Bluestone

Yeah, a neighbor went to an Autozone to get a code read and reset but they were busy with customers and he had a long wait. I'd rather have my own code reader handy....maybe a small one that I can keep in my Subie. I just found what looks to be a nice little one...an Actron, on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP9125-PocketScan-Diagnostic-Post-1996/dp/B0007LEG2K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1205681031&sr=1-3 Simple, but looks like it does the job. The Actron units seem pretty good; customer reviews are mostly 4 and 5 stars. I just want to keep it simple...don't need lots of features, just want to get a code if the check engine light comes on and reset it, that's all. The Equus ones look good, too, but a bit more than I want to spend...plus they've got more features than I need. Thanks, guys, for your replies....much obliged.

I wanna buy a code reader, something that's no more than $75 and is reliable. Is Actron a good brand? Anyway, whether Actron or not, could I get some recommendations/suggestions?

My sentiment, too! Lighting EFFICIENCY should be priority number 1. Personally, I don't give a rat's rump roast how cool my headlights look; I just want them to provide me with the best and safest road illumination without blinding other drivers. Period. Function over form, always!

Too bad Subaru didn't come up with such an engine several years ago. Sube's with the new diesel engine are expected to come to the States in 2 to 3 years; by then, fuel prices here will likely be $6-$8 per gallon...possibly even higher:eek: , the economy in the toilet (stagflation with a vengeance)) with high unemployment, very high price inflation with the cost of food going through the roof, and, due to the dollar's collapse, especially in relation to the Yen by then, the cost of a Sube with a diesel will be prohibitive. Diesel engines are generally a few thousand more than gas engines anyway, no? Most folks will have far more pressing concerns than spending their dwindling resources on a new car. Ah well, let's drink to the good times....rapidly disappearing and which we'll never again see, at least in most of our lifetimes, sigh...

Needless to say;) , inquire whether it's had either or both of the headgaskets replaced. If not, you may be skating on VERY thin ice. As you probably know, hg replacement will ad a fairly nice chunk of money to the $4500 purchase price, unless you're gonna do it yourself. Any way, try to determine if there is any evidence of coolant leakage or higher than normal operating temps.

Wonder if a class action lawsuit against SOA is still feasible, even though they implemented the extended warranty, which allows them to replace a bad head gasket the "quick and dirty" way ,i.e., replacing only the head gasket that's leaking, and do it with the engine still in the car....not the best way. (The tech at the dealership is not likely to take his time to do the job carefully, I'd say) Possibly the extended warranty gets them completely off the hook, dunno. Anyway, as I mentioned in a previous post a while back, a local, highly regarded indie shop that specializes in several Japanese marques, including Subaru, told me that the head gasket problem inherent in the EJ25 engine hasn't been solved with the latest head gasket version and the problem is due to a faulty design in the engine. A question that I'm asking myself is whether it's worth keeping my Sube long term if I'm facing premature head gasket failure, and possibly the replacement of head gaskets more than once. Other than this one weak point, Subies are pretty sweet cars. If the head gasket problem is endemic to all EJ25 engines, even those in the newest Subes, then head gasket grief should show up in the '03 to '08 models as time goes on.

I'm sure others here are already aware of how good Red Line 75/90 NS gear oil is, but here it is anyway. Not long ago, I drained my Subie's gearbox and refilled it with the 75/90 NS, and it sure made a dramatic improvement in shifting; it's now smooth as velvet! And at idle, the gear shifter barely vibrates; before, I could see the shift nob noticeably vibrate....it wasn't severe but quite noticeable nontheless. Now, it's barely perceptible. The Red Line oil obviously smooths things out all the way around. And, as a little bonus, my gas mileage is up....consistently, by about 1.5 mpg. I also replaced the gear oil in the diff with Mobil 1 75/90 synthetic, so that probably adds to drivetrain efficiency, too. Red Line's gear oil is really good stuff! Yesss!

Dunno if this is related in any way, but several years ago when I intentionally activated the anti-lock system on my Sube's brakes to test the system (by braking very hard on a rain slick road), I got a clunk, clunk, clunk from the brakes. The dealer service advisor said, at the time, that it was the normal sound of the system. Anyway, the car stopped straight and true so the anti-lock system worked. Might the single clunk when you hit the brakes be the anti-locks activating briefly for some reason?

As best as I can tell, after researching it, the dual sunroofs were first available on the 2000 models. For the OBWs, they were standard on the Limited. On the Legacy wagons, they were standard on the GT. All factory installed sunroofs have shades. Any sunroof without one has gotta be an aftermarket installation. I can't imagine a front pop-up/rear slider combo being installed as an aftermarket job; while probably doable, it would be complicated and extremely costly to have done. I really enjoy my Subie's duals, but my one real concern is eventual failure of one or the other (or both:eek:) which is an expensive repair. Just the removal of the headliner material and replacement after the fix has gotta be quite time consuming. Back in the good days of yore, all sliding sunroofs were manually operated; ya just grabbed a handle at the front of the sunroof and slid it back as far as ya wanted. Nothing, really, to go wrong; they just worked for years and years. But, of course, the glass sliding ones weren't available then. The electrically operated ones have, of course, more complicated mechanisms and are far less robust than the manually operated sliders of past years.

When my Sube's OEM pads came off at 30k miles, I found the front one's streaked with hairline cracks and showing evidence of crumbling. On one pad, there was a small space where a little chunk of pad material had fallen out. On the rotor surface opposite that space, there was a pronounced groove; the bit of pad material that had come loose had obviously gotten lodged between the pad and the rotor surface and scored it fairly deeply. I'd say those OEM pad were not of the best quality. The PBR/Axxis Ultimate pads (ceramic), $42 per set, that I replaced the OEMs with made a very noticeable improvement in braking performance. And when I replaced the front rotors with the DBA slotted ones a couple of years later I found the PBR/Axxis pads totally free of cracks and crumbling. While there was still a good amount of pad material left, I replaced them with a fresh set of Ultimates anyway so they would bed in perfectly with the new rotors. Dunno if it was really necessary but I felt better doing it. Regarding the statement, earlier, that ALL brake rotors are made in China; that's just not true. DBA rotors are made in Australia. And DBA designs and manufactures only brake rotors and nothing else. And I'd wager that other higher end rotors are still made in Europe. In heavy rain, my Sube's new slotted front rotors made a big difference; when pulling down from speed on the freeway, the brakes responded instantly, unlike with the OEM rotors which lagged 'till the rotor surfaces were cleared of water. The slots make a big difference here. When I did some summer, hot weather mountain driving with my Sube carrying three passengers and baggage when it still had the original rotors and pads, repeated braking caused progressively worsening fade and vibration; it did get a bit unsettling. This summer I'll be doing more mountain driving with a loaded car and I'd expect to experience FAR better braking performance under those conditions. I recently drove fairly fast through some winding roads in the hills for a good 50 miles with a couple of friends as passengers, intentionally putting my Sube's new brakes to the test and the brakes were always right there for me, even after using them repeadedly....with no noticeable degradation in their performance. Anyway, I still say that all rotors are not created equal. If the "el cheapo" ones made in China work for you, then fine! If you're happy, I'm happy. Enjoy!

I'd be willing to bet a handsome sum that those $28 rotors are of really poor quality. They just can't have been manufactured to high standards. They'd likely warp at the first hard stop. Hell, even Subaru's OEM rotors leave something to be desired imho. Brakes and tires are items that are just NOT worth skimping on....for the sake of safety. While you likely don't want to go the route that I've taken, and I can understand that, I recently put DBA slotted front rotors on my Subie, at $116 per rotor (along with ceramic brake pads and high quality brake fluid). And my Sube's braking is now superb! I'm not an aggressive driver but I do want strong, dependable braking. I care about my Subie and am willing to give it quality attention, even it takes somewhat more out of my wallet ( however I DO have my limits;) ). But that's just me. And I do understand and appreciate that many folks have budget issues.

Don't mean to rekindle an old but still ongoing debate re: K & N air filters but there's absolutely NO evidence that using them results in eventual engine damage. Any tiny particulates that get through the filter media have never been shown to be damaging to the engine. There are plenty of folks around who have used a K & N filter for 200k miles and more with their engines still going strong. I'm not aware of any law suits, individual or class action against K & N, and there have been literally millions of their filters sold and used. They let a lot more air through to the engine and I'd say that may even contribute to engine longevity for that reason. I've had one on my Sube for the past 40k miles and am very pleased with it. I'm well aware of the arguements against this filter but am not the least concerned. If they're in fact damaging to the engine, show me some HARD evidence, not just opinion.

It may be (and Subaru may be thinking{?}) that the head gasket issue with the EJ25 engine is just NOT permanently fixable and nothing short of a redesigned engine will remedy the problem. If that's the case, then anyone buying a Sube with an EJ25 engine of ANY year, maybe even the newest ones, will just have to expect the need for head gasket replacements (possibly more than once) if they intend to keep their Subes for more than, say, 60k-90k miles, and possibly even sooner. I think I need to go lie down now.

Ok, guys, I'll rest easy. Thanks for the "relax, don't worry about it" replies. I've heard some, OH GOD...DON'T OVERFILL THE GEARBOX WHATEVER YA DO! warnings before and it sorta put the fear of God into me, know what I mean? Just want to treat my Subie right so she doesn't bite me in the rump roast.

The other day, I drained my Sube's gear box and refilled with Red Line 75/90 NS. It was done on level ground, only lifting the front of the car so I could get at the drain plug, then dropping it back down to drain.....same procedure for refilling. When draining, I waited 'till the oil barely dripped out before putting the drain plug back in. Now, the manual says that the gear box capacity is 3.7 quarts(US). At the fourth quart bottle, I used half of it, then checked the fluid level. Well, the dipstick showed the fluid level about 3/8" above the Full mark. I"ve since checked the level several times after driving, with the car on level ground, and the dipstick still shows 3/8" above the Full mark. Checking the Red Line bottle shows about 16 or 17 ounces left. So the dipstick is telling me that the gearbox is overfilled, yet the volume of oil left in the fourth bottle is telling me that the gearbox is underfilled. If the gearbox capacity actually is 3.7 quarts, and 3.7 quarts should reflect on the dipstick right at the Full mark, then the last bottle of oil should contain a bit less than 10 fluid ounces. It just doesn't add up unless some of the old oil remained, but I can't see how, or why. Anyone have an idea what's going on here???

Winter?! Sub zero temps?! Buncha pussies! Well, when I was your age, when the temperature was at -30, we would......aw, never mind.

Nah, time for a new (or newer) car. By the way, why can't ya do yer own feckin' oil changes? Hmmm?

Silicone spray should do the trick, too.

Well, while not upgrading the headlights themselves, I replaced my Subie's stock low beam (H-1), high beam (9005), and fog bulbs (H-3) with PIAA Extreme White bulbs and I find that the stock headlights now throw a really good amount of light in a quite competent beam pattern. They are pretty bright. PIAA claims that the Extreme White's put out 110 watts of illumination. The Extreme White bulbs are not cheap but they ARE very high quality. I'm very satisfied with my Sube's headlight's performance now.

Uh no. Actually, it's more like a FART capacitor. It puts the inherent power of your farts to work for you!!!

:lol: Well then, check this out: http://www.phact.org/e/dennis.html

I'd say that folks that buy the WRX tend to drive it hard, possibly even abusively. Be aware that the engine/drivetrain likely will have been put under a lot of stress, and may not even have been broken in carefully (i.e., driven with a hot foot early on:rolleyes:). Be VERY selective in the WRX that you choose and do have it checked out METICULOUSLY by a technician that you trust, before buying.

On EJ25 engines, head gaskets fail (for the first time) at different mileages; some failures occur at 30k mile or even earlier, some well over 100k miles with at least one owner reporting 180k miles, and everything in between. Possibly, 60-90k miles being the most common? What factors might account for (and be identified) the variation in mileages at which the first failure occurs? Some factors to examine might be: 1) How the engine was initially broken in. 2) Intervals at which engine oil is changed. 3) Viscosity of oil normally used 4) Does synthetic oil, regularly used, make for a "friendlier" environment for head gaskets? 5) Does the octane of the gasoline regularly used make a difference? Here, in northern California, 87, 89 and 91 octane is common. Does the lowest octane gas make for a "harsher" environment for head gaskets in the upper combustion chambers? 6) Does the type of air filter, how dirty it gets and at what intervals it's changed make any ultimate difference to head gasket life? Would a K & N type filter, by allowing more air into the combustion chamber, make for a "friendler" environment? 7) Does the fact that head bolts are not retorqued at regular intervals contribute to earlier head gasket failure? Of course, it's a "no brainer" that low silicate anti freeze/coolant(i.e.,Subaru's OE) be used and changed pretty regularly. The upper cylinder wall of the EJ25 engine, where the head gasket contacts the combustion chamber, is, as I understand it, rather thin, and is a weak point. And head gasket material is important, with the latest ones supposedly being more robust. If head gaskets are replaced with the latest versions, on both heads and with the engine out of the car and the head surfaces carefully prepared, can one expect long head gasket life thereafter, i.e., at least 150k miles? ( As I mentioned earlier, there are some...although not many, apparently, EJ 25 engines that DO go 150k miles on the original gasket. Why?) Or is the EJ 25 engine, because of its design, just doomed to earlier head gasket failure (for most of us) regardless of what one does?

I've been searching the internet to get more info on the dreaded EJ25 head gasket issue ('cause knowledge is power, right?); we who own Subes with the EJ25 engine are, of course, living with a Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads (heh, heh, nice pun, no?). I came upon an interesting blog site written by Justin Stobb, the chief honcho of "All Wheel Drive Auto", an independent repair shop in Kirkland, Washington. He has a section on head gasket issues: http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-head-gasket-problems-explained/. Some really good info there; check it out. It seems that Subaru dealers take the quick and dirty approach when replacing head gaskets....doing the work with the engine in the car, which Stobbs advises against. Here's what he says: One of the things I comment on a lot is the repair technique used at the dealer. The typical repair is to replace the left side head gasket in the vehicle. It is impossible to obtain the same quality seal you would if you were to remove the engine from the vehicle and make the repair. But under warranty the only thing Subaru is going to pay for is the repair in the car. Here is why the repairs under warranty don’t seem to last as long. On a horizontally opposed engine you are constantly fighting gravity and fluids trying to drip out of the engine block also there isn’t as much room to clean and prep the engine block and a lot of technicians result to using a “whiz wheel” to clean the gasket surface rather than a block sander not to mention visibility isn’t all that good in the car as well. The right way to repair Subaru head gaskets is to remove the engine from the vehicle and put it on a stand. This ensures a good clean repair, the number one rule when trying to replace any gasket on any engine, is to make sure the surface is clean. The “repair it in the car method” leaves a lot to be desired. The best advice I have, is to not have the repair done in the car. And not done by the dealer. What I think is lost, is that a vehicle repaired under warranty is going to be fixed as quick as possible, worse is that once a dealer technician is used to doing the repair a certain way that’s how it is going to be done regardless of who pays the bill. Doing the head gasket work with the engine out of the car, though, would cost a feckin' fortune, I'd imagine. Ah well, I guess I'd best keep several grand in reserve for the eventual head gasket failure...sigh...

I'd sure love to have one of those pocket rockets:slobber: but ya gonna need LOTS of cash to enjoy that babe. Let's see....17-23 mpg of premium fuel...likely lower mileage than that if you're turbo-boost happy. With gas currently over $3 per gallon, and the gas price most likely to top $5:eek: or even $6:eek: over the next couple of years as petroleum prices go through the roof, runniing an STI could easily be as much of a money drain as a cocaine habit.