heartless

sure you did - LOL

at the bottom of that page is a link to the "Craftsman Club Saver" page - not sure how much savings you could get, but they are going to be having a big sale next week - 1 week only... Free to join, might be worth checking out.

I personally have never had a problem either, and I have shipped some very fragile items via USPS. But then again, I pack well.

Her

yupper, those pics show things the way they are.

not too sure about the wheels fitting, but yeah the tires could work - might throw the speedo off a little. this little site is a great tool for figureing non stock tire sizes and how they would affect your speedo: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

WhooHoo! get to see some real progress soon!!

hate to be argumentative, but... sorry, the rotor has NOTHING to do with the piston not operating correctly. The piston not operating correctly CAN have a lot to do with pads wearing incorrectly as can a bad rotor. You are placing "blame" on only one component of a "system" - in which ALL parts need to be working correctly. in all honesty, tiny variations in rotor thickness are not going to create that much of a heat issue. A warped rotor would however. the piston not operating correctly - ie, not retracting properly, on the other hand, can cause all kinds of issues, including wearing pads out very quickly. This statement alone tells me that the piston is your problem - not the rotor. Just because you replaced the rotor at the same time, does not mean that it is the problem. If you insist on getting the rotor & pads replaced, by all means, do so, but I dont think it will not "cure" your problem. Tell me this - when you use your C-clamp to push the piston back in, do you use anything to evenly distrubute the pressure across the entire face of the piston - such as a piece of wood or metal, or do you use nothing but the clamp directly on the piston? I use a C-clamp as well, but always with something to evenly distribute the pressure thereby making sure the piston goes back in straight. we keep a small piece of 1/8 in steel around just for this. by using the clamp directly on the piston, it is very likely that the piston was not pushed back in straight...it doesnt take much of an angle to cause problems as tolerances are fairly tight. ^ this is where the problem lies - fix it.

my money is on sticky slider pins - probably the most common issue on a Subaru. that or the pads not moving freely in the brackets (just dealt with this one myself!) If the pads are difficult to remove, you have issues with rust build up under the stainless steel clips - the pads should wiggle freely. the cure fro this one as filing the rust off the brackets where the clips sit - and lube them up with the disc brake lube. if the pads come out farily easy, after removal, swing the caliper back into place, replace the bolt and see if the caliper will slide easily back and forth on the pins - if not, your pins need to be cleaned & lubed with disc brake lube or replaced. FWIW - the squealers do not always make that "high pitched squeal" when the pads get worn down enough - if the pad without the squealer is the one that is wearing faster, you wont hear any squeal. if you are hearing a "grinding" noise, i am going to bet you have at least one "pad" that is all the way down to metal on metal.

the CTS that the ECU looks at is the one with 2 wires (single wire one is for the gauge), and yes, it is buried down on the block below the PCV - kind of a pita to get to. replaced mine on my 90 leg a few months ago - seems to me that I pulled the larger hose from the PCV that goes to the block to get it out of the way and create a little more working room. Other than that, just unplug, remove old one, install new one, plug in, and replace anything you took out to get to it. also a good time to check/replace those little vacuum hoses back there too. I managed to break the one that is in a U shape...yeah, they were a little on the brittle side... on that PCV hose - warming it up will facilitate removal and re-installation - a hairdryer or heat gun on a low setting works well. trying to pull it when cold could potentially cause cracking - not a good thing. Oh, and be prepared to lose a little coolant...want rags handy!

um, yeah - how about doing a temp check after the UP hill drive! obviously brakes are going to get warm going down a long steep grade, the more you use them, the warmer they get. friction creates heat... Ever see a semi on the side of the road with smoking brakes?? yeah, they can get hot - hot enough that they can catch fire if you go long enough...

Nice job!! they look good! only thing that could make them look any better would be some center caps. :cool:

there are retail locations for the first one as well - just click on the "about" button...BUT, one thing I look at/for is copyright dates - those that are on top of things, keep those updated, those that dont...wellll, they may be fine to deal with, but not keeping up with the websites (of which they have many!) shows me that they dont really care. #1 has a c date of 2011 - #2 is dated 2012 another thing to look at - if you put something in the cart and start the checkout process - does it go secure - as httpS - if not - do NOT enter any kind of payment info!!

depends on which tool you have for checking gap - there are several different types. the round ones, which are the most common - do as fairtax suggested. plugs shouldnt cost all that much - usually less than $10 for all four - Wires are a bit more, but should still be very reasonable - somewhere between $25 - $50 - give or take a little. When you pull the plugs, take a look at them - what color are they? do they have gunky build-up on them? spark plugs can tell you a lot about the internal health of your engine.

FWIW - you dont have a "new" alternator - you have a rebuilt one. and yes, sometimes they can be junk right out of the box.

+10 - i had a misfire that did not throw a code until the stupid cheep plug wire that was the problem almost caused a fire! new NGK plugs of the appropriate size/heat range, and properly gapped (do NOT rely on "pregapped" being right, check them yourself!), and new NGK or OEM wires are a GREAT place to start.

hold off on messing with the idle until after you get some new plugs in her - probably wouldnt hurt to do new wires as well. Glad to hear that it is finally running closer to right tho - good luck with her!

Yay!!! it runs right!! +20 on the BKR6E11/2756 plugs - what has been used in pretty much all our Subarus, never had any issues with them REALLY glad to hear you got the ol girl running properly!

Good Job! It is a nice feeling to do things yourself, isnt it? the little "sticky-outy thingy" is commonly called a squealer - it is supposed to give you warning that you need new pads when the pads get down to the point of that thing rubbing on the rotor - as long as it isnt hanging up on or interfering with anything, it is fine where it is. get to do my fronts tomorrow - the squealer has been talking to me for a few days now...

yes, they were an automotive class wheel - the truck came with four, I ordered the 5th one for use as a spare so everything matched. but, that truck had a much more common bolt patter, making it very easy to get wheels for. I'll be honest with you - expecting to get a "new" set of 4 matching auto grade wheels for $200 or less is not all that realistic - could probably be done for $300 tho. the biggest issue with these cars is the odd bolt pattern that limits the choices severely. either upgrading the hubs to something else, or re-drilling the hubs to a more common bolt pattern (as another poster did) would really open up your choices. if it were me, i think i would go the re-drilling route.

yeah, i was told the same thing - alternator problems aren't "intermittent" - horsepuckey! anyway - the drive yesterday/last night went well, no light shows at all. I even pushed it a little the last 8-10 miles home using the high-beams and the heater - still no light shows - not even a flicker. I am cautiously optimistic about the issue being resolved - the thing is, it has been cooler the last few days than it was when the problem started, so I am going to hold off on the "fixed" dancing banana thing until it warms back up again to see if there are any changes. if the problem does rear its nasty head again, I will swap in my spare to test the theory for a week or so. I don't do a whole lot of long distance driving - most of my driving is 30 miles or less one way so even if it does puke completely, I should be able to make it home at least. My only real "fear" is that the darn thing will crap out after dark when I will need to use headlights at the very least (which is why the spare remains in the car, with tools to swap it out, and a flashlight just in case!)

just an added tip when compressing the piston - take the top off the resevoir before starting - makes things much easier. also, use a piece of plywood or metal that fits across the piston(s) to compress it - makes a nice flat surface for the camp, and distributes the pressure evenly to the piston(s). just make sure that whatever you use clears the caliper so you can compress the piston fully. Good luck - let us know how it goes!

we have an old NRI branded DMM that is from the early 90s - as in National Radio Institute - the correspondence school that is no longer - the thing wont die! no other names on this thing anywhere (even under the battery cover), have no idea who produced these. But the darn thing always works. we also have an analog meter with Ohm capability, but I never did figure out how to read that thing - always reach for this one when I need a meter.