1 Lucky Texan

create a new thread asking for recommendation of mechanic in/near pottsville. Might be worth $80 diagnosis to discover if your car can be made safe and reliable for $100 or needs $2000 worth of work. in addition to what's mentioned above, some other possible problems are a clogged cat. converter or slipped cam/crank timing. How old is the timing belt?

whoa peoples skills and ambition never cease to amaze me. cooling is gonna be really critical back there, the ez30 is marginal to begin with. what an awesome project!

batteries are odd, generally speaking;, extreme heat, extreme cold, complete discharges, bad charging circuits, are among the enemies a battery contends with. Add corrosion, vibration and age to the formula, and its amazing they last as long as they do. If your battery is several years old and has been discharged a coupla times or more - it's on its last legs. However, it's unlikely to have been directly responsible for the problem you have now. But it IS in the charging circuit and should be checked out along with the cables and ground connections.

also, get a new mechanic. Start a thread asking for suggestions for a shop near Grand Rapids. Has the car recently had mixed tires on it or a new rear diff or transmission installed? And it 'may' seem intermittent depending on how warmed-up/hot the car is . Sometimes people only feel TB in the manuals after a highway run.

Dental floss?

nvrmd

analog clock that doesn't work.

LOL! Or just put a Rainbow in there!

do you know if any work was done to the car or a wreck occur before you got the car or before you noticed this problem? Any evidence of a repair anywhere? near the ABS system? you might investigate vacuum bleeding the system, might pull air from the high points better. (dunno if there's a system better than the hand pumps - anyone?) to me, this seems like air in the system "somewhere". If I was convinced no air was in the system, I might put the car up on 4 jacks and CAREFULLY have someone watch each corner's wheel for movement/check wheel bearings.

are the pads worn evenly or is there ANY indication they are tapered at all? Some folks have mentioned bad wheel bearings creating a spongy brake feel. When you've re-bled them, can you see bubbles come out? Is the car loaded or towing something? Some folks have added a master cylinder brace and noticed an improvement. Just because you bought what you thought were inexpensive pads, doesn't mean the guy before you wasn't able to find REALLY crappy pads. i bought some Wagners on clearance once that were positively frightening on our OBW. I took them ff before they were half worn just to get something on there that wasn't terrifying! (went with Centric PosiQuiet Ceramic which are giving great service) brakes stop the wheels, tires stop the car. If you have decent tires and decent pads(make sure they and the rotor are the right size/part numbers for the car), have bled the fluid, then ; type of pad/rotor (and maybe bedding-in procedure) or worn hoses that 'balloon'(18 year old rubber that lives near brake system heat and road debris might need replacing), or rusty/flexing firewall around the MC or perhaps an issue with wheel bearings or perhaps the ABS lines need bleeding(anyone have ideas about this ???), are about all that's left. EDIT; just re-read that you replaced the hoses. make sure they aren't twisted/kinked.

search for 'strut block' or 'strut spacer' and similar

don't some have it on top of the canister in the rear fender?

def. try what you mentioned - also, check for bucking/jerking when turning tight in parking lot. almost seems like 2-3 issues. Check that the axle stubs are fully seated in the diff and that both axle pins are still in place. Check for dragging/stuck brake caliper Check fuel pressure/change filter. Check for vacuum leak

Save your old pump assembly - for about $60, it can be fixed up with a cap for the 04 (which is longer but fits just fine) and an $0.80 o-ring.

vacuum, you can use it to help save fuel. shift light? ammeter?

One post I read, a replacement radiator needed to have the nipple that the o'flow hose fits on drilled out! confirm that nipple isn't clogged or cracked, that the hose isn't split or have a hole, that the radiator cap is good, etc. Do you ever see the upper or lower rad hose collapse? Most people feel a Subaru cap is best. Certainly, the cooling system's thermosat MUST be OEM or OEM style.

Ah, got it. It saves you from opening the lines and then having to bleed the system for a strictly electronic problem.

How would I know if I need to do this? ( we have an 03 H6 OBW)

I think I saw one in Milwaukee for $745 at car-part.com

DANG, VDC huh? - it doesn't have a clutch pack so, all that related stuff is wrong that I posted, I guess it's just the forward gear bands and possibly some gears that got overheated.

The wet clutchpack on that car needs the Duty Solenoid C to be open to un-pressurize the plates. That's the AWD system, the clutchpack and C solenoid control how much torque is transferred to the rear diff. Also, the rear diff on that car may have been Viscour Limited Slip - it might be bad now too. With no pump running and no TCU controlling the valves, the plates are in contact and the wheels are causing a bunch of stuff to turn with no fluid circulation so, everything heats up. Dunno if there could have been a pre-existing problem but, the tow didn't help anything.

from; http://www.cars101.com/towing.html#towing%20behind%20a%20motorhome

Probably just the nature of the faulures involved. The towing likely burned up some clutches/bands (I'm no expert OK?) but the pump and seals seem to be intact. probably explains why reverse is OK. It wasn't towed in reverse and that clutch/band wasn't contacting anything that could cause wear. If it is affordable, your tranny may 'only' need some friction materials/parts replaced to work again (maybe just briefly though, could be risky,and other moving parts 'could' have had undue wear since the fluid wasn't being pumped through. Local heating of gears, etc. may have shortnend the lifespan of those parts. ) - it's just that a used tranny may be a cheaper way to proceed. Even the owner's manual has extensive warnings about towing the car. Some 5 speeds and I think some newer cars can be towed 4 down(with speed/distance limitations I think?), but the 4eat and 5eat (I think?) AWD models can't tolerate it. Even using the donut spare comes with speed/distance warnings and requires use of the FWD fuse on some Soobs.

On that Impala, I started with a hammer on the turned-around axled nut after usimng some PB Blaster. I eventually had to rent a huge gear-type puller to use on the hub and use the torch AND use the impact on the puller AND hammer on the puller. It was crazy stuck. (the first puller I had under the lug nuts, a lug nut stripped and shot around the garage and either it or the breaker bar handle hit me on the thumb - lucky I was'nt severely injured. had to buy lug nuts.. it can be frustrating working on cars) hope yours is easier. The 2 Subarus I've done, I just pushed the axle out with my thumbs! you might look around youtube for some videos.

since the suspension is at max travel and/or you have the knuckle loose, any 'inward' force should just slide the tripod joint a little further inward. It won't be bottomed out and almost no force will be trasferred to the diff.