roxtar

don't know about the idle switch, but the ECU part refers to connecting a couple of wires in the engine compartment. other than that all you need to do is hook up your timing light, loosen your disty and twist the disty one direction or another to advance or retard your timing

interstate 81 is great for car spotting. my last trip between blacksburg va and harrisonburg va i was seeing foresters and outbacks all the time. on one occasion, i saw a lambo diablo, on another, a 427 cobra. several vipers as well

upon closer inspection, it might well be the cv joint grease (that damned 1%) so..... not i gotta get that fixed. but i can hold off on the new car for a bit

yeah, about that "if i had another car" thing, now that i'm out of college, it might just be time for that.

i thought the diff used gear oil just like the tranny? this doesn't smell anything like gear oil.

nope, the CV boot is fine.. and i'm 99% sure that it is motor oil, not grease. as for the dipstick, the front of the engine is clean, just the area on the right side of the engine compartment is covered in oil.

took a long trip on the interstate (perhaps too long in hindsight), after 120 miles at 75-85, i made a stop and noticed smoke from under the hood. Opened it up and to my disgust i saw oil spattered all over the right side of the engine compartment (smoke from it burning off of the cat). what appears to have happened is that oil from somewhere got on the drive axle/inner CV joint boot and was being spun off in all directions. the confusing thing is that i lost no power (car ran like crap anyway), plus the oil level is right where i expected it to be after such a drive. no coolant/oil mixing occurred, and I made it another 100 miles before i stopped driving (granted at 55-60 instead of 75-85). i'm going to degrease the whole area tonight after work and maybe try to track it all down. any ideas on this one?

the bad news is that an ecu is a computer will all hard-wired software. so if something goes bad with it... its turns into a paper weight. you're better off trying to find one from a junk yard for a car with the same engine/fuel system as yours.

also, if you tried to get it out right away and didn't drive at all before trying to take it out, then it's not tire mismatch so more than likely it would be transfer case. sorry about that man, but all things considered, $70 is pretty reasonable for drivetrain work. but having just graduated from college, i know what being a broke college kid is like. good luck with it man

did you try the vent selector thing to check if its the vac? the ones that were unplugged on mine were over the right (passenger side) bank of the engine. other than that, i don't know what to tell you other than what the other guys told me in the thread i linked to.

never seen the inside of an XT, is that the standard steering wheel? that thing is weird

oh, i misread your question, my bad. you have a vac leak. same thing happened to me back in january (its what lead me here to the forum ) just to make sure its a vac leak, turn on the heater and see if you can get it to blow through the defroster or the heat vents instead of just the dash. my 4wd prob happened at the same time as this. basically, the car's vac system runs both things. it will change the vent selection and operate the 4wd soleniod. what happened in mine was that 2 vac hoses got knocked loose during some fun in the snow and all i needed to do was plug them back in. here is the thread for my problem http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10946 pay particular attention to the last few posts.

dude, get that thing muddy already and send us the pics /threadjack

wow another "low mileage" subie welcome to the board. no idea on your cold cranking problem other than the stuff you've already said you replaced. maybe its the ignition switch itself... metal gets cold, contracts, doesn't make good contact, your hand on the key warms it up enough to get it going, (physics... not mechanics) I am even more lost on your bearing problem. sounds like somethign might be SERIOUSLY out of alignment, but if it is on a front wheel, i'd think it would pull like mad one direction or another and you'd have significant abnormal wear on your tire. i'm pretty clueless but most of the guys on here really know their stuff, you came to the right place. they're helped me out plenty of times

Is it just the button that is stuck? You should be able to pry it out with a thin screwdriver. If 4wd is not engaged (lights in the dash are not on in other words) then it's not really a critical thing unless you plan on driving through a lot of mud in the near future.

haha, zing it's blue, hahah fun activity for today. walk up to a total stranger, and then scream MY CAR IS BLUE!!!!!!! while keeping a straight face. then turn and walk away

Engine Control Unit and it's under the dash, under the steering wheel. should say Hitachi on it somewhere and have lotsa wires coming out of it

same happened to me, but my leak was real easy to find. all i can suggest is tracing those vac lines back until you find it.

yeah man, i graduated in may. currently working in new baltimore for a computer firm doing software testing and other crap. don't know if i'll have a free weekend any time soon, but i'll call you if i figure anything out

Scott, before i write it off completely, you mind if i try to set up a time with you to get your opinion on it? ...that is if it hasn't blown up by then.

Well, my trusty/crusty little loyale dropped power on me this morning on the way into work. i was in 5th cruising at about 65 when suddenly i started dropping speed like mad. i down shifted and things went back to normal so i took it back into 5th. looks like a replacement car is nearer in my future than i expected. it's up for inspection this month and if there are more than a couple hundred bucks worth of needed repairs, i'm just going to have to forget about it. been putting too much cash into it lately anyway. any suggestions for a replacement vehicle? looking to spend around 10k on a 5 year loan

ahhh, the advantages of living far enough away from a major city. I'm just far enough away from DC that i don't have to pass emissions

ok, maybe i have a dirty mind, but did that seem like he might not be talking about a car?

I disagree, drawing attention to your performance parts is still kinda ricer but at least it is slightly more respectable. I am much more of the "sleeper" persuasion. Make performance mods to your car but keep it looking as stock as possible, that way people won't know what they're getting into when they throw revs at you at a light. I still laugh every time some kid in a focus revs back at my crap loyale when i'm just trying to even out the idle at a light by revving up. i then redline 1, 2, and 3 leaving him and his overdrive auto in the dust. now these kids would't even try if my car wasn't covered with dents and scratches with the crapped out 13 inch steels with hub caps that are scratched to hell and back.

unfortunately, we've already seen their move in that directon.... its called the Baja:banghead: