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I've recently replaced ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, cv boots, shocks, and a wheel bearing. Then I noticed dark grease under the power steering pump, and realized I was going to have to replace the rack and pinion bellows. Now I'm getting peculiar noises though, a higher pitched whining or whistling and a scraping sound. What am I likely hearing, it wasn't there before the bellow replacement.

That looks right to me. The "gap" will shrink as the donut wears. There should be a bracket on the back of the transmission that the exhaust rigidly bolts to, not a hanger. This is a little newer, but shows how it works: https://www.subaruoutback.org/attachments/560913/

I haven't found any on eBay here in the USA. I contacted Phil's in Australia and they don't have them.

I have a question regarding axles. My D/R transmission has 23 spline hubs, I've been looking around and I found two axles that according to the photos would fit, turns out they're 25 spline axles. The neverending joy of finding the right axles. Is there any parts interchangeability between axles? Could I use the 25 spline axles for their inner or outer joints? Or are they differently sized parts? Or could I put the 23 spline inner races on the 25 spline axles and use a beefier axle? I'd assume they're completely different, but still worth asking. Thanks :]

Working on a 1985 Brat, I had a huge exhaust leak at the connection between the exhaust pipe after the converter to the intermediate pipe before the resonator, so I figured I'd replace the gasket and also try to address the sag in the exhaust system which probably caused the leak in the first place. I inserted the gasket (Fel-Pro 60566) and bolted the pipes back together but this just seems like too big of a gap. This model number is supposed to fit an '85 Brat but it just doesn't seem like the tightest seal to me. I'm new to this so maybe I'm missing something but does this look right? Driver side angle: https://drive.google.com/file/d/105GyNzLpYFJoks3KG9s_aT19iXtZzf50/view?usp=sharing Passenger side angle: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t7cSIzs9kHmFQHRBTQv4jEOzX9f-xZnl/view?usp=sharing Additionally, where are the exhaust hangers supposed to be on the frame? I'm only seeing one near the rear axle. I don't know if the others rusted off or what but someone before me just wrapped a piece of wire around the pipe and the sway bar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11u0OvjgNDVYK-dmv_C4Y7_S13niNH4HD/view?usp=sharing Thanks for any tips.

Colorado and Hawaii. Welcome in both.

Thanks for this tip about the pitch stop. I was having the same issue and adjusting it on my 1982 EA81 gen 2 wagon helped get enough clearance to my CVs to stop them from rubbing.

I've done a few different restoration techniques. None of them terribly difficult, and look great at first. But I generally see them start to cloud again within a year. I did one that involved protecting them with Spar Urethane, which I think lasted 2 or 3. Lately I just put some fine polishing compound on my buffer, and do a couple passes on them. I try to do this for our daily drivers every fall so they're perfect for the dark winter. The hardest part is finding the tote of car wash stuff and getting it out and an extension cord out to the cars. It's about 1 minute of actual buffing per car.

Yes. There is a calibration procedure for the Eyesight cameras. I think many glass companies can do it themselves (or maybe most of them just send it without calibrating....), but we do get them coming into the shop just for the calibration.

Yes, anything with an electronic parking brake (Subaru or otherwise) needs to have the system reset with new pads. The parking brake actuator is a stepper motor, and it needs to relearn where "home" is again. Just like turning the piston in on an EA82 front, or the self adjusters on a drum brake car, but electronically. I have a couple mid level ($100-200) scan tools that have an option for EPB relearn. I don't have any cars that need it, so I can't say how well it actually works. If you're doing any repair/diagnostic on a CAN OBD car yourself, you need a scan tool that can interface with other modules on the car.

My cables start breaking strands at random points, then snap... just shitty aftermarket cables, combined with my doing a lot of city miles every day.

No I meant you. That’s kind of a lot of cable changing. Common problem with the pedal box flexing.

I think you meant to quote someone else?

I need to do this for our Gen3 Liberty - the cruise control no longer works. Not complaining at 500,000km. My thought was to pull one from a lower km unit at a wreckers and swap them over - let the airbag power down for several hours before pulling the airbag out to access the steering wheel retainer nut. @lmdew - are you based in Hawaii? For some reason I thought you were on the mainland… Cheers Bennie

Sounds about right. You’ll find many circuits on the L series are earth switched. If you wire up some driving lights “the normal way” you’ll find your driving lights turn on when the ignition is off and the cab switch that controls them is on. Cheers Bennie

Well, enough to get the horn to work, which was needed to pass the Safety Inspection. They had failed my 2002 Impreza wagon for no horn. I provided a ground at the under dash connector and it worked fine, so continued up to the steering wheel. No continuity between the lower dash connector and the horn wire. That pointed to the clock-spring. Being in Hawaii and with limited parts I pulled it apart. careful taking it apart gave me access to the spool of wire ribbon that makes up the clock-spring. Sure enough close to one end it was toast. I cut it back a couple of inches and stripped off the insulation with a razor blade. That allowed me to tuck the copper leads into the connector for the horn. The airbag was out of it already and I sure would not have done this repair if I wanted the airbag to work. I just needed a horn for the island beater.

Are you sure you don’t have a crack in the pedal box around the pivot pin area on the left side?

An '89 GL wagon. The switch was wired to terminal 86 on the AC fan relay (switched to Bosch 5-pin from the original). This pin, from what I understand, is the relay ground. So all I should be doing when I flip the switch is connecting the relay to ground, thus completing the circuit.

The EA81 AC fan circuit is a satanic unholy mess that includes, among other things, whether the headlights are on.... What vehicle are you working on?

I hate doing clutch cables. I've been tempted to stick in an ea82 pedal rack just for the easier clutch cable jobs, which I seem to do every year or two...

Bit of a side question. For the operation of the A.C. fan the relay is shorted to ground? All the thermo switch does is short the relay to ground? Electronics aren't my thing. Thanks :]

Here it is 2025. Link http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/clutch.html no longer works. I am working on replacing the clutch cable in my 1984 GL wagon. Having a battle with the pedal e-clip. The screwdriver just jumps out and I was going to try to nudge it with a gasket scraper, but I stopped for now. Eyesight, lenses and lighting, now the heat, it'll take a while...

ww.car-part.com good source for parts.

Hello thanks for reading! I have a 07 Outback with an ej25 that has bad crank bearings. I picked the car up for 300 bucks and want to get it going. I found a avls sohc non turbo jdm that u want to put in it. Anyone have any tips or suggestions? I’ve searched the web but haven’t had much luck. The car is in beautiful shape for the age and mileage, would like to see it running instead of going to scrap. Thanks again!

You wouldn’t happen to have a link to the tailgate glass replacement rubber seal? If someone made the rear fixed glass rubber seals for the MY wagons I reckon they’d make a killing. I’d definitely take one for each side, maybe two if another project comes through. Cheers Bennie