CNY_Dave

Turns out there are 4 12mm dia holes in the pulley that a factory crank holder uses, looks like they are on a 65mm dia circle, I'm going to build a tool that uses 3/8ths bolts for a little slop (7/16ths would fit).

Huh, no cover on the front of my pulley, no oil leaking either. That must be belt-and-suspenders if you use a little sealant on the crank.

Hmmm, will have to look closer, I don't see what looks like a cover on the pulley. Not sure what you mean by the oil seal- does the oil seal ride on the pulley? Is the oil seal accessible when you pull the pulley?

Some goo is seeping out of a crack on the rubber insert on my crank pulley, and it's starting to rub the case. Biggest piece of info I'm looking for- is there a magic spot on the flywheel where the crank can be held? 2nd- I assume the oil seal rides right on the pulley like on every other chain-driven cam engine? I assume the pulley is different from the H4s.

Well, when the rod bearings get loose enough the connecting rod big-end hits the block and knocks out a chunk, so at least then you know what it was!

Can't access them without splitting the block, I think. If they aren't making noise, they are good for a good number more miles, though. If you are chasing low oil pressure that's likely something else- loose bolts on the oil pump, pickup that is cracked, or worn out main bearings.

Success! Pic of bottom of board, and of the track I cut that goes to the resistor.

Well, crap, mine is different. Looks like that one had the wiper on the left side of the column, mine is on the right, as my board looks a little like a mirror-image of that one but the layout is different. I think I have the correct resistor isolated, stalk connector looks different.

I see it now... someone needs to cough up a bad one for analysis, but do these ever fail? Maybe this same module is inside the rear wiper controller and has a few positions populated differently. I can try to pin out mine if I get to messing with it.

I don't see the spot you mean.

I wonder how much a new switch is?

Under the best of circumstances on my '03 the wipers beat the water (or any significant amount of water) to many parts of the windshield, especially when at highway speeds, even for a 'second squirt'. I hate to say, I can't wait to do this...

I was willing to bet if I pulled the switch apart I could find the right circuit-board trace to cut (taking apart the un-dissassembleable is a talent of mine), someone pointed me to this: http://offroadingsubarus.com/spraythenwipe.html There's a resistor you pull, and it disconnects the washer button from the intermittent wiper control.

Has anyone set it up so the washer button does not turn on the wipers? To me this is the most monumentally stupid feature conceivable, at least for those of us who have winter! I am sick of the wipers dragging across a bone-dry dirty windshield before the squirter starts squirting, and don't even get me going on the agony of the line being frozen or the reservoir empty.

I just had a windshield replaced, took advantage of having it out to fix all the rust and rust holes in the channel. This 10 dollar any-auto-parts-store chuck-it-in-a-drill worked like nothing I have ever seen before, it ate through the paint, the rust, and even the windshield goo, but didn't really grind the bare metal: It's like a sandblaster that makes much less mess.

I'm skeptical about the pump cooling thing as the pump sits, what, about halfway up in the space? So the gas could be just under a half and the pump would be out of the gas?

It's a 5.1 % change, so take whatever revs you have now at any speed/gear and multiply by (1 - 0.051).

If it can move not sideways but up/down in the bushings, maybe, but usually a sway-bar clink is from the end links. They can look fine but be bad and noisy, but more often they look bad when they are bad. Depends on the style.

On mine with AL rims I put anti-seize on all mating surfaces between the wheel and hub/rotor (and rotor/hub for that matter). Doesn't take much to make a world of difference. But, it's my wife's steelies that put up a big fight.

The 2004 used the in-tank filter, and the new filter (avail. aftermarket) comes with a new (deeper) cap that fits. 35 bucks i think. It is rumored the '04 metal cap alone is available from the dealer, but far from confirmed. I think we need to get a worldwide network together of people harvesting their caps from their 4cyl outbacks if/when they replace the pump.

CV joint grease?

the 'o3 beaner has the auto-dim mirror with compass.

It's supposed to have one. Bought my '03 beaner with 55k miles and the diff acted as though it was open. Be aware the H6 Gen 2 outbacks had 4.11 final gearing like a legacy, not the auto outback's usual 4.44

'Close' in bore and stroke? So you'd have to bore your engine? What about the piston compression height, deck height and chamber clearance/squish?

I had a rear wheel bearing start making noise at about that mileage. Up to 180K and it almost needs replacement. If someone who knows what a bad wheel bearing sounds like can hear it, it is quite distinctive.