gbhrps

Bigtoeballew, Could you have a bad strut on one side up front? You've rebalanced tires, new rotors, and an alignment. There isn't anything else unless the propeller shaft to the rear end has tossed a balancing weight (if indeed it had any to begin with). Here's a suggestion that I've used more than once with brake rotors that pulse and are at the same stage of wear, AND are still safe to use. I swap them side to side. It has cured the brake shimmy on more than one ocassion. Keep us posted as to how it all works out.

Gentlemen, I put 138 000 km on my 97 OBW without any headgasket problems when I traded it on a new 02 OBW. A year after I bought it, Subaru of Canada sent me a recall to have the car brought in, and have a special coolant additive added to ensure that the headgasket would not leak. I did so, as requested, and at present I have 96 000 km on the car without any problems at all. Next year I'll have the coolant flushed and refilled, and I'll be requesting the special coolant headgasket additive be put in again. Seems like a good insurance policy.

Syphon, Flushing and replacing your brake fluid every 3 years prevents a sticking caliper. You may be able to resurrect it by removing the pads, removing the caliper from its mounts, and popping the piston out by pumping the brakes carefully. When it comes out, sometimes you can clean up the rust on the piston with 0000 steel wool. Check the inside of the caliper bore and do the same, flushing it out with clean brake fluid. IF...I repeat...IF the rust is minor, put everything back together and you should be fine, after flushing the system with new brake fluid. If you have any doubts as to your ability to do the job, or to know when you are in over your head... leave it to a professional who will want to replace both calipers. Be safe! Good luck.

NorthWolf, You're on the right track! The hair drier should do the trick without burning your paint like a heat gun might. Use a putty knife to pry it off, just check that the putty knife has no gouges that could scratch your paint. Either use Goo Be Gone to lift the rest of the adhesive left behind, or Varsol should give good results as well. Good luck!

NorthWolf, My 97 OBW LTD developed the piston slap at 23 000 km and still had it at 138 000 km when I traded it. In winter, until the engine warmed up, it was loud and then tapered off, but you could still tell it was there. All the research I did led me to believe that it would not substantially shorten the engine's life. The car was otherwise great. Then I retired and treated myself to an 02 OBW LTD. It slaps slightly when cold, but at 96 000 km hasn't gotten any worse. And if it does, I'll drive it until I get the urge to treat myself again, in say 4 or 5 years. There is no need to be afraid of the piston slap, unless its something that would just drive you crazy, or if in 2 years time you're going to try and sell the car. It may well scare off many potential buyers, unless they too know that its not a big deal.

vic/se, There is no definitive answer to your question, due to a lot of factors. Are you talking front or rear pads, since the fronts wearout much faster than the rears? How good are the brake pads, quality wise? Were they broken in carefully? Are you a driver who is on the gas, on the brake, on the gas, etc.? (I know of a lady who drives like that and can't get 20 000 kms out a set of pads.) Do you drive hard and brake hard? Are you living in an area where there is salt on the roads in winter, or high humidity that rusts the rotors quickly, thusly tearing up the face of the pads as well? So many factors affect their longevity. It is just a good rule of thumb to check them every 15 000 kms, take them out, and clean and lube where they slide on the caliper. Here in Southern Ontario, I expect to get 65 000 km at least out the fronts of my OBW, and almost twice that out of my rears, on original equipment pads. But then again, I don't drive hard, ride the brakes, and at least twice a year I personally pull, clean and lube the front and rear pads. Every 3 years I even flush and replace the brake fluid. Hope this helps.

godwine, I'm no expert, but my last 97 OBW had the dohc 2.5 and 139 000 km when I traded it on my 02 OBW with a sohc 2.5 which has 94 000 km, and neither one has the vibrations your dealership says is normal. You have a bad motor mount, harmonic balancer (if the car has one, as I said I'm no mechanic), or a miss in that rpm range. My advice would be to take the car to another dealer and get another opinion. I think your dealership is brushing you off, because they're stumped.

Urban Coyote, Regardless of what explanation you can find for the discrepancy.... run, don't walk from this one. There are too many cars out there without questionable histories. You don't need to own one that makes alarm bells go off.

Jowens, I have 93 000 kms on my 02 OBW, do my own oil changes, and have yet to change the original copper washer on the drain plug. It may be a good idea to get a few new ones, just in case you do develop a leak, so you'll have one on hand, but I've not needed one on this car, nor on the 97 OBW I owned before it. Use a flat bladed screw driver to pry out the centres of the three screw plugs in the plastic skidplate. Then grab the skidplate in the oval-shaped hole with the rubber flapper cover (it'll make sense when you crawl under the front of the car to look) and slide the skidplate door out. Place your drain pan under the drain plug, remove it, and unwind the oil filter. Its all very easy, since everything is right in the open, easy to see and get at, and you don't even need to jack up the car. Have fun!

Dr. Rock, You seem to be on the right track, but add a few more steps. Watch your Brake fluid reservoir when you use the C clamp to force the piston back into the caliper on each wheel. You will be forcing fluid to go back into the reservoir, and it will over flow after your second wheel or third. Siphon the excess out, or get a large syringe or turkey baster, so that it doesn't spill on your fender wells and strip the paint off. I always remove the 2 bolts holding the caliper to its mounting bracket, and the mounting bracket that the pads fit into as well. Hang the caliper from the coil spring with a hook fashioned from a coat hanger, to keep the rubber brake hose from stressing. Use a spray bomb of brake cleaner, and an old toothbrush to clean everything well. Remove the rotor and lightly tap it on the outside edge, all around its outside, to drop off all the loose rust scale. Put antiseize compound on the the wheel hub that the wheel studs protrude from, but not on the wheel studs themselves. That will ensure that you can get the rotor off easily next time, just don't overdo it. Put 2 wheel nuts on the studs, after replacing the rotor, to hold it in place. Use antiseize compound on the chrome slider clips where the pads fit into the caliper mounting bracket. Reinstall the mounting bracket, ensuring that you put antiseize compound on its mounting bolt threads. Now install your pads, antisqueal compound, and pad shims into the caliper mounting bracket as one unit, being sure to have installed the brake wear squeal clip onto one of the pads. (Still with me?) Now's the time for the piston to get pushed back into the caliper (check the fluid rise in the reservoir). Carefully remove the rubber boots from the caliper slider sleeves, and force the sliders out. Clean them, lube them with silicone grease (normal grease attacks the rubber) and reinstall. Place the caliper back on, and lube its mounting bolt threads with antiseize. Lube the outside mounting surface of the rotor with antiseize, again making sure none gets onto your wheel studs, and you'll find removing your wheels for the next brake job will be a snap. Pump up the brakes before you do your next wheel and keep going. Lastly, if you haven't bled and replaced your brake fluid, now is the time to do it, at least once every three years. Good luck!

Kidwired, It's not a big deal to pop the interior panel from the hatch, because its just held on with plastic plugs along the bottom (pull them with the flat edge of a screwdriver), and pry off the panel with your hand around its other 3 sides. Then with the hatch open, force the locking mechanism closed with a screwdriver, and then watch the locking mechanism while someone else unlocks the latch with the remote, or the power locks. You may find a bent rod, or a missing or broken plastic clip that holds the rod on the lock or actuator.

Phugoid, Frag is most likely right! I'd check out the corrosion on the electrical connectors at the pump. They are the most frequent culprits.

Same problem for my 98 OBW years ago. Codes said a miss on cylinder #3, but everything related checked out fine. Decided to exchange parts one at a time with new ones, and a new ignition coil solved the issue, even though the old one checked out as good.

I've owned a 97 OBW and now a 02 OBW and neither one uses a drop of oil between oil changes, which are 6000 km apart here in Canada. Had 138 000 km on the older one, and presently 91 000 km on the 02. I use the same 5W30 you do on both cars. While you are using oil in your OBW, one quart/litre every 2500 miles (3000 km), it doesn't seem excessive to me, and on a two and a half year old car, to have to check the oil every other fill up and top it up a bit, strikes me as cheaper than tracking down where the oil is going (past rings, valve seals) and repairing it. I always carry an extra quart along side the battery just in case. I've never had to use it. You'll have to, but it gives you a reason to get under the hood regularly and check out everything out. Personally, I wouldn't lose any sleep over the issue, considering all of the really expensive things that could go wrong with a car. This is, in my view, just a minor annoyance. This may be not what you want to hear, and its only my 2 cents worth, ... for what that's worth.

Charlie05, It sounds like you're on the right track. I would wonder if you couldn't get your wires to follow the top of the dash pad at the glass, and press it out of view into the crack there all the way to the A pillar, then down under the dash, along to the wiring harness for the heater controls. Here you could tap into the sources needed without having to stand on your head under the dash trying to find another source. You don't give a year and model so I can't be more specific. Taking the garnishes around the heater controls is not a big deal, if you take your time and don't force anything. Good luck!

Distance Commuter, Depending on the car and the motor, every situation will be different when it comes to hill climbing using cruise at the same time. Three of my cars have cruise, but where I live in Southern Ontario, Canada, it is sooooo flat, that the only hills are overpasses on the highways. My wife's Lexus and my 300ZX have enough ponies under the hood, that there usually is no tranny downshifting needed to get up and over. The 02 OBW (auto) will downshift one, and then 2 gears if necessary, just because it just doesn't have enough oomph like the other 2 cars. But in all three cars, as I get into a hill, I add my foot pressure to the accelerator to help the cruise out to the top of the hill and then remove it. It invariably will make the drive much smoother, because it doesn't let the revs drop back too far, causing the downshifts, or make them as abrupt when it does shift down. Likewise, before I turn the cruise off, I take up the pedal pressure with my foot on the accelerator, then hit the button. You don't get that jerk in the driveline that way. Call me old fashioned, call me anal attentive, but it works for me, and makes my driving experience much more rewarding.

Kidcapri73, If your wrecking yards are like the ones we have up here in Canada, going to one of the larger ones can usually get what you need. They all belong to parts locating system, where either by phone or by computer, they put out your request and get feedback usually the same day from other wrecking yards. Once your part is located, then you have the option of having the parts shipped in to their location, usually that same week.

Dighost, Yikes! Three inches is quite a lot, but it might be able to be done, using your original seats and seat rails. Check the shape of the floor underneath the car and underneath the carpet to be sure. Your rails may need modifying, at the front, particularly where they bolt to the floor. My main concern would be the distance your seat belt anchor points would be from your shoulder and waist. There may be too much slack afterwards in the system to be safe, particularly in a car with the potential for getting into trouble like the STI. You might consider just trying for an inch and a half, just to be on the safe side.

A garage overtorqued a wheel on one of my Vettes using an impact gun, and warped the rotor, destroying it. Since then I've used a cheap torque wrench to ensure it doesn't happen again. A cheap one that you'll only use for wheels, whether the long pointer type or click type, will cost well under $20.00 USD.

mschiavone2, Since the airbag and the horn both operate fron the centre of the steering wheel, and both quite working, logic says that the problem is with the wiring harnesses in the steering column as suggested by Cougar. Get to your dealership to correct the problem. Don't mess with the airbag on your own, unless you know what you're doing. It is too easy to get hurt if the bag goes off unexpectedly, not to mention very expensive to replace if it goes off.

rem14, All of my vehicles with ABS make various harmmering/pulsing/buzzing noises when the ABS is activated, but stop immediately after lifting my foot off the brake pedal. This was true for my 97 OBW, and my 02 OBW as well. I'd get a second opinion from another Subaru dealer when possible. I don't think its a danger to you in the meantime, but it'd sure give you peace of mind. My 2 cents worth.

You have a 15 year old calipers, seals, dust boots and pistons. I'd surely be popping out the pistons, inspecting the pistons for rust and scoring, replacing the seals and dustboots, and checking the condition of the piston bores in the caliper. If the pistons and bores can't be cleaned up easily with very fine steel wool, cleaned and flushed out with fresh brake fluid, then I'd be trading them in for newly remanufactured calipers with new seals and dust boots.

Legacy04, If your mirrors fog up whenever its cold outside...that's normal, and every cay I've ever owned did the same thing in our Southern Ontario, Canada winters. The solution is to turn on the heated mirror switch..if your car is so eguipped. Other than that, its get out the windshield scrapper time. Engine noises that go away when the engine warms up are notoriously a fact of life with many Subaru engines. Its called piston slap, and occurs until the pistons heat up and expand enough to fit the clyinder bore correctly, they will flop back and forth creating the thunk/slap noise you are hearing. Read the threads on piston slap and you'll discover that its annoying, but won't significantly hurt the longevity of the engine. Just grin and bear it like all of us do. You don't give a model year for your car, but I suspect that your present tires are too wide. My 97 OBW had 215/70/15 Blizzaks for winter driving and the car was unstoppable. My 02 OBW has 225/60/16 Icetracks and I cannot get anywhere near the speeds in ice or snow that the old car would do. The fault is that these much wider tires ride up on top of the slush and snow and more or less aquaplane. I can't wait for them to wear out so I can put as narrow a winter tire as possible on the 16 inch rims. As well, if you're using just a all season tire, you need to get another set of steel rims and dedicated, narrow ice grip tires. You'll be amazed at the traction you get.

scubabike420, Been there, done that. My 02 OBW runs like a top and is the envy of my friends and relatives who couldn't go anywhere in one of our recent one foot snowfalls. Yep, and when I was last in the Subie dealers' showroom, I fell in love with an 05. Its freshened interior and exterior, not to mention the turbo 2.5 had me figuring out how I was going to convince my wife that it was time to trade. I guess it will have to wait a few more years.....sniff.

rjpoutlook, My 97 OBW had a very noisy piston slap when cold and my 02 OBW has the same noise, but much less so. As you most likely have found out, it is more of an annoyance than a detriment to the engine's longevity. Why Subaru hasn't fixed this over the years is puzzling, since I'm certain it has cost them customers. In my case, the cars do so many other things so well, that I overlook the less than sophisticated sound coming from the engine compartment. Only you can decide if the piston slap is annoying enough to turn the vehicle back in.