aircraft engineer

2 hose washers (or 4 if you did both ends?) Have a pump truck standing by just in case? "Hey sweetheart - have you seen my Vise Grips?..." RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!

CRANK KEYWAY goes DOWN and the timing mark is on the tab that is UP. Driver side cam sprocket is the one with the "lobes" on the backside. Pax side DOESN'T HAVE THE LOBES. Make sure you have the dowel pins engaged into the CAM notch on the END of the cam itself and the bolt torqued down. The cam TIMING MARKS are LINES in the sprocket (not arrows) - they line up with the notches on the timing belt COVER and the LINES on the belt go there as well. IF the 3 lines match the timing marks and the timing marks are where they MUST BE (indicating "in time") IT IS CORRECT. Check the cam and crank sensors - make sure they are FULLY plugged in and screwed down. That endwrench article is about the best way of showing EXACTLY how it has to be - it sure beats Chilton (and I haven't seen the Haynes so I can't say about it) You can turn the crank 360 IF you want, but it's the identical position in time - remember, the CAMS are timed to the crank THRU THE BELT It's not like some vehicles where they CAN be 360 (1 full turn) out - like on my Mercedes diesel where the injection pump is timed to the CRANK and the valves are timed to the crank but the 2 aren't tied together except thru the chain. 360 out is POSSIBLE in that engine - causing injection at the top of the EXHAUST. In the SUB it CAN'T HAPPEN. IF it won't run, there is either a broken sensor or it's out of time. NO OTHER POSSIBILITIES unless the coil pack is disconnected or the plug wires are off. (or out of fuel or fuel filter is plugged) GAS + in time spark = run YOU DID CHECK FOR SPARK??

I get dis'd at work sometimes. Of course, that DEALER should be given the website address plus the thread identifier and told how to get into here so they can READ the "nice comments" about them. Might give them "pause" to see what OTHER CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THEM (and conversely what comments some have for OTHER dealers) Dontchathink?

Well, it isn't like you weren't warned. Bearing about $70, the rest labor - it took ME the better part of 5 hours to do the FIRST one I did (not including pulling the one out at the JY). Later ones won't take nearly so long (caged ball bearings with LOTS of grease) and I have ALL the equipment necessary. and as to the repack or not question - I add as much "extra" grease as I can stuff into the bearing. Grease coming "out" means that water can't go IN

OK - so I have a different one. During WWII they needed to have leather for aircraft seats. So they started up a production facility. The MIL-Spec for the leather said that it needed a treatment to wash it down with a dilute solution of "llama dung" (yeah - POO) so the gummint started a llama farm in NJ to raise the llamas. It was difficult getting the poo from Chile and Peru by boat (just imagine the cargo manifest - "63 tonnes of "llama dung" - man I've heard of "hauling shìt", but it would have been the truth). Anyway - they couldn't get enough "off the farm" so they decided to "waive" the requirement. So, the issue ended and would have been consigned to utter obscurity - BUT - after the war, some engineer decided to try to figure out the "reason" for the poo wash. (Not that it mattered, just curiosity) And he found out... the aircraft seat leather Mil-spec was essentially a copy of the Mil-spec for "saddle leather" from the US cavalry. No help there - it had the identical requirement. So where did the spec come from? WELL - it was in turn derived from the BRITISH spec for "saddle leather" as well. Bless their little Limey hearts, the BRITS kept METICULOUS records and this is what was found: The Brit spec dates from the early 19th century. The tanning process was what was called "chromate tanning". That chromate process produced a small that to HORSES was about like the smell of bottled propane (yeah - it stunk). WE recognize the smell as the smell of "new leather shoes" right out of the box. That smell made the horses skittish, so the Brits went about trying to find a way to make it acceptable to the horses. "Wash with a dilute solution of llama dung" was found to work (not having llamas, I can't say if it stinks or not) BUT it worked and that's how a crappy requirement got into aircraft seat bottoms. Old specs never die - they just get reincarnated as a "new" spec. Pilots didn't care about that"new car smell". Just remember not to saddle your horse with a WWII aircraft seat.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87496 From Reveen - Anyway - it's a BIT (forgot the "ch") of work getting the stakes and caps out but IF you have time and equipment, it beats the $500. They even provided a short course in replacement on their website

More about the SI system (that's "metric") than you ever wanted to know (or likely even CARE) the distance from the equator along the meridian passing thru Paris divided by 10 million was the "original" meter (they were pretty close, actually for the late 18th century) It was inscribed as the distance between 2 lines on a platinum-iridium bar and then later converted to some number of cycles of a particular frequency of light as a length. Temperature was established as defining the "triple point" (liquid, solid and gas exist at the same time) of pure water as "zero" and the boiling point of water as "100". mass was defined by having a cube of water at some specific temperature (too lazy to go look it up right now) .01 of those meters on a side and that makes a "gram" (physical constants with an "earth centric" basis) everything is by TENS (none of this English measurement system where things were defined and re-defined by the monarch's "measurements" - "inch" was the thumb joint, "foot" - well, DUH!, "cubit" - elbow to ends of the fingertips, and 12p to a shilling and then 20 shillings to a pound (no, not THAT pound - money) Hogsheads per fortnight and all that. And ever wonder why engines are rated in horsepower? Why train tracks are 4'6-1/2" apart? This is left as an exercise for the reader - but I'll tell you that the train track spacing has to do with the southbound end of a northbound HORSE OK - class dismissed.

any indication of strange tire wear? How about a particular speed that it happens and then goes away? That kind of indication would be tie rod ends worn. Hoist it up and check them and see if they move "excessively". Is the alignment in? Shocks (struts) OK? Aside from suspension, there isn't much else except for a bad wheel balance that causes that kind of indication. Bent wheel? Try swapping fronts and rears and see what happens. Check every bolt and nut in the front and see if they are tight. Bent axle? Not much else out there Try a "hands off" stop and see if it steers funky. About the only other thing I've seen is chill spots on the rotor that cause a grab/release.

next thing you'll say is that 5 cm is twice as big as 2 inches 2.54cm = 1 inch or 1mm = .03937 inch - which is also about 2 hacksaw blades thickness I wish the WHOLE WORLD WOULD BE METRIC (or at least COMMON - remember, the US flew a Mars probe into the surface because Lockheed was calculating in "US Customary" and JPL - that's Jet Propulsion Labs - was using "metric". Computer just used a "number" - didn't matter to IT - C R U N C H!!)

Just take your replacement interval to 160,000km. If it's good enough for US, it's good enough for EUROPE as well. The PARTS aren't different Oh - the difference is that CALIFORNIA said that the car needed to go 100k MILES before major service. So Subaru just said "OK". Funny how the regulatory action makes for a longer "use" cycle, isn't it? Same BELT, different recommended replacement interval. I plan on 100K miles for mine

pedal pulsation would be a warped rotor. Your shimmy might be a set of well worn pads. Not worn down enough to make contact. Normally, brakes will "stop" front end shimmy when they are applied (at least in my experience)

Trouble is that using it to "cool" engine oil or PS oil will only get the "cooled" oil down to the RADIATOR temp.

They didn't make the Forester until 98. (That's why we "know" about it) Where are the attachments in the Forester - or is it just that they were not on the seats?

if the control box doesn't say "SUBARU" on the outside, it isn't OEM. If it isn't OEM, you would need to find the manual for it (and there are numerous manufacturers) 97 and 98 are the same wiring as far as I know. From the factory installation manual i saw, it's just a "plug in" installation.

harborfreight.com - http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93388 $2.49 (on sale) or - http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91310 $5.99 with every security driver you could ever want...

offer help? nah we shoot yah for NOT offering help. Shared experience - Easier to handle than shared "ignorance". Those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to REPEAT them...

find a flat open parking lot. do a figure 8 at idle - lock right turn 360 degrees followed by lock left turn 360 degrees. that's the torque bind test set-up.

time to go to the JY.

as long as you want a ball bearing, yes, it's usable. I'm not as "opposed" to ball bearings. Just need to be well lubed at installation and well sealed. Probably wouldn't want to use them in "salt road land", though. if you don't want to use it and want to find it a home, send me a PM (my 97 has balls) Hey! NO JOKES!! When I got rid of my Renault alliance I left a new had gasket set in it - I sure didn't NEED it at that point.

junk the CAR keep the PLUG WIRES?

15% off huh? BIG WHOOP! You could always try to get it to Smart Service in Shoreline near Seattle (great reputation) like others said - with the 2.5 it isn't IF the HG will go, it's WHEN. The guy I bought my IMP from took a 2000 Lego in for HG and reseal, timing belt, other misc things and it cost him $2700 (US, of course). that's more maintenance than you are describing here that THEY want to do for MORE MONEY.

Well... IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT (unless you have a reason to suspect the other bearing is "bad" too) Check it out and see IF it's bad, too. IF it turns ROUGH at all, it's bad. You can tell a lot with an automotive stethoscope and a "ride down the road". The "shriek" is "noticeable" at about 35 or so depending on how bad the bearing is. Listen at the rear shock tower if you can get access to it - metal makes a great "sounding board" A "quick" way to replace a bearing is to do the whole "housing" (some call it a "knuckle"). Find one in a JY and pull it (or both) off. Trailing arm bolt, long bolt, both strut bolts, axle nut - pops right out (assuming you AREN'T IN THE RUST/SALT BELT OOPS - you ARE, so you might have "problems" particularly with the long bolt) trailing arm is 17mm (take this one off FIRST), strut bolts (take off LAST, put on FIRST, loosely to hold it all up) are 19mm as is the long bolt (Take off THIRD - might be 17 but I seem to remember 19), axle nut is 32mm (take off SECOND). impact tools make the job a lot faster - both "off" and "on" - electric battery operated impact for the JY REALLY saves time. have "fun" (using the term "loosely") Find one/two "identical" and you can just do a "swap out" new bearings are about $65 each (aftermarket) more for OEM. NSK bearings seem to be the "norm" for "new" bearings. IF you (your mechanic) don't have the equipment to press the roller bearings out/in you will likely wreck it ("out" doesn't matter that much since it will be "dead" but it is a tight fit). They aren't "fragile" but they are "touchy" about pressing the outer races only. tell the mechanic to remember to wash and REPACK the bearings before installation

90 - 2.2 - non-interference, NO head gasket "gotcha" 2001 - 2.5 - the head gasket is just a time bomb waiting to "getcha"

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5699&d=1208455598 it's a "rusty" one but it's a pic - pax side shock tower - the car was supposed to be a 95

When they start misfiring and it ISN'T PLUGS. IF resistance is OK then the wire is good.