded. I also paid $70 for new boots, but they shipped the wrong ones and I didn't realize it until I was already in the middle of it, so I reused the old ones.

I just did this to my Impreza, which came without factory CC. The problem I ran into was that the unused connector was tucked away and nearly impossible to find. I looked pretty carefully a few times and had no luck. The only way I finally found it was to get the factory service manual, which has a page that labels all the wiring connectors and their function. From that I was able to tell within about 2 square feet where the connector should be, so it was a no-brainer from there. I bet if you're nice to a parts guy he'll show you that page in the manual. Or you can download it. http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp

I'm sure they'll sell a handful of them, but no more than that. $40k is a lot of money for a car that has a maximum range of 2 hrs. Folks want efficient cars that perform like our gas guzzlers. Subie would probably hit a home run if they came out with a hybrid, though I think it's proven that low fuel consumption is not a major priority of most of their customers.

Maybe I should be honest and say that I didn't actually lift it, but the struts were totally shot (none of the 4 could even support their own weight), so I followed AndyJo's lead and put Forester struts on it. I haven't measured the ground clearance yet, but It seems to sit about 4 inches higher than it did when it was just sitting on the springs alone. It rides pretty danged nice now! Even without an alignment (which it already needed) it's much more fun to drive and feels like it sticks to the road. Can't wait until I get new tires too! before:

How could choosing a narrower tire not make a narrower contact patch?

I just got a set off of ebay for $224 from theimportexperts.

Where can I get the best deal on a new set of GR-2s for a '98 Forester? ebay? Is there a better source? Seems that my rear struts are totally gone so it's time to do the deed.

Are you the original owner? If not, my money is on someone not knowing there was a recall and had that one installed to replace the original faulty alternator.

Went out to my car yesterday morning and found a big hole where there should have been a black cover for the fog light. Now I gotta track down another one. I didn't hit anything, so I'm pretty sure that someone took it. Bastards. If anyone has the left side cover for a '98 Impreza L, let me know.

Some douche took one of my fog light covers. I thought that maybe I'd use this as an opportunity to install the fog lights instead of just trying to track down the cover. I looked, but didn't see the wiring connector for the fog lights. Was this connector included on the 2.2L Impreza L in 98? The service manual shows the connector, but says "2500 cc only." Since the lights weren't installed, does that mean that the wires aren't there?

That's too much money unless some very serious maintenence has been done recently on that car, and unless it's in nearly perfect shape. For that much money it should be totally clean with no rust or dents, and good paint, have recent brakes & exhaust work, timing belt, water pump, and possibly struts. If those are original they're probably not far from blowing. It should also have relatively new tires. If any of that is lacking, I'd walk as there is bound to be a much better deal coming along. Just to be sure you know, the Impreza doesn't have more room than a sedan. When I think of a sedan, I think of a 4-door full-size car, like a Legacy or a Taurus or an Accord or something like that. 4 door Imprezas aren't really sedans, they're 4 door compacts. And an Impreza is certainly a compact car. It's not too bad, but adults will probably not fit comfortably in the back seat. The front isn't too bad, but like most compact cars the seats and ammenities are not all that robust. If you're used to bigger cars, you might miss it. I like driving my Impreza more than I liked driving my last Legacy wagon, but it's not quite as comfortable.

she only blows on the highest setting? (lord i apologize!) just to be clear, eryque had a problem. i've gotten lots of very helpful advice on how to fix it after it stopped being a problem i'm sure insane_enasni appreciates the help too

My bet is with a flaky relay too since the volate was intermittent, but since it's working now I'm not going to futz with it