eryque

how about just fixed enough so it doesn't look like absolute crap. i want it to just look partially crappy.

I just sideswiped a small mountain of packed ice and snow and dented my passenger side door pretty good. Ballpark--how much will it run me to get it fixed? Is it worthwhile to get a suction cup and start yanking? '98 Impreza.

FWIW, I paid $3,000 in August for a '98 that had a used engine put in, and it needed a clutch. If it's otherwise in good condition, that car is probably worth about $1,000.

I replaced all 4 struts about 2 months ago. This morning I noticed that the left rear sits a good 2" lower than the right rear. We've had a lot of ice and snow here lately, and some of it is caked onto my car. It was bad enough to cause some bad vibration at highway speeds. Is there any chance that this might be related, or is it more likely that I just have a strut that went bad?

Al, there's another thread (started by me) in which a lot of people say this cocktail is crap. I used it in my car and shifting is actually a little worse than it was before, and there's some info about the Redline Shockproof being bad news.

OBDII is standardized, so any OBDII scanner will work. I've always been curious to know what the difference between the expensive scanners and the cheaps ones is. I picked up a cheap handheld one at Harbor Freight for $40. It returns a code and I look it up in the manual that comes with it.

I thought you were supposed to be able to put it in first while rolling, just like any other gear. My bad

A friend has a '00 OBS w/ 10 yr 100,000 mile warranty. Is the timing belt covered under that warranty as well? If it goes before the suggested maintenance interval is she covered if it's still in the warranty period? Just curious. All her other belts were cracking, so it wouldn't surprise me if the timing belt isn't so far behind.

Turns out the fluid was low, which explains why sometimes the switch would turn off going down hill. Kinda irks me because I had a shop repair a line and bleed the brakes when they did the alignment. Gonna have to have them do it again. It's too cold to work in my driveway now.

After so many good testimonials about the cocktail I figured I couldn't go wrong! Live and learn. It doesn't surprise me that the shockproof had to be scooped out like pudding, because it kinda looks like blue pudding going in! I'll change the tranny fluid at the next oil change with regular stuff. I still bet I get another 100,000 miles out of this tranny before it's useless.

It was just inspected a few months ago and the pads were nearly new then, so I don't think that they've worn down that much. I'll check the fluid level again just to be sure.

I changed my gear oil with the cocktail that Grimmspeed sells, and shifting is actually worse than it was before. There is a little more crunching going into 2nd and 3rd, and I can't get it into 1st without forcing it unless I'm at a dead stop. The drain plug did have a few shavings on it and the old oil smelled burnt, so I'm guessing that this tranny was not treated very well and will one day either need a rebuild or replacement. It's only got 95,000 miles on the tranny now.

My brake light is stuck on most of the time, though I'm pretty sure that the brake is fully disengaged and not dragging. Can anyone tell me where the switch is for that so I can remedy this? It's annoying. 98 Impreza. Thanks!

hahaha I didn't think it was mocking me, really (though with this car, there are enough little problems that sometimes I wonder...) but it had occured to me that it might be overheating and somehow resetting itself.

My rear window defogger is turning itself off. Is it supposed to do this? This is a 98 Impreza wagon.

Well, my family situation has changed a bit and it looks like I need to pay for 2 trips this holiday season, so I'm going to hold off a while longer on the tire purchase. I really like the idea of buying a set of Nokian WRs and driving them all year long instead of buying a set of snows this winter and 3 season tires in the spring. Thanks for the input, everyone

I'm not sure why I wouldn't put snow tires on all 4 wheels. And yes, snow tires (if I buy them) would be for the winter only and I'd swap them in the spring. However, if they're not good for the highway when it's dry, then they won't make any sense for me.

I'm pretty wary of the reviews on TireRack now. The last tire I bought were chosen mostly on the recommendations and they turned out to suck rump roast. I should have returned them, but I didn't want to go through the hassle. I bought Potenza G009s and will never, ever, make that mistake again. They only had grip if the pavement was dry and you were already moving. Getting going from a dead stop made the wheels spin even when there was a light coating of pollen dust, much less snow or rain.

It's just about time to buy new tires, and I'm curious to know what you folks have to say about whether I should buy snow tires or all season tires. (98 Impreza). I live in Albany, NY. Typically in the winter we'll get 2-3 snow storms a month (tops) with significant accumulation, with an annual average of around 70 inches of snow. So most of the time I'll be driving around on cold, dry pavement, often encrusted with a layer of dried salt. On those dry days am I going to be sorry if I go with snow tires? When it does snow am I going to be sorry if I go with all seasons?

What do you guys mean by bottom end failures?

There's a TSB to add the conditioner on some older models. I guess Subaru decided the best "fix" was to just put that in the manual and not actually fix the problem.

I'm curious, how does one go about this sort of cleaning?

I'm curious to know if folks think there are any real problems with the EJ25 engine besides the head gasket issue. Are they otherwise as bulletproof as the EJ22?

It just happens that I'm about to change my oil, so I figured that I'd check out the filter for the H6. I didn't check all the brands, but the PureOne filters look identical. Same size, same diameter, and it looked like the same threads. Since it didn't appear that there would be any advantage I went for the right part number for my engine, but was kind of surprised that the H6 filter was the same size.

It turns out that Grimmspeed even put together the cocktail mix to save you a couple of bucks. Shipping is $15, though, so I'm not sure the tradeoff is worth it. In the end I was tired of look. Do you guys mix the cocktail before putting it in, or just put it in directly from the bottles and let the tranny mix it up for you?