1 Lucky Texan

I have only heard of the friction part of a rotor separating from the hub/mount once before - and that was decades ago on a co-workers old late 70s or early 80s Toyota. crazy!f

^^^ fair points to consider - good post with good info.

if the car were cranked with the hood up and someone listening to the noise - where would it come from? F B L or R, etc.?

Fair - are those also the MAFs prone to a poor solder connection inside?

both of those vehicles are fine, just go and compare. If the Forester seating feels OK, it might be slightly more economical and easier to park in an urban environment. If they haul gear, passengers, cruise the highways or need more 'comfort' - Outback might get the nod.

disappointing I know, but it seems Subarus do go through wheel bearings faster than we'd like. I had a rear go out at less than 50K miles on my 06 WRX so..... no question its the bearings?

if it seems to be the same as the bolt at the other end, take it to the parts store and match it - including the GRADE of the bolt. maybe removed for clutch or engine work?

^^^ good post - any dew/moisture around will cause arcing until the egine compartment heats-up/dries-out.

what vehicle were they driving before?

could be the IACV is gummed-up/sticking i guess. is the CEL on?

consider switching to a new mechanic.

maybe they introduced the FB engine during our model year, but in canada ? I dunno, maybe they were just wanting to know if it was turbo or na ?

double check you are using the correct marks, line them up (there are pics on-line) and install. I like to also confirm things with a tooth count, before pulling the tensioner pin, after pulling it, after rotating the engine with a wrench - basically, trust the marks and the tooth count, but triple check everything. NEVER use the arrow/triangle mark on the front of the crank pulley - don't worry about a whiteline being off a half tooth on the back of a new belt. Don't worry about those lines after you rotate the crank with the wrench - it takes 2-300 revs for those lines to sync-up again. use the marks on the pulleys and a tooth count. when the mark on the back of the crank pulley is lined-up, one side of the engine has a piston halfway down from a power stroke and the other halfway up on compression. That cam's valves are closed. The other side (the left/US driver's) has it's pistons halfway down on intake and halfway up on exhaust - those various valves are open. you can find Subaru engine animations on line too.

look you car up at the Bosch website maybe?

nah, I wouldn't replace it again. getting some data from the ecu might be helpful. maybe something mechanical is changing? a valve sticking when cold maybe? compression and leakdown test might be good, dropping the exhaust manifold and looking dropped valve guides might be helpful.

nasioc.com also has threads like - will this suspension fit my car, and similar . kartboy, whiteline, cusco, etc all have drop links and other parts - new of course.

yep - it'd be nice if we had some ohm or voltage test to try first, but.....

might be the coil - or oil on the wire boots from leaky gaskets. do you ever smell fuel around the fill door? some folks get holes in the filler neck causing evap codes. they rust behind the plastic cover. Also, poor gas cap seal and cracked rubber hoses, etc. can cause evap leak codes.

I'm kinda concerned you may have more than one problem. a possible cause of the poor-running until after warm-up might be a bad engine temp sensor. in newer soobs it shares the same housing as the temp gauge sender - 3-wire unit. the FSM (or someone here) may know of a way to test it if you don't want to just swap it out. as alluded above - old wires can cause misfires, particulalry in moist/wet weather. heat dries the engine compartment and misfiring is reduced. As a tes, when it is idling smoothly after warm-up, pop the hood and spray the spark plug wires and the coil with a plant mister of tap water. If the engine stumbles, could be time for new wires/coil. Oil on the plug wire boots is another source of misfiring. plug tubes should be dry.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=auto+plastic+clip+subaru&rh=n%3A15684181%2Ck%3Aauto+plastic+clip+subaru

is that the half-moon plugs???

probably headgaskets then - combustion pressure is getting into the coolant. there is a head gasket test you can get at the parts store - some people have luck with it - works best if the there is active bubbling coming through the o'flow tank or radiator. you can find youtube videos for it. Turns a blue liquid green I believe. not good news - maybe I'm wrong and you just need to burp the system better but - that is typical HG failure symptoms for LOTS of subarus with bad HGs.

probable causes? quite a few. NGK plugs installed? any oil on the plug wire boots? any CEL codes set? have then read and post them up. knock sensor, engine temp sensor, O2 sensors, MAF/MAP etc.....

Amico ??? something like that - I bought 3-4 different sizes from Amazon i think. hard to search for but plastic 'clips' seems to be the slightly preferred (if confusing) term for them.

i wouldn't worry about switching if you want.