friendly_jacek

Just to add to the exchance, even the worst FIAT car in europe recommends oil changes every 12 months or 12000 km (whatever comes first). How do i know? My father owns an UNO. However, oils in europe are much better than the API sh**t. They are also expensive (5-10 euro/liter at least).

I can attest that this is the top notch and state of the art info! I have a copy of engeenering paper that used radioactive chromium rings and clearly showed that the highest wear of the piston rings is during the engine warmup and goes down by the time operating temp is reached. Interestingly, the wear is accelerated by high-sulfur fuel because of water condensation and sufuric acid production at low temp. Many people buy the most expensive oil to protect engine and pay no attention to quality of fuel, clearly a poor judgement. BTW, the reason modern engines warp easily is the fact that they are made from aluminium.

Is this applicable to newer cars (2000+)? I wish this board had a sticky function!

I will tell you that these days machanics belong to one of the 2 categories: 1. Most common type, connects to OBD2 scanner and replaces the part specified by computer. It it doesn't work, then screatches head in disbelive. 2. Rare type, does trubleshooting by the book, according to the specific code, has access to manuals. Your mechanic belongs to 1st category, look somewhere else, or learn car mechanics. BTW, in my experience, dealers also belong to the first category.

OK, let me explain it to you: mobil 1 5w20: viscosity is 8.8 cst (100C) honda 5w20: viscosity was reported as high as 9.8 cst (100C) by oil analysis mobil 1 5w30 and 10W30: viscosity used to be 9.9 cst (100C), only slightly higher from the 5W20 offering (compared with german castrol 0W30: 12.2 cst at 100C) I just double checked the numbers on the mobil site and the current (SM) 10w30 is almost unchanged at 10.0 but 5W30 went up to 11.3 cst (100C). Bravo, finaly mobil "listened" to my complaints.

Cant you put a MAP sensor in in the manifold? MAP is less precise but more reliable. Accordint to the following site the switch over happened in 1999/2000: http://www.cobbtuning.com/tech/airflow/index.html

No, I did not say that 5W30 is bad. What I did say was that both 5W30 and 10W30 mobil 1 oils are low-30 weight at working temp. I prefer hight-30 oils (such as ACEA:A3 certified german castrol 0W30) or low-40 oils (such as Mobile 1 0W40 or rotella synth 5W40). I hope this helps.

Ask BR to send you his "experimental" software version 3.2 for MPG beta testing. In my experience, the air flow-based MPG calculation is right on money (more or less).

They use a crappy scanner. Software in my scanner (BR-3) defines this code as: P0519 Idle Air Control System Performance Someone needs to jump in and explain the next step in handling of this code, as I am no mechanic. This story confirms what I suspect: most mechanics these days can't think outside the ... scanner.

Also, in states, the OBD2 socket is placed below a steering wheel. I mean on the left for the international users :-)

I think it is safe to assume that the cause of the demise is unknown in this case. Nevertheless, I can't resist adding my 2 cents. This is not the first time I'm hearing about a sudden engine failure when pushed hard while using a low viscosity 5W30 or 10W30 mobile 1 (these are almost 20 weight). A buddy of mine blew his toyota engine at 120,000 miles while driving fast on hwy (90mph+). He used 5W30 mobile 1 since he got his car new and he was religious about oil changes. He did not overrewed as it was an auto tranny. Another thing is that some (not all) people using mobil 1 experience increased oil consumption, especially under high speed driving. IMHO, the low-30 mobile 1 oils are great for short trips, city driving, and improved MPG, but do not provide optimal protection under high stress, high temp. Anyone with a rudementary knowledge of lubrication will tell you that heavier oil will give you a thicker oil film at the bearing. With high oil temps, high stress (pressure) at the bearings, and upened up clearances from engine wear, the oil film with light lube is not going to be thick enough at the bearings with a catastrofic effect. If you read your subaru manual carefuly, it recommends streigh 30 and 40, or 10W40 or 20W50 oils for towing or high speed, high temp service. 0W30/5W30/10W30 mobile 1 oils are good for at least 95% of US drivers. The other 5% with lead foot or lead trailer should look elswere. Please, go ahead and flame me :-)

RE: BR-3 OBD-II One more vote on the BR-3. Works great. One of very few OBD2 readers that can read Subaru's A/F ratio sensor (in 2000+ subarus). BR sent me a beta software with MPG capabilities. Customer service second to none!

I have to say that the whole thread sound like a joke. This is why I did not reply initially.

So, what's the bottom line? Not to clean the TB?

I'm not entirely sure but what is probably happening that over that speed there is enough road and wind resistance that the AWD cluches start to slip and spin increasing your engine (and front diff) rotations. At most, the clutches can only transfer 50% of torque and not 100%. Nobody claimes that AWD is superior to 4x4 in extreme conditions! It is better in avarage driving conditions and yours is not.

Unfortunately, this is incorrect advice. First, if there is no MIL light, there is NO code to read. Second, faulty o2 sensor (or rather A/F ratio sensor that newer Subs use) CAN cause stalling and hasitation. Read this recent thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45105&page=3&pp=10&highlight=a%2Ff+ratio+sensor I'll repeat: it was likely a bad sensor misdiagnosed as bad cat. C'mon people, we should do better than some lame Miata board!

You are probably right, it was a bad sensor misdiagnosed as bad cat. Typical rookie mistake, wait you said it was a dealer?

Did you troubleshoot the IACV? Maybe you need a new one?

The net should come with instructions. It's a great thing.

I dont remenber the number, maybe #403. The reason I didn't remove fan was I used a custom mount, attaching it to the frame. Those plastic thingies are lame and make the cooler almost stuck to the AC condenser..

Most people put radiator cooler first and external cooler second in serial connection. I googled for this nice guide for you, send me payment via paypal! :-) http://www.subaruchallenge.com/Wills/05/2.5i/Transcool.pdf My instalation was similar, I used a different model of Hayden and did't use the plastic straps, so the fan did not heve to come out.

Very true. I tried it myself in semi-controlled situation (long hwy trip with steady CC speads). No difference whatsoever. Some people tried and said there was a diffrence but perheps a placebo effect: driving slower and gentler while you're watching MPG closer.

this is how I ended up instaling mine. I tried to cut the hard ATF line but it it turned out to be hard plastic and not metal in my 2000 legacy. My connections are as follows: hard line->rubber->temp sensor->rubber->radiator->rubber-> transmission cooler->rubber->return hard line.

In my line of work it is called malpractice. Clearly, I'm not a mechanic.

Bump what? Did you do the checks seaman and cougar suggested? IIRC, you have a case of poor MPG. Maybe the code is the godsend to steer you in the right direction?