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That's surprising, you have original size tires or not? Maybe the bearing was pressed in with an offset, just a guess. Compare with the other side knuckle?

Not a bad idea, to break up some of the crud in there. I ended up removing the caliper piston which had only slight scoring plus rust and gunk, but then punted. The lower slide bushing is very difficult to move even after regreasing, probably rust reduced the ID of its booted housing. Since the pads have a tapered wear pattern after 35k, I'm going with new calipers rather than chewing through another set of pads. Thanks to all for the help. The compressed air idea worked great to remove the piston, 25 psi no movement, 50 psi, nope, finally 75 psi blew it out, pop! Note to self, next time don't hold the piston on its way out.

Thanks for the responses, I'll try the fixes and if unsuccessful, looks like I can get away with the local parts store or rockauto.

1996 OBS, 170k miles, new to me last fall On the way to work this a.m., my right front brake rotor is 400 degrees after short highway drive, feels warped (steering wheel vibrating at speed) Pads are smoking! This car doesn't have a hill holder...might be a collapsed flex line...will replace even if its not flat. I'll grease the slide pins and pad-bracket surfaces, flush the lines, and attempt a caliper rebuild. If this fails, where can I get a set of subie remanufactured calipers?

Freeing up the lower control arm at the ball joint is usually what I do but it can be a lot of work with frozen parts. Either remove the castle nut and use a puller to pop it free from the control arm, or whack the control arm with a soft hammer (copper) to knock it free. Pickle forks usually tear the ball joint boot but if your replacing it, no matter. Other method is to loosen the pinch joint bolt (tends to break if frozen) and knock the ball joint head out of the pinch joint under the knuckle. If the ball joint head is frozen in the pinch joint, drive a bull pin horizontal between the control arm and the pinch joint. 1 5/16" diameter bull pin if I remember right.

Reservior o-ring seems to be about 10x15x2mm, I have used 10x14x2 in a pinch. That o-ring doesn't come with the pump rebuild kit, just the ones that don't seem to leak.

Knuckle-strut bolts were my first thought too, even though I cranked them to 140 ft lbs. After a short drive, right REAR disc is 20 degrees hotter than the other side, makes sense, maybe its caliper is sticking and pulling the car to the right. Great tip!

Will check for a stuck caliper, just got a handheld gizmo a month ago. Haven't experienced any delays in steering that I can tell. Just seems a bit harder to steer with the sticky Kumho 215s (they barely fit). I can swap tires from another car.

'97 Legacy OBW 211k just got a new aftermarket left front axle and tires all around. No problems noticed after the axle job. A week or two later, on the first test drive after putting on used tires with wrx wheels (Kumho Ecsta 215/55/16) the steering tracked right slightly. Figured it was unevenly worn tires. Drove a bit and noticed it tracks left sometimes, other times straight, but mostly slight to the right. I figure worn tires don't cause that. Then noted the power steering reservior was slightly low, changed the reservoir o-ring a few days ago. Thought that helped some, but this morning tracked hard right at low speeds for 100 yards or so, then backed off. Applying the brake seems to affect the tracking. Could it be? Loose strut or loose front end (axle job required strut bolts to be loosened) Pin fell out of inner axle at trans (re-used old pin) Crud in the power steering Bad strut top bearing Bad steering rack thanks for any clues to this mystery

Errr...I did this...on a '97 OBW, so it can be done without leaks even :eek: car survived though

I'm not disagreeing with folks above at all. But if you get an urge to flush the p/s system, its not that hard. I did it last week and I'm a noob. Drain the tank Remove the inlet strainer inside the reservior Extract the old fluid out, a clean turkey baster works well Put a catch rag under the hose to capture lost fluid Open the low pressure side (thick hose and spring clamps) Unless its leaking, don't touch the high pressure hard line fitting (double o-ring) Loosen the metal clamps to help free up the hard lines if necessary At this point you could remove the reservoir fasteners, pull off the tank, and replace the o-ring on the tank where it inserts into the pump...that's a common leak point. Think clean clean clean, bits of crud can clog the system Get a new o-ring from subaru first, about $3 and put rags around the reservoir to catch the fluid left in the tank Put a bit of silicone grease on the new o-ring before inserting on the tank (dielectric tune-up grease works fine) Re-fasten the reservoir tank to its bracket Back to our regular programming Wedge a 1 qt. catch bottle or larger down near the cylinder head or another secure place Run a 2' scrap piece of 3/8 fuel line from the end of the rubber hose you removed from the reservoir, use a brass coupler to mate the two hoses together Insert the other end of the 3/8 fuel line into the catch bottle Flushing Lift both front wheels off the ground Fill the reservoir with your fluid of choice, I used Dexmerc Assuming the belt is still on the pulley, run the engine for a few seconds to flush the old fluid out of the hoses, rack, pump Shut down, add fluid Repeat, until new fluid is coming out into the catch bottle Try not to run the reservoir tank dry (I did every time, the noob thing...) or if you do and pump begins to groan, shut down! The system, and catch bottle will fill with aerated fluid in this case, not to worry about air since you'll bleed it out next As an alternate to running the pump at motor idle speed, you could remove the p/s belt and drive the pulley with a drill motor and flex shaft...didn't try that Check for leaks Bleeding air Remove the flushing hookups Mate up the low pressure fitting back to the reservoir Fill the reservoir tank Run the engine With the wheels off the ground, turn the steering wheel full travel side to side, not pausing at the ends Top off the tank as the air bleeds out Let the system rest overnight (fluid will de-aereate and cool) Next morning, fill to proper level cold Corrections appreciated! Don't know if this is accepted subie procedure or not, worked once for me

If its failed the belt would be slack, you could check this easily enough by removing one of the belt covers or check through an inspection port if equipped. If that fails to be decisive, follow the endwrench procedures on timing belts, inspect tensioner for leaks. Your tensioner is probably best replaced if you remove it.

that's a considerable drop- 20-25% or so...worsening knock sensor is likely cause, retards the timing, combined with maybe 10% drop in winter mpg's could explain it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_plug http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_change_freeze_plugs_on_the_engine popped or compromised freeze plugs would just cause a leak right? not prevent the car from starting... what does it sound like when cranking? any fluid leaks? a rare cold snap could stress a lingering marginal component into failure...check the common failure points first...ignition components, fuel delivery system

I just replaced a melted connector on an impreza headlight. got so hot that it turned the bulb contact a dark color. local jy had about four imprezas and all except one had both headlamp connectors already pulled, so seems like a common prob. arcing at a loose contact mate or failing bulb filament might heat up the connector. I soldered in a jy connector and noted when I cut back the melted connector to expose the wiring, the copper wire was dark from oxidation...the higher the resistance, the more heat generated http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11074

If all else fails, remove two screws and pry the top off the IAC and inspect the magnetic shaft...mine was fractured, cleaned the broken shaft chips off and it runs fine (2500 rpm down to normal...1500 at cold start, 700 or so when warm) had a CEL and code though...

Maybe build it in stages First see if the modified cap will hold pressure...don't use the nalgene bottle, just pipe from the compressor to the cap, you'll have to refill the cylinder but its simpler, no air bubbles, even slight pressure should cause fluid to flow out the bleeder. Then go from there. How to prime the tube from the oil bottle...maybe a valved fitting on the nalgene to a turkey baster (or vacuum cylinder pump hehe) to draw air bubbles into the nalgene from the master cylinder...

I think it would work just fine. So you are putting regulated pressure on the master cylinder, then you crack the bleeders one at a time (in the proper order of course). So the nalgene bottle is there in case there is a vacuum on the top end then the fluid sucks into the nalgene bottle and not into your compressor...good idea. The modified cap might leak pressure, maybe seal it with dielectric grease around the threads. Maybe add a valve to release pressure...you might be refilling the cylinder as fluid bleeds down. The more features, the more leak paths though... I use the el cheapo piston pump vacuum cylinders on the brake bleeder side, they really suck and that isn't a compliment hardest problem is sealing all the pesky vacuum leaks around the collection bottle. Post results if it works, might copy you.

Lots of opinions on the crank bolt, I use 100-110 with no oil or loctite, hasn't slipped for me. I have a cheap torque wrench so who knows what its putting out Nasty probs if that bolt loosens up, horror stories! If you have corrosion on the bolt clean it up and use some lube. For me the bolt usually comes out clean...rust on the sprocket - crank mating surface though.

Not all aftermarket brake pads come with the noise reduction pad back shims that you are missing...oem pads come with new shims and end clips plus grease. uneven wear as you are experiencing can be caused by the pads hanging up on the end clips...when you replace, wire brush the caliper bracket, plenty of rust in there, I've seen inner pads with the exact wear pattern you are seeing, below the red will eventually be bare metal.

Rusty tie rod ends aren't fun, just had to drill out a siezed cotter pin on a '97 it was so rusted and that was after many days of spraying rust penetrator. I can see some confusion...lower ball joint (control arm at knuckle) and tie rod ball joint at steering knuckle could be mixed up.

Spec is 22mm width on the rotors. Pads can go down to about nothing but metal backs and still seem fine but you're taking risk especially on the fronts. 2-3 months for me is nothing, mostly highway driving... Rust ring on the outside diameter of the rotor surface is common on rotors of this age and indicates either you need to turn the rotors or replace soon (much discussion on that topic on turning $$ vs. new). Turning probably won't completely remove the rust rings either...A local machinist here won't turn a rotor past its discard spec, says you might be the one behind him I'm not picturing the 1/3 inch higher ring...but it doesn't sound good. Any warping? That's the main reason rotors get replaced, too little metal to dissipate the heat and they warp, cause brake fade, etc.

Some guesses Strut top bearing needs to be replaced Top strut bolts are loose Loose jack flying around?

Nice work record, this is a long lasting fix to a common problem Great first post!