Rooster2

I just replaced the knock sensor on my 98 OBW with the 2.5 motor. It wasn't a bad job. As reported on previous posts, it is not a straight shot to get a socket on the head of the knock sensor. I used a 3/8 drive with an extension and socket on the end of the wobbler. I put some putty like caulk inside the socket, so the bolt head would stick inside the socket upon removal. Otherwise, it is difficult to retrieve the bolt in an area that your hand and fingers can't reach. Upon reinstall, I squished the bolt head inside the putty laced socket, and lowered the bolt into position, and tightened it up. I had a magnetic tip rod to retrieve the bolt should it have dropped out of the socket. This approach worked perfectly. Hope this tip helps you.

I must confess that I never looked under the hood to see if the air scope was functional. I have two late 90's OBW with the same looking hood scoops that are non functional, strictly decorative, that is how I drew my conclusion. Still, as "vanilla looking" as the new WRX is, I would be very surprised to learn that the hood scoop is functional. Somebody check, and report back otherwise.

I stopped by my Subie dealer today to buy some parts. They had an 08 WRX on display. I was not impressed by its looks. Subaru took this car very main stream, so that it looks very much like a Mazda 5 door, and overall has that generic, "it could be any recent Asian car" look. There is no new ground breaking styling here. The cutsie doubles of "smiley face" grill, and smiley shaped open air intake under the bumper are a turn off; Looks like the front end body designers watched the recent movie "cars," to come up with the smiley face front end look. Maybe an option is a robotic controlled movable grill opening that moves to talk just like the cars in the movie. What the pics here don't show is the carry over of a big clasic honking fake air intake scoop mounted in the middle of the hood. That is certainly a carry over from Subies of the past. I never liked it, but it certainly is a Subie classic trademark. With all of the above, the WRX does not have mean focused purposeful look of past WRXs. It might perform better, but it will look like a cutsie woos in the process. Maybe Subie will come up with some mid year change improvements to help this car out. Changing the front end styling should be considered first. Just my 2 cents worth.

When Autozone pulled my codes on my OBW, I learned that the knock sensor was bad. It was an intermitten light that came on. AZ told me they could only pull the code to learn the problem, if and when the check engine light was on.

You may want to wrap that foamy covering over the heater hose with some electrical tape to keep the cracked foamy part from breaking off in chunks.

Sounds like you are low on R-12, prolly due to a slow leak. Since R-12 is difficult and expensive to purchase, drop in a replacement for R-12. This has been written up here during the last week or so. Just check previous A/C postings for their advise. Suggest you have a repair shop do the work, since you say that mechanical work is not your forte. Don't let a repair shop talk you into expensive repairs to fix a minor leak. It is much cheaper to have a little bit of refrigerant added each summer, or whenever, then to pay an expensive bill for A/C component replacement.

I use a Craftsman drive, because they are built so tough. Spray some penetrating oil, or PB blaster on the bolt, then wait about 10 minutes. I slip about a 2 inch hollow bar over the handle of the drive to get extra leverage. All bolts come loose rather easily. On reassembly, I smear on some antisieze cream on the bolts. I also put antisieze on the lug nuts, and where the road wheel meets with the facing of the hub to prevent gauling.

Since the motor and trany has had a lot of repair work done during the last three or four years, if you can document that, I wouldn't be that scared about buying this Forester with so many miles on it. I don't know that I would count on this vehicle as a dependable daily driver, but as a valuable back up "grocery getter" car, it should be fine. You can pretty much count on wheel bearings, fuel pump, power steering pump, etc going out on a regular basis on a super high milage car like this. Change the timing belt, water pump, front seal, and belts if approaching 60K miles, since the last timing belt was installed. If that tb breaks, it's demise will take out the valves, maybe more. It would pretty much trash the engine. I prolly wouldn't pay much more than $3,000 for this Forester.

Thanks to all about coolant additives to help lessen hg problems. Has Subaru ever said what percentage of stage 1, 2.5 motors will develop head gasket trouble? Was there ever a recall offering a permanent fix? If I ever have to replace hg, is there a revised hg that is better then OEM?

I recently bought a '99 OBW with the 2.5 motor with 149K miles on the odometer. I took the car to my favorite mechanic who has his own shop. I had him change the tb, front crank seal, water pump, and fan belts. He was very aware that 2.5 Subie motors have a tendency to blow out head gaskets. To help prevent this, he added some GM Cadillac sealant pellets to the cooling system. He said that Cadillac adds these pellets to their new cars at time of manufacture to prevent head gasket blow out problems on their cars. Has anyone here used this product? Was this the best product to use, or is there something better that I should be using on my 2.5 motor? Also, Subie dealers sell some coolant additive product designed to save head gaskets. Is that product good?

I have used KYBs on a number of cars, but not yet on a Subie . Yes, they are a little stiffer then stock, but with that slight stiffness comes excellent handling control. My daughter's Jeep Wrangler needs shocks, and I plan to intstall a set of KYBs. For the money and performance, they are a good value.

Thanks guys......I successufly replaced the knock sensor. It was a hassle reaching in with a drive extension and flex joint (wobbler) to line up the socket on the bolt head. I used some sticky plummers putty inside the socket to pull up the loosened bolt. I used my torque wrench with poor results, as the flex joint would swivel while using the torque wrench. I just could never get an accurate torque reading. So, I just guess at a good tightness, not too tight to break the sensor, yet tight enough to have it work properly. Car now runs better, the check engine light stays off. Thanks again for all the good advise.

Thanks guys, with a buddy's help, we located the knock sensor. It wasn't the easiest item to find. Now, to get it installed next week. Thanks again to all for the help on this project.

Thanks for the advise. I appreciate it, especially the part about not having to remove the intake manifold. Regards, Larry (Rooster2)

I have a 98 Legacy Outback, the check engine light code said I need a new knock sensor, so I bought one. The Haynes Subaru manual says that I need to remove the intake manifold on passanger side of engine to gain access to install the new sensor. Is this true? Man that is a lot of work for such a small sensor with an electrical pig tail. Is their an easier way to install? Any advise will be appreciated. Thanks!

I have a 98 Legacy Outback, the check engine light code said I need a new knock sensor, so I bought one. The Haynes Subaru manual says that I need to remove the intake manifold on passanger side of engine to gain access to install the new sensor. Is this true? Man that is a lot of work for such a small sensor with an electrical pig tail. Is their an easier way to install? Any advise will be appreciated. Thanks!