Rooster2

My driver's seat is uncomfortable on a long trip, and gets to hurting my back side. I suspect that the seat cushion foam has crushed down over time. When I go to my local pick a part, what front seats from what Subies will simply bolt in? Thanks for any advise!

The flush and refill with new ATF is always a good idea. Be sure to take a can of Trans X with you for the shop to have them add when replentishing the ATF. If you wait to add it when you get home, you would be adding it when trany is full of ATF, adding the Trans X will over fill the trany by about a pint. It is not good to over fill the trany.

Electrical problems like yours are always maddening! In my experience, I doubt that your battery is bad. Going through three batteries in two years leads me to think it is something else. Either you have a minor electrical short somewhere, or something like the light in the glove box stays on even after the glove box door is closed. I have heard of guys pulling all the fuses like you have done, then using a small 12 volt bulb in a socket with leads attached to spade terminals. Use this contraption to insert into each fuse location. You will get some bulb element lighting across the radio fuse location, as it draws a small amount of power to run the clock and radio memory. However, if the bulb lights on a circuit that has nothing turned on, then you can suspect something wrong on that circuit, and then you can investigate what is drawing the current. It is time consuming to do this, so many mechanics don't want to invest their time doing this, and want to get rid of you by saying they can't find anything wrong. There is a possibility that your alternator is bad. My experience is a bad alternator usually puts out less than 13 volts. 13.5 volts might be okay, maybe not. Did you ask Kragen guy and Napa guy what they consider to be proper voltage output on a good alternator? If your is marginal by their standards, try to get the Kragen guy to sway out your old one for a new one per your guarantee. I would try this before springing for a new alternator from Napa or another parts store. Let us know your progress. Subies are fun cars to own and drive. You deserve better then what you have right now.

Hope you get lucky with a good flush and new antifreeze to solve your problem. You might consider putting in a new thermostat, if the existing one is old.

same thought as previous poster..........you are low on A/C refrigerant. Add some refrigerant, if that leaks out quickly, then it is time to find the source of the leak.

Sorry to see your Subie with that much structural rust damage. I would be afraid to drive that car at highway speed, best to use on city streets only. My old 84 VW looked like that. Finally, the left rear suspension colapsed. Then, the only thing holding up the left corner was the shock absorber. So sad to loose a good friend to rust. RIP

I have used a lot of Fram filters over the years, but have read and heard enough negative to shy away from them. One mechanic told me that he saw a Fram oil filter that had come apart, and leaked oil badly. I made it a point a couple of years back to cut open a Fram filter. I was not impressed with what I found inside. There wasn't much filtering media, and the filter didn't look well made. I saw a report that had been published on oil filter performance. All Frams, except their top of the line, were not rated well. Wix came out the best, Purolator, was just so so. If I can find the oil filter website, I will paste it on here.

I have heard of the quick flow tips, what is it officially called, where is it sold, how much is the cost. Thanks for any info.........Rooster2

I use a good scissor jack that I got from a wrecking yard. It came from an Audi. It is a much larger and stronger jack than the one that comes with the Subie. Jacks easily right behind the passanger front wheel. Gives sufficient room to drain the oil and replace the oil filter. If using a scissor jack, be sure to chalk the road wheels to prevent the car from rolling even a little bit, and applying the hand brake. Nothing dumber then getting injured from a car rolling off a jack.

Starters come with a year, or life time guarantee. You may be able to get a replacement starter at no cost.

what quality level replacement parts did you buy? If you bought rebuilts from az or advance auto parts, their quality is not the best; then i can see them not lasting long. Agree with other poster, it sounds like you need to replace the starter.

If the 01 is like my 99, the rear squirter washer uses the same reservoir that the windshield washer uses. There is just one squirter reservoir container under the hood.

In the past, I have had good results on rusted floor boards by paint brushing on fiber glass resin. Once applied on a clean surface, it seals out moisture, and stops rust dead in its tracks. On rust holes in a floor board, I have applied layers of fiber glass matt to fill in the void. The resin stinks real bad for a few days, then the smell totally goes away. The strength of fiber glass matt is amazing. Once cured, you could pound on the finished patch with a hammar, and not damage it.

As mentioned, if there is still some grease inside the existing split boot, and you think not much dirt has gotten inside the bad boot, then maybe a split cv boot may work for a while. However, I wouldn't trust using one for an extended period of time. Once installed, I would keep a constant watch on the integrity of the split boot to see that it doesn't come apart. Years back I installed a split boot on a VW. It didn't work well at all, but I think the size I used may have been incorrect. No matter how I installed the split boot, I could not get it to fit well. However, that was just my bad experience. Within a week, I took the car to a shop and had the boot replaced with a non split unit. What ever you do, it is important to get that boot repaired. Driving with a bad boot will wear out your CV joint in no time flat. A bad CV joint will start making clicking noises during a turn. Then you run the risk of breaking down with a siezed bearing. Then, the repair gets more expensive, as the entire half shaft will need replaced.

Yes, I tried the Lucas tranny stop leak product first to cure my trany delayed forward engagement. It didn't work. My problem was slowly getting worse on my '99. So, I drained the ATF, added Amsol synthetic ATF, and the Trans X additive. In my opinion, it is the Trans X that solves the problem. However, I think it is important to have good clean ATF in your trany. It is the 99's and 00's that are prone to the Trany delayed forward engagement problem......................Larry (Rooster2)

Glad to hear another success story!..............Larry (Rooster2)

I would use the 98 as a trade in on the 03, because I don't think it would be worth your time and money repairing head gaskets yourself. Figure what you want to offer on the 03, then subtract what you would want to sell the 98 for. Negotiate only from the net figure, otherwise you can easily loose track of how much you will be paying out of pocket on the deal. Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal that you think is too expensive. I always leave my name and number with the dealer salesman, and suggest they call, if they can come up with a better price. In this era of slow car sales, they will be calling you back. Considering it would be a trade in, I would not give your opinion to the dealer as to the deficiencies of the 98. That is their job to figure out what your 98 is worth as a trade in to them. This is not unethical, as the dealer is not going to tell you the deficiencies on the 03, in trying to sell that car to you. Check Kelly or Edmunds for trade in value of your 98. Chances are the dealer will take your 98 trade in to a dealer only auction. Even if the dealer knew your 98 deficiencies, they would never be discussed at the auction. Doing biz with a dealer, it is always let the customer beware. I treat the dealer with the same courtesy.

PS its not technically safe to drive because everyone is choking on your oil smoke, you can damage the engine, and yes your car could possibly catch fire. Not to mention when you turn on the defroster you will be smoked out of your own car. You need all the front seals replaced. I don't think there is much of a risk that the leaking oil could catch fire. Motor oil just doesn't burn very easily. It would take an open flame and a lot of existing heat to get motor oil to burn. It is just not healthy for you or anyone on the road behind you to breathe oil smoke. It is best to get that oil leak fixed right away.

The Gen 1, 2.5 motor blows head gaskets by allowing exhaust gas to enter the cooling system. So, you won't see any fluid leaks anywhere, or coolant in the oil. The bubbles in the over flow is a dead give away of HG trouble. The bubbles you are seeing is exhaust gas. Unfortunately, there is no magic additive to stop the force of the exhaust gas. Replacing the head gaskets is the only way to repair the problem. As mentioned, a new radiator cap may help some, but I don't know the logic behind doing this. Keep us posted on your course of action.

Agree, the light grey on dark grey background is not my first choice of color combo on this forum. It looks like Darth Vader chose this lay out. However, I am not complaining. Whoever runs this forum has done a terrific job of getting it back on line again twice in recent months. Thanks so much! I am curious, who runs this website? Does SoA foot the bill? Seems like a lot of the techies on this forum must either work for SoA or a Subbie dealer, because they know so much. Would like to know???

Hi, I am Rooster2, the guy who wrote the original thread. After 8 months, my trany continues to perform well with the Trans X additive to the automatic tranny. About 3 weeks ago, a friend of mine who ownes a 99 OBW was have the same trany delayed forward engagement problem. His was much worse then mine. He was having a terrible time trying to get his trany to engage into Drive mode from Park mode. I drained his trany of ATF, added the Trans X and new ATF, and he says his trany has worked perfectly ever since. Suggest draining and refilling with new ATF several times if your existing ATF is really dark and dirty, then on the last fill, add the Trans X. Further suggest adding really good ATF, as in synthetic ATF for best results.

super high milage and a bad motor means it is just about scrap value. A wrecking yard would pay $150, not much more. In my opinion, I wouldn't pay much more than that.

Glad you got the road wheel off. All the advise give to you was really good. I have used the sledge hammer approach in the past. To prevent this happening again, suggest smearing on anti-sieze compound to the facing of the hub, where the road wheel meets the hub. Works like a champ! I use the same stuff on the threads when replacing spark plugs to prevent them from galling and freezing up.

I have been suffering from withdrawls, not being able to read about Subies, and/or offer suggestions. I am praying that the hackers will just leave us alone in the future.

You might try adding a good quality fuel injector cleaner to a tank of gas. Use the good stuff that cost about $5 or $6/can. The cheap stuff is worthless.