CNY_Dave

Lotsa red dust under mine on my '03, and even a good bit on my wife's '05 forester with about 45Kmiles. Dave

If that year has the 'fwd' fuse position, put in a fuse and see if the problem goes away. If it does, the duty C solenoid is probably OK. Dave

http://www.centralhobbies.com/tools/jis.html Probably only needed for small screws (like on a carb) also: http://www.amessupply.com/products1.cfm?aid=1&cid=D&sid=DE&fid=1404070 Dave

This may only be true with small carburetor screws, but japanese phillips heads are rumored to be 'different', and that an actual j-spec screwdriver makes a big difference. Dave

Don't forget to wash down the area under the carpet too. It's amazing what a little acid can do. Not as bad as mercury on an airplane, though! Dave

Yeah, that'd be pretty loud! I'd scrub the entire affected area with baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. Dave

I remember reading that- theory was that the acid would build up on the engine and start eating the head-gasket from the outside-in. Dave

It stays clean longer than you'd expect, is what I'm saying, even if you rinse all the baking soda off. It's as though it takes a fair bit of buildup to start the corrosion process, and if you get rid of all the acid-y buildup, you won't get any corrosion for a while, without using any spray or goop. Dave

What amazed me about this method is how long it keeps the corrosion from re-forming, even after rinsing the area thoroughly. Dave

Fellow at work has this same car, about same mileage, and just had to do the U joints. You can get the u-joints 'replaced'** and the driveshaft reconditioned with new center bearing for about $550, if you can find a driveshaft shop that knows where to send it. I did find an online shop that claims to do the same, they had various driveshafts in stock. You should be able to google it, or search here for the online shop name. ** replaced, as in it looks like they cut the yokes off and weld on new ones that accept replaceable greaseable U joints. Dave

Low-end napa pads did not fit well, high-end napa pads fit perfectly and came with new shims. I'd go for at least the low-end ceramic pads. Don't forget to check the wheel where it contacts the hub-rotor, I had a lot of hardened crud buildup that caused some wheel shake and could potentially have deformed the rotor. Dave

The mirrors fog when he pulls out of his air-conditioned underground subie lair... Dave

Yeah, rear wheel drive cars were easy because the big bearing always failed first, and always made more noise when more heavily loaded in a turn. Even my '80 toyota celica was like that. Dave

I've heard here there are lots of 15 inch rims that will fit, if you feel up to a little grinding on the caliper body. Dave

The bad front wheel bearing on my '01 was the *opposite* one that I expected based on which turn made the noise worse/better. The bad bearing made *more* noise when I turned away from it, less when I turned towards it. Since the bearings are so close together it has a lot more to do with which race is bad (inner/outer) than which side of the car gets more load in the turn. I had to jack up both fronts, put it in neutral, and spin the wheel with my hand on the strut spring to be sure I had the bad one. Dave

Does anything else work with the key off? Wipers? Turn sigs? Radio? Dave

I had a front go bad on mine- When I turned right, the noise went away, when I turned left, the noise got worse. *Normally* this would mean it was the right side, since in a right turn there is more load on that wheel, so you'd expect it to get louder. But (you knew that was coming) it was the exact opposite. Here's what you do- - Jack up both front wheels (or back, if you are checking the backs) - Put the car in neutral, engine off - Spin one front tire while holding the strut spring - Repeat for the other front wheel The bad wheel bearing will show more vibration in the strut spring when spinning the wheel. Putting a long piece of metal (long screwdriver, long socket extension) or long wooden dowel against the strut or strut spring, and against your ear (I like to hold the rod in my hand, fold my thumb over the end, then jam my thumb into my ear) to listen for which is louder if it's not apparent from feeling it. Are you thinking of tackling it yourself? Dave

I have seen descriptions on this site that sound like this- sometimes it's the cam position sensor, and is there also a sensor on the crank? Or is the one on the crank the CPS? Dave

Manual or auto? Dave

If an injector leaks just a little, it won't make the car run rich, but will 'dump' into the cylinder(s) overnight. Checking how fast the fuel pressure falls after shutoff is an easy check. Dave

Tirerack will do it on a new tire from them and ship it to you, or to a garage. Dave

Tirerack will shave a tire before shipping it to you. Dave

Come to think of it, an H4 PCV valve will have the guts reversed from an H6. H4- threaded end to vacuum, H6- hose end to vacuum. Dave

Looks pretty good... Dave

NAPA gave me the wrong PCV valve when I tried to change mine, and the wrong one was too small. No idea what it was for, it looked right, was just too small. The stocker is a stout metal unit, and cleaned up fine with carb cleaner. Dave