frag

Since you have to remove the strut from the car and the strut support (that's the part you're talking about) from the strut and spring (need a spring compressor if you do it yourself) to make that repair, I think you should replace the strut altogether if they have never been replaced. At 200 K They should need replacement in a short while if not right now. You can get a reasonnable price for OEM struts and hardware at 1stSubaruparts. That's were I got mine when I replaced them this last summer. Good luck!

I will have to drive the car almost a week with the second cat O2 sensor not working. Long story... I think this sensor only tells the ECU if the first cat is or is not working properly. I've already got a CEL. That was to be expected. Is it the only thing the ECU will do or will it try to play with the fuel trim and play havoc with my fuel mileage or worst? For the time being I see no effect on driveability.

It is. The limit here is not the oil itself breaking down, it's the oil's ability to hold contaminants in suspension. That part is no better with synth than with standard oil. I use synth for better cold starting and for it's better lubricating qualities. I try to keep change intervals near what they are supposed to be, 5000km.

1stSubaruParts list each at 10.46 USD and in my opinion that includes the three washers. I dont remember the price to the cent, but when I replaced them this summer, i think i paid 20$ Can for each gasket, washers included. https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/

Only can answer 1. There is a FWD fuse only on Auto trans cars. On manual trans car, the center differential (viscous coupling) is a self contained mechanical device with no electrics or electronics involved.

Jeansain, could you give your avatar girl a good sport support bra for Christmas ? Looking at her run gives me aches in my phantom breasts.

Just curious. Remote starters are used here during the winter (Montreal,Quebec, Canada) to warm cars a few minutes before driving off in the morning. What do you use them for in California? Coold them off before driving off? I envy you!

My 2 cents: when you push on the recirc. button with the fan at 3 for example, you'll hear a definite change in the pitch of the sound the rushing air makes. If no change it would be a sign that the air flap is not closing properly. Hope that helps a litte.

Hi Skip! How are you doing? What with the remote starter? Is it that cold in Penn? Or are we just all getting older? Not very cold yet here up north. But lots of snow. The only thing that stops my Brighton sometimes is the lack of ground clearance. Take care.

I would'nt buy anything other than a OEM Subaru belt. There have been stories of after market belts breaking before their time. I remember a loyale after market belt that was way thinner than the original. Cheaper too. Same thing for the pump and the thermostat. Moreover, the original belt has markings on it that makes installation much easier and fool proof. I don't know if after market belts have them also. I would doubt it.

I was way off. Chilton's gives 5 ft-lb for the cover bolts. Remember the covers are aluminum.

If the sputtering started right after the K&N install, i would look at oil contamination on the Mass air flow sensor. Just an idea.

They are easy to replace. I think the last bolt on the fire wall side is a little hard to get at but not impossible. The main gasket comes in a kit with three bolt washer-gaskets. The torque value is very low, around 15 ft pds if I remember well. I'll check in my Haynes manual tomorrow if nobody volunteers the exact torque value. Strange think though that could account for why you could not torque the bolts any further, the bolts seems to hit bottom at about the same time you reach max torque value. I think it might be a safety feature. If you torque the valve cover too much it could deform and spring a leak. Good luck. Edit : I would'nt mess with anything other than OEM for this. It's not very costly in the first place and perfect fit is a must.

My 96 Brighton 2.2 L has such a bleed screw on the top right side of the rad.

According to Chilton's, if the sensor's voltage crosses .5 volt less than 5 times in 10 seconds, the sensor may be faulty. I think 4 or five time like you write is at the very least a little borderline. A few of us on this board (Commuter is part of those I think) have found out that a «lazy» O2S will degrade fuel mileage without tripping a CEL. If your front O2 sensor has never been replaced, maybe you could replace it and see what happens.

Sorry! Stupid of me not to have remembered the starter is bolted to the trans not the engine.

And I thought acid words were the ones to have with my battery! How wrong can you be !

You're lucky. 2.2L engines are non interference.

And I dit it only after draining it completely leaving the position lights on during a super cold winter night. It might have lasted longer if it had not been for that incident.

Dont want to brag (why should I? I'm not a battery:)) but my original OEM battery was replaced also after 7 years and the car has'nt been in a garage since the day it was born. I think those batteries were fine. I dont know if they were all alike but mine was of the kind you had to service once in a while (adding distilled water). Just for info.

Waiting for Emily, I think one could get a fair appreciation of an engine's cylinders health by putting a little oil in each cylinder (thru the spark plugs holes. It is also recommended that all spark plugs be removed for a compression check) and then connecting the starter to a good battery. I'm just speculating here cause I've never had to do that. Good luck!

That's a question for Emily.

A compression test is usually done with the engine near operating temp. Moreover, I think the speed at which you can crank an engine manually is not enough to register true compression. Third, you need a little oil on the cylinder walls and rings: what there is after a running engine has just been shut off. For all those reasons I think it will be very difficult for you to measure the true compression values of your engine when out of the car. Putting a little oil in each cylinder would probably give you relative compression measurements : you would find out if all the cylinders have the same compression or not. When I replaced my timing belt, I used a compression tester to find TDC on Cylinder no 1 and I remember that the compression registered at TDC (I was slowly turning the engine over with a breaker bar) was way lower than what I knew the real compression value was. That's the extent of what I think I know.

Thanks for a very clear explanation. My brain did'nt even come close to its «yield point».

Could you explain what this expression means exactly? Thanks in advance.