MR_Loyale

Yes. Take exit 25 from I-90 onto HWY 18. Stay on that till theyou see the SOUTHBOUND onramp to I5.

Twitch is rolling. Just some last minute errands for me and I will be out soon.

Please bring your cameras and if you have GO-PROS or other in-car video recorders to SAFELY capture video while driving, please do so. I want lots of pictures and video of the trip. I will have my netbook with me so I am hoping folks can give me copies of the video they shot during the trip.

Between JJ421 and myself we will have plenty of FRS radios. Radio channel list will be given out upon arrival at the rendezvous point.

Tomorrow's forecast is for RAIN: Let's hope "Heaviest Rain Early " means 8am or so. Make sure your wipers work well and the washer fluid is full. If those old blades leave big streaks and the blades are old and worn, get some new ones. Decent ones aren't expensive and fluid is cheap. Check that both headlights and braking lights work. You don't want the guy behind you to plow into your pride and joy because he couldn't tell you slammed on your brakes. How silly would it feel to have your car smashed because of a 99 cent bulb available at almost any store - including most grocery stores? Bring a spare too.

That could be. Northwest and JJ421 came over and I could not reproduce the ping. It would do the scratchy noise accelerating from 1700 to 2300 RPM in third. At any rate Northwet was sure it wasn't driveline noise.

Good news - Northwet and JJ421 came over to my place. We tried and tried to get the ping to return, and I could not get it to happen. There is a sound when accelerating between 1700 to 2300 RPM in 3rd but it is probably an exhaust rattle. Northwet was pretty sure it wasn't a driveline issue. Thank you very much to Norhwet and JJ421. Nice folks willing to help someone out they never met before.

I am going to have help on this. If it isn't the transmission I think we can get er done. No matter what though, Subie Trek will happen. Let's stick to the plan and I will see all your great cars Friday.

When freeway driving, the noise goes away when I PUSH in the clutch pedal or I let off the acelerator. From a dead stop when I go to start in first gear when I release the clutch it makes the triangle(the percussion instrument) like ping .

On a FWD?

ALl that driving has taken its toll on my poor sedan. I drove it to Sammammish today and on theway back it made some bad sounds. Upon initial acceleration in any gear when you are first heavy on it, it made a sort of scratching noise. THen I noticed when I start from a stop as soon as I release the clutch I hear a tonal ping as if two pieces of metal or a triangle( remember that percussion instrument). Sound similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLYYvrHn5lg I am thinking the throwout bearing has come apart. Funny thing is that the sound while accelerating went away if I pressed in the clutch. I thouhgt at first it might have been the transmission. Is there anyone in Bremerton willing to come take a look?

Drove over 600 miles this weekend on my Loyale (92, spfi, FWD Sedan). Noticed when accelerating I got a sort of scratching noise, when I let off the gas it died down. Then when I got back near home I stopped at the store. When I came back out ot the car, I put it in gear and as soon as I let out theclutch from a stop, I hear almost a cymbal like sound as if two pieces of metal are being tapped together and the make a sound. I suspect my throwout bearing has thrown up. Any other ideas? Just got back from the WCSS site with it yesterday. If I cannot get it fixed it will be me driving the Dodge Ram down to WCSS. The Throwout bearing was replaced 33K ago (about 5 years) when I had the engine out and put in a clutch and did the reseal.

PM me your info and I will bring an FRS radio for you to use.

Pre-Trek Recon Trip Report I passed the meetup point Krispy Kreme at approximately 1:30 pm. I will present this as if we are heading from the rendezvous to the destination with points of interest along the way. This is our starting point at the Krispy Kreme: Our meetup point is the parking lot to the left of the Krispy Kreme. Look real close on the left and you can see the blue donation bin under the tree. We will meet in this lot. Look for the 6ft Subaru flag. The trip is approximately 90 miles taking us from milepost 129 to milepost 39. As we travel southbound on Interstate 5, the mileposts get smaller in number because it is a measure of the mileage as measured from Vancouver Washington. So we will start out at about 129 and get off exit 39 near Longview/Kelso. As we get onto I5 southbound we will be under a 60 mph speed limit. Keep your eyes open at about milepost 105 as we pass by Olympia, the capital of Washington. Around the bend you will see the dome of the Legislative building where the crooks raise taxes, uh er our fine politicians meet to decide the issues of the day. The building was designed by Walter Wilder and Harry White and construction was completed in 1928. This building is the dominant feature of the capitol grounds, with its dome 287 feet (87 m) high, making it the tallest self-supporting masonry dome in the United States, and fourth tallest in the world, surpassed only by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Just past Olympia the speed increases to 70 mph. At exit 93 is the Maytown Rest Area. This is approximately 30 minutes out from the starting point. It has picnic tables and a nice dog walking area to let your pooch stretch his legs and empty his bladder. I took some pics: If you are unfamiliar with rest areas in Washington State, most have free coffee and cookies offered by various non-profit groups as shown above. The particular groups rotate and so do the offerings. Donations are accepted but not required. The flash went off on my camera and surprised this woman. At milepost 82 there is roadwork for 5 miles and the speed is reduced from 70mph to 60mph.Though workers were not active on Sunday, they probably will be there on Friday. Better not speed in this area as the fines are doubled in work zones. At milepost 76 the speed increases from 60mph to 70mph. This will be the speed for the remainder of the trip. The second and final rest stop is the Toutle River rest area about 30 minutes more down the road. Some of you may recall the name Toutle River as it became famous as part of the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens. The course of the river was altered during the eruption. Though named for the river, the rest area isn't actually on the river so there is no danger if St Helens decides on a WCSS send-off on Friday. Here are some pictures of the rest area: This rest stop comes with its own guy begging for change with a sign. Needs money for food? Someone should have told him about the free cookies and coffee. From there it is about 30 minutes more to our exit. Turn right onto Allen Head across the bridge Go over the bridge. Then just on the other side is 1st street. Turn left. Continue down 1st avenue until we get to Washington Street. This intersection conveniently houses both the County Courthouse on the left and a bail bondsman on the right, so if you are unruly at WCSS, you can locate your bondsman one short step from the courthouse grounds. Turn right at the big sign of the striped jail bird: Turn to the right at this light. Just to the left is the Cowlitz County Courthouse. Wen I took this picture someone was in a car waiting to meet a bondsman. She asked me if I was one of the investigators. Keep heading on down about .3 mile and the Cowlitz Regional Conference Center is on your left. I took 2 hours because of stopping at both rest stops adding 30 minutes to the trip. Keep in mind there won't be a show on Friday, just camping. Here is a small map:

Just came back from the Cowlits Regional Conference Center, the site of WCSS15. There are two gates, gate 6 off of Washington and Gate 4 off of 7th. Which will be the gate we enter at?

OK Folks. I am in front of the Cowlitz Regional Conference Center. Traffic was light as it is a Sunday. I brought my netbook to test out the FREE WIFI. Yup, that's right - FREE WIFI. So bring your laptop or netbook if you want to blog from WCSS. WIFI strength seems good. I am typing this from the parking lot. TOTAL TRIP TIME: 1.5 hours - no stops or 2.0 hours with stops at both rest stops. Took lots of pics along the route. I will update the thread with them once I get home tonight. In the meantime, I am googling a path to Voo-Doo Donuts in Portland. Will update later tonight.

I am headed off to Longview. I want to do the run once beforehand to know if there are any unexpected things like construction or whatever. Ok, well it is also an opportunity to force my odometer to finally pas 150K. And if the return trip brings me by the Krispy Kreme during the Hot Light time, well then fate has been kind to me. Plus I just had my driveway resealed yesterday and it needs a chance to dry. I will report my findings upon my return.

Turn it on and try wiggling the connector where it plugs into the motor.

Any particular brand?

In a previous post #57, I left a link that brings up a listing of vendors for FRS radios on Amazon. As I do not wish to see other USMB members cheated, I wish to add a caveat to the information in the link. Do NOT buy from Packet eCommerce Solutions. They list FRS radios in the link as "Ships from CA". I did not find out until AFTER ordering and getting the FedEx tracking number that it really ships from OHIO. And I was then informed the arrival date to be Sept 4- Sep 9. Clearly I ordered based upon a C A ship from in order to get the FRS radios for the trip. Yeah it is only $30 but I just hate it when folks are liars and based upon their own advertisment, Packet ecommerce lied. I verified with Amazon customer support that the seller provides the "ships from" information. Had I known it would ship from OH I could have either got one-day shipping or chosen another vendor. Didn't find out until I got the FedEx tracking number. Bait and switch in textbook form. Ordered on Aug 28, in case anyone was wondering. Now off to Radio Shack to get an actual product. I will cancel with Packet eCommerce Solutions once I have the Radio Shack ones.

I am sure you are all polishing up your pride and joy for WCSS. It is rewarding to get a 20+ yr old car to sparkle like new. I thought maybe some of your tips to help others out would be helpful as we all get our Subaru's ready. Me, I use Meguiar's Cleaner Wax to restore the luster: Also a poster from Australia gave a good tip on restoring rubber hoses and such -Glycerin. About 3 bucks at Walmart in the first aid section. I tried it and it works great. Got a cleaning tip? Add it here.

One week to go folks. So far we got: Mr and Mrs Mykeys Toy (two cars coming) Twitch De La Brat jj421 Possibly Frankinsubie - unconfirmed as of yet.

You are welcome to join up with us. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/139948-old-gen-caravan-to-wcss/page-3?do=findComment&comment=1179612

I have found that the best investment I have made is in a Haynes manual; I believe the library also has this available for checkout too.

No unknown history with this engine. Every single one of the 150K miles is mine. I have owned the car since new. Dealer did first timing belt at 60K, then I did the next at 117K and then I also did cam seals, new water pump, new Subaru oil pump, clutch, rear main seal and of course idlers for timing belt. Folks said I should have done the HG at the time(2008 I think) but it was my first timing belt and I was unsure of myself. I pulled the engine and had my mechanic for life father hovering over me lecturing me on how I was going to wreck the engine when I took off the timing belt. He'd never seen a Subaru and didn't quite get when I told him it was a non-interference engine. Showed him though when it started up the first time.