MR_Loyale

I have heard from numerous sources that the air conditioning system is needed even when you are not actually cooling the car. The reason given is that supposedly it removes humidity from the air and makes clearing a fogged windshield quicker. I had heard and read this in several places but not really given it much credibility until recently. Saturday I went on a long trip through the nasty wet weather we have been experiencing in Washington. Now for those that know me, also know that when my AC compressor kicks in, I know it because the belt squeals. Call it my "AC Compressor Activation Indicator" if you will or just call me too damn lazy to tighten the belt to proper tension - either is probably an accurate description. Anyway as we were driving Saturday, even though my AC was not activated, the darn compressor kept kicking in. I hit the window defrost to clear the windshield, top button on the HVAC contol panel, slide the temp bar all the way to the top and then turn on the fan and I get that squeal. It was very annoying and so at the first rest stop I pulled the fuse to the circuit so the relay would not engage the compressor clutch. I thought the thing was malfunctioning, but then over the course of the next 8 hours it did appear to take longer to defog my windows. Fellow member jj421 has always commented how my windows were faster at defogging than his were and the only real difference had been he removed his AC completely and mine was functional, until Saturday when I disabled it by removing the fuse. This experience leads me to believe that the AC does act as a dehumidifier even when the system is in heating mode and not actively cooling the car as it would during a hot summer day. I know that during a hot summer day, moisture collects and is drained throug a tube to the outside. But how does this work in our cold raining days when it isn't even turned on? Dehumidification may not seem all that important, unless you live in Wet-stern Washington where it is always so damp that even the concrete turns green. Of course on a below freezing day this is not relevant as the air is dry anyway. But on super humid days like this weekend, it appears to make a big difference. Question: Does the AC really act to dehumifiy the air in any meaningful way in wet damp weather when only the heat is selected? Please explain this process as I am baffled. Bonus question - running the AC compressor steals about 3 to 6mpg (ask me how I know), how can I get the dehumification benefit without the MPG robbing drag on the engine? (and throw in the plans for the perpetual motion device while your'e at it ) And telling me to buy a box of Dri-Z-Air is not an answer.

I had steering wheel shimmy on the freeway once. Turned out to be out of round tires. Pulsing brakes sounds like warped rotors.

Well the Mt Rainier camping was a bust. The weather forecast heavy rains, possible mountain snow and gusting winds. What to do? Being WET-STERN Washington, we take our lemons and make lemonade. Use what you got and today rain and gusting winds and bluster was what we got. So jj421 and myself brainstormed (pun intended) and decided to trek on over to the Washington coast and watch nature on display first hand. I know we talked about the Olympic Loop but that it was too long and there was construction near Lake Crescent. We decided to head down I-5 to Vancouver, cross into Oregon 30 and head west to the coast then back into Washington foolishly thinking it might be a four or five hour trip. Yeah I can just hear folks laughing out loud. Didn't the SS Minnow start out with this same premise? Well after over 14 hours including our stops to sight see, eat and fart at the rest stops, we clocked 490 + miles on our cars. We couldn't just sit at home twiddling our thumbs, not after we had our sights set on a trip. There was one point in Oregon right around Clatskanie where the rain fell so hard it was like driving under a waterfall for about 1/2 mile. Throw in several standing lakes at freeway speeds and you get the idea. We met at Tacoma Mall at about 9:30 am and got into Astoria about 4:30 pm. We stopped for dinner and then made our way into Washington to Cape Disappointment State Park. It was anything but. As you can see by the photos. That is jj421 in the mirror with his fog lights on. I am glad we made the trip. Our cars ran great (I got 32 mpg) and handled the weather well. My odo crossed 152K which makes it 2k I have added since WCSS on Sept 7th. If you have never been on the coast watching the waves crash the coast in a gale force wind storm, you should try it at least once in your lifetime. It was quite a show.

333k is pretty good.

NOTE: I do not work for Gregg's - just heard about it on the radio. Just heard on the radio that Gregg's Japanese auto Repair is having a contest looking for the Japanese or Korean car with the hghest mileage on the odometer. Now we all KNOW it will be a Subaru don't we? So if any of you have a Subaru with over 200K then you need to get it entered into the contest. Just give them a call 1-800-794-7347. Again, I don't work for them and have no affiliation with them. Just don't want to see some Toy get the title that rightfully belongs to Subies. Car must be registerd and driveable. Prizes include a new set of tires.

They probably are cheapie pads but I can assure you it wasn't a cheap job. Midas last did those brakes and charged me $800. I was prepared to replaced the pads and rotors (bought em too). But when I took it apart it wasn't necessary. If the squealing returns and is simply a result of crap pads, I will live with it until my next changeout is due. What are the best pads and rotors to use?

Funny you should say that. I already did exactly what you just said. Just got back from testing them and they grab better than they did when the last shop did them. I made sure I lubed all the moving clip surfaces, cleaned and lubricated the pins too. Scuffed the rotor and the pads and put them back in. I have way better stopping force now. I almost could lock them up I think. There were no shims behind the pads. I am letting it sit for now and will try another test drive later to see if it squeals. I had to do some real hard stopping to break them in before they really started grabbing well. Thanks for all the help and advice. I really appreciate it.

Driver side outer pad: Inner pad: Rotor:

Well I got the driver side wheel off, removed the caliper took out the pads. They look almost new. Rotors are smooth as a baby bottom. Not really much for me to do I guess. But I do get a squeal from the brakes. That is what made me think I needed them fixed. Is this just a glaze I should remove with some light sanding?

They are predicting 80% chance of snow Friday night 1-2 inches. I am not going to risk it in my FWD car. Sorry I am out.

What are the torque numbers?

I am planning on doing a brake job on the front discs. I bought pads and rotors, some brake cleaner and lubricant for the pins. Is there anything else I will need? Do I need the bearing seals? It looks like you remove the castle nut and then the hub with the rotor. Or am I reading it wrong? On all the youtube vids I saw on this the rotor appeared to be in front of the hub. I am looking at the Haynes diagram on this. I hate getting into the middle of a job and having to stop to go get parts. I have never done a brake job before so that is why I am asking so many stupid questions.

I think the biggest point is to religiously change the oil. I do it every 3000 miles or three months and will until the day I die. All the consumer reporting places that tell you to wait longer are full of it. Oil is cheap, engines ar expensive. You can take the oil can from my cold dead fingers. Now about that slick 50...

I work with a bunch of developers from India, they could also make some foods for you that would do that if you like. They are always bringing in that stuff and trying to get me to eat it.

I like your idea. Just brainstorming for October. What is October known for other than Halloween? A Soob-toberFest trip to Leavenworth perhaps?

You are probably right. I have never driven that without the detour so I don't know. Google maps predicted we would take 1 hour 28 minutes to get to Cougar Rock from the Tacoma Mall Krispy Kreme. One of the guys even had a GPS talkie turner gadget that kept telling us to do a U-Turn when we turned onto the detour route. Over and over all it would say is "take a U turn". It sure seemed like we ended up taking at least an extra 30-40 minutes to get there. May not have anything to do with the detour though. Also there was construction in certain places that may have added to the time.

Google Maps had no clue about the State Route 7 detour. It added about an hour to our trip. Yes I do love doing pre-trips and my Dodge Ram needed to have its legs stretched as it has been sitting for months. Was a fun drive, the gas bill, not so fun. If I can get 16mpg in it I do a victory dance.

Don't worry. Eventually everything is "Old School". We would love to see your Baja as well as have someone from outside Washington join us. That would help for planning trips into your neck of the woods. I personally think a trip to McMinnville would be really cool. You can sleep once you get to the campsite (easy for me to say right?). Anyway, hope you make it.

For the frequent meetings like monthly, I like the ideas of a meetup and short cruise to restaurant. Perhaps a longer trip once every quarter or so. That way there is lots of lead time for planning vacation time etc. There is a car club in Philly on youtube that has frequent "Cars and Coffee" events in which they simply show up near a coffee joint, grab a cup of their favorite, walk around looking and talking cars an then a short cruise off to some place for lunch. I think we could do something similar. Long cruises in the winter wet nasty months are going to be hard to get anyone to do. But I bet we could almost always get at least a small group at say a Krispy Kreme or some other coffee joint. Anyway, these details can be discussion at the cougar Rock gathering. It is a wonderful place with lots of trails and great scenic view points. I might end up going early since I have Thursday off.

Since I have never been to Rainier, I decided to take a pre-trip run up there to get a lay of the land. As my Subie is FWD, I wanted to know the condition of the roads and such as there is no way my FWD would handle heavy snow. Met a couple of friends at Krispy Kreme and they rode with me in the Dodge. Ironically in the very same lot that security accused us of using to sell cars when we were meeting for the WCSS trip, was a car sale by Bruce Titus. HWY 7 has a detour which delays the time to get there. We made it to Cougar Rock to check it out and there were plenty of campsites open. Next weekend is the last weekend of the season.

A Loyale. Sweeet.

Start the engine, open the hood and rev the engine by grabbing the throttle cable. Watch for any squirts. My guess is either a radiator hose or the small thermostat to block hose.

It warms my heart to see a sedan out there doing the mudpit.

We will have a 6ft Subaru flag. Should be easy to spot. Hopefully the Park Ranger won't come and ask us if we are selling cars.

You definitely hold the record! Sorry I missed you at the show.