nipper

Lifetime warrenties are made as a marketing ploy. Usually they have an exception for wear items. When i worked for an auto part mfg, we knew that most people would loose the paperwork in about 2 years. ALso its not usually the part price that gets you, its the labor. Subarus are easy to do breaks on. I would say go and take an afternoon and do it yourself, as you would save a ton of money. nipper

Gas Tank- I am having the same issue witha 97OBW. The gas tank is split in two, and has two seinding units. The Drivers side tank gets drained first, then the passenger side does. Passenger side has the fuel pump. I pulled mine out and cleaned all the gook off the drivers side one, and that helped. The passenger side one im going to try to clean again, but i think it may need to be replaced. It's real easy to pull these puppies out and clean them, less then 90 minutes for both. Just keep an eye on the 8 mm nuts. nipper

70 mpg DAMN! hehehhe Odd the manuals I've seen recomend it strongly. Also 70 mph with a trailer (if its a box type trailer) can make life interesting. nipper

Almost all owners manuals tell you to tow in D3. nipper

i guess its how its all programed. So far all the reveiws ive seen of the manual-matics will force an upshift a hair above redline. i know fuel injectors do stop operating at some point. But im sure somone out there is cutting off fuel...somone always has to be difficult nipper

The valve bodies will force a upshift out of self preservation (that goes for all automatics). Now with all the computers, they just limit the revs on the engine and not force the upshift. nipper

Ah ok, i know on my 1988 gl it didnt like getting the wrong axles at all. At one point the boots were ripping themselves apart in a month. After that expeirence i tend to go to subaru for the axles. Do it once and do it right. I got tired of the monthly axle change. nipper

No Problem gald i could help. On the clicking, in Neutral, if you slowly press in the clutch pedal, does it change pitch. Can you feel the clicking in the clutch pedal? nipper

Damn there are no Grease Monkeys in NY, looks like i will have to go to NJ for one. Anyone can recomend a good one in nj, or will they know what im talking about when i say subaru specific? nipper

I had a freind that made a living by repairing alloy wheels. Talk to a tire store, or a high end dealership, they may be able to refer you to somone. I dont know if your tires are directional, they would have an arrow of somekind in the sidewall if they were directional (at least my goodyear aquatreads did). I am sort of stumped on the clicking without having the car in front of me. These things usually do one of two things, either go away or get worse. nipper

Its kind of hard to tell from the posting .. I agree can you clairify it a bit. Does the clicking increase with engine speed? if it happens when the clutch is depressed does it increase when the engine is reved up while the clutch is dperessed, at the same rate as the engine? When the clutch is depressed, the pressure plate, bolted to the flywheel, keeps spinning. The clutch disc, which is on the input shaft of the transmission, captured between the flywheel and pressure plates spins to a stop. The only thing where there is a connection of anykind, is the pilot bearing. The input shaft of the transmission rests in the pilot bearing, which is in the center of the flywheel. This is not transmitting power, nut is used to keep everything in alignment. The throwout bearing presses against the fingers of the pressure plate. This is attached to the clutch fork. How old is the clutch. nipper nipper

i had this issue for a while. Finally i bit the bullit and took the car to a subaru dealer and never had the problem again. Surprsingly the subaru dealer was reasonable. There are a few differnt axles for these cars, depending upon engine/transmission choices. There are only mm's in difference in length, but put the wrong axle in the car, and it will not last very long. My mechanic at the time was just ordering a axle and not specifying the drivetrain, and what was worse, was his supplier wasnt asking him either. Go to subaru, get the right axles, and you will be done with it. nipper

my 97 outback wil go right to red line if i let it when floored. It sounds like its operating fine. nipper

Possibly a bad throw out bearing or pilot bearing? How old is the clutch? nipper

True but lockup and OD are used as the same meaning by end users (us) and even technicians. I mean look at motor and engine. motor is electric, engine is mechaical. But its too earlt to get into a discussion about terms. nipper

In the bad old days of lock up torque converters and other oddities, Transmissions didnt have a drive 3 and OD, jusr a D and a 2 and a L. They found out there was driveability issues (thank you GM). This was the 1980's. To solve this issue they added D3 and OD (or D in a circle). The controls were not that advanced back then. The owners manuals would tell you for driving under 40mph use D, and over 40 use OD. Now with computers deciding when to shift into od to some degree, and on some cars doing all the shifting, its no longer necassary. D4/OD/D can be used for everyday driving. Torque converters on some cars lock up in every gear, and you dont even feel it. D3 or D is used for towing, driving up hilly terrane (to keep the car from shifting like mad), or for engine braking. Drive 3 is the 1-2-3 shift. Drive 2 can either be a 1-2 shift (again thanks gm) or a start in second gear, and a forced downshift. Same for 1 or low. Any of these selections can be over ridden by the car at the extreem to protect the engine from over reving. nipper

The only time i've used drive3 is in hilly country, when the car seemed to be shifting an awful lot at highway speed to climb hills. Otherwise i just drive in D. nipper

http://www.cars101.com/subaru_sitemap.html that has all the models listed. nipper

I use Tire rack, never had a problem with them, and I find thier revews from customers quite helpful. nipper

Oh I agree, but usually the easiest thing to do to increase gas mialage is look at your driving habits. The forester does tend to be a bit of a brick as far as drag, but its still better then the other rolling bricks out there. In my 98 Legacy, I would get 21 city with ac on, 24 the norm, and highway between 27 and 35 (hehehe see top speed posts as to why). I had a freind drive it on the highway, and in two tanks of gas he got 38 (he was an amputee driving with his left leg so he had a really light touch on the gas pedal). My "new" 97 OBW is getting 18.5 in the city with ac always on, and in need of a tuneup. Personally i can live with that. I rented for 2 weeks a ford escape with the v-6, which got a resounding 13mpg in the city. I have yet to take the OBW on a pure highway run, as i cant sit that long in the car yet. I am sure once I get used to the 2.5L as oppo0sed to the 2.2L (read lead foot) ill get 21 in the city. I would suggest before going through the hassel of removing the driveshaft, to get an engine vacume gauge. The higher up you can keep the needle on the gauge, the better the gas mileage. nipper

Damn next time i drive out on 80 by state college ill have to take my camera with me nipper

The awd fuse under the hood disables the all wehel drive. The tranfer case is bolted to the rear of the transmission and sealed. The output yoke, if i recall correctly is part of the transfer case and cannot fall out. Personally, i think you will either gain about .5mpg, or get less mpg. There is still alot of drag from the live rear axle and the differential. nipper

REALLY! thats interesting. i guess im doing a tune up too then . That i can do even with a bad knee. Thanks nipper

im just hoping it lasts untill either i can do it myself, or my insurance money comes in and debate just replacing the drivetrain (i like my car that much). The bump is really disturbing, especially after getting rear-ended last month.. Engine rpm does not change, sometimes its a double bump. Could it be a week motor mount? Unfortunitly i wont be bale to do anything about it myself for at least another month or two depending upon my knee.

I had my 98 legacy 2.2 up to 110mph. What really sucked was the cruise wouldnt engage past 90 mph . Downhill i had it up to 120, but it started getting too "busy" in the front end to hold it there. nipper