1 Lucky Texan

until this issue is fixed, never trust the o'flow bottle level to reflect the actual coolant level in the radiator - rad must be checked separately. Keep o'flow bottle at a normal level. new rad cap might be good to try. several drive cycles could move a few ounces of coolant into the o'flow , over time if the cap or other problem isn't allowing those ounces to be pulled back, it could fill the o'flow.... if 'localized' boiling is the issue, fluid should be pulled back in. If bad headgasket is allowing combustion chamber gasses in the system, fluid may not be pulled back down to normal level in the o'flow. put a coupla small zipties on the o'flow tube at the rad neck, take the o'flow bottle out, clean it by vigorously shaking a handful of ice cubes around in it, replace but cut the bottom of the tube at a 45* angle.

coupla things - de-laminated and slipping crank pulley might make a squeal, but I'd expect stiff steering and maybe low alternator power? intake air filter box not fitted at the bottom where tabs go into slots. but, usually reported as a whooshing sound.

is coolant pushed out of the overflow when it overheats? is coolant pulled back in when the car cools?

carfreak - thanx for posting that!

???? weird I have no drips but, I could see that being such a low volume of fluid it may just 'coat' a surface thanx!

CAFE rules have made manufacturers do a lot of things they'd rather not. Warming up the cat conv is one of those things. you're lucky you don'y have air cut valves and a pump like on my WRX - they froze shut in the first 4 years of ownership. I had to use romraider and ecuflash to kill 14 codes to turn off the CEL.

I can't argue that someone may have created a specific improvement for a specific racing application, just that it isn't common for our daily drivers as far as I have read. I just scanned his article It's more like a personal anecdote than a 'tech document'. - I'm not convinced he understands that a rad cap can maintain over 15 additional psi (over 1 bar) on most of our cars. Also not sure he's using the term 'cavitation' appropriately. plus, in general, you don't want an engine run too cool as it reduces fuel efficiency. an oil cooler could be a better mod but, I dunno. Subaru engineers seem to know there is something odd about the cooling system though - compare an OEM t'stst to a 'typical' aftermarket one. The wax capsule is quite a bit larger - probably needs more hysteresis.

Some of you know I don't get much mileage on my cars, my 06 WRX has about 72K miles - 95% secondary roads so, lots of starts/stops. I have my original clutch, pretty sure the fluid has never been topped off (certainly not by me). So, I was wondering if the volume in the fluid tank getting close to LOW accurately reflects clutch material loss? Or, is is not 'synchronized' very well? Worth getting ahead of the curve or wait until a high gear starts slipping? Is there another way to inspect the clutch material?

on inclines, some vehicles can reverse up better than going forwards. You might experiment with that. plus, using 1st gear may force the 4EAT into more power distributed to the rear. (anyone confirm?)

yeah, never read of it across multiple forums/newsgroups for the last 15 years or so. Not saying it hasn't been done, but VERY uncommon I'd say. there is a water circuit involving the heater core that is important, dunno how that would work with T'stat relocation either.

if it wasn't doing it before it was parked, I'd suspect a frozen caliper, maybe a failing u-joint, possibly tires if they are getting old. (they are all 4 identical right?)

avoid typical parts store rebuilt alts - if yours is OEM, find a local rebuilder to go thru it - or get an OEM from a junkyard

move tires in pairs front to back and see if there's a change. (all tires must be identical; same brand/model/size and near each other in wear) there is definitely a LONG list of things that can cause vibration. In a 18 year old car, every bushing is suspect. u-joints can be frozen, inner tie rods bad, brake calipers frozen, struts blown.....

from what very little I know, subaru scott is on track with putting the unit in a box if possible. there are probably examples/instruction for doing these type of projects on-line. I wouldn't be surprised if some go back to the 70s, but modern materials should be even better. an internet buddy has s imilar device he made for warming a chicken coop/house. His is balanced on some kind of pivot and he uses a wax cylinder (used to vent greenhouses) to 'somewhat' track the sun. It resets the unit to point more easterly overnight to catch the sunrise.

I think it's possible a bad PCV valve can contribute to oil loss.

check the Heri hd units I guess; dunno how many models they offer but;

you might clear them and see if they come back. I've had weak batteries set spurious and unrelated codes. Also, P0442 could also be something as simple as loose gas cap or bad seal on gas cap I think.

there were 3 lines, 120* apart, on the inner end of the axle shaft. I assumed it was to help align the tripod joint's 'star'. there are some youtube videos that speak about phasing or clocking but, doesn't really resemble our axles. And one site I had seen in the past seems unavailable now it was a page called Killing the Clickers. I couldn't even find it at archive.org probably only important at extreme angles.

at about 8:30, he doesn't seem to be concerned about 'clocking'/'timing' the inner race - does it not matter? I have read that you get the greatest deflection angle if the bearings on one end are aligned with the inbetween -bearings portion of the race at the other end. I have seen 3 marks on the inner end of my outback's axle where the tripod joint goes.

many bigger metro areas have alloy rim repair/reconditioning companies. They did an awesome job on my kid's rim once in the past. Check around body shops.

yeah, on another board I posted an adventure swapping the bushings with Prothane inserts. On our 03, the stockers definitely had some greenish fluid in them. Took them out due to NVH complaints from the wife. running Febest for the last few years. I personally don't think they are fluid filled but could easily be wrong. oem style are also L/R specific. The control arm needs to be brought up to 'cruising height' (more or less flat with the underside of the car. Mid travel I guess?) when OEM-style mount is finally torqued in place. Not required on poly units though.

Perrin also makes some rear bushings for the LCA;

one other quick thought , you might want to at least know about Heri heavy duty axles, particularly if you are going for an extreme lift.

there's huge forces on that part. almost all the acceleration and braking forces are concentrated there. Febest had some replacements that are affordable - dunno how they would be strength-wise. hope the captured nuts in the frame don't bust loose!

I have no experience with this stuff but, don't some Mazda MX5s (miatas) have a Japanese Torsen-clone rear diff? Or there's a LSD available for Miatas? Maybe it could be adapted into a rig? if your rig was always on dirt/gravel - never dry pavement - you could weld the gears inside.