dhise

I had some problems with the drains right in front of where the wipers mount. I ran an old bass guitar string down in there and cleared all the crud out. Maybe that will help your problem. Also you could get the hose out and have someone spray it down while you look for the leaks inside.

And I agree with Bill. It took me a year to work out the little things the car needed, but I have turned the wagon into a pretty descent ride. I also get mileage in the low 30's. I've been able to bump the timing up a few degrees without pinging for a small amount of pep. Makes the a/c compressor kicking on a little less noticable. Do take care of any rust issues, seems to be the common death of old gen subarus.

The plant isn't growing on "free" energy, it's the sunlight that gives it energy. Animals eat the plants and we eat the plants and animals for energy. The sun has been our energy source the whole time we've been around. Now whether or not oil, coal, etc, represents stored sunlight from the past I am not certain.

I don't know about HHO, but keeping my foot out of the gas pedal and not driving faster than 55mph got me 36mpg on my last tank. Filled up yesterday to beat the weekend price jump. $3.999 and up here now. -Doug

I think the only really safe way to move the battery inside the car is to go with the agm gell type batteries. They are expensive, but do not vent hydrogen.

It's been nice and warm here and I've been trying to get good mileage so the last tank was my best ever with the wagon, 35 mpg. Mixed city/highway driving. During the winter time I was struggling to get 30 mpg.

Check your compression to see if not having an air filter has screwed things up. If the motor has injested unfiltered air for a while, the dirt will score the cylinder walls and compression will drop.

This car reminds me a bit of the '70 opel rallye kadette I used to have. No sound deadening whatsoever in that car, all motor and road noise. It wasn't too bad, but seeing as how you've got it down to the nuts and bolts a few pieces of dynamat here and there to reduce the hollow tin can noise wouldn't be a bad idea IMO. -Doug

The safe way to clean out a sludged up motor is Auto-RX. Very popular over at BITOG. No miracle overnight cures, just slow safe sludge removal without putting harsh solvents in your motor.

I've made the transition from a nice '00 legacy with all the toys to an old beater loyale, and it wasn't too bad! Be prepared to do most of the work on it yourself and you can come out ahead. Probably took a year to get all the bugs worked out, but now other than the typical small oil leaks I'm confident my wagon has graduated to a status of slightly above POS. It will never be a legacy, but luckily this board seems to know more about these cars than subaru itself and your wagon can be a relaible ride for a long time. Just don't forget to feed it timing belts every 50-60k!

Over the course of last summer I used por-15 to undercoat my wagon and then sprayed wurth's stone guard black over that. I also went extra coats in the wheel wells. There's a subtle difference in noise levels, no exagerated difference though. As far as the rust proofing goes, it seems to be holding up well to the elements. I'll get under there for a closer inspection once summertime is here. I considered this an experiment of sorts since the wagon was pretty rusty from the rear wheels back... I'm hoping to slow down the eventual rotting by a few years anyhow....so far so good!

Definitely fight for your unemployment benefits. When I worked the night shift at the last job I had, we had internet access which was ok by management for a while. Ok, until a couple of people abused the priviledge and then they banned internet use on the shop floor, but no one was ever fired for it. Luckily, when they shut down our shop we were able to secure TRA benefits which has been a nice cushion to fall on. Also, the wife and I had started our own business a couple of years before and now we are looking at being self-employed. As far as money goes, what skills do you have that you can sell? Turn a wrench? Advertise brake jobs on craigslist. With a law enforcment background, maybe try some kind of security consultation business. I have embraced a mutilple streams of income kinda thing. Our business provides the bulk of our income, but the wife teaches a class at the local college, I play bass in a steady working band, a photographer friend and I have hooked up to do some design work, etc. I think a decade is the most we'll ever get out of a regular job these days....

It's just water condensation w/oil. That filler tube sticks way out the top of the engine and when it's cold the water vapor will collect there. Mine does that only in the winter time. I just wipe it off from time to time. -Doug

Mine leaks about a 1/2 quart every 4-5k miles. Just enough to be annoying. I figure next time it's due for timing belts I'll yank it out of there and do a proper reseal, and it'll probably be due for a clutch by then as well...

I am getting around 30mpg, 50/50 freeway/city driving. You probably could use the rest of the tune-up items ie, cap, rotor, plug wires, pcv valve. Check the vacuum hoses, and check the brakes to make sure a caliper isn't dragging.

uugggghhh.. wife didn't want to drive her toyota in the snow this morning, so she got me up at 5:30am to drive her around in the wagon.. sooo sleepy now. I'm not used to getting out of bed until 9 or 10, lol...

I fought with mine for a while, but without a good torch it wasn't budging. I took the wagon to the local muffler shop and they got it out and put my new one in for $20. They said it wasn't going to come out without heat... -Doug

Mine works out pretty good for me on the door. Doesn't get in the way of anything.

Maybe there is enough restriction with a filter on there to cause that hose to collapse when you open up the throttle....just guessing....

Non-turbo Subaru's tend to be very easy on motor oil. I would still get a UOA done around 8k just to make sure there are no coolant or fuel dillution issues. There just isn't any other way to really know how the oil is holding up. Once you establish that the oil will go that far, you won't need to test it so often unless the car has other issues.

My buddy has a cottage near Houghton Lake. There was 6-8" of ice there and the surrounding areas. At least the sun was out so I'm sure it felt a couple of degrees warmer than it really was!

Went ice fishing this last weekend with single digit temps...the frozen car did ok, but the battery sure was weak. Guess that'll have to be replaced before next winter for sure. When I'm home, I'll plug in the oil pan heater when it's cold out. The motor runs so quiet in the morning when i use the pan heater, the lifters haven't ticked yet since I put it on! -Doug

Sounds like the diagnostic connectors are plugged in. That will cycle the fuel pump on and off. You definitely want to disconnect those for driving.... green connectors under the hood, by the wiper motor....

I wouldn't think it would affect the pressure, but would let water in the tank to make the car run like crap! I've been there before.... -Doug

You can find the fuel injection parts of the ea82 manual here: http://ch601.org/engines.htm -Doug