CNY_Dave

Is there something different about the H6 trans? I thought it was the same as an H4 legacy (non-outback) trans. From what I think I know: Outback H4- 4.44 ratio Outback H6- 4.11 ratio Legacy H4- 4.11 ratio Dave

Confirming which side by how the noise changes while turning can be tricky. Usually when you turn to put more weight on the bearing, the bearing gets louder, and when you unweight the bearing, it gets quieter. That is, a bad left bearing gets louder in a right turn. My '03 was the opposite, the more weight on the bearing, the quieter it got. The left was bad and it made less noise in right turns. The only way I was able to diagnose it 100% was to jack up both fronts, put it in N, and spin each front while holding the strut spring- the spring magnified the vibrations. Dave

When I bought my '03 a bit over 3 years ago, I pushed the onstar button and actually got someone- and told them I hit it by accident. I am not signed up for the service. Dave

If she got 'em hot and then had to site for a minute or two without rolling, may have transferred some pad material to the rotor. Usually is only felt when 'on' the brakes. Dave

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f88/2006-head-gaskets-problem-64464/index19.html In our case, 2.5 forester just under 5 years, just about 50 k miles. Dave

VDC is even better than mere traction control. VDC can put all the power to just one wheel, if 3 are on ice and one has traction. Dave

It means, I think, that whatever the problem is, the computer doesn't notice it- helps rule out what it isn't. AWD fuse in place will tell the most, I think. Dave

If you over-torque it you can distort the hub face, and if that distorts the lug nuts will clamp the rotor to the distorted hub face. Dave

Does the AT light go on and then off like the other idiot lights, or does it flash? Dave

Too loose and the inner bearing races could separate under load, that'd be BAD. Too tight, and you could distort the bearing races, that'd be BAD. Too tight but not tight enough to distort anything would be just fine, as you cannot over-preload by torquing the nut too tight. My gut feel is a little loose would be worse than a little tight, but at those torque specs that's not something you can tell by hand, so- Torque it to SPEC since you need a torque wrench anyway. Dave

So the ABS operates whenever you try to brake? Most cars have a fuse just for the ABS, and it'd labeled ABS. Dave

So I guess when the dealer replaces the gaskets on our 2.5L 2005 forester (oil leak, both sides) those are the gaskets they'll use. Dave

The mechanic might be retired from the pit crew of Parnelli Jones for all I know, but: There are a few steps in the replacement where you have to be quite careful what presses on what, and you have to make sure no pressure is put on the spindle before the nut is fully torqued- Add to that a question about what grease if any was in the bearings that were purchased- Further add that if the hub was damaged by the bad bearing the damage can be very hard to spot- Is this mechanic experienced in subarus? I hadn't heard about the bad knuckle in 2001 either. I am 99.9% sure the knuckle is the same no matter what engine, and I think it's the same for a legacy or an outback. Dave

The difference is whether or not the clutch has broken in. Dave

This is the case for me- not that much snow, lock the tires, tires dig through to pavement, car stops. Dave

There have been reports on automatics that if you really abuse the AWD clutch pack you can get a burning clutch smell- this is feasible, I think. The fibrous material can create quite a bit of smoke if you torture it enough. The manual AWD of course has no clutch pack. Dave

Hey, I learned a new trick today! Never saw that one before. Dave

I wish mine oversteered, my porky beaner just wants to plow. Dave

The key here is that sometimes the best way to stop is to lock 'em right the heck up. The ABS won't let you stop, but locking the tires up stops the car almost instantly. The circumstances where this happens do not occur every day, but regularly enough that you have to be ready to deal with it. Dave

Fully agree on the lower threshold speed. 20mph would be perfect. Mine does not seem to be sensitive to bumps, fortunately. It's very easy to make switchable, of course. Dave

shun active

MWE? Dave

Heh, naru is quickly heading down the path of getting shunned, I'd say. Dave

Just because you haven't had it happen, doesn't mean it doesn't happen despite the best of tires and vehicle condition. There are times when it happens because you're coming in a bit too hot, then there's times when the ABS will coast you along no matter how slow you're going- usually down a fairly steep hill. Mind you I'm in the camp of leaving the ABS connected and just dealing with those few times the ABS wants to coast me down the hill by employing appropriate strategies. Dave

Without knowing the waveform and the details of the meter it's tough to say how any given duty-cycle meter will 'read' it. But yes, that's how that gen works, but they changed that around in later years I heard? Dave