Gibs Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 New to this forum but not car forums. I recently was gifted a 2007 Impreza Wagon MT with 107K on it. I let a lady live at my house to help her out, she went and bought a VW and handed me the title to the Impreza for letting her live with me. Here in the Northeast I needed something better in the snow than my 07 Mustang GT. So it does need a little work. It appeared to be leaking from the passenger side valve cover. I replaced the gasket and no more smoke, but it does burn a little oil that you can smell after driving it. The cruise light flashes at me and the CEL light is steady. I haven't hooked it up to a code reader yet but will soon. She seemed to think it was an O2 sensor that caused the CEL. During braking the pedal throbs and there is a thunk thunk thunk coming from the rear it seems. I had to replace the tires as all of them were different and in bad shape. For a free car I think this will be a great car for winter time in the northeast and also for summer outdoor fun. Anyway, thanks for having me and look forward to learning about these cars. Gibs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakedpotatoechips99 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) Welcome Gibs. Sounds like you got a big upgrade for winter driving if you all you had was a Mustang GT prior to getting the '07 Imprezza. The rear brakes are extremely subject to rust damage from my experience. Both in the rotors, and more importantly in the calipers, which I have found can get frozen or stuck due to rust in only one or two years after replacement with rebuilt units. The aluminum calipers from the STI or XT Subaru's apparently are longer lasting in terms of rust damage according to my understanding. But, that would be a modification for you, and likely not worth the trouble right way, at least not until you decide you will have the car for a while, and wish to improve upon it's reliability. First, you would want to check if the brake pads have separated from their backing pads, or are worn unevenly. Then if rotors are warped, or if the caliper bushings are shot, or the caliper bolts are loose, or, if you have a bent brake backing plate causing a misalignment of the caliper with the rotor on one or more wheel brakes, which may also cause pulsing, and be harder to diagnose or spot. You also should seriously consider bleeding/flushing the brake lines completely to remove old moisture laden fluid and any air that may have infiltrated into the brake lines and calipers. But if everything is extremely rusted and stuck, you might just want to either rebuild those calipers, or purchase rebuilt ones. Also, the metal brake lines could be very rusty in the rear possibly, and may need replacement as well. If you are lucky, you merely have bad brake pads in the rear. But, in the Northeast, salt generally wreaks havoc on Subaru calipers etc. Edited January 8, 2016 by bakedpotatoechips99 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibs Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Good info thanks. Will put it is the garage and check them this weekend most likely. I was in Hawaii until 2014 and only have RWD cars other than this new to me Impreza. Current Garage: 2007 Trailblazer SS RWD 2007 Mustang GT 2004 Mustang Mach 1 2008 HD Sportster 1200C 2007 Subaru Impreza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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