porcupine73

I'd keep 'er. Esp considering the timing belt and all that stuff should be good for a while. At least keep as a beater/backup vehicle. It is very convenient to have a beater/backup vehicle. Those years are known for knock sensor issues, so it's not surprising you had to replace it. If the a/c compressor is going out, you could get one from a salvage yard, pop it in, then get it evacuated and recharged, or do it yourself. Tires are a maintenance item; I mean all cars need those eventually.

Sounds good! Yes change the ATF a few more times over the course of the next thousand miles. You only get about half the fluid via the drain plug. Try to stick with the same brand&type each time. When you do the coolant, at the least avoid any OAT types (gm dexcool and certain all makes/all models coolants). And treat yourself to a new thermostat. I'm sure a walk through the nearest best buy or similar place would have a selection of decent stereos under $200.

I got a clam type compressor from harbor freight. It works well, but I don't use it anymore because it's too bulky, hard to get on the springs, and it's arms are sometimes in the way for the top hats. So I got that kind with the two threaded rods with the hooks/arms from Lisle. I recently put some lift springs on my Outback and it did throw the camber off. I didn't replace any ball joints or anything at that time. Getting the alignment is the ideal thing to do I guess. At least for the interim, I just set it for zero camber by using a 12" long level against the wheel. It took a few iterations to zero out both sides. Subaru seems to give a fairly liberal camber tolerance though anyway.

Sounds good. Have you replaced struts before? I see those are from jdmwerks13. That's where I got mine. I didn't receive any confirmation, tracking number, or anything (which made me nervous), but I did get the struts in good shape in a few days.

Outback struts will work, but you might want to double check that eBay link. It says they are Legacy struts - not Outback. I haven't dealt with that vendor, but did get good results with seller jdmwerks on a set of 4 GR-2's. Bought from seller performancepeddler but they sent me one wrong strut though they were good about taking it back.

Application: Differential oil drain plug, bearing cap #5 (Impreza only), oil pressure switch, etc. Recommendation: THREEBOND 1105 (also referred to as FUJI BOND “C”) SOA part number #004403010 Equivalents: 3M T-3 Silicone (black) #08670 Threebond products are very common and obtainable in japan. Not so much in the U.S., though many ATV dealers will have it. I've used pipe dope before too and it works fine. It needs a sealant because it is a tapered thread and there is a leak path between the crests and roots. I don't know why they use this style plug, but it is a fairly common style on the rear diffs of many automakers. New tranny not shifting well: get that ford oil out of there and put in some redline NS or something that is going to be a little smoother. Also, it is possible the ford dealer doesn't know a lot about subaru's and how to make sure everything is lined up for the shifter, bushings, etc.

OK it just did it again today when leaving work; hasn't done it for nearly two weeks. Turn key to start and just the click under the dash, no crank. So rather than touch the shifter, I turned the key to start once again, nothing. Then turned the key again and it started. So maybe it is the contacts then. I'll have to pull it out this weekend and see what it looks like in there. But that first time it did it a couple weeks ago I hit the key probably a dozen times and nothing. Then when I touched the shifter it started. Though actually I think I had just banged on the starter with an umbrella first so maybe it made the contacts contact. (This is when I realized a few items missing in my car emergency toolset). Maybe I should put an indicator light off the starter solenoid so I know if the solenoid is getting it's signal power.

Should be good. Yes if AT check for FWD fuse and torque bind of course (and verify it is an AWD, not just FWD). Also if AT verify that the external ATF filter was installed, or install one yourself. Also once in a while these need some sort of check valve put in the cooler circuit line to the torque converter from draining it's ATF back into the pan.

Good info nipper. I saw in this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07171/795376-97.stm There's an early arrival for 2008 at your Subaru dealers -- the all-new Tribeca...The new engine, a 3.6-liter "Boxer" six cylinder, puts out 256 horsepower, a big increase from the former 245. Subaru also gave the engine more torque punch at the low end range where you really feel it when you are launching from a standing start.

I watched a short video clip at motortrend. They seemed to like it. They said it feels to have good power for cruising and getting around town. http://www.motortrend.com/av/reviews/112_0706_2007_subaru_b9_tribeca_overview

Yah I don't know. I think that's just how the 4eat phase II is controlled. I notice that in '00obw too. Sometimes even when you do punch it and it feels like it should downshift to second it doesn't. It just sits there and slowly winds up. Meanwhile you're stuck waiting for the thing to get up a little further into the powerband, 'cause it don't make much power below 3000rpm. The 4eat phase I's will downshift in a heartbeat. They might have done it to improve mileage, I think it does say for the Phase II it likes to hold a higher gear. Supposedly the phase II does still have the 'power' mode and it does consider the rate of change on the throttle, like slowly pressing down vs punching it.

Here's some band info. It doesn't say how to make the actual adjustment, but does guide in getting so that it can be adjusted. 4EAT FWD and AWD Brake Band Adjustment 4EATFWD.pdf

A really simple thing to check would be the radiator cap. It needs to be in good shape and clean. Clean under those little rubber parts in the cap seal and the relief valve. And the mating portion to the radiator neck needs to be smooth too.

You can use a GL-5 gear oil that says it is OK for LS diffs in the differential. It doesn't need the LS additive but it doesn't matter if it has it. It is not suggested to use Mobil1 gear oil in the Subaru MT. There were issues in the past with it's high sulfur (a great antiwear) eating up various parts.

Also, Fuel Switching may be of help

For motor brushes, check out http://www.mcmaster.com Then enter search term 'motor brushes'. They have many different sizes and types. Of course you'll need to pull your brushes to see what size they are.

You don't need limited slip additive for that LS diff. It is a silcone oil viscous type that the gear oil doesn't actually get to the limited slip part. Maybe someone else knows what exact type redline gl-5 gear oil works good in the Subaru MT's. I think it might be the NS but I dont' have an MT so I'm not sure. The drain plug size for the rear diff should be a 1/2" pipe plug. A 1/2" drive breaker bar will fit in there, or you can get actual pipe plug sockets. Not sure about the MT drain; common Subaru sizes would put it probably at 17mm, 19mm, or 22mm.

I haven't seen anything in the screen type filters either. Which makes sense since yes I believe it really a strainer on the pump suction. Unless you already have a phase II AT with the external filter on the outlet to the cooler, adding a filter in the cooling circuit is not a bad idea. Subaru had those retrofit kits for the '90- something's because of junk/shreddings/etc; these can plug up the cooler and lines and stuff.

Haven't yet had any serious torque bind issues. I saw some web site that was trying to get a class action suit going for HG issues. I don't know...I don't mean to wax nostalgic but for me suing Subaru would be like suing a good friend. Ok maybe I am little out of touch at the moment.....

Yes I've run the auto-rx too. It seems nice. IIRC it is a fatty acid ester that slowly disolves gunk. And it has some antiwear additives and some other stuff in it. The patent is online somewhere. If you hunt around over at bob's you might find a group buy, discount code, or sometimes they do a like buy 2 get one half price or something. One oil additive I really like is Schaeffer's #132 Moly E.P. oil treatment. It also helps some of my oil burning lawn equipment stay going. It also has antimony, an interesting antiwear additive. Here's neat little site for product ingredients in case you haven't already seen it: http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm

Those filter pore size must be big enough to let cash through! Hey how about we send this pic to Grimace or whatever that guy's name is on CSI. A little zoom and enhance....

A few ideas; others will have better suggestions. I'm pretty sure you can get KYB AGX struts for that year. Those would be adjustable. And there are almost certainly strut bars, upgraded endlinks and swaybars, lowering springs etc. Here's some sites to try: http://www.utimatesubaru.org http://www.renickmotorsports.com http://www.summitracing.com http://www.kyb.com I hear sometimes there are WRX parts inexpensive on nasioc.com due to people upgrading on there.

Yes cleaners have advantages and potential disadvantages. There is a big discussion on seafoam going on right now at subaruoutback You can certainly run a heavier oil if desired. Are you sure you don't simply have the normal Subaru engine noise for which Subaru says do not attempt any repair? These engines will routinley have piston slap and on the solid lifter (non-HLA) engines some rocker clatter too.

Plus seafoam is going to clean stuff up. So if dirt/muck/carbon/etc was cushioning certain things, it may have cleared it out. So you may hear some more noise. Also if there were pre-existing looseness/mechanical issues, that muck may have been masking it?

Wow sorry to hear about the sewer line... Cam o-ring Then installing it on RH DE on '94 Legacy 2.2L. I haven't yet done the timing belt so haven't gotten into the other o-ring. Here's the cap removed with the o-ring around it: Here's where the cap came from. This is sort of near the RH strut tower but on the head of course: