FlyB0y

So now I am considering if I should goto Napa once again, to get gaskets for the head covers that are leaking. I really was impressed by their CV boot replacement, hopefully the gaskets will be as high quality! A friend made a suggestion for putting on the gaskets, and I wanted input here. I will assume after 193K miles that there is going to be some warping of the head, so my friend says to put some permatex or similar high quality silicone gasket sealer onto the mating surfaces, let them cure 30 min, then apply some to the gasket, again wait, this time only 5 min, and that should help fill any gaps to try and avoid a leak? I have a pretty steady leak, makes about a dime to quarter sized spot depending on the day when parked, but it's so little that it really doesn't show up as the oil being low even after 3 tanks of gas since I noticed the problem. Also, just today, I filled it up, and the millage really took a dump! It went from a solid 24 MPG the last two times to now 14 MPG?!?!? I do have "check engine light" but I cannot fathom that this can be, I must have made an error somewhere, if I was truly running so much extra fuel, I would imagine it would effect performance of the car. Thoughts? Thanks!

Yes, this worked out for me, I just started gravity bleeding it, and low and behold, I have perfect pressure now! The pedal is nice and firm, the real problem was that I had not put the right rear brake shoe assembly on correctly, and it wasn't allowing it to contact the drum, once I fixed that, and bled through entire large (32 oz IIRC) bottle of brake fluid, all is as it should be!

Wow! That is a great story, thanks for sharing! I agree, the newer Imprezas and similar models have all seemed to morphed into something indistinct! I love the looks of my '98 too, now I just need to replace/repair the rear door and clean up and paint the rear panel behind it and it will be really sharp!

Ok so I fixed the problem with the coolant leak, I was the cause! LOL!! I cannot believe it was something so simple that I managed to miss, when I put all the hoses back on, somehow I managed NOT to get the clamp back on the hose for the heater, so that is why it would only lead occasionally (when it heated up it would loosen just enough to leak, and stop when it cooled down and re-sealed). Fortunately it never got low, so I am sure nothing was damaged, it's amazing how easy it is to miss things so obvious at times, was a good thing, needed to replace that old clamp anyway. Thanks again for everyone who helped me out on this adventure! Hopefully this will help someone else solve a intermittent coolant leak that made the same mistake, easy to do when you replace a lot of stuff at once.

Oh, and the parking brake is working only for the left rear, I didn't see any adjustment underneath the car at the hubs, so I just tightened the cable at the brake arm, is there a second adjustment under the consol that will allow for tightening the right rear? *** EDIT *** I looked at some pics and figured out where the rear brake adjustments were, the slot at the top wasn't what I was expecting, finally got the parking brake adjusted, seems most everything is working now.

Yes, but the travel is much less, and it gets nice and firm, not sure how far it should travel before it does? I bled it a bit more, and it seems to be ok now, much better than even when I first got it from my friend, but I'm thinking perhaps a master cylinder is in my future doh!

Ok this is strange, when I have the car off, the brake is firm, then I run the engine and it gets very soft again, and there is a CEL on, and a audible "click" like a solenoid valve coming open, it sounds like it is just below the gear shifter, would this be the ABS?

No worries, I talked with a local subaru repair shop and they told me the ABS in the case of this vehicle shouldn't make a difference, but I wanted to confirm that, as I wasn't able to talk to one of the mechanics.

Thanks for the info! I will go ahead and continue to bleed the brakes then, where is the ABS unit's bleeder? And where does it fit in the order of bleeding? I have been using this method: front right, rear left, front left, rear right. I will also look up how to tighten the parking brake, as right now it doesn't even engage the shoes at all.

Yeah, I definitely kept the MC topped up, but thank you for double checking me, I went through a large bottle of fluid flushing it out, so I wonder if next I might look at the MC, it was soft before, but now it seems a bit softer, and the parking brake isn't doing much, I guess it has to be adjusted. One strange thing, with the mighty vac, only the Left Rear caliper seems to allow me to pull fluid consistently, the rest seem to give me as much air as fluid, but I know some of that is just what seeps in around the bleed valve. I tested with pumping the pedal with the valve open (always a little fluid in the bottle so as not to allow air in) and do not see bubbles yet, it's soft and seems I cannot pull fluid like I should on all the 3 other bleed valves.

Question: is there a special procedure to bleeding the brakes with ABS? I have used the bleed order I found here: /http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/128024-bleeding-air-out-of-master-cylinder/ but I still have an issue with a soft brake pedal. All the old fluid has been removed, and I used both a mighty vac to suck fluid at each caliper, and then I also used the manual pump the pedal with the bleed screw open (with a bottle of fluid to create a seal so no air could be sucked back in) my next thought is a new master cylinder? Also, I replaced the torn pass side front inner CV boot, and wow, it was sooooo easy!! I remember someone trying to tell me to do it this way years ago with my '85 brat, and I just wasn't convinced it wouldn't be better just to replace the axle, but now I am sold! Here is a helpful video on replacing the boot on youtube: I will also not use just any replacement CV boot, the first one I got from Autozone was expensive, cheap and wouldn't have fit very well. I then went to Napa, got one that was cheaper ($17 with AAA 10% discount instead of $24 for the "one size fits none correctly" boot from AZ). The Napa one also came with new C-clips and looks to be very much the same thick rubber of OEM! Got it on the road now, and just need to wait till next month for a bit more $$$ and I will get valve cover gaskets as they are leaking a bit.

Good Idea! I think in my case I will just use some u-bolts or similar and attach the HF receiver tube to the existing one, since it will just hold a bike rack thanks for the idea. I really am frustrated with this drum brake shoe kit ... the pins for the parking brake aren't even in straight! I goofed thinking I would have to transfer the old pin from the original to the new (didn't realize I had 2 front shoes doh! now I have to take that one apart ... ) Oh well, I guess back to the parts store unless I can make this one work, I think I got the pin aligned enough with my vice to work. Putting anti-seize on it as "grease" just a tiny bit.

DOH! I think the guy at the parts counter looked up a '98 Outback instead of a '98 Impreza Outback Sport (Subaru doesn't make that confusing at all! ) Got the wheels off the rear, and discovered Drums instead of disc (good thing! Cheaper to maintain, and usually last longer IIRC .. )

Well looks like i have a brake job in my near future, nothing terrible, just replacing the rear passenger caliper (remand) and a new set of pads, got all the still locally, just need to do that and fix the inner CV boot of the passenger front axle, and I am good at least till I want to get serious about the oil leak, gonna clean up the motor and do that part next month I think though.

Oh, that's an idea, I will see if there is an adapter for this one too thx for the idea