porcupine73

Hm interesting, I'm trying to come up with a setup I can parallel my generator with the utility, I was thinking of using like a 3HP or 5HP induction motor and run it as an induction generator, I was working on that here, any info invited: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174245

Yah I thought that SSR would have been OK, I don't know, maybe it was defective. But I really think the 'oilless' types are some strange non-linear, not quite motor like load that maybe the SSR's don't like at all. I just hardwired switches to control the on/off and the air supply solenoid, since my black pipe air system has a few small leaks in it. So the compressor is in a separate building from the main garage so I don't have to listen to it run, but I have a few switches around to turn it on remotely basically.

Hm not sure if Ca. spec was the same, but I think the US vehicles had the build date on one of the placards inside the drivers door panel ...

Hm I'm guessing this is an auto trans, almost sounds like the final drive reduction gear teeth.

Originally I posted about the weak braking on my '94 and '96 Legacies. I think it was just a combination of having very rusty rotors combined with 'soft' pads that simply won't/can't cut through heavy rust. So I've replaced the front rotors and pads on both, the pads I used were Advance Auto silver pads, about $20/set. They seem to work pretty well. They are semi-metallic. I don't know, for typical daily driving, I like those almost the best of any brake pads I've tried. I have them on all three soobs now. They have a nice initial bite, not much fade. They do eat the rotors a bit, and they make a lot of dust, and don't seem to have a super long life (though I think they have a lifetime warranty and a pad slap only takes a few minutes). Today on the way home in the '96 I was on a highway going about 60mph and i saw a police car coming out of the corner of my eye flying down a side road and he wasn't going to stop. I punched the binders and near the end of the stop all four wheels locked up. So I'm pretty happy the brakes are finally strong enough to do that (though the rears are drums on this '96).

The SSR was inexpensive, maybe $10 at the most. I wasn't really worried about the SSR dying. If it had killed the compressor (Which thankfully it didn't) that would be far worse of course. I thought I had read SSR's can switch motor loads, but, thinking about it, these 'oilless' compressors, I don't think they have a motor in them, I think it's some kind of almost transformer like vibrating rod with some kind of valves, just based on the way it BUZZZES when it runs rather than sounding like a motor. This was the SSR: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HZLMTW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 Yes it did have a heat sink. It only ran for a couple minutes and when I tried to interrupt the power it went all wonky and made the compressor make some tortured sounds. It's completely possible the inrush on this compressor is quite a bit more than 40 amps. Hm this SSR seems to indicate resistive loads only maybe just the wrong SSR for the application. Anyway I will use a good quality contactor instead if I try to do that in the future.

Mine's an oilless portable my dad bought from Sears probably 15 years ago. I think they can last a long time in intermittent use, but probably aren't really intended for daily use for years and years. They are loud though. Would probably make a great base for a vibration table. I also found out using an SSR solid state relay to switch the oilless type does not work. I think I almost ruined the compressor trying it. It switched the compressor on OK but for some reason when the SSR was supposed to turn off it was like it interrupted only 1/2 the waveform or something and the compressor made some very strange sounds until I could get to it to unplug it. Then it wouldn't even start back up when I plugged it back in but the next day it seemed to be working fine again.

Sounds good. Hopefully the foaming really is the seal being faulty. I would think it might leak fluid out those areas when the engine is off too if they were truly bad. Hopefully it's not the Lucas steering/ATF cocktail that is in there. If the squealing was when you were holding the wheel at full lock left or right yes that will make some noise when the bypass opens. Plus when the pump is cranking out 1300psig at that time it presents its maximum load to the drivebelt, so that might potentially slip slightly then too depending on belt condition and how tight it is.

For intermittent impact wrench use you don't really need much capacity. Even a small portable compressor/tank will handle that. One of the biggest limitations here though is these units usually have only a 1/4" outlet, and that causes a ton of pressure drop at higher flows. Rotary cutoff tools are a little trickier, especially if you want to run it for more than a couple minutes at a time. All a larger tank will do capacity wise is give you more minutes of run time before you need to take a break to let the compressor catch up (and it helps with keeping the compressor from having to cycle on and off too often). But tank capacity will never make up for having too small a compressor for anything run for long periods, like more than a minute or two continuously. I've just got a 120V compressor, I think it can make about 3.5CFM at 90psig. If I let it run up to 130psig (I have about 30 gallons compressed air storage) I can run the cheapie HF cutoff tool at 80psig for maybe three or four minutes before my pressure drops below 80 psig. Pretty much a ditto for air blasting or sandblasting with a small pocket portable sandblaster. So that's about all you can get on a 120V 20amp circuit. If you need more air than that you're looking most likely at one of the upright 240VAC stationary units. If you use long hoses etc you might want to just get 1/2" hose right up front or at least 3/8" hose. 1/4" is too small in many cases, ditto on the quick connects. Yes most of these airtools do have only a 1/4" NPT connection at the tool though. What I've seen on garagejournal is people like to pick up the good old known high quality units like Quincy and others off craigslist. Sometimes the motor is burned out but the compressor is often ok. That seems like a pretty good way to get a unit at a reasonable price. The new 'oilless' designs don't last as long as the good 'ol reciprocating type.

My understanding is the OAT's like dexcool tend to sludge up if there is any air in the system. At one time Subaru said specifically not to use OAT based coolants. But that was before the supermagic super blue coolant, which I suspect is OAT based, but they hide behind the 'proprietary trade secret' on the label so it's hard to tell for sure. 'Lifetime' usually refers to the lifetime of the warranty from what I've heard.

Wow that's amazing. Looks like a really nice area.

Oh right good point on the air being trapped. Since the thermostat was changed the coolant of course had to have been drained. If you just pour in the new coolant through the rad cap with the vehicle level on the ground it almost guarantees it will trap air. You really need to get the front of the vehicle lifted up a little bit and pour the coolant in the upper rad hose initially. Then the little burp plug on the pass side can help somewhat too. There's some other tricks to making sure it doesn't trap the air.

No no these do not take a conventional 'power steering fluid', just ATF. I don't know if the rack will like Lucas 'power steering fluid'. And especially maybe not a mix of ATF and 'power steering fluid' like what si now in there. I think the pump can be damaged if it sucks too much air. Unfortunately new these pumps are $300 plus but of course they are pretty reliable so a wrecking yard pump will probably be fine (if the pump is shot), or there are rebuild kits for the pumps.

Hm maybe pull over when you notice losing heat and pop the cap on the radiator overflow and see if it looks like it is boiling (bubbles blowing into it), that would be signs of a head gasket failure. Not super common on a '94 2.2L, but with these vehicles nearing 20 years of age and enough mileage, they can and do fail sometimes. Hm ... other thing maybe is if the water pump is somehow slipping against the back of the timing belt for some reason ....

Maybe unplugging the front o2 sensor connector and then see if the same thing happens or not after it warms up. That way if it doesn't do it after it warms up with the front o2 unhooked that might be your issue.

What year and model Subaru are you talking about? If it's ~2000-2004 2.5L those are the ones that like to drip coolant out the head gaskets (unlike the earlier models that blew the exhaust into the coolant). My 2000 Outback does that. And right, it's usually only when it's fairly cool outside, and then only for maybe 5 miles until it starts to warm up. And then the dripping stops. Then on cool down it must stay sealed up enough, because it will draw makeup coolant out the overflow tank and the rad stays full (verified by removing cap). So I just keep the overflow tank full to about an inch from the top and I check it every few days to top off.

Supposedly the Subaru goop is simply a rebranded product. I don't have enough experience either way to think it is good or not. I remember when the bulletin came out about adding it retrospectively, Subaru said it could be used in earlier model Subaru's as well, and said they were adding it at production to all new models. Whether they still do that with late models I don't know. I think a lot of manufacturers do add it to the system. Again not necessarily meaning it's good; if it keeps a customer from coming in during warranty complaining of a small coolant leak most manuf's probably would go for it I would guess.

Oh I forget now I think it was like 123mph in its class which was the 1.0L production class, though they made a number of changes and tweaks to reach that.

Hm I was reviewing one of my favorite Subaru stories, when the modified Justy set the world land speed record in its class, and they say: "Tires – narrow tires were selected, and tire inflation pressure was raised to 60 psi to help reduce aerodynamic drag."

Hm that's not good then, on the manuals if the tires all match there isn't much you can do about the torque bind. It has a silicone viscous limited slip type setup with the center differential inside the MT. It isn't serviceable other than to remove the transmission and replace the viscous coupling. Hm ok I haven't ever seen a 1990 in person, on Joe's site it says 'full time AWD' http://www.cars101.com/subaru_legacy_archive.html

Hello and welcome, and congratulations on your purchase. 1: no that's not normal. It sounds like the vehicle has torque bind. First, do the tires all match model and nominal size and treadwear? That is the first question. Is it automatic or is it a manual transmission? It's really all wheel drive, it's not really a conventional 4WD setup with a transfer case. Usually for snow tires you don't really want a super wide tire. You want it to be relatively narrower usually.

Hm yes at the least the both fans staying on all the time is suspicious. I know it will do that as a failsafe if the sensor is disconnected. But if that sensor is way out of spec and the ECU thinks the coolant temp is actually say 205F when it is really 30F it's probably not going to inject enough fuel for it to run, so maybe the starter fluid helps it out a bit. That might also explain why it will restart ok if the engine is warm.

It could be those, that could also depend on the tires. Some tires seem to do very well in heavy rain, others even when they're new can't tolerate much of any water on the roadway. You could check if tirerack has the make/model tire that's on the car and see how other people have rated it in that regard.

That is interesting about the low rolling resistance tires. It brings about another question not really related to this thread but ... all these commercials of people with hybrids saying 'oh I only buy gas once a month if I plug it in every night' well that's great, but if you're paying like 11 cents/kWh for electricity ... I wonder if they're really saving any money considering the extra vehicle cost. Especially when the thing ends up needing new batteries.

Probably just look at Crutchfield, it'll tell you what sizes fit where and I'm sure they'll have reviews of the speakers. I've always liked Boston Acoustics. Sometimes in the rear you can fit 6x9 with a little modification even if 6x9 isn't listed to actually fit.