porcupine73

Auto trans radiator has the in-tank cooler for the ATF. Manual trans radiator does not. Provided they are dimensionally compatible, you could use an auto trans rad in a manual trans vehicle and just not use the intank ATF cooler. To use an MT rad in an AT vehicle you would need to add a good ATF cooler preferably in front of the a/c condensor, but this can result in overcooling in cold temperatures. Also note some turbo makes/models typically use a beefier rad and sometimes have an engine oil cooler in the rad tank as well.

Let's check out the wix specs. http://www.wixfilters.com is cool because it will show you the dimensions of the filter as well. The thread size and pitch are the same, so the filter will thread onto the nipple. The Saabaru recommended filter is smaller dimensionally. The main differences from the OEM filter AFIAK would be no ADBV anti-drain back valve in the OEM filter, and the OEM filter I believe has a bypass valve setting of more like 22psid. subarupartsforyou.com has the filter 2001 Subaru Legacy 2005 Saabaru 2.5LWix Part Number: 51334 51365Height: 3.194 2.577Outer Diameter Top: 3.252 2.685 Thread Size: 20X1.5 MM 20X1.5 MMBy-Pass Valve Setting-PSI: 8-11 8-11Anti-Drain Back Valve: Yes YesBeta Ratio: 2/20=22/40 2/20=15/22Burst Pressure-PSI: 280 300Max Flow Rate: 9-11 GPM 9-11 GPMNominal Micron Rating: 19 19

Hello Sandman1 and welcome! I haven't heard of the ECON button before, but your Subaru is probably not a U.S. spec model. My guess is it probably makes the transmission prefer higher gears. Like shift into higher gears sooner. And hold higher gears more often when it might otherwise downshift. It may also have something to do with torque converter lockup.

The king springs, or scorpion as renickmotorsports calls them, do work pretty nicely. I got about a 1.5" lift with them on '00obw. I do not know of any other lift or stiffer same height springs for Subaru's. From renick, a set of 4 king springs will run about twice the cost of new oem springs. The only other item I know of are those rubber spring spacers that I guess are supposed to give more spring rate maybe.

The bleeder must be closed when the pedal is released or you will pull in air.

I think the dr phase II 4EAT is available in Australia. There was a post some time back from someone seeing if there is any interest in importing them to the US.

http://www.kyb.com/products/ GR-2® Premium Shocks and Struts are specially designed to provide a smooth, secure ride with excellent control for drivers who are looking for ride comfort and improved handling. AGX Sport Adjustable Shocks And Struts With its competition grade engineering and construction, AGX® Sport Adjustable Shocks and Struts are perfect for sport enthusiasts and high performance drivers. The AGX are of course more expensive and they are available only for certain Subaru models. You can run old springs on them. If the springs show any signs of rust or corrosion or damage or anything they should be replaced. The can weaken over time from all the flexing too and loose some of their spring rate so replacement might be in order. Even new OEM springs aren't that expensive.

Ah right on forgot about that. The caliper bracket must be removed as well. The rear caliper bracket bolts can be a little tricky. If they haven't been removed lately and you live in a salty area be prepared for a job on your hands. You don't want those bolts to snap. I had to beat on mine for a long time with an impact wrench, use the torch, penetrating oil, beeswax, repeat repeat repeat finally they backed out. They were in pretty bad shape, so I went to the dealer to get some replacement bolts. They had a whole box of them. They said they often snap. If you're planning to reuse the rotors, then yes you'd need a rubber mallet or a heavy dead blow hammer works well too. I had to use a hard faced 10lb sledge on mine. That will ding them up bad though. The front caliper bracket bolts were easy; somone had put antisieze on them.

Yes the left pic is definitely the wrap thing for the o2 sensor wire. Not sure about the other one. All mechanical devices have maybe 3-4% spare/unneeded parts/fasteners built in, so when the job is done as long as you haven't exceeded this level it should still be ok.

Yes, unless you have speed bleeders or a vacuum bleed device, it really takes two people to do it. Press brake pedal down sloly. Open the bleed valve so fluid comes out. While pedal is held down, close bleeder. Slowly let brake pedal up. Repeat until no air bubbles come out and clean fluid comes out. The Subaru wheel bleed order is the opposite of most other vehicles. I have heard it is not a good idea to let the pedal go all the way to the floor during this operation.

Cool link nipper. Some excerpts...

What I do is just wrap a good shop towel around the fuel filter fitting whilst disconnecting its fuel hose. Yes, some fuel will shoot out, but not a ton, and it's easier than trying to figure out connectors and other stuff.

Subaru's are not prone to sludge. Any engine can sludge if the oil change interval is too long, or as nipper said if it doesn't get a good drive to get the engine oil up to operating temp (~180 deg. F) periodically, water condensation and fuel may build up in the oil. The 'sludge prone' engines frequently operate the oil at relatively high temps too which leads to sludge.

Uh...you don't remove the axle nut to get the rotors off. If you removed the axle nut, then it should be replaced with a new axle nut, and it needs to be torqued properly. Also removing or looosening much the axle nut with the wheels on the ground can damage the wheel bearings. There are a couple ways to get the rotors off. First make sure the parking brake shoes are fully backed off with the star adjuster through the back of the backing plate. Then, if your rotors have two threaded holes on the part over the hub, just drive two 8mm bolts into those holes and it will force it off the hub. Or if you have aftermarket rotors that don't have the two bolt holes, you may need to use a propane torch and sledge hammer. Even with those it took me a while to get the rotors off my '00obw.

The AWD should be at least as good. For deep snow, if you can get a limited slip rear differential in there that might help out. Limited slip front would be awesome too but I've only heard of that on very new Soobs. Also lift springs such as scorpion/king springs can give you another 1.5" lift or so. Dedicated snow tires help too. Also you could do some tests to see if the AWD is working correctly. When I first got my '00obw auto trans, I noticed in the snow it would really only spin the front tires and not put much power to the rear. I think the clutch packs were glazed maybe. It fixed itself this one time when I was driving in stop, stop, crawl traffic on sheer ice last winter for about two hours. Every time we started to creep, I hit the gas enough to make the front tires spin (didn't take much on the ice). After doing that for a few hours, now the rear tires will engage and spin too much better than before.

The front o2 sensors for certain years were made by Bosch, but I don't think that's true of all years. I know the OEM Subaru front o2 sensor I ordered for my '94 Legacy did say Bosch on it. That price of $259 for the oem must've been like twice list price; I think I paid about $90 for mine online. One of my local Subaru dealers doubles the list price on walk-in sales. The other charges Subaru list price, but on their invoice they increase the list price by about 20% and then say they gave you a 20% discount off list, which comes out to the msrp price.

Also if the thermostat is not opening completely it would restrict flow through the radiator.

Hi mack and welcome! To select tires, you really need to define what parameters are most important to you, such as treadwear, hydroplane resistance, etc, etc. For example, if you have dedicated snow tires, maybe you don't want an 'all season' tire. Tirerack has reviews on various tires; even if you don't buy from them. consumerreports rates tires as well. Sometimes the same tire will behave differently on different vehicles though...

Cooling system service is a must, with checking rad for clogs. When it was serviced last, what brand/type coolant was used? The oat/dexcool types can cause clogging if there are any leaks letting air into the system. Subaru does not want oat coolants to be used in Subaru's. Many 'all makes all models' coolants are dexcool clones. The coolant 'boiling' in the overflow tank sounds like what happens when a head gasket fails allowing exhaust to blow into/pressurize the coolant, then it bubbles into the overflow tank.

Yes don't wait on getting it checked out. The vehicle might work for a couple days without charging by the alternator depending on battery condition, load, etc., but if the alt is not putting out the car will stall out at some point. The mechanics of the field circuit is here: EndWrench Erratic Warning Light Operation When diagnosing a vehicle with erratic operation (flashing, dim illumination, etc.) of the handbrake/brake fluid warning lights, check the charging system and the charge light system. The charge light system (which receives a ground through the alternator field when the alternator is not charging) is used to check the bulbs of the handbrake/brake fluid warning lights (and some other warning lights on select vehicles).

Also make sure you don't have any exhaust leaks before or shortly after the rear sensor. Even little pinhole leaks.

Hi dmr. Also make sure you're getting a metal separator, not a plastic one.

Hm..really? I'll have to try that out. Maybe we should start a list of subaru tricks.

Nope that's normal. The TCU controls many of the AT's solenoids with a 50Hz square wave of varying duty cycle. I can hear it too with engine off, key on, in gear. Some people say they can hear it with engine on too.

Yah I don't know if he says it on that page, but when I first looked at it a year or so ago, he said he removed the intake like that so that the throttle cables and some other stuff didn't have to be removed or something like that. I haven't pulled an engine so I'm not sure if that's a savings or not. There is most likely somewhere on this board a thread with lots of pictures and instructions about engine removal.