porcupine73

Wow that is most certainly a story of one big end that has gone unmistakably BIG! That stinks. What causes this problem, wrist pin wear or something?

Sounds like clutch, but seems maybe odd it only happens under those conditions. Guessing it is a salvage vehicle hence no warranty.

Can you tell a little more please?

Sounds cool. When I saw 'state car Subaru' I thought of these commericals that are being aired incessantly claiming the official car of NY is Subaru. There are some number of Subaru's in Buffalo, but Buffalo is ford country as ford has a stamping plant here. Second is probably gm since they have an engine plant here.

It's likely T70, I found it in this post. I think I just solved my search engine woes, but that's for a different post.

You could get some of those plastic spinner style from pepboys - those are the bomb. Seems like a salvage yard might have a whole assortment of wheel covers you could try out for fit and maybe even for cheap.

Hi Howard! I doubt it'll make much difference whether you go 15" or 16". I'd try the 16". Just make sure the fastener/clip style with fit yours. On the drivers wiper I usually go 1-2" longer than stock for a little more coverage which causes no problems for me.

Ah yes northwet that does make more sense, so when the duty c is not energized, there is full pressure to the clutches?

Hmm...interesting question. I was all ready to think it was a go except that as Northwest pointed out even if the duty c does activate, there's still no fluid pressure to actually release the clutches. If subaru's didn't break, there wouldn't be a need for an FWD fuse. There was just a post where someone bought a used suby and towed it home all 4 on the ground and basically fried the trans.

Hi BKDR and welcome! I believe the MT's have the 'viscous coupling' and the AT's have the 'clutch pack' with some duty c solenoid to control the applied pressure. Ah ok, there is a seafoam for the trans I was just thinking the regular seafoam for gas and oil which doesn't seem like it'd be good for an AT. Do you guys think any of the LubeGuard additives would be anything like the friction modifier?

Hi Dale. The 2.6 to 3.2 quarts you mentioned is probably what you would get with just the drain plug. The rest is in the TC and such. Just pull a cooler line somewhere and slip/couple some vinyl hose on both ends that you disconnected and stick them into a jug or something to catch the fluid, that way it doesn't go all over the place. Plus then you can measure exactly what you got out so you can put that much back in as a starting point (provided it was about the right level before you started). I wouldn't put it in drive, the Suby's I have pump the ATF just fine in park; in drive once it starts to suck air the clutches are going to start slipping. Plus I never run it 'dry', I pump out maybe 2 quarts, shut engine off, add 2 quarts, repeat til I'm happy, then reconnect hoses and finalize level. People sometimes get the center packs from a salvage yard trans. Try the ATF first and give it a chance to work and it might solve your issue if it's just some gunk on the clutches. If they're welded or your solenoid failed then just changing the ATF won't work. Does seafoam say it's safe to use in a trans? usually those things don't like stuff like that.

On EndWrench Subaru recommends using a thin blade tape measure to determine circumference. It takes little more than 1/32" tread wear difference to exceed the 1/4" circumference threshold. Hm..I think I better check mine!

All the tires need to be within like 1/4" circumference or whatever or you're asking for trouble.

If you want OE parts on many things you have no choice but to work with a dealer of some sort. Another advantage of trying to get a low price at a local dealer is you may get your parts faster. If the online dealer you order from doesn't have what you need, then you have to wait for them to get it and then reship it to you. Another tip I heard was to call the dealer and ask for the list price on an item and then ask what's my price on that. Even if the local dealer won't match the lowest internet price you might at least get it for less than what the normally sell to walk-ins.

If one (or more) of the HLA's lose their prime, would that cause ticking? I saw that mentioned in the haynes manual. If so do you have to manually reprime them or will they take care of that themselves when running? And why would they lose their prime in the first place?

Did you tie in the ipod into the same circuit as the lighter socket? Maybe you're overloading it. Can you explain again the exact circumstances under which the fuse blows? You must have a short or overload if the fuse keeps popping, though a slight overload might take a few seconds to pop the fuse.

Hm, that's kind of weird and seems more than a coincidence. Related to the new half shaft the only thing I can think is it is somehow skipping, not sure if that could happen in the DOJ or whatever joints thus causing the vibration when stopped and in gear; obviously there's torque on the thing when stopped. Or maybe they screwed up the output from the differential somehow. I would think they would have test drove the thing after replacing the half shaft. Sometimes the aftermarket half shafts aren't the greatest.

For '00OBW 2.5L sohc it says the cylinder liners 'dry type' totally cast iron.

Well at least replace the wires and see if it goes away or just replace the wires and coil. If you don't have money for the coil I'd clean it off good and coat it with silicone spray and maybe wrap electrical tape around where you saw the sparks. Best to put silicone dieletric grease inside all the boots. Typically OE wires seem to be spec'd on this board though many also use aftermarket wires.

Well that sounds and looks like the external HG leak issue; try a bottle of that Subaru stop leak, whoops I mean coolant additive. There's a TSB about it. You can get it at any dealer. It's a relatively small bottle, only maybe 4-6 oz i'd guess. I think I paid $3 for a bottle which is even a little steep. Guessing you burped all the air out of the system after changing the coolant.

Excellent choice on keeping the '99, that things just getting started! And yes not having a car payment opens up so many more opportunities. The spark plugs are relatively easy to get it; on the RH side (passenger) it can help to pull at that crazy plastic intake piping out of the way, I think the RH side is the easier of the two sides to do. On the LH side, it really helps if you take out the washer fluid tank, which is fairly simply to do, just pop off two connectors, undo those two bolts, and pull off the little rubber hoses, it helps to drain/siphon/suck/use up as much of the washer fluid as possible first so it doesn't come streaming out. Sometimes I pull the battery out too. You'll need of course a spark plug socket and probably a 4-6" or so extension on it (make sure to tape the socket to the extension if it doesn't lock so you don't loose the socket down in there, or have a strong magnet retriever at the ready). Typically just use some sort of NGK spark plug as replacement (that's OE anyway). Replace plug wires if they look dingy at all; generally OE is suggested. Pack the boots and connections with silicone dielectric grease to keep moisture out. Don't overtorque the new plugs when putting them in and/or get a torque wrench, they don't have to be very tight and will be tough to get out if they're too tight, some people put a little antisieze on the threads not sure if that's needed or not, some people say if it gets down in there it could cause cat issues. I'm sure you know if the timing belt hasn't been changed yet it's overdue and if you do it there are other things that should be done at the same time.

That's one thing I love about the Subaru's, most jobs are relatively straightforward compared to some of those cramped in transverse mount deals. A lot of times doing a job on a Suby it seems like the engineers actually thought about how to service the thing; I mean dead easy to change the oil on these, man some cars the oil filter is almost impossible to get at.

Oh yes, I forgot about that, it's a piece of one of the accessory belts taped on with yellow electrical tape since that's what I had close by.

Congrats nipper the trip progress so far. That must have been fun driving around in the forest!

How much mpg are you looking for? Pass up Subaru's?!? man have you gone stark raving mad!?!? just kidding... I get about 30mpg too, which yes it would be nice if it were higher but I figure it's not that bad for a vehicle, esp. not an AWD, though it kind of pales in comparison to say a MT Civic or something that might get 40mpg. Over 100k miles if gas is $3/gal the plain savings is $2500 for 40mpg vs 30mpg. If you don't already have them, maybe fresh plugs+wires, good synthetic oil and drivetrain lubes, tires pressures, air filter, O2 sensor, etc, you might get a nice mileage boost.