JPX

I agree -coincidence. Check to make sure the cable is still connected in the dash (I think this is at the blower motor at the passenger's feet. Also check the control panel itself which requires removing the front bezel and inspecting the rear of the control panel.

It's a freshly rebuilt motor.....so it is quite clean all around. I think me being near it is making it dirtier! Thanks for the info.

I know the 8 rocker assembly bolts to the head are 8.7 ft-lbs according to the Endwrench article. But was is the torque spec for the bolt at the end of the shaft? (there are 2 - one front on each end of the rocker assembly). The photo below shows a loose bolt.....this is the one I want to make sure is torqued correctly.

OIl fill tube where is meets with the valve cover. Easy o-ring change out. Oil dipstick tube - two o-rings that fit on the end of it where it goes into the oil pan. This is a real challenge to pull out with the AC compressor bracket in the way. And the others are right - a true oil pump leak would vomit oil out the bottom of the timing belt cover and them drip on your exhaust.

I guess with the sun coming out more often, people have had a chance to wash off the winter crud. That's when they really see how bad the headlights can get - especially compared to the crystal clear stuff on brand new cars (like the new Outbacks.....arf).

First check to make sure it is connected at all. I completely forgot about this connection when I put my rebuilt motor in. I bought a code reader to figure out why the check engine light was on. Had I remembered to connect it in the first place (it was the only missed wire in the entire job), I wouldn't have needed the reader.....but it is a nice-to-have! Oh, and the easiest way to tell thing is is acting up is if your electric fans kick on immediately when you start the car.

Here is some light reading on the problem typically called torque bind. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41148&highlight=duty+solinoid+c http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=51202&page=2 Your actual results may vary. But in my case, running with the FWD fuse (FWD only) during the dry season actually made my problem calm down when I took out the FWD fuse (AWD on) several months later. Doing 3 trans fluid drain and fills (not to be confused with Jiffy Lube flushes) has also helped some buy a lot more time.

Try reading up on this thread->http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57486

Hesitation can come from the strangest places. I would start by checking the following (easiest to harder) Air Filter check and/or change (no tools) Spark Plug wires - make they are in tight and connected (no tools) Alternator belt tension (loose could be not providing enough charge 12mm spanner) Fuel Filter replacement (3 Philips screws) PCV valve (19mm spanner) check if clogged etc. Clean throttle body (carb cleaner, Philips screws) Fuel injector cleaner (pour and pray) I'm sure this plenty more to check....others will chime in.

This is a very good thought. When I moved the sensors from my old longblock to the rebuilt one, I found that the sensors had an incredible amount of junk attached to them. It looked a lot like how a magnetic drain plug looks with the metal shavings on it. Just wipe down and reinstall (10mm retaining nut) before resorting to a replacement sensor.

You probably have shorts in the speaker wiring somewhere in the dash. When the vent flaps and controls move, they must be making the wires move around too. Wires between the doors and the pillars might also need to be checked. Try taking apart the door and running a test wire from the speaker directly the to head. Worst case, the short messed up your head unit's speaker out connections I guess.

I've done the lights behind the preset buttons on the factory cassette radio (1996). It is pretty much the same drill. But you have to carefully remove the plastic plates that hold the button circuit board to the rest of the radio. The clock is the same deal. I still have my factory radio in the garage since I upgraded to a CD player. I'll dissect it and post some reference photos tonight to help you along if you haven't already started taking it apart. Thinking along those lines, why not just put in a new CD player?

Good advice. But I have to rule it out for the moment as the engine is a longblock rebuild. I'm going to check the left side HLAs and see if any of those are squishy. If this continues, then I may have to revisit the oil pump possibility.

It is located just under the coil pack on the right side of the car. The nasty thing in the center of this picture is from my 96 Legacy 2.2L. Needs a 19mm wrench.

Antiroll bar front or back can have bushings that squish their way out from the mounts. This is an easy DIY to diagnose and replace. Don't know where to get poly replacement.....presumable any place that caters to the WRX crowd. I would expect that tie rod ends and ball joints would be suspect as well. While you are in there, might as well check the condition of the struts and strut mounts. My rears mounts were fine at 90K miles . But the rear struts were blown. I haven't done the front as of 139K miles...but I'd expect the struts at least were blown.

I'm cheap.....so I'd start with the cheap solutions first. First simply bleed the brakes to check the condition of the fluid (probably a mess with the overheating). Then I'd disassemble the caliper assembly and see what is going on in there before throwing the whole thing away. You could just a ultrafine sandpaper to polish out the inside of the caliper bore and the piston. If your seals are shot, then those need to be replaced. I've found that the little metal plate shims behind the pads can sometimes weasel their way out from the pads and make the pad wear unevenly.

Lay it flat in the sun on the driveway for a couple of hours on a hot day. If you want to get nuts with it, you can contact cement it to a piece of MDF.

Hmmm...so two rounds of taking off the valve train and I still have a knock in there somewhere. The HLA (hydraulic lash adjuster) I replaced was re-bled in clean oil.....the oil that came out was darker (the color of the existing oil in the engine). This means the oil is recirculating through the HLA? It was still firm and not squishy. I changed the oil in the engine since it has 800 miles on the rebuild. I'm hoping this helps everything resettle in. One thing that concerns me is if the pocket in the rocker where the HLA sits may have been worn from the harmmering of the faulty HLA. A bad leakby or something like a messed up seating surface might be setting up the noise. The car is drivable and certianly quieter than it was earlier. So I guess we'll see how it goes for a couple of hundred miles.:-\

So tonight's hydraulic lash adjuster changeout went fairly smoothly. Getting all 8 of the valve train bolts on evenly was time consuming. An in-lbs torque wrench is critical. When I started the engine, the noise was gone! Yay! Drove it around the block and the sound came back:mad: , although the tone is a little different. I guess I have to go back in there and double check the oil galleys again. Seems like I have a similar situation that is described here: http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDocs/LashAdjusterReplace.htm

Yes - those top strut mount bolts do not need pro-wrestler torque to secure them. in-lbs is correct.

I'm in the middle of troubleshooting a tick/knock on my rebuilt 2.2L motor. Took off a valve cover and found a squishy hydraulic lash adjuster. I tried to bleed it out in a cup of oil. But it just wouldn't hold pressure. I'll be putting in a replacement lash adjuster this weekend and hope that this changes the tone of the tick/knock.

I give this thread a total thumbs up....it was one of my first "how to fix" links from the internet that really helped learn to love my car again.:-p

I thought the northeast had quite a bit of Subarus around. So dealer network and service should not be any different than with Toyota/Hondas. It is true that garden variety mechanics might be more familiar with those cars' drivelines than a Subaru AWD setup. But I consider Subarus to be quite straightforward vehicles that need smart service like any other car. For your ski trips, these are great cars with the right balance of fuel economy and space.

This link has a write up about a hitch install for a 2006 WRX-> CLICK Note that for some liftgates, a rear mount rack might not clear without having a swing down or swingout feature like the more expensive Yakima and Thule's racks. My straight bar Graber bike rack won't clear the WRX hatch. But it definitely cleared the trunk lid on my 1996 Legacy sedan. In both cases, the hitches are Drawtites. The Legacy hitch is a real beast - sticks out, ugly, but a fully functional Class 2 that towed single and double jetskis for many thousands of miles. The WRX hitch is a real lightweight intended for bikes. But it did have a drawbar that I expect would pull a single jetski easily. I wouldn't try a double trailer with that configuration though.

The headlights are frustrating because they require a lot of time to wetsand down. Use too much grit and you will never get the scuff marks out. Use too light, and it will take forever. Keep in mind that the clearcoat layer (if there is any that hasn't already flaked off) is going to change the feeling of the sanding process. Once you break through this layer, then you will hit that nasty yellow stuff. Use 800 for this phase. Once you have knocked all this off, you should switch to the 1000 or 1500 grits. This will take forever - get a bucket and watch your favorite TV show while doing it. Then move to the 2000 grit. You will finish this labor intensive stuff with a buffing compound. Once tip, wet sand only in linear directions. Sideways, then up and down, then at various angles. Do not sand in circles as this is the most difficult to unscuff. This applies to the buffing compound as well. It is tempting to do it in circles - must resist! You have to put a new clearcoat to protect the plastic. The reason why "cleaned" lenses turn yellow quickly is because they are usually polished and then exposed to the elements. I used an acrylic (rattle can). The trick is that most buffing compounds contain a lot of chemicals that result in fisheyes - kind of like badly prepped paint jobs where the paint won't stick. Some degreaser is appropriate to get the stuff off.....but you have to be very careful not to actually eat the plastic. Rubbing alcohol is a good "safe" alternative.