teasdam

cool, thanks! I'll take a look. cabin air filter...that's the name I've been trying to think of! Doh!

I frequently drive my 2003 Outback on dirt roads and I was hoping to change out the filter for the air coming throurh the vents. I thought thay were called breather elements, but it appears that can also apply to the engine air filter. Looking at the catalogs in the filter section of the parts store (where they have part numbers for all filters), this one for the vents is always lsited as "N/R". Does this mean thay are not easily replacable, or it simply can't be done...or that this model doesn't even have anything like this? If it is replaceable, could someone give me some quick instructions?

My loyale only has those channels that run lengthwise (front to back) on the top of the car, but no other parts are left. I was hoping to get some sort of cargo carrier up there, but looking around this stuff seems to cost more than I want to pay and/or require all the stock rack pieces...some of those Thule racks cost more than the car, sheesh. Anyone got a suggestion for where to look for a cheap setup that will attach to those channels? Just looking for a rack that I can bungee things into, not necessarily enclosed or anything.

Maybe I'm just retarded... I've never seen plug boots like those on my 2003 Outback. They appear to have "wings" on them for easy removal and the manual just says to grab and pull. Now when I start pulling, the boot stretches way out to the point that it looks like it is going to tear. I eventually got mad enough that I twisted and yanked, but still to no avail...I figure at this rate something is going to break. Is it normal for the boots to stretch out before finally popping free? Am I missing something here? How do I remove the boots so I can replace the plugs?!

I've been having a problem where my car will bog down and accelerate slowly from a stop. I've been racking my brain to figure out if it a fuel issue or spark issue, or something otherwise engine related. Well, I just finally made the connection that if I floor it, the car will drop into first gear and take off quickly (well, quickly for a loyale anyway). This only happens maybe a third of the time though...usually it starts in first like it should. The tranny fluid only has a couple thousand miles on it, and it seems the car just started doing this about a thousand miles ago. Any ideas? Think this is something a flush would fix? I hate dropping $120 or so for a flush but I also hate having to floor it to drop to back first gear when this happens.

yeah, watched my father-in-law remove the plug using a u-joint adapter thing and thought, hmmm, maybe I should get one of those resealed the pump and cleaned it up during the rebuild. It seems to be fine for now and holds right in the middle @ 45psi. The cost of this rebuild added up so quickly (like they tend to do) that I nixed my plans to buy a new pump. And yeah, I'll probably regret it someday. Anyway, if I have any more plug problems I'll just junk them all and replace with NGK. Didn't know about NGK's during the rebuild...you live, you learn!

my car started running horrible out of the blue and I couldn't get over 55mph on the highway, also died at red lights. Pulled the plugs to find that one was cracked...er, let's see if I can explain it...around the ceramic tip, where the spark jumps. I was wondering if this problem was a simple matter of a bad plug (using Bosch platinum) or if there is possibly something wrong with the engine that would cause this? All the plugs look whitish, like they are getting too hot, but I just set the timing, and all other things seem to be working fine. If there is a root cause here I'd like to fix it before I go through several more plugs. Of course, this bad plug was the #2 cylinder which is the hardest to reach without removing the alternator, etc. Ideas? Am I missing something here? (Replaced the plug and, as always, just dumped some 44K in the tank too...seems to be an automotive panacea.)

hey, picked one up at Autozone for $17...I thought for sure this was going to be an 80 bucks or so. No more oil spots on the driveway! Yeah!

oh, my problem is solved...for now... no prob on the hijack, I'll officially bequeath this thread to you

The oil pressure thingy on the bottom front of the oil pump is leaking and needs to be replaced. I've been looking around on the web but it doesn't look like anyone sells them. I hate to pay dealer prices but is this a dealer-only item? Anyone know who's got them cheaper? I was also thinking of a junkyard but I'm skeptical about using another unit with a gazillion miles on it as well.

as usual, as soon as I post a problem here, the solution presents itself... The car finally did it for me when I got home last night so I had a chance to crawl under a look around. I'm 99.9% sure the sound is just coming from the heat shields just behind the donut. The sound seemed to just start out of the blue one day so I'm thinking either a rock got in there or something inside broke. I could stop the sound by pressing my foot against the pipe. I guess the pipes got to resonating just right when the car was at real low rpm. In any case, I have an appointment at Midas tomorrow to get that exhaust mess cleaned up...this is just one of several exhaust problems anyway.

this only seems to happen when I'm moving slow (<5 mph) or idling in gear, like at a red light. It's hard to explain but it's an irregular clacking sound, and it's very loud (and embarassing when sitting at the red light). I thought it might be loose heat shield or exhaust or something, but then it only happens when the car is in gear. Here's my best impression in writing, clack...clack...clack clack...clack...clack clack clack...clack...and so on Of course, everytime I try to replicate it and get under the car to look around, it stops doing it, so I don't even know where to start looking. Could it be a tranny problem since it only happens in gear? Any ideas?

heh heh, I've never visited the cardomain site before. That does seem like a batch of dorks with big heads and small.....shoes. I have to ask...why the general disdain for "ricers"? Aren't we all ricers if we drive Subarus? I mean, if it was a Chevy forum, it would make sense. Anyone want to hear every excrutiating detail about my car? PM me.

here's a question for you... so I have the compressor out and I taped over them end of the a/c hoses so no crap got in them. The car doesn't have a plain ol' "vent" setting...only heat, bi-level, and a/c. Will it hurt anything if I turn on the a/c now? without the coompressor hooked up, I mean. I can't imagine it would,but I've been sticking with bi-level lest I piss off the electronics and mess something else up.

Will there be a load on the compressor even without any refrigerant in the system? In any case, I'll hook it up and see what happens. Thanks! (80+ degrees today...I better get moving)

I see cool, thanks for tip....I'm in the market for a y-pipe and 180 bucks sounds pretty good. I'll check it out

it's a "Diesel Kiki" brand compressor...er, I guess (did they really name their company that?!) The Chilton covers some other brands, but I don't see anything about this setup. Anyone else got this brand? Is it one wire or all three? ************** Here's some other random info in case it matters.... on a big red sticker on the side: SOA329A200, LSM 1-2222 small red sticker: 509640-0633 light blue sticker: DKS-15BH the info on the placard has mostly disappeared, here's what I could see: Part No. 509630-(erased) Comp type: DKS-(erased)

how are you getting to $143?! Everything I come up with shows over $200 for the y-pipe alone. I'd like to get some new pipes for my car, but it would cost me at least $350 front to back. we're talking www.expressautoparts.com, right?

I have no idea what kind of compressor it is specifically....I'll look tonight and report back. However, I can tell you it's pretty much round (cylindrical). It seems to me the single wire ultimately ran down into the compressor on the top side and very much towards the front, immediately behind the pulley.

I asked this question a few months back but now I have to ask again... when I got this car the guy said that the a/c worked. The car didn't run so I never had a chance to check. Anyway, when putting the wiring back together after the rebuild, I encountered three wires that appeared to head to the a/c compressor. One was a single wire with a white connector that I could connect to the compressor. The other two wires (green and red IIRC) went to a black connector, but I never found anything to connect it to. Back when I first asked about this I was told there was an electrical box of sorts that mounted to the top of the compressor, and this was where the black connector went, so I've resigned myself to the fact that I have no a/c until I find this box. Last week I went to a junkyard to get some rear discs for my wagon and while I was there I looked under a few hoods. Two of the cars had a compressor like mine with the single wire plugged in, and the black connector not plugged in to anything. Now, I figure either I don't need this mystery box after all, or lots of other people need them and already stripped them off those cars. So, I just had to check again....do I have a/c or not? (FYI, I removed the compressor and never bothered to put it back on since I didn't think it worked, so I'd have to recharge before I could test it.)

cool, I'll run through this over the weekend, thanks I replaced the sensor as part of the rebuild so it's brand new with onlt about 1K miles on it.

my car has just developed the habit of giving trouble code 32 whenever I drive at 65+ mph for any significant distance. Although, the light eventually goes out soon after I slow down. Chilton says 32 is the "abnormal signal" from the O2 sensor. No discernible difference in performance or mileage or anything when the CEL comes on. Any ideas what the problem is? I posted a few days ago about my exhaust smelling bad when hot because the car puked all over the pipes when the last owner killed it. Maybe there's some crap inside the pipes that gets hot enough at 65+ mph that the fumes mess up the O2 sensor?

The previous owner of this car killed it by trying to pull a Uhaul trailer of one of these Colorado mountain passes. Apparently, when the block overheated and the heads warped, all the engine fluids ran out and covered the underbody and exhaust pipes. Now, whenever the exhaust gets warmed up, that coating of goop starts to cook and smells bad enough to make my stomach turn. It's not a problem while I'm moving, but once I stop for a red light or something, the smell gets real bad. Back when I had the exhaust off the car, I sprayed it twice with engine cleaner and hosed it off, but to no avail. Last week, I went to the power wash place and try to blast the crap off with the high-pressure sprayer...that removed some, but there is still a ton left. At this point, I'm contemplating just replacing the whole exhaust with one from a junkyard, but I'm sick of working on this car and I don't want to! I was also thinking of cleaning it off with a grinder with a wire brush wheel, but that might be more trouble than it's worth. Besides, I'm afraid there's probably more stuff under the heat shields as well. (BTW, I know it's not just an exhaust leak...it keeps smoking for several minutes after turning the engine off and I can see the smoke coming right off the goop.) Anyone got ideas I'm missing?

thought I would throw out another 2 cents to you guys... this car has 183k miles and I just rebuilt the engine. Now, the tranny is a different story...I don't know anything about auto trannys, I don't have any interest in trannys, and I'm content believing their operation is purely magical. Anyway, the car has been shifting kind of hard, especially into and out of first gear. I replaced as much fluid as possible during the rebuild (including draining the torque converter), but shifting would still snap your neck occasionally. I try not to put too much faith in quick fix additives, but this Lucas tranny oil was much cheaper than a flush job so I gave it a try. I noticed a BIG difference in the tranny operation...it doesn't slip at all when starting from a stop, and shifting is significantly smoother in all gears. I think it was $8 well spent, and I thought some of you might be considering it. My only complaint is that the stuff is so thick (like honey that's been in the refrigerator) it takes forever for it to ooze down the dipstick tube, and another while for the fluid level to show half way accurate. Took me a few hours of pouring and waiting to get it done. But it's all set now and I'm enjoying the car even more. ...so, for what it's worth, I sure like the stuff. (BTW, you only need 12oz for small cars, so my old pickup got the rest, with the similar results.)

what happened to Skip? I noticed I hadn't seen any posts from him lately but I figured he was still around. I didn't burn him out, did I?!