Smpol19

Both the 2.2 and the 2.5 take 4.2 qt. of oil, you may want to be careful overfilling by .8 qt.

This car probably doesn't have an ABS system either. I agree that this interval is in all likelihood to conservative but this job costs $10 in fluid, and maybe a couple of beers for the use of your friend’s foot:drunk:. It’s so easy and cheep that if there is any possibility it will increase the life of the braking and ABS components I have no problem doing it. I also rarely if ever changed the brake fluid on my old EA82 wagon, but I've got an idea the braking system on the newer Subaru’s is quite a bit more expensive.

I've got one, had it for a little over a year. It feels like it's about right. Also has a life time warranty, knowing the people that work at the Harbor Freight near me (Woodbridge, VA) I'm pretty sure if it ever seemed off or i just wanted a new one I could tell them it wasn't accurate and they'd hand me a new one. On the other hand if I had something that required real precision I would probably bump up to a Husky or Craftsman.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me too. I've too have been quoted around $1000 for the clutch and related things. This is in Northern VA outside DC. 150,000 miles on a clutch isn't bad, what kind of driving do you do?

While i agree that it's important to replace all 4 tires on these cars, and probably a good idea on any car. Every car I've ever driven has similar warnings about the use of the spare tire, so i'm not sure that that has anything to do with the sensitive AWD compotents.

Just remove the caliper; the rotor should then slide right off. If once the rotor is removed the caliper does not come off, it's just rust holding it on. I believe you can thread a small screw into a hole on the OEM ones to force them off or you could just use a mallet or something.

I believe the internal head gasket issues were solved by 2000. I think this car would have been involved in the recall concerning external head gasket leakage, which involved the dealer putting a "conditioner"(which looks very similar to radiator stop leak) in the radiator every time the coolant was changed if the dealer did this the warranty on the HG’s was extended to 100,000 miles and 8? Years. There are quite a few things I'd be more worried about in a car that was badly wrecked and/or sat for a long period of time. I would definitely want to get under the car and look over it very carefully. Good luck.

No BS story, he should replace all four, and he should also be keeping them rotated so that they wear evenly. If you do couple searches you'd find countless threads about peoples center differential’s being destroyed by not buying four tires, or driving to long on a spare. These cars have a center differential which splits the power between the front and back wheels. This differential also allows the wheels to spin at different speeds for short times, when the car is turning it compensates for this difference in speed for a few seconds and then goes back to not doing anything. If your tires tread is different, one set of tires is constantly turning more then the other, on a 5speed this will quickly overheat the fluid and will cost somewhere around $1500 to replace.

I probably wouldn't worry about it until 30,000 miles at the earliest, unless you are having issues or use crappy gas. After that probably every 30,000 or so depending on conditions. I usually run it though the PCV line or brake booster, some people on here also put it in their gas and/or oil.

Get one of those portable jumper box's, any hardware or auto parts store should have them for under $50(us) . I got one for $40ish from Home Depot a couple years ago and managed to use it to start my car for nearly a week without charging the thing back up. My car battery had just quit taking enough of a charge to start the car and I didn't have time for a few days to pick up a new one. I was highly impressed by this thing and it weighs a lot less and is more portable then carrying a small battery.

yeah...and make sure the parking break is off....not that I've ever done that.....

Metal braket is screwed in where the AC/heat controls screw into the dash, it kind of sits on top. I'm probably going to re do some wires and will try to get a pic up this week if you'd like. Switched from Sirius to XM mostly for baseball when I'm on the road. Had sirius for a year and a half and really enjoyed it, but I'm loving being able to listen to the Nationals when I'm not in the DC area. Both definitly have their Pros and Cons.

This is how I had my Sirius mounted in my Impreza, I've switched to XM but it’s mounted about the same. Took a straight piece of mettle($.75 at Home Depot) Drilled some holes and bent it up so it attaches next to the radio. Ran the antenna from the back through the trim, and spliced the 12v power supply in. Took probably about an hour to finish.

I used these directions when doing my first brake job on my Impreza a couple of years ago and everything went very well. Once you get in there it’s pretty simple. The bolts that hold the calipers on can be a bit tight especially if you live in a place that likes to use salt. But overall it’s pretty straightforward.

Most automatic cars I've driven make some sort of sound when hitting the brakes in park. Probably just didn't notice it before.

Check the CV joints, when the boots fail the right side one will often splatter grease all over the exhaust and engine compartment which doesn't smell so nice....

I was quoted about $950 at a shop in northern Virginia for the clutch, TO bearing, resurfacing the flywheel, and rear main seal on a 2.2 Impreza. Clutch slipped a few times but i managed to tighten it up and I’ve been driving for about 13,000 miles since then so I haven't actually had it done.

Not sure how to solve your problems but the button is the lock button for the power windows. Press it down and the controls for the other windows in the car no longer work. Have the button in the up position and they work normally. Had a friend pull the doors apart trying to figure out why his window switches didn't work, came over to give him a hand and pressed the button on the door, problem solved. People without kids forget about this button because they never use it.

but that will only work if you use your STI key to start the car.... key blank

Almost every car I've ever had, or worked on has needed new axels somewhere between 110,000 and 150,000 miles. I don't think this is a sign of abuse or other bad things to come. Obivisoly look the car over carefully but I wouldn't run from this car based just on its needing new axles...

The Subaru filters are made by Pureolator, if you compare side my side the Subaru filter look exactly the same as the regular Pureolator filter. The Pure one filter or whatever its called is also considered to be good, I switch between the subaru and the 2 Purelator filters, and run Mobil 1 5w30 or 10w30 depending on the weatehr and have had good results with all combinations.

Keeps locking up firefox when I try to open it..... Edit: nevermind, Works better with IE i guess....nice run...

I have towed a couple of sail boats with my 5 speed 2.2l Outback Sport; it does a great job of it. One of the boat/trailer combo's weighs 1800lbs, I have only towed this very short distances on back roads but getting it going is fine the only trouble is trying to stop it. I also have 111,000 miles on the original clutch. Just be gentle with it and think about changing the fluids a little more often but it shouldn't be a problem.

I had Water pump, belts, and idler replaced for $950 at an independent shop in the DC metro area a few months back. So that sounds like a pretty good deal to me if they are doing everythiung.

If I don't know what was done to a used car I tend to try to do just about all the preventive type stuff. Fluids, filters, plugs, wires, thermostat, PCV valve. You doing the work should cost less then $300 using subaru parts. You may want to do the timing belt too, the recomended interval is 60k. If it breaks on this car you won't hurt anything just be stuck where you are. yeah thats about all i can think of right now, i'll probably think of other stuff later.