AussieIan

Thanks Scooby

Sometimes it will lock with the remote and then refuse to unlock and vice versa. Its totally unpredictable. It will always lock/unlock with the key.

The car suffers from intermittent operation of the central locking. Basically sometimes it works the it wont. I have replaced the battery in the remote but this made no difference:-\

Thanks Guys, the cable tie solution seems to be the go.

Is there a problem with using a hose clip to seal the gear box side of the rubber boot rather than the thin S/S bands on the drive shaft. Its just easier to tighten with the shaft still on the car. I'm worried about the balance. Rgds Ian

Try a tank of premium fuel

Exactly the same symptoms as mine, and it was the starter contacts. Felt really stupid after having purchased a new battery which was triple the cost of a pair of new contactors!

Sticking stabiliser rubbers can make some very unusual clunkng noises, if the rubbers have been replaced suspect them

Some do have some very strong views about cleaning TB's including Josh who really does know his stuff. Anyway I went ahead cleaned mine anyway, I bought new gaskets for the TB to manifold in case I broke the old one. I removed it, there are some pesky water hoses and other bits and cleaned with with brake cleaner because it does not leave a residue and also cleaned the IAC valve with brake cleaner according to Josh's recommendations. The cars driveability certainly improved. Whether it was due to the TB or IAC is debatable. I must say the TB was not nearly as badly gunked as I was used to seeing on my V8 Commodore. I also reset the TPS sensor after I reassembled everything and it was quite a bit out. So whether you clean it or not is your call. I'm inclined to think it they do not cleaning regularly on Subes.

Fair enough, and at least you know its in the tank. Ive heard many stories of operators forgetting to turn pumps on when blending gasoline etc. Have you noticed a payback for your investment in the aditive? I've only done 600km since changing to premium, so far it appears the gas mileage has improved a little but its too early to tell. Cheers

I think it is probably cheaper just to use premium with the additives already in the fuel than add it, where is the cost benefit? The fuel quality has plummetted here as well, the addition of ethanol is being blamed rightly or wrongly.

According to my mechanic its not just the octane. He has found that engines running premium fuel are cleaner, from the fuel injectors, heads even the exhaust system and this is the real benefit. I'm trying it my Sube, so far insufficient k's to see if any real improvement in gas mileage, but the hesitation has gone. BTW someone advertises a add on which smooths the signal from the knock sensor and cures a lot of hesitation problems. Might be worth a look if the problem persists. Cheers

Did you refuel during the period in question. With sky rocketing fuel prices here in Australia we also seem to have plummeting fuel quality, I was having similiar problems to you until on the advice of my repair shop I went off the discount regular fuel and went to premium unleaded. The difference was immediate. Its worth a tank to eliminate the possibility!

Some time ago I found a Subaru Tech bulletin on a modification to stop the wind whistle from the front windows, it involved putting spacers between the door metal and the triangular pieces that support the rear view mirrors. I saved this paper and other related papers to my hard drive but unfortunately lost the lot. Any one any ideas. I really need to fix that whistle!

Totally agree split boots are useless. If your not getting any clicking on full lock turns just replace the boots. Subes are very easy to do thanks to some thoughful engineering. I did mine in about 3 hours both sides. The boots I purchased had a pack of grease with the boot, wear plastic gloves when your handling the grease it really gets into the pores of your skin.