porcupine73

Hi Richard, wow that's a sweet line up of cars. Yes, I found out you can get the FSM's on CD on techinfo.subaru.com. I believe it is about $200. I have reviewed the alldatadiy.com info and it is identical everywhere I have looked to the FSM including the pictures and descriptions (for '00OBW). I got the printed OE manuals on eBay for $150.

Hi Jake. There Must Be A Fuse Somewhere, Even If It Power Multiple Circuits. Can You Check The Pins With A Voltmeter To Verify They're Getting Power? AFAIK, They Only Come On When The Button Is Pressed And The Low Beams (But Not High Beams) Are On.

Hi Richard, based on your other posts you don't strike me as a man to cut corners. I'd buy the OE Subaru service manuals either on CD or in print. I picked up a print set on eBay, but that was before I knew I could have gotten it on CD. A completely acceptable alternative is to just get an alldatadiy subscription. It gives you access to OE material at much less up front cash outlay. If you're not going to be getting into any involved work, the haynes/chilton will probably work. I've seen too many errors in them to trust them for important work though.

Hi, whether or not it is a state or local issue, it probably violates some federal law. If at all possible you probably want to keep the front O2 sensor intact. This sensor is used for air/fuel ratio control in closed loop operation. You need to know whether all emissions devices need to be intact for inspection (if you have an inspection). In NY they are required and there can be no disabled/removed components. If you ever decide to sell the car, I would make sure to intimate that fact to the buyer.

Yes, I neglected that reason. Please accept my edited post: Wait...because you damaged the pan by hitting it on a rock!?!?!

Yes that is a good point, and often less expensive in the long run.

Hm...how about an auto/manual setup for the ATF temp sensor. In auto a toggle switch connects the ATF temp sensor to the TCU input. In manual, the toggle switch connects the TCU input to a potentiometer so you can adjust the temp the TCU thinks the ATF is.

For a solar panel to really make enough juice it really needs to be as much in direct sunlight as possible. On the dash would probably work. I'd get the biggest meanest solar panel you can find; otherwise it probably just won't be enough power to keep the battery charged. Harbor Freight had a monster 45-watt unit on sale recently.

Yes, any suby's I've seen have the cigarette lighter powered only with key in acc or run. Two potential workarounds: Chop the hot wire to the existing socket and wire it directly to the battery + (with a fuse) Add a second aftermarket accessory outlet wired directly to battery + (with fuse at battery terminal)

Another option, if you can work it, might be a battery quick disconnect. This disconnect replaces one (or both) of your battery terminals. It has a lever you flip and you can pop that terminal off the battery. If you disconnect it when you park the car for a period of time it should prevent the drain. Of course it could cause other issues, such as loss of radio station presets, possible alarm going off upon reconnection, loss of ECU&TCU learned parameters, etc. What brand/type/size battery is installed? Maybe if you make only a short trip after starting the vehicle the battery may not be fully recharging.

I'd say syn ATF would be worth a shot, provided it's a quality oil (i.e. amsoil, schaefferoil, redline, specialty formulations (semi-syn), mobil1). Syn ATF is most likely going to be less thick at cold temps than dino ATF's, thus pumping more freely at low temps.

Possibly, but I would suspect in that case the dial knob is an input to the TCU rather than instrument directly driving the duty c. I suppose another risk of this project would be energizing the duty c when it is not supposed to be energized (i.e. duty b energized)? We'd have to review the charts in the service manual.

Hello, anyone want to design and build a do-it-yourself DCCD (driver controlled center differential)? It would be for AT vehicles only obviously. This circuit would be a build on the manually controlled locking center diff. We'd need to find out the waveform the frequency at which the TCU drives the duty c. It could be measured using an oscilloscope on the duty c drive wire. We'd need a variable duty cycle (via potentiometer) circuit oscillating at the proper frequency with the proper waveform capable of outputting at least the required current to drive the duty c. In 'auto' mode, we'd just leave the TCU output to duty c connected as is. Anyway this may be a crazy idea but what do you guys think?

The vehicle should be able to sit easily for more than a month without the battery going dead. As the car is parked on the street I'm guessing running an extension cord to a trickle charger won't be feasible. The portable jump starters should work just fine. With a unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter, you might have to wait a few minutes for it to charge the battery a bit before starting. This results from a max of say 10 or 15A being transferred from the portable charger, which is not enough by itself to start the engine. If the portable charger uses alligator clips to connect directly to the battery terminals it should start instantly. Depending on how much you're looking to spend, I'd suggest trying an Optima yellow top (or blue top) battery. They're pricey, but they're deep cycle and might handle whatever is going on with the vehicle. You could use a remote starter to start it for a few minutes every couple weeks. I don't recommend it though as starting for a few minutes without the engine oil reaching operating temperature will only result in fuel dilution and water condensation building up in the oil.

same here, with the phase II 4eat (external oil filter) the pan gasket appears to be an orange RTV type sealant; no gasket. There is no reason to remove a 4eat phase II AT pan unless you're servicing something inside there such as a solenoid.

Hi, for all 4 shipped it was $313.64 from eBay vendor performancepeddler. Their auctions state whether the item is available for immediate shipment or what the wait will be before shipment. This was for all 4 KYB-GR2 struts for '96 outback (part #'s as per KYB's web site PDF catalog). I go by the part # KYB lists, not necessarily what various vendors state as the part # for a given application. These struts are for my '96 legacy to '96 outback strut&spring conversion next week.

Your '01 should have the 4eat phase II. I'm not sure why the mechanic would say the pan needs to be dropped. The phase II 4eat's have the external filter on the side of the ATF (or in the fender area on the H6's). From the diagrams in the service manual it does appear there is also an internal screen filter but never says anything about replacing it (and it shouldn't need to be replaced if the filter on the AT discharge to cooler catches all the shreddings). The phase I 4eat's have the replaceable screen filter inside; I changed mine and like gary said there wasn't anything on it. But it made me remove a cooler line to get it out and that's when another gallon or so of ATF dripped out. Another way to get more fluid out without removing the pan is to do the 'pump and dump' unhook cooler line method.

I just ordered front and rear KYB GR-2's for a '96 Outback from performancepeddler on eBay. Prices seemed OK (included shipping), and I got them all in a few days. I've had excellent results from tirerack and summitracing previously. I didn't order from them because both were out of stock on at least one of the struts at the time. I looked at replacementshocks.com I think it was, but they didn't show stock. When I called them it was a call center in India and they were out of stock on two of the struts.

Hi cannonball, yes as a matter of fact, a couple days before I could hear the exhaust leak I did get a P0420. I reset it and it hasn't come back (yet!).

Great, thanks sidedown, that's what I needed to know. Sounds fairly straightforward. I was wondering about tying up the rear part of the exhaust, since I was kind of surprised to see there is no support from way back by the muffler all the way up until before the rear cat.

On the big bob oil board, some people say mobil1 makes their engine noisier. I haven't run it in a Suby so I'm not sure. I've seen another oil that once it was claimed good for that newer VW standard it was not longer diesel rated. Some multi-vis oils that have a huge spread between the W number and the second number achieve it with viscosity index improvers (VII's). Perhaps not a big deal these days with higher quality VII's available, but the more VII's in the oil, the less volume left for other good stuff like anti-wear (AW), etc, oh, and the base oil!

Hi all, suddenly developed an exhaust leak today on my '00OBW, 107k miles, AT, 2.5L N/A, it is coming from the connection between the rear cat and what I guess is the 'resonator'? I haven't checked the service manual yet to see what it says about this repair, but have the following questions: What's the best way to fix this issue? How hard is this to fix? Can I just unbolt the flange, slip in a new gasket, and bolt 'er back up? Any risks to driving like this for a while? It sounds like I have a glass pack muffler on it. The leak is after both the front and rear o2 sensors. '00OBW, 107k miles, AT, 2.5L N/A

If it was sucking in air around the loose intake that could cause a CEL/MIL. If the vehicle uses a MAF sensor that air was unmetered. Depending on where it was sucking air it could have been causing some cylinders to run rich and others lean; maybe the CEL/MIL was for fuel trim or something.

I haven't got my P0420 code back yet, but this morning I thought I heard a bit of an exhaust leak, and by the time I got to work, wow, it sounds like something is wide open down there. So maybe it's rusted out I'll have to look but maybe it was leaking a little before that maybe that's why I got the code. I think the really deep snow yesterday might have worked the weak point loose.

Hi, I had that issue on my '00obw; not sure if the 2003 is the same setup, but on the '00 2.5L 4cyl there are spark plug hole gaskets over the spark plug hole under the valve cover. When new, these are nice and springy and seal well; if they get mushy or the valve covers are removed and the seals aren't replaced it might start leaking.