SaltCar

I second this idea. When I did my front brakes I ended up going back to bend this little pad retainer away from the disk. Little thin pieces of sheet metal at each end of the pads. One was occasionally rubbing ever so slightly. Never had this problem on any other car. Next time I will look closer to see why it is different on Subarus. I second the lube also. If you don't own a bottle of caliper grease, read about it, buy it, use it.

How much is a PCV at the stealership these days? Anyone have a favorite thread on PCV replacement and passage cleaning?

Thanks for the link. I had my doubts when I read "spacebears". I agree that changing oil too often is a waste but most people will never have oil analysed and almost never look at it critically for hints that something may not be right. So for the general public who never pops the hood or checks the air in the tires, too often may be cheap insurance. I think a 5000 mile interval is good. Easy to keep track of by the odometer. Change oil, "rotate" tires, look at everything. I don't drive like I used to. My tires no longer need service so often but it doesn't hurt anything.

If you keep clean oil in your engine almost any modern oil will allow your engine to run well over 200K miles. You may be spending extra money to make you feel good instead of to make your engine last longer or run better. The noise issue may be the exception. Piston slap and lifter noises may respond differently to different oils. Some people believe in changing the filter more often than the oil. Some people believe in using standard dino oil and adding a quart of synthetic for the additives. Be aware that additives are not always compatible. Bobistheoilguy is the place to find what makes you happy in the way of oil for your vehicle. Read about shear strength and viscosity index if you don't read anything else. I think Rotella synthetic is more than adequate for any engine and Delvac 1 is probably even better. I had an old Ford pickup that ran better pressure and sounded better on Mobil 1 15-50 than anything else. Recycle your old oil. Any quick change place will take it, most are required to by law, I think. Many parts stores will also. Some garages burn it for heat.

The expansion valve (TXV) controls the pressures on the low side. What is it that make him think it is clogged? A clogged TXV would show lower than normal pressures on the low side and possibly higher than normal pressures on the high side. I posted a link to a page on gauge diagnostics here somewhere, you might like it.

I agree that the Mityvac is not great for bleeding brakes or clutches. It is still worth buying one to do vacuum system checks. I consider it a must have tool. There are instuctions around the web for building a power bleeder from a bug sprayer. You would have to do a lot of bleeding to make it worthwhile. Use a baster or something to pull the old fluid out of the reservoir and replace it with new. Get someone to pump the pedal while you bleed. Bleed until you get clean fluid. If you have ABS, never open a bleeder with the key on. After you bleed, go out on a dirt road and lock up the brakes a few times. Go home and bleed them again. Repeat until you get clean fluid.

Clean all of your grounds. Measure voltages back to the ground post on your battery to check them. Your whole car should be the same voltage as the ground post.

The search function is a wonderful thing. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55506

Never noticed any problems with the seats in the Subaru. We are slender people by today's standards, may make a difference. The newer Subaru engines are interference engines. Not a problem unless you ignore the timing belt replacement interval. You might find a used Subaru is a manageable work load for maintenance. Just get one that has been well maintained. But, there is nothing like a new car.

The factory service manuals have flowcharts to diagnose from trouble codes, step by step. Professional manuals like Mitchell also have them. Here is a link to some troublecode information but it looks like you are past the point that they might help. http://www.troublecodes.net/Subaru/

Stainless steel body, what else can you say?

I bought all of the idler pulleys and the tensioner pulley. I may not use all of them if the originals feel like new. My transportaton costs are unusually low so I usually don't sweat the small stuff. It is hard to make these calls sometimes about costs vs longevity. In my case I don't know if this car will be on the road for another 50K or maybe longer. If a part is easy to get to I may skimp but I only want to do the timing belt once. If a timing belt can last 100K miles I think the job should be done with that goal in mind.

A note for future readers: sometimes you thread a bolt into a threaded hole in the drum to pull it off. The bolt pushes against the hub flange and forces the drum off. If you search, other threads here will tell you the same thing.

Some compressors have a built-in leak to lubricate the pulley shaft bearing, don't know if it applies to yours. Those systems need a boost every five years or so. I would clean the condensor and evaporator and check the airflow through each and then check the charge. Read about aluminum cleaning and keep that condenser spotlessly clean.

I second the advice on cleaning the condenser. Read about cleaning aluminum and get it spottlessly clean but be careful not to hurt it. Some cleaners attack aluminum. High pressure cleaning will bend the fins. Look at this site for information on diagnosing your system by gauge readings. http://www.perrinmfg.com/content/8x2.php If someone added refrigerant to the system when it was low and didn't pull a vacuum on it, suspect air in system. It can suck air into the system even when it still has pressure in it. The low side will pull down to a vacuum on a low system.

I had this problem with a Jeep Cherokee and it was the Throttle Position Sensor. Check it with an old fashion ohm or volt meter with a needle. The needle should swing steadily with no jumps. Never hurts to check all of your grounds either.

Do change the fluid, often. Don't wait until it looks bad, that means you waited too long. Don't let the transmission slip, slippage is accelerated death. This probably won't help you but it is worth a try. I am not an expert on transmissions but I have read quite a lot about them in expectation of rebuilding a few someday. Most slipping starts with low pressure in some circuit in your trans. If you can find a sequence of shifting that allows your trans to build pressure before you ask it to transmit power you may be able to drive the car without it slipping at all. Try things like shift into low range and let it catch before you shift into reverse. Some little combination like that may let you nurse it along indefinitely. Good luck. If you are going to have the trans fixed, sooner is cheaper than later. A swap is probably even cheaper still.

Unobtainium.

Mercedes is surprisingly reasonable on parts pricing for many parts. I often suffer from sticker shock at Japanese car parts prices.

My car has over 200K miles. I would have reused the hydraulic tensioner in the past but these days $60 is just a few gallons of gas. If I am going to put that much work into a job like this I don't mind springing the bucks for a little insurance like a new tensioner. I got the Paraut water pump and the hydraulic tensioner from RockAuto and together they cost around $90 shipped. The tensioner came in the genuine subaru box. This car doesn't lose much oil at all, don't have to add oil between changes, but the bottom of the engine is oily. I don't want it to get any worse so I will change all of the seals and such as outlined in the post I linked to in the FAQs just as preventive maintenance. Edit to add link: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=19460&postcount=37

I have a timing belt question. I read somewhere that there is a timing belt for subarus that has a longer change interval. Maybe they said it is a California spec belt or something like that. Is this fact or marketing?

Check the FAQ thread at the top of the forum. I posted a link to my favorite timing belt threads. Pull a cover and look at your belt. Read about what to look for. A few cracks are not a death sentence. I am collecting parts for this job. If I don't do it to the car I'm driving, I'll do it to the next one. If you check around you can save bucks on parts. I found a hydraulic tensioner for under $60.

I sandblasted the leaky part of my old filler neck for one last patch job. Once the rust was gone the base metal resembled a sieve. I coated it with epoxy and damned if it didn't leak again. Sieves do that, you know. I noticed that my junkyard filler necks were a constant diameter from the bottom up about half way. I had a junkyard plastic hose that attached to bottom of the filler neck and is the right diameter to fit. So below where the filler neck diameter increases I found a straight run, three or so inches long, and cut the neck there, and joined it with the plastic hose. That gave me the flexibility to make the filler neck fit the car. I cut out about a half inch of length at that point also. I'll probably still buy the correct part when I find the right deal but I am leak free and rust free for now. BTW, the older flip style gas cap still won't fit. I like those gas caps. I didn't think about it at the time but I probably could have had a better fit by cutting the original neck in about the same place and using the top of the original neck and the bottom of the junkyard neck.

Hi, I'll give you some things to think about and try. Smell may be oil dripping on exhaust Battery will clean up with baking soda mixed with water, follow with water rinse. Repeat as needed. Put a copper penny ('82 or earlier) on top of your battery to help keep from recurring. Can't guess. My check engine light comes on if I put more gas in after the first time the pump clicks off. Resetting the light to see if it comes back is the right way to go. Common complaint, paper train your car. Get a drip pan or use cardboard, plywood, etc. Learn to check fluid levels. Look at your owner's manual for the maintenance schedule and follow it.

Please paste that email here too. Subaru mystery switches need to be here so people, like me, can find them when they search.