blitz

From comments that I've read from folks that have fit the Cobb street cam and headers are ecstatic about how it opens the motor up without losing any tractibility. It doesn't make the motor "racy" or burbly at all. It seems as though Subaru's stock exhaust & cam are way stuffy. I'm not 100% certain, but I'd guess that the peak HP would increase by about 30-35 (which doesn't sound like a whole lot) but the benefit is mostly an increase and a substantial widening of the torque curve at both ends.

Yeah, I think that on an OHC roller cam design, there's very little to wear or to shift around. I'd still run a gauge through at the recommended intervals just to be sure everything's cool. One thing I'm not certain of is whether the clearance is tighter when the engine is cold. I'm assuming so. My last car had a similar layout (SOHC w/roller cam in an aluminum head) and on it the clearance tightened as the engine cooled.

Rocker settings are the only specs listed on the one sticker. A diagram of the underhood evaporative emission circuit is on the other.

The Cobb header gives torque increase through the full rev range (no loss of low end) and their street grind cams give a strong mid & top boost with no loss of low end. Cobb is a reputable company, but there ARE compromises in long-term durability involved. The cam is a high-lift spec with a tad more duration, it'll shorten the life of your valvesprings. It's also a re-weld, so it's not gonna have the same level of non-porosity or uniformity of hardness as the original cam. Cobb's header requires the use of their high-flow cat due to outlet location. The rest of the system is the same.

To add to ferret's info, the underhood sticker DOES list rocker clearance but specs it as a range rather than a specific figure. to wit: Intake------.10mm-.25mm (cold) Exhaust-----.15mm-.30mm (cold) You'll have to convert it to inches. I can testify that my '02 2.5 was on-spec at 20k miles, and my used '00 2.2 (essentially the same engine) was on-spec at 80k miles. Barring some event like abnormal valvetrain wear or improper tightening of a locknut, the adjustment seems to stay put.

Hey John, post a couple of the best (or worst) if you can, or post a link to where they can be viewed. I'm sure that a lot of people here (including me) would like to see 'em. Holding Subaru's feet to the fire will only make for better cars in the future.

Thanks for clarifying. Ahh... for the AVERAGE person, ...I get it.

Wow, that's pretty heavy. Clarify for me just a bit: are you suggesting that the finish not be tended to at all? I've seen plenty of finishes that have turned into ash as a result of total neglect. Conversely I've never had a problem keeping color and sheen on my cars for 10-11 years by just giving a good clean/wax once a year. I've HAVE seen auto-trim care products (Armor-maul, etc.) deteriorate the trim they're designed to protect at a rate faster than what they would without said chemical enhancement, but the painted finish... now that's a new one to me.

Will it leave a white crust around all the black Outback trim? It's possible that you read complete past my point.

Waxing around all the black hardware attached to the body (e.g. moldings, mirrors, roof rack, hood vents) is a hassle, then afterwards the white residue becomes visible. I tried the BLACK Turtle Wax "Color Cure" product on both my Savannah Green '02 OBS and my Whatever Blue '00 OBS and... It does a pretty decent job of hiding the scratches by darkening them. I'm pretty geeked with the results, thought I'd pass that along.

I'm inclined to think that your t-stat may have frozen in it's tracks as evidenced by the temperature drop on the long downhill. You could actually be experiencing minor overheat events on the uphill grades without knowing it due to the dummy temp gauge that shows "normal" through a wide range of temperatures. As the weather warms up more this could become a critical issue. Frankly, I'm surprized that the ECU hasn't thrown a code.

I just heard back from my brother. I'm almost certain he told me a couple years back that Sears (Die-Hard, etc.) are Exide. They may have lost that contract tho on account of some lawsuit regarding known defective batteries being sold anyway (or something like that). He sent me these links: http://www.exide.com/brands.asp#Transportation http://www.exide.com/wheretobuy/wheretobuy.asp?categoryID=1 ...and made this comment: "I put an Exide 60 in the Subie. I don’t think these are full lists, because I know that NAPA is also a customer, as well as Kmart and Wal Mart."

Nice job! That's looks to be the same exact material I used to make the bug screen for my exposed lower radiator intake opening. Interesting, I didn't know it was rain gutter material tho. I just had a big piece laying around, so I usd it.

I forgot to mention that my limited experience bears out that the thicker gear oil does tend to get in between the synchros and slow the shifting process ...more so when the cold weather sets in. It doesn't seem to matter a whole lot in hot weather. Years back I experimented with a 50/50 mix of Mobil 1 75W90 & Castrol Syntec 5W-50 in my Colt tranny. It was a just stupid hunch, but it worked really well. I changed it frequently tho because I figured the motor oil was probably shearing.

Setright, I have excellent shifting with the Redline MT-90, even with that gumby shifter bushing still in place. The synchros don't hook instantly, but they're a heck of a lot quicker & lighter than they were with whatever was in the tranny when I bought the car. Previously I had to use force the get lever into another gear. The only question is it's GL-4 rating and whether or not the differential gearset suffers because of it.

My last car ('89 Dodgesubishi Colt) went 100k miles on the front pads and 196k miles on the clutch. Actually Michigan roads busted the car apart at 196k but the clutch was still functioning fine. My '02 OBS (4EAT) currently has 51k miles on the odo and I've only worn 1/3 of the front pads off. I'm not a slowpoke driver-I move right with traffic, but I've developed a technique of looking out ahead of my immediate situation (rather than tunneling on the bumper in front of me) in combination with holding the lower gear I might be in until I know that a burst of traffic flow is for real and I DON'T tailgate. Sometimes I'll be behind someone who has lit their brake lights 15 times in a stretch where I've only had to do it once. I'm not referring to one of those "brake-lamp flashers" either ...cripes, it would be about 50 lamp-flashes for one of those nincompoops. Bottom line: Easily, 2 out of every 3 brake applications is nothing more than frivolous habit. Also the "gear-holding" technique means my auto-trans is only making half as many gear changes as it ordinarily would (left to it's own logic).

Yeah, the yellow-top sacrifices a little CCA in exchange for a longer overall draw time and the ability to shrug-off the negative effects of deep or lengthy discharges. Y'know, other than the steering column, parking-light switch thingy, all my Subie lights are auto-off, so I'm protected from my own idiocy on that account, and I have no sound system other than the stock stereo, so that's no concern. Mmm... now I'm confused. How did you deal with the cables reaching the post problem? They're at the wrong end on the Optima, correct?

I'll ask him if he has a list. There's probably a whole bunch of house brands that are Exides. The Die-Hard switched from Johnson Controls to Exide about 10 years back ...probably a step down (lowest-bidder thing).

Yeah, I've used Die-Hard in the past with good results. I was at Pep Boys & Advance Auto this morning looking at what they have and all the current batteries are in excess of minimum required CCA per Subaru for this car. I'm gonna take your advice and skip the Optima. My brother actually works for Exide, but he doesn't rave about the general quality of the product.

The stock battery has the terminals at the top rear, whereas the Optima appears to have them located at the top front. Is this the issue?

Cookie, you gave me something to think about there, the Optima's are pricey. That yellow top would look nice alongside all the yellow caps underhood tho. Who makes the best "conventional" battery currently?

I'd like to fit an Optima yellow top in my '00 OBS before next winter. Now Optima doesn't make an exact replacement for any Subaru, but it looks like the D35 will squeeze in if I widen the battery tray at one end. I know folks have put these in, just curious as to which one?

My '00 OBS 2.2 ran strong after an ECU reset, but after a certain number of miles would revert back into a (fault) mode where below 4250 the torque was diminished A WHOLE LOT (no displayed CEL however). Remembering stories about the electrical ground that runs between the firewall and the trans being critical for eliminating "phantom" hesitation problems, I went ahead and ran a nice new fat ground between the firewall lug and the engine block. BAM! Problem gone. My question is this: has anyone ever figured out the specific mechanism that's at play here? I hate "fixing" something without knowing what I actually did.

I second the oil cooler. Opt for an aftermarket oil-to-air, stand-alone unit rather than the oil-to-coolant, OEM style and be sure to mount it in a place of adequate airflow, but where it's not physically vulnerable. Pick one with a much larger than required capacity in conjunction with a thermostatic valve. This way in the event of a coolant temp rise (or complete cooling system failure) the massive oil cooler will buy you time to find a suitable place to set the craft down. Just be sure to use high-quality stuff (lines, clamps, etc). The 15W-40 is a great idea also.

Thanks ferret. I followed the line from the injectors up to the IAC on my car. That's good info to know. There seems to be a fair amount of other codes that are "false" as well on OBDII systems.