Fairtax4me

No idears? Clutch is still under warranty so I'm tempted to just go get my free replacement. (Autozone) Seems like a decent clutch, a little shudder now and then if the weather is damp, but no trouble otherwise.

The ABS sensor may have been damaged if the wheel was able to move around like you say. The brake fluid could have boiled because of the heat from the damaged bearing. Try flushing the fluid to see if any air comes out of the lines. Have you checked the other wheel bearings? If another is loose the rotor could be pushing the piston back into the caliper.

Check the intake tubing. Make sure it's clamped tight. Make sure the large hose for the IAC is firmly attached. Check for loose vacuum hoses too. Do you have a spare MAF sensor you can try?

The heater core is part of the bypass route on these which takes coolant from the crossover pipe on top of the block, through the core and then back down to the BACK side of the thermostat. When the thermostat is not open coolant is circulating through the heater core and block to prevent localized boiling of the coolant. The bypass route is also designed to bring warm coolant from the block around to the thermostat to keep it open in cold weather. With the thermostat on the inlet side of the water pump, coolant from the radiator can be cold enough to make the thermostat close, which blocks flow and causes further cooling in the radiator, while the coolant in the engine boils. The warm coolant coming through the bypass pipe is enough to keep the thermostat open. Basically, you will still have heat even if the thermostat is closed. If you are unsure of how old the thermostat is replace it.

The trailing arm bushings can be pressed out with a c-frame press without removing the whole arm from the car. Some specailaty tool companies make sleeve and bolt press kits specifically designed for bushing removal and installation. It's usually not very practical for a DIY'er to own one of those sets because they can be pricey, but a good shop should have one. If nothing else, you can usually buy two large sockets and a long grade 8 bolt that fits through the center of the bushing to use as a puller. I'm not surprised that they found nothing wrong with the trailing arm bushings. They can appear to be just fine even after they've gone "soft". The forces the vehicle exerts on drivetrain parts are much greater than what we can apply by hand, even with pry bars and such. I really don't think ring and pinion or differential wear is an issue or else you would also have noise from those parts. Normal backlash between the ring and pinion gears is something like .008-.012". Any more than that and you get accelerated wear usually with a whining or droning sound while accelerating or decelerating (depending on which side of the gear is worn). This also greatly accelerates wear and the gears would fail within a few thousand miles. There is a set of support bushings on the back of the rear differential housing that secure it to the rear cross member. I've seen a few posts about those bushings being bad. Those could also cause a jerking or jumping feeling because they allow the rear of the housing to flop around. Might check those as well.

My 96 legacy doesn't want to start occasionally. It cranks for 4-5 seconds then I turn the key off, wait a few seconds and try again. It alsways starts the second crank, though it does occasionally sputter for a second or two before idle speed comes up to the usual 1500 rpm cold idle. Usually results in a very strong smell of half burned fuel out of the exhaust. Outside air temps don't seem to matter, and it only does it once in a while. Sometimes twice in a week, sometimes not for three months.

Buddy of mine hauls stuff on the racks on his Honda Accord sedan all the time. Plywood, doors, 16ft lumber, you name it he's hauled it at 55mph from Lowes or Home Depot 14 miles back to his house. He uses three 400lb rated straps. Two crossed over the front and one over the back. Never had an issue, but you should stop every so often and check the straps if going a long distance (50 miles or more).

I would suspect low coolant level first, but its worth it to check the thermostat. When you refill the system fill the block through the upper hose before filling the radiator.

Depends on how big of a block you want to go with. I think you can get away with an inch and a half to two inch blocks just on top of the struts, but any more than that and you will have to make subframe and crossmember blocks as well. Dropping the subframe requires extending the steering shaft and possibly the dogbone mount bracket on the transmission.

Transmission time is coming up... Again... If the synchro on second wasnt shot to hell I would just replace the bearing and call it good but I'm gonna have to pull the trans no matter what I do. Anyway, the point... My TOB has started squeaking just as it makes contact with the pressure plate. Clutch set is not even a year old, maybe 20k on it mostly highway miles. I can easily replicate the squeak by pushing on the release lever by hand, the squeak goes away if I apply heavy pressure. Here's where I'm getting uneasy, as the TOB makes contact with the pressure plate (and the squeak begins) the release lever starts wobbling back and forth, like the TOB is not making even contact with the pressure plate. The harder I push, the more it wobbles. Had a friend assist and lightly press the clutch pedal while I held the release lever. With pressure from the pedal applied the release lever wobbles until its about 1/4" past the furthest point I can push to, then it smooths out. I don't currently have another (running) clutch driven car to check this against. Should this be seen as normal, or is this an indicator that the pressure plate "fingers" are uneven or possibly "bent"?

You should have 12v at all three terminals on each light with key On. If you have 12v on only one terminal there is a connection issue at the bulb. With no ground path there should be 12v on each side of the load (the lamp). You could check the lamp circuits back to the DRL module by removing or back-probing the connector and grounding the pins from the lamps. If they light normally with the pins at the connector grounded, the problem is probably the DRL module. If the lamps do not light, work your way forward in the circuit.

I know the cruise will be disabled if the Check Engine Light is on with certain codes, but I don't know if that would cause the indicator light to blink. Is the on/off button for the cruise control located on the steering wheel? Kinda wonder if that could be a clock spring issue...

Well that's good. Did SOA ever pony up or did you just let it slide?

Still no turbo?!?

The XV is just a trim level for the Impreza platform. But I agree, Subaru needs to diversify a bit more. The BRZ is a great addition, they need a small truck now (not one with a 3 foot bed). Would be nice to see them break into the full size car market. A big comfortable cruiser with the H6, or an H8!

I've seen aluminum pulley kits on eBay. They're usually just the crank and alternator. Dunno about the PS pulley, but those are pretty light already. Next step would be lightweight flywheel and clutch assembly, you can lose about 20 lbs that way. If the AC doesn't work (or even if it does) you can drop at least 20 lbs by ditching the compressor, condenser, and hoses.

Spacers or blocks to add spring tension will only risk damaging the springs. (They can break) Get a set of springs that are designed to handle more load, or get a small trailer to haul your goodies in.

^ What ^ said ^ Trailing arm bushings. Mine are shot and the whole car jerks around if I get on or off the gas wrong. Also lets the rear wheels "walk" around and make the car handle strange. Don't lift the car to check them. They are loaded when the wheel droops, put a prybar or big screwdriver in front of the bushing with the wheel on the ground and see how far you can move it. It helps to leave the parking brake off.

Sounds like a bad battery. However, you should consider getting a replacement from a dealer. A lot of newer cars need a newer style of battery that is designed to hold a charge longer with the moderate drain caused by the multiple control units in the car. I don't remember exactly what the name is for them, but the chemistry inside is a bit different. Anyway, the new battery may have died because it is the wrong type for the car. See if the dealer recommends a certain type, you might even find they have a better price on the one you need.

I use the 14460 in my cars all the time. It's practically all I buy. Occasionally ill pick up a Hastings filter from Federated Auto, or a Subaru OE, but most of the time it's purolator and a 5quart of Valvoline from Advance Auto.

That's how I knew the wire trick. I've done it a few times on cars at school and it works pretty reliably. If that doesn't bring the draw current down to under about 350mA pull the fuse for the radio to see if the CD player issue is causing a problem. If that doesn't change it, don't put the fuse back, mark where it came from (draw a picture of the fuse box if tou need to) and pull the next fuse, keep pulling fuses and lay them off to the side until you find the one that makes the biggest difference.

The control units stay powered after you reconnect the battery. Remove the negative cable and wrap a large gauge wire around it (strip the ends about 3-4") wrap the other end around the negative post on the battery. Place the negative cable on the post and cycle the key to ON then back off two or three times. Wait 10 or 15 minutes for the control units to power down. Now remove the negative cable making sure the wire does not lose connection with the cable or post. Hook up your ammeter, then remove the wire. Now you can check for draw without the control units pulling extra current.

Fans on these are electric, no connection to the engine, therefore fan speed has no correlation to engine speed. The buzz/whirr noise is due to some other issue. Possibly bad belt tensioner or idler, power steering fluid level low, or could just be the classic loose heat shield. Clutch should start to disengage at about 1/3 pedal travel. Should be fully disengaged by about 2/3 travel. Probably just old clutch, shuddering is usually due to hot spot glazing on the flywheel and/or pressure plate. Did you check the hydraulic fluid level?

I've never removed the washer reservoir, but I think the plugs do have a lock release of some sort. I just use a 3" extension on the socket and reach in under all the wires from the front of the engine.

The only sensors/electric parts on the engine that should affect idle speed are the coolant temp sensor and the idle control valve. If you have a scanner that can read live data checking the ECT sensor is easy. It should be close to outside temp in a cold start, and should reach about 180-190 when at operating temp. Really doesn't sound like that's the issue though. There are a few vacuum hoses running under the intake manifold depending on if the car has EGR. The hoses for the evap purge solenoid are under the intake runners on the passenger side. The EGR has a solenoid under the manifold on the drivers side. Entirely possible the gaskets are bad, or an oring around one of the injectors could be bad. The side feed injectors have a large fuel rail that sits in a large bore in the manifold. Not common for the rail o rings to go bad unless someone removed them before. Also check the vacuum hoses at the evap canister if its under the hood. The misfire could be causing the low idle but there is usually an electrical reason for an idle speed misfire. Mechanical misfires are generally present up to mid RPM range if timing or valve related.