1 Lucky Texan

I am slowly shopping for an OBS for myself (the wife's car is an OBW H6). I have read a lot and asked a lot of questions. The main conlusions seem to be; there is d@mn little you cna do, short of an engine swap, to increase power. Ligthened pulleys and, if manual tranny, lightened flywheel will 'free up' some HP. Cold air intakes may give a little power but could also damage the MAF sensor. Exhaust work may give CELs and can actually hurt low end torque (though a couple xtra ponies may show up in the top end). All total, probably hard to get an xtra 10-15%% more power from intake and exhaust mods - with likely CEL problems. And accelration gains are approx. the square root of power gains. 16% more power=4% more accel. There is some goodnews for handling, start with wheels/tires and a rear anti-sway bay. Adjustable or 18mm/20mm. There is mixed info. about struts. best safest but moderately diffcult/expensive would be to put Koni yellows in the stock struts. KYB AGX adjustables for the front are probably the same as other Imprezas - but not shown in KYB catalog for the rear. Some folks have put AGXs on the OBS rear and seem happy. Other sites are vague about it. GR2s may be a good way to go. There are a lot of choices for springs, I'd lean toward whiteline,eibach or H&R I think. Whiteline might be a good source for the sway bar too. I'd concentrate on the suspension and tires first and foremost. For more info try http://www.subaruoutback.org , http://www.obsportal.com , http://www.nasioc.com , http://www.spdusa.com , http://www.i-club.com and searching this forum. I'm envious. have fun with your new car!

I wouldn't use aftermarket belt - OEM only.

It MAY depend on your personal tolerance for risk combined with your personal mechanical skills. Also, I think if the belt breaks on an '01 Forester, you're gonna have bent valves. If, say , you will pay a mech. to do do the work on a daughter's car that will drive 200 miles every other weekend to and from college - I say you spring to replace everything that touches the belt. If you are adept at doing the work yourself on you personal daily driver that is never more than 20 minutes from your home - just change the belt - IF a tensioner bearing seizes and melts through the belt (this happened to me on a Toyota, 3K after the first scheduled belt change and 200 miles from home with my daughter in the car) you can get it home and fix it yourself. Because of an 'anecdotal' experience I had, I will always change evrything(within reason) in there.

OK, is it like say an Innova scanner? Is select a brand name? Is it more sophisticated than a scanner?

Not trying to thread-jack but - what is a select monitor?

Maybe a bad temp sensor is telling the ECU the engine is warmed up all the time? Try a search for temp sensor - evidently they can fail in 2 different modes.

Similar to symptoms of a bad/plugged catalytic converter. Usually feels like a loss of power under load. maybe some kinda fuel starvation? weak fuel pump?

I thought I read once that the switch is in the handle? Maybe try a search. fyi

I hate to suggest shortcuts but - depending on how long the boot has been split, you can drive for THOUSANDS of miles before it actually breaks. I used to put pads on all the time without turning rotors. I think a combination of DIY and an indie mech is called for here, pribably get the price down to a third.

Well - since you offered; #s for; front struts for MY 2000 OBS front struts for MY 2000 Impreza rear struts for MY 2000 OBS " " " " " Impreza same comparison for front and rear strut tops/bearings/plates/whatever tia

I'm sure there's no end to additional stuff but I think you should consider a thermostat and radiator cap. Possibly run a bottle of Techron through a tank too if you don't already have it in a yearly or semi-annual schedule. And do a throrough inspection that would include brake pads and wipers(especially if it's the wet season where you live). fyi

Maybe some 'goop' just flew up there. Clean it off real well and monitor the area. I have read of external coolant leaks on the phaseII engine, but most folks say it is at a much reduced rate from the earlier engine's failurs.

That Andre Citroen - what a character, I once saw a filmstrip from back in the 30s (IIRC) where he was driving a coupla half tracks around the world, they disassebled them in several places and carted the pieces on horse back and stuff - had to have parts shipped around the world at times. crazy

Does the scanner work on another vehicle? maybe it's bad.

Maybe a ground issue? just a guess. Also, maybe a shop could put a scope on your high voltage just to confirm it's good.

OK - got NO IDEA if this would relate to your problem. We once had Colt Vista wagon (I know, I know...) and the control rod from the solenoid was adjusted TOO tight. When it was switch locked it would load up the rod and when the solenoid was inactivted it would actually 'bounce' back enough to unlock the hatch. Using the key though always worked. I took the panel off and saw what was happening, made an adjustment and never had another problem. I doubt this is helpful but hey - what did it cost ya?

Perfect time to consider Speed Bleeders. for instance(near the bottom); http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html

Thanx suby7. Just got a great email response from Wayne Chin - he has a nice OBS related site. For info. to backup suby7's link, try; http://www.druidhillroad.com/koni/ Also, Wayne says the AGX part numbers shown here; http://www.coximport.com/agx/apps.html WILL work for front and rear of the '93-'01 OBS. The KYB catalog I downloaded last night only shows fronts? Maybe an email to KYB is in order? Wayne's site is at; http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/obs.html

You can always ask. Perhaps they could throw in some type of powertrain warranty. Maybe they'd offer to replace them at a reduced price?(you pay for parts and 1/2 labor or something) Or just make your offer low enough to cover the repair and if they balk at the number you look them square in the face and say; "Knowing how often the HGs fail in these cars, what would YOU do in my position?" See what they say. You need to be comfortable with your purchase. If you can't be, shop somewhere else or for something different.

Are there any pics or descriptions on something similar to putting Koni inserts into stock struts for - say - a '99-01 OBS? Is it really difficult? Welding/machine shop required? tia

Thanx! Um - the Impreza Outback Sport seems to be the chassis with the least attention from companies making aftermarket perf. equip. Much information is confusing. I have read about Eibach not lowering much - but the real issue is more like, are springs and struts sold for Imprezas REALLY appropriate for the OBS? I don't even have the car yet, but they are a little more common in my area than the RS, (I may drive down to Temple to look at a '00 MT OBS). Does the USDM OBS go by a different name in Europe? I will investigate H&R - perhaps putting them on some KYB GR2s is good enough for my purposes. The IDEA of the AGX adjustables is appealing - just don't know I'd really use it that much. thanx

Just guessing, but one reason you may be confusing yourself is that , if like my '03 OBW, you have a hi-lo position switch, the low position runs the back/seat in series, the high position runs them in parallel. If it is 2 position and neither element heats in 'lo' then most likely an element is open. But if they work in 'lo' and you lose one on 'hi' could be the switch or - I dunno - a fuse somewhere? If yours is single position I dunno, try to compare the working seat to the non-working one. sounds kinda tricky - good luck

I doubt that I'd have any clue either but i will offer a suggestion or 2 based on what I've read. Sometimes a bad/dirty PCV valve/hose can cause pressure to build in the crankcase and camcovers. Any small seepage will leak more due to the pressure. Sending in an oil sample for analysis might help tell the ring conditions. They would allow more blowby if worn and the oil would have more fuel and combustion byproducts than normal. But starting with normal compression and 'leak down' tests would likely help as much. You don't mention leaks or seepage. Do a search on these forums and you will find the common seals and oil pump backplate leaks mentioned. If the cars has only a few spots, but from different areas under the vehicle, you most likely have a leak only when the oil is pressured up and during driving it is being sprayed back onto the undercarriage to drip randomly when you stop. I had this problem 3 times on 2 cars (non-soobs) due to leaking oil pressure senders. You also didn't mention anything about the cars prior service history. perhaps it was abused? If indeed you have bad valve seals or rings, do use a slightly higher viscosity oil but DO NOT think it can go longer between changes because you have to 'top up' frequently. It will become contaminated with fuel and need to be drained.

Your nose and looking for damp spots around fuel lines are your best bets. Seems like a fairly new car to have a serious issue. Could be the vapor recovery canister/purge valve. Especially if 'overfilling' the gas tank is a common practice, I guess the canister can be saturated. Is there any recent service or damage history? CEL?

down to 6! Vote now for the final winner! poll at Off Topic is open! fyi