Fairtax4me

PlastX is great stuff for polishing the lens. I use it with a high speed buffer after wet sanding with 2000 grit to remove the fine scratches left by the sand paper. It also acts as a protective coating similar to wax that will prevent the lens from yellowing if used regularly. As far as the kits go. I've never used one personally, but I've seen the 3M kit used several times by others and the results vary. It all depends on your attention to detail whether it comes out good or not. If you take your time it usually comes out better. I think either one could be just as successful as the other. I did a writeup of my own with before and after pics. My method was to wet sand with various levels of sand paper then polish out with a buffer and finishing pad. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=102339&highlight=headlight+cleaning

There aren't any "directional" brake pads that I know if. Usually if there is an inner and an outer pad they are drastically different and one can't be mounted in the wrong location. What type and brand of pads do you have? Brand of rotors?

That narrows it down quite a bit. Kinda sounds like a loose heat shield. With the car in park engine running slowly rev it up to about highway speed (2,000 - 2,500 rpm) and let it back down slowly to idle and see if you can reproduce the noise while sitting still.

I it leaking from the rubber or around the outside of the sleeve? It's best to put a thin smear of sealer around the outer part of the seal before installing it to prevent leaks between the bore and sleeve.

Put the anti-rattle clips back. The caliper slide pins are what he's referring to. These are the pins that hold the brake caliper to the hub. One at the top and one at the bottom of the caliper. Remove the bolts from the caliper, set the caliper aside. Now you have two studs with rubber boots on them that point towards the strut assembly. Those pull out of the caliper mounting bracket. Remove them and make sure they are free of rust and dirt, and put some high temperature grease on them. You can use the stuff they sell in the little green or grey packets on the counter at the local parts store. Says "high temp brake grease" or something of that nature.

I've wanted one of those for years. Never could justify spending $150+ for one though. But I went out and bought a Craftsman C3 cordless drill with the lithium battery pack about three months ago. The C3 line includes a 1/4" cordless impact that is only about $60 without the battery and charger. I can use the same pack and charger that came with the drill.

Pretty much any Car wash soap should work fine. But the higher end brands will work better without removing the wax. Be sure to follow mixing directions on the bottle. No dish soap unless you WANT the wax gone.

I didn't say you have to tell them what you have. I wouldn't even other to signup just use the search function. Search for Engine swap, or EJ20T or something of that nature. All the electronics between the Imp and Legacy are the same, and so is about half the suspension. So pretty much whatever goes for an Impreza can be done on a Legacy and work just the same.

You might try taking a look around your local Subaru dealership or look on places like Autotrader for cars sitting on other dealer lots near you that might use something like that.

Come on now, you can't tell us you made something and not post a few pics of it! What did you make them out of? Where did you get the materials?

I agree $80 is a bit much for a bent piece of metal with two bushings stuck in it. But you will definitely want something tougher than the stock links if you go with an after market sway bar.

I haven't read too much about turbo swaps here. I'm sure there is some info if you search. You might try searching over at NASIOC since they're a more "performance" oriented group of people. A six speed swap would be interesting. I'm sure it's doable, probably with very few mods if any. One thing you'll have to think about though is the clutch release mechanism. Your car has a cable system, after 99 IIRC they all went to hydraulic.

So they're both rear springs. The one with more coils on the bottom I would think is for a heavier car like a wagon. Something that would benefit from not quite as stiff of a ride but it needs a bit higher spring rate to hold up the extra weight. Did they ever use those on the Forester? Like on the XT?

I've been thinking this sounds like a dead fuel pump (why I suggested a fuel pressure test). Or even a ruptured fuel pressure regulator. But I'm also inclined to think it could be electrical, something like a faulty ignition switch.

Good.

That's real mature. You do know there's a place called Subaru/Autozone/Napa/Advance/Checker/Kragen/Oreilly's/Federated/Pep Boys/:Insert name of favorite parts chain here:/ where you can get one yourself rather than wait for someone else to send you one? Or perhaps a junk yard if you're not inclined to pay what a parts store or dealer wants for it. Either he forgot (which people do from time to time) to get back to you, or he never saw your response to the thread. You could have send him a PM asking for the part rather than sitting back and waiting for yours to fail. You don't get your drawers all in a wad if you waited two months to hear from some stranger, and you didn't take the initiative to find the parts you needed on you own.

Do what now?!?

Definitely electrical. I kinda wanna say a bad ground connection. I'll take a look in the FSM real quick and see if any of that is connected. Probably a good idea to check all the fuses under the hood and in the panel under the dash. Check the fusible link as well.

The cover is the least of your worries. The broken off pieces of the cover are the bigger concern because they probably fell down inside, and are in there bouncing around as the timing belt flies by them. You're at the mileage where a belt change is necessary anyway. Timing belt interval is like 105k miles I think. But there are other things that should be changed while there is access to them such as the various idler pulleys that the timing belt runs on, the water pump, and the Oil pump should be checked for wear and be resealed. If you just replace the belt, you still have 4 worn pulleys and a worn water pump that might go bad and seize up before the next belt change. If any one of those locks up it will shred the belt. Your engine is an interference design which means that if the timing belt breaks and the camshafts stop turning, the pistons will hit and bend the valves. And that's a MUCH more expensive repair than just replacing the belt and associated components. You don't necessarily have to fix the cover, there are several people on the board here who don't have the covers at all on their engines. But fixing it will help to keep other bits of foreign matter from getting in there and possibly doing harm to the new belt.

Put an ad in the for sale section for parts. There is probably plenty of good stuff still there. Whether you get $300 out of it depends. Most parts are worth more if they're known to be good at the time of sale. That's hard to do with engine parts on an engine that doesn't run, but you can strip all the various sensors off and try selling them. Things like the MAF, MAP, knock sensor, coil pack, etc. Cylinder heads could be sold for a decent price if you take them off and have them pressure checked to be sure there are no cracks/bent valves. Interior or body parts if in good condition can usually get a fair amount, all just depends on who's looking for what at the time.

Sounds like a thermostat issue. I've read quite a few posts suggesting the use of only Subaru thermostats rather than an after market part.

Agreed. If you don't fix the leak you just lose all of the refrigerant and the money you spent on it. The compressor does not run continuously even under normal operation. It has to turn off periodically for the pressure in the high side of the system to bleed down. Pressure makes heat. And too much heat leads to a vicious snowball effect that ends with the compressor imploding. This also gives the evaporator core a much needed chance to defrost. If the compressor ran constantly, the evaporator would plug up with ice (condensation from the air moving across it), or the high pressure lines would explode from overheating, or worst case the compressor melts down and seizes.

You have to at least slide the engine forward far enough to get two hands into the bellhousing. When you get it that far you might as well pull it out all the way. Either way you want to at least drain the radiator and remove it to prevent the engine from bashing into it by accident. If you catch the antifreeze in a clean container you can reuse it. You need enough room to easily lift and turn the torque converter, and feel the notches slide together when it fits onto the pump drive shaft. If you do some searching on the site here you'll find some threads on how to properly seat it.

What exactly are you trying to figure out?

Your guess is as good as anyone elses. Sometimes an alternator will last a month, sometimes less than a day. I had one go from fine to about to lock up in less than 6 miles. An alternator change is REALLY easy on these. If there's any way you can get the parts, absolutely change it before driving the car any distance. Hell even if you have to buy one from autozone or something, put it on, then take it back later after you get a Subaru reman one from a dealer. If you can't manage to do that, rent a car for the drive. But if you take yours, there's a good chance you might not make it. I should add, that before replacing the alt. check all the battery connections for tightness/ cleanliness.