Rooster2

I heard years ago, that slight backfire on cars in general can result from a bad exhaust valve. I don't know if this applies to Subies, but I thought I would at least mention it.

If it were me, I think I would just bite the bullet and have an auto glass shop do the replacement. Some shops will even dispatch a truck, and the repair guy to do the work in a driveway. I have watched a couple of windshields installed, and it looked like it required some knowledge of using special hand tools and how and where to apply adhesive glue. I remember thinking at the time, that if I tried to do the job, I would make a nasty mess by getting adhesive glue everywhere.

You will love the KYB GR-2 struts. I have put them on several cars over the years, and they have all served me well. The last ones I put on a VW Jetta. I found it very helpful to use a bottle jack to lift and hold in place the entire strut assembly, so it can be bolted at the top hat.

I, too, bought and am using the Wearever cheapo rotors with ceramic brake pads. I too, got some rubbing, when installed on my 99 OBW. I used a screw driver to bend the dust shield away from the rotor. That solved most of the problem. Once in a while, I will hear a little bit of rubbing when cornering, but nothing to worry about. Maybe the Wearever rotors are slightly thicker or slightly larger, I don't know. Performance wise, the brakes work just fine.

I would think the strut is the probable cause. It is the most likely suspension component that is allowing the road wheel to excessively hop up and down. You might also want to see if the road wheel is bent. Have a tire shop balance the tire/wheel, and ask the shop if the wheel is possibly bent. With the road wheel off, look up into the open wheel well to see if there are any oil stains on the strut, as a bad strut will leak out its oil at a bad seal.

Thanks, good info!.

Thanks for advise, I will go to HF to check out what the FWD kit looks like. I have a buddy, and the two of us should be clever enough to swap out the wheel bearing.

If the 134a leaks out, it is a good bet that the o rings for the inlet and outlet connections have gone bad. I replaced mine, and no more leaks. It is very easy to replace those two o rings.

Yea, I was starting to think the same. After seeing pictures of presses sold by Harbor Freight, they don't look like something that you would store in your tool box. Your advise is best, I need to take to a shop to have the work done.

What is the FWD kit from Harbor Freight? Update..........I just did a search at the HF website. I see what the Front Wheel Bearing Adaptors kit looks like. Wow.......looks like someone could perform surgery with that kit! Does it have a press, or is a bench vice used as a press?

I have a 99 OBW, that needs a new front wheel bearing. I priced having the work done at two independent shops. Cost were quoted at $250, and $285. For that kind of money outlay, does it make any economic sense to buy a press and do the work myself? I looked around on the Harbor Freight website, but I don't know what they sell that would do the job. I have never seen a bearing pressed out of a hub, or a new one pressed in, so I don't know how difficult a job it might be, or even how to do the job. Any advise would be appreciated.

I read your earlier post about using 22 mm offset so, I went shopping for one at auto parts stores, but couldn't find one. All they sold were long straight 22 MM wrenches.

If you plan to replace the plugs yourself, be aware it is not an easy job. Go to "search" on this forum to read what, and how others have changed their plugs. My experience is that it took me about 3 hours to change four spark plugs. There is just so little room available to change plugs. It just takes a lot of patience to do the job.

I took my car to another garage, who told me that my problem is worse, and ugly. Yes, maybe the bearing is bad, however it is tight. Whatever I hit, or wife hit, broke the axle, now shows up as bent spindle or hub, maybe more. The road wheel showed up as slightly bent, so it is now moved to the rear. The car is still driveable, but hearing a whup, whup, whup, noise every once in a while, and especially upon braking is annoying. I am going to write another thread asking what year Sub spindle/hub will interchange from a wrecking yard. I think that is where I will source replacement parts. Thanks for the response!

Just replaced the oxygen sensor on my 99 OBW. I couldn't use the standard O2 socket, that looks like a sparkplug wrench with the side cut open. Someone recommended using a 22MM crows foot wrench, but I couldn't get a good grip with that. Out of frustration, I went shopping for a better oxygen sensor wrench. I found one at O'Reillys Auto Parts store, but prolly available elsewhere. I bought a tool manufactured by Performance Tool Co. They call their drive socket an Offset Oxygen Sensor Wrench. That tool worked perfectly within the small space confines allotted by Subaru to do your work. I highly recommend the tool. Cost was $10. I bought a Bosch O2 sensor from Amazon for $61 that included free shipping. The Bosch unit works just fine. It helps to use plastic drive up ramps, and chocks at the rear wheels, to get under the car. Recommend using PB Blaster a day or two in advance, plus warming up the motor, to get the old sensor out.

Update..........after a couple of months, I have become suspicious that something is not right in the right front wheel, brake, axle, or suspension assembly. It is a little vibration in the steering, slight wobble on braking like a rotor may be warped. Sometimes there is a wap, wap, wap, sound also when braking. Sometimes everything seems fine for a short time. Then I noticed that the vibration ceases, if I just slightly turn the steering wheel to the right. This has me thinking that the wheel bearing is bad. It took a while, but I think the broken axle that was replaced a few months back, has now taken its toll on the wheel bearing. BTW, a couple of months back, I jacked up the right front, and yanked the road wheel every which way, and could not detect any looseness. So, I think the tie rod, and ball joint are okay. Anyone, have any thoughts or advise??

bubbles in the radiator over flow container, when engine is warm and still running. Heater won't put out heat. When engine warmed up, lower radiator hose will be cold. All of this is caused by a bad head gasket. On Subarus, exhaust gas enters the cooling system through the bad head gasket. The hot exhaust gas causes the bubbles in the radiator over flow container. Also, the hot exhaust gas forms a big bubble in the cooling system, so coolant is not circulating through the water pump, so that is why lower hose is cold. Eventually, this causes the motor to over heat. All of the above happens when the car is being driven at speed, particularly under load, like climbing hills. The car will idle at rest all day without over heating. Like others have said, change the timing belt, water pump, and thermostat. You just may get lucky, and find changing these parts fixes your problem. However, my bet is that you have a bad head gasket. Research the "search" feature on this forum to read all about Subaru head gasket problems.

If it were me, I don't think I would wait much longer. Yea, your belt will prolly last another 5K miles. It is how much do you want to gamble that the TB won't break?

Suggest calling the dealer first to see if you qualify for a $75 alternator. That deal may not be around any more.

Using a quart of oil every 1,000-1,200 miles on a motor with 235K miles on it, sounds pretty normal. With that many miles, there is engine wear, and wear on the piston rings in particular that lets more oil then normal get burned in the engine along with the gasoline. You may want to replace the PCV valve. It is possible that it is clogged, and that adds to oil consumption. It is a simple, cheap, and easy part to replace.

Given a choice, I would buy KYB struts, vs Monroes. KYBs are reasonably priced, last a good long while, a little stiffer then OEM. My experience with Monroes goes way back. Quality and longevity weren't good then. Just my 2 cents worth of opinion, for what it is worth.

Not so over due................... I had TB changed in 2005 when I bought the 99 used. I didn't know the history on the TB, so it was best to change it. Also swapped out, were the water pump, and front seals. Unfortunately, I had not joined USMB to learn that I should have had the pulleys replaced as well. So 6 years later, and 55K miles, I think it is time to swap out the above. The car now has 188K on the odo. I am thinking the pulleys are all original. It scares me to think what happens to the valves, if a pulley locks up. I just ordered the full TB kit from ebay. My mechanic lets me bring him parts to do the job.

What I think you are experiencing is delayed forward engagement. This is an ailment that affects only 1999 & 2000 model Leggies. My 99 developed the same problem about 3 years ago. It is caused by a bad seal in the trany that Subaru used in the cars those two years only. By lucky chance I found that an automatic transmission additive called Trans-X can fix the problem. The product is available at auto parts stores, and Walmart for sure. Other trany additives won't fix the problem. I wrote a new post on this years back titled "Fixed, delayed trany forward engagement." Go to the "search" section of this forum, type in what I have listed in quotation marks. The post should be displayed. This has become a post of many many pages of how to use the product, and testimonials that the product works. It is pretty amazing that Trans-X will fix the problem within 10 minutes of operating the transmission, with the product added. It has saved many people the high cost of replacing their trany. Post the results, if Trans-X has helped your trany.

I can't imagine that you have compression rings or intake/exhaust valve trouble, so I would be surprised if a compression test showed any trouble. You might add a high quality can of injector cleaner to a full tank of gas. Get the good stuff like Chevron Techron that cost $6-7.00 per plastic bottle, not the cheap stuff that doesn't work well. Run that thru the tank down to about 1/8 tank. See if that helps.

Have you heard any rattling noise coming from the cat?