maozebong

Hey just as a warning to all, gen 3 Gabriel and Monroe struts that they have in stock are mostly blown. On my third one they have shipped me and having a hard time getting them to ship yet another replacement.

Old trick I learned from some Ohio derby red neck, he used to cheat by stuffing axle shafts into the frame rails. Hard to buckle a frame rail with 2 thick hardened shafts acting as a spine. This is likely not allowed anymore, but if rules don't specifically state it...

ive been periodically fighting pinging in the motor in my current wagon... ill list off the things ive done that worked to remedy the situation. it started out pinging at any throttle level and low loads. i started with a tuneup, ngk wires and plugs, airtex cap/rotor. this got rid of the bulk of the low throttle problem. checked for vacuum leaks, found them at the throttle shaft and at pcv hoses (ends cracked). replaced pcv hoses, noticeable improvement, wideband AFR showing much more appropriate cruising AFR's (started at ~17:1, now at high 15:1) i noticed i have quite an oily intake tube, the motor has 275k on it, and uses 2qts between oil changes. the system got pretty gunky and had whitish milkshake garbage. don't let anyone here tell you its normal. it comes from intake/throttle body/head gasket leaks, NOT morning condensation. i checked mine and found the passenger side intake gasket was leaking ever so slightly. no more milkshake in the pcv. i replaced the throttle body and all its gaskets, since it looked to be leaking once i had the manifold off and in hand. oddly enough this fixed my cold start misfire/stalling, i suspect due to a fuel leak when the engine was off. cruising AFR's down to low 15's. cleaned MAF, AFR's improved at WOT (low 14's, high 13's) TPS failed testing when tested at the ecu. turned out to be minor corrosion on the connector. cleaned connector, tip in acceleration improved. checked fuel pressure, found in spec. for curiosity sake, i unplugged vacuum to the FPR. WOT AFR's now locked in low 13's. no pinging on 89 octane. pinging still present on 87. i plan on trying a step colder plugs soon, a top engine cleaning (gonna use BG induction service instead of seafoam this time, BG stuff has more detergents, as well as its sold at my shop) and removing the catalytic converters. hopefully the cat removal will help with carbon buildup, ive been noticing carbon flecks on the plugs, a sign of backpressure being present, which is no surprise considering how much engine oil i have made that cat digest.

you guys pack heavy... i bring v-belts, timing belts and timing pullies, a distributor, coil/w bracket, fuel injector, fuel pump, 6ft of fuel line, 3ft vacuum line, 6ft of 12ga wire, a roll of silicone hose repair tape, zip ties (12" and 36", trust me on the 36's, they are gold) and a tube of ultra grey silicone, small roll of metal oxide 40grit sandpaper (also a must, can be used for cleaning electrical contacts and cable ends), a cheap voltmeter, a handful of 20A fuses and fusible links. all this fits in a small tool sack that i keep under my sleeper panel. . if you're lifted, a spare front + rear axle, roll pins, and a high lift jack to reach high enough to lift the car. id bring an alternator, but the maxima alternator seems pretty reliable compared to the ea alts, and i have a dual battery setup, so i could drive quite a while with no charging. (2x 35Ah/600cca)

every subaru rack ive ever replaced boots on has had grease smeared around inside. it gets thinned out with ATF from seal leaks, but if you don't have any puddling up, in the boots, youll be fine. they put it in there for rustproofing and seal longevity. (rustproofing might be a residual effect of leaving grease in the boot. when i lived in the rust belt, id see steering rack shafts pitted from salt and water getting in and eating the steel.)

i replace literally hundreds of spring bolts a year in my shop. they snap all the time. oreillys and most part shops have spring bolt replacement kits for <$25.

You must have missed when said "bendy magnet" You bend them into immediate right angle spaces. Shaft is made from 8 gauge solid core wire. If I can fish a 10mm wrench out of a Toyota timing cover with one, you can save yourself the massive pain of aligning the shifter rod. http://www.walmart.com/ip/40874716

The ac switch should be mounted on the driver's side of the HVAC box. It is what controls the ac relay, and probably what you want on a toggle.

X2 on the bendy magnet. They have saved me from hundreds of hours of work.

you don't need to measure that lifter to know its not from an ea82. the top sticks out way farther and the sleeve in the head is visibly thicker than anything subaru uses. id be willing to bet its a common press fit bushing, or possibly a journal bearing, milled to fit the lifter of choice. its common in old school 2nd/3rd world machine shops to use commonly available parts over the correct parts. i personally think you should disassemble them and clean them if you don't have the resources for another set of heads. the common problem is that an internal check valve gets stuck open, as its a dead end for the oil feed. edit: if its currently 20mm and your new lifters are 21mm, get a brake cylinder hone an widen them out until your new lifters have a tight fit, a .25mm clearance.

and the power/ground splice below the carpet in the passenger footwell if cleaning the hardened 30 year old grease out of the tracks in the door does nothing for window speed. spray on white lithium is fine. i used ceramic brake parts lubricant called ceramlub because i got a tub for free at a trade show and i like its consistency. its just window tracks, so don't overthink it, just make sure its lubed.

try the wanted section and services offered. at least 5 people on this board sell redrilled hubs, and 14" rims are in piles in the junkyards from early mazda/nissan/toyota trucks. all this stuff is readily available, expecting people to come forward and give you everything is going to take alot longer. as far as rear disks go, get in line. some parts are still available new, like rear pads, rotors and calipers... or find an XT, or fab in legacy rear disks. not many sets left.

everyone was there for 2 or so. everyone is long gone. good meeting everyone there. it was fun, and it was cool to see all the WA state old gen guys there, not many of us left. not gonna lie, felt weird to have such a stock wagon compared to some of the swaps and fab work some folks have.

high mileage oil has additives that make seals swell up and soften... which leads to things leaking faster if the previous owner had resealed it recently. stuff isnt worth the extra price IMO. full synthetic or dino. the inbetween and lower grades are a constantly changing balance between cost to produce and API additives and base stock requirements. i use mobil or rotella/shell synthetic, even though my engine burns oil... it leaves less PCV deposits due to the fact it has a higher vaporization temperature.

do you have an automatic climate control system? that could explain the blend door problem. when is the last time you used the ac and confirmed it is good? they leak in the typical spots, where flex lines are crimped and at the o-ring connections at the compressor. when they perform the ac service, make sure you have them note the amount of refrigerant recovered from your system, it will indicate if it was a sudden leak or a slow leak that is just now noticeable.