2X2KOB

It's a 2000 Outback, EJ252, 4EAT, 208,000 miles. Time to replace pads all around, and the front rotors. Last time, maybe two years ago, I used Akebono pads and Brembo standard plain vented front rotors. The pads are holding up well, little or no dust or noise or fade, but the front Brembo rotors seem to be problematic. They feel like they are warped when braking, but it's really uneven deposits of what I assume is pad material. I've taken them off twice in recent months and cleaned them, and they have pretty obvious sticky spots that I can almost remove with #100 grit sandpaper and brake clean solvent, but the deposits come back after driving for awhile. I don't know if this is the fault of the pads or the rotors, but I'd like to avoid this on the next set. The rotors also look like they have tiny surface cracks on the friction surface. I don't generally abuse my brakes, but a red light catches me every now & then. So, I'm going to get new ceramic pads and standard (not slotted or drilled) front rotors. What I'm looking for is your personal experience with different types of aftermarket rotors and pads. I have read through the previous threads on this subject, but have not been able to reach a definite conclusion as to what to get. Here's some source/brand/pricing options for two front rotors and 8 pads: Rockauto-Raybestos pads, rotors (Service grade): $90 Rockauto-Centric pads, rotors: $148 Rockauto-Raybestos pads, rotors (Pro grade): $161 Tirerack-Brembo rotors-Akebono pads: $222 Partsbin-Centric rotors-Akebono pads: $254 Trademotion dealer sites-OEM pads, rotors: $255-265 varies Drivewire-OEM rotors-Akebono pads: $264 As you can see, there's a huge difference in pricing and I'm sure, quality also. And I'm not even looking at the $300 fancy slotted or drilled rotors. It's not difficult or time consuming to change these parts, so I'm sort of leaning toward the cheap stuff, but there's also performance considerations. And I don't like brake dust. If you have an opinion as to what should be avoided or what combinations have worked well for you in the past, I'd appreciate your sharing it. Thanks! - 2X2KOB

If you find out, let us know please!

Haha - they drop when you buy a house, too - and that's cheaper!

Those threads hanging down are likely to get buggered up by road debris blowing by (rocks & stuff), so maybe put a couple nuts on there to cover them and protect them. I'm glad you got it fixed!

Yep, I vote for #3. If I was in this predicament, that's what I'd do, for sure.

$300 in St. Louis for a 2000 OBW, aftermarket, big company specializes in this. Make sure you watch them. They won't break it to take it out, but they will cut the old sealer and scrape the residue off. They will also likely scratch the paint off where the windshield sealer goes, so make sure they fix that paint or you'll have rust there and a leaky windshield in a few years. It's already March, but as a reminder this should be done inside or in decent weather. The quality of this job is very dependent on the experience and techniques of the installer. How you pick a good one, I don't know.

Jacked the engine and it still took you only 45 minutes? You should go into business. That would take me four hours.

I'm working on a 2000 OBW 2.5 4EAT, just verified that the BKR6E-11 plugs are specified in the owner's manual and the FSM. I guess the PFR5B-11 are the platinums? What are you driving? Actually changing them wasn't too difficult but this is a single overhead cam. Mostly I worry about the threads in the head. The plug gap range is 0.039" - 0.043". The new BKR6E-11 plugs checked fine at 0.040" right out of the box. Have no idea how many miles are on the old ones (59,000 that I know of) but they were visually in good shape colorwise but the gap had worn to about 0.070" to 0.090".

Hmm.. But plats aren't what is specified, standard NGK BKR6E-11 plugs are. I guess the fact that you won't have to change the plats for 100k miles helps a lot. I'm also using the NGK wires, they seem to be doing all right so far. I only got them because I couldn't get that goofy Trademotion parts search app to find a set of OEM wires online.

Of course I did. Thanks.

Do the laser platinums last a lot longer than the standard plugs? Is the extra cost worth it?

What size hole was that? (Approx) Did you tap it to a standard pipe thread, or what's it take? !

That's important to know, thanks. I think that if I ever had to replace my EJ25 I might look into using a 2.2 instead, because I like the non-interference engines. I guess the time to learn about doing something like that is now, before I need it.

That's a very good price, especially for the trans. Where or who is selling these?

You going to take it apart and see what's wrong with it? Kinda curious now.

Those NGK wires were $46.22 at drivewire.com. The stuff is being shipped to me now. Looking back, I probably should have gotten the more expensive stuff, but since this is on the way I'll go ahad and use it. I'll let you know how it works out. Any tips on access to the plugs?

Sorry about that - it's a 2000 Outback wagon, EJ25, SOHC, 4EAT. Thanks for the response.

P0302-cylinder-2-misfire-detected This popped up yesterday noon, along with a flashing CEL and obvious missing. Wow, I said, looky there, willya. Since I reset a P0420 about every week or so, I always have my code reader on my utility belt. So I took the #2 plug wire off the coil pack and the boot was full of black carbon stuff and the coil terminal was black. All the other coil terminals were nice and shiny and clean. Cleaned out the #2 wire boot and polished up the coil terminal a little bit, squeezed the metal connector inside the boot a bit so it would fit tighter, reset the code and all is well. But it's time for new wires and plugs, anyway. I ordered NGK wires and plugs. I chose the cheap plugs - NGK BKR6E-11, $1.99 ea. Would it have been worth the extra money to spring for NGK PFR6B-11 at $12.54 each?

Good point. The stuff I have been using is 'Loctite 271 Threadlocker Red High Strength'. I think I'm going to pick up some of the blue 242 or 243 though, just to have it around. I have an EJ (EJ252) timing belt job coming up pretty soon.

Thanks much! (and I apologize for thread-jacking)

When using loctite on threaded fasteners, do you have to make sure that the fasteners and holes are cleaned of all oil residue before applying the loctite?

The rule about not overfilling transmissions probably applies more to automatics - they can foam up the fluid if overfilled, which leads to all sorts of hydraulic related problems.

Time will tell. Keep us advised if it comes up again, all right? Thanks.

Brilliant! Thanks very much.

Anybody know offhand where the TCU is located on a 2000 OBW? Thanks...