snoutmeat

Hey crew- My 2000 Outback Wagon (Limited) has been squeaking/squealing a little from the AC compressor. Just yesterday, when I found a half-full bottle of refrigerant on the garage shelf, I thought I'd check the system's current operation. I noticed that the squealing is a lot worse now. Checked the tension and it's fine, so I think it's either a tensioner that's seizing, a compressor that's seizing, or a compressor clutch that's slipping. 2 of those 3 outcomes mean a new compressor. Not urgent, but there's a road trip to Nevada in June that will definitely need AC (probably not before then). So...I see on Amazon that there are 2 compressors listed for my car -- the DCV14G and the DKV14G. The rebuilt DCV14G is $120. The DKV14G is several hundred more. I checked mine under the hood, and I have a DKV (the expensive one). Does anyone out there know the difference between the DCV and DKV? Googling has not gotten me anywhere, and an Impreza-owning friend said that the NASIOC people would know...but no reply to my question over there. Does anyone know what the difference is between the two models? Will the cheaper one work on my car, especially considering that some Subarus of my era apparently came with the DCV model? I'm wondering if one compressor is higher capacity or something.... In the meantime...easiest way to confirm what's causing problems is, I'm guessing, to pull off the cover and belt and try spinning the components by hand? Oh, just typing this here makes me realize it's not the idler because that one's always engaged, and the squealing only happens when the AC or defrost is on. In addition, when I had the pressure gauge on the AC system yesterday, and the system was just giving me an occasional "chirp", I could see the PSI on the gauge blip upward in sync with the chirp. That tells me it's the compressor itself (not the idler). I think the gauge jumped up when it squeaked. Now I'll have to research more to see if that means the compressor is suddenly working or not working when it squeaks (to make the gauge go up)..... Thanks!

I just received an email from "Winding Road Magazine", a free e-magazine for cars that (I think) I found out about from Ebay. This month's issue features an article on "the Top 10 Most Beautiful Subarus". http://www.nextautos.com/ten-most-beautiful-subarus-in-no-particular-order Discuss! I'm personally unhappy that their example of "GL Wagon" is an EA-82 and not an EA-81, because I've always liked the looks of the EA81 better. And of course the BRAT made the list, but some folks here probably will be upset that it's a Gen2 with no seats and no "BRAT" decals.

Searching for "Subaru knock sensor" on Ebay turns up a couple of sellers offering it for around $44 shipped, and they claim it's OEM. By "now I get to go research", I simply meant that I'd never encountered this problem before. 5 minutes here, on Google, and on Ebay told me all I needed to know. Even found pics showing the location of the sensor. Looks like it's almost as easy to change as a spark plug. One thing I learned from posts at various forums is that the car's computer can trigger this error code if the electrical contact between the sensor and the block is not good. Several people have reported success simply polishing the mating surfaces with emery cloth or a Brillo pad and re-attaching. Others report that the part tends to crack. I'm going to go make a visual inspection. If it looks intact but grungy, I may try the cleanup first, but for the price, it may be worthwhile to just get a new one. Car's at around 140K...... Davebugs, I couldn't find the part when I looked at Rock Auto, either. BTW, the code reader I successfully used last night came from Schucks (aka Checker, Kragen, and Murray's) and was on clearance online for $24. It's not the most advanced device -- it only has 2 buttons on it -- but it checks codes, displays the code ID and text, and lets you clear the codes. For $24, it's a nice addition to the toolbox if you own an OBDII car. Here's the link: http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=CDK&MfrPartNumber=92202 Select "Buy online, pickup today!" and see which stores around you have them. I just typed in a Seattle ZIP code, a Redmond (WA) ZIP code, and a Bay Area (San Mateo) ZIP code, and found readers available at all locations, so I don't think they're hard to find.

...and DrKrazy wins the prize! Read the code just fine when I started the car, then attached the scanner. Thank you! (and Ed, thank you for the advice too....both of these are pretty simple scanners, so I don't have a "parameters section". I was just about to go shell out for a spendy Actron, but now I have my error code (P0325 -- knock sensor) -- now I get to go research.

The "Check Engine" light is illuminated on my '00 Outback Wagon. I'd bought an OBD II reader from Harbor Freight (a cheapie). When I tried to read the code, the reader just said, "ERROR". I figured I was being punished for buying from Harbor Freight. I just bought another (nicer) code reader and it's giving me the same problem -- LCD just says "error". Symptoms are the same. When I plug in the code reader, it says "scanning" or "reading" or "getting info" or something like that....and a few seconds later, it simply says "error". Has anyone else seen this? Suggestions? The check engine light has been on for a few months now; tabs expire in a month. The Check Engine light is currently off, but history says it'll be on again soon (it's been cycling on and off every few times it's driven). Advice?

Posted in the "Older Generation" forums as well, but because it features a Gen 1 BRAT and a 360, figured people here would enjoy seeing it too. Instead of having two separate threads, here's the link to the thread at the "Older Generation" forum. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87861

I didn't notice until watching it again...the BRATs jump seats are sitting on the ground beside it, and it looks like there's a roll bar installed in the back of the BRAT, too....

Okay...someone uploaded it.

It's on my ReplayTV, so I should be able to pull it off and dump it to youtube...there's a Gen1 BRAT, an EA81 wagon, a Subaru 360...the 300K car is a Forester with a mismatched door. Give me an hour or so to upload it...

I like that last one. How dare you imply that Chinese goods may be inferior! To tell you the truth, I turned to the Chinese new axles after having bad luck with units that were remanufactured here in the USA. I've seen all of those maladies before in various cars, and this doesn't sound like a wheel bearing, loose caliper, or pads. It mostly happens (as I recall) under deceleration, it sounds like a CV joint, and the sound didn't change after I swapped the axles, which makes me doubt it's the axles. In my experience, wheel bearings are a constant hum, loose calipers and pads rattle (and the sound changes/goes away/gets worse when applying brakes). This is the growly sound like a CV joint makes, almost a pop-pop-pop-pop, but not quite that sharp in tone...thank you for the suggestions, but I'm pretty sure it's none of those.

My '84 BRAT sounds like it has a bad CV joint in front. I just lived with it for a while -- when I bought it (a few years ago) the seller told me that she'd torn a CV boot and that her mechanic had re-packed it. He said that it was making noise, but it wouldn't get any worse (because it had been cleaned and re-packed). I didn't let it bother me, because I've never had a CV fail -- when they get loud enough to be annoying, I replace them. So...I figured I might as well replace my bad axle. Drove my car around, made some tight circles to figure out which side the noise seemed to be coming from, and replaced that axle with a new Chinese one. Hopped in for a test drive, and...the sound was still there! I'm the guy who once managed to change bearings on all 4 wheels before finding the right one, so I just figured I'd picked the wrong side. Bought a new axle, replaced the other side...2 new axles in front, and the sound is still there! Sounds like a bad CV joint to me, definitely coming from the front of the car, definitely tied to the speed of the wheels. Suggestions? At this point, I'm thinking it's either a bad front U-joint in the driveshaft or something much more ominous in the transmission. Has anyone had that U-joint go bad before? I crawled under and wiggled the shaft, but the joint is tight. I've had RWD cars w/worn-out U-joints before -- they clanged like a bell when letting out the clutch and putting a load on the driveline -- but those were sloppy joints with the needle bearings gone from the U-joint, and I'm guessing this is just a dry U-joint. It's the original, so it doesn't have a grease fitting like I've seen on some aftermarket ones. Has anyone had a dry U-joint in front? What were the symptoms? Any test that doesn't require pulling out the driveline? Will the fault be obvious if I do pull out the driveline and try flexing the U-joint by hand? Thanks in advance, Shane

There WAS a great BBS at fujirabbit.com, but the owner lost interest. I recently started a new BBS at http://www.runboard.com/bfujirabbit, but traffic is still slow. I know more than a dozen Rabbit owners, but I don't think I know anyone with a 102. There is a guy in Australia named Tim Elsom who's knowledgeable and nice, but I don't know if he has any experience with the 102 or not. Send me a PM with your email and I'll forward it to him, or else just go to that BBS... Some parts are available from Kouji Yamada, who runs a parts shop called "Rabbit House" in Japan.

I've had bad luck with remans as well; that's why I'm going with the new ones these days. I'll update later, but I'm guessing that these will last a lot longer than the remanufactured ones....

What's the difference between GSP and GCK? Just (30 minutes ago) finished putting a new GSP shaft in my BRAT. Replaced 1 a few months ago (with a new axle from Autozone), then tried getting another a few weeks ago and they were only able to get me a Cardone remanufactured part. I ripped the end off the box I'd just brought in (they don't have a core charge, but they do recycle dead half-shafts), went home, did a Google search on the part number listed on the end of the box, and found the same part number at Rock Auto (http://www.rockauto.com). I can't figure out how to link directly to the page, but go to http://www.rockauto.com, put in your car (ie 1984 Subaru BRAT), choose "drivetrain", then "CV half shaft assembly". They're $50.79 before shipping, and $57 shipped to my Seattle address! I thought Autozone's $90 price was very fair...and yes, I've ordered and received one, and the box looks identical (from my memory) to the one I got from Autozone. I'm not sure if the first one was GSP or GCK...it was a 3-letter abbreviation starting with G.... Either way, the part number was NCV66005. It's new (not reman), comes with castle nut and roll pin, but no cotter pin. At $51, it's cheaper than any of the remanufactured ones. Unfortunately, that site doesn't sell rears (except for an $80 reman with a $50 core).

Howdy, experts! Just swapped out the half-shafts on my dad's '84 wagon -- one had a bad CV rattle, and the other one had a cracked boot. When ordering new half-shafts, I noticed that most websites had a warning. They said "warranty void if the car's not tuned up properly, if the stock catalytic converter is missing, or if the factory heat shield is missing". They're obviously worried that the passenger-side inner joint will get cooked and brittle by the exhaust system. So...the car still has its stock catalytic converter. The car is reasonably well tuned-up. But it doesn't seem to have any sort of a heat shield. Did the EA81 have a heat shield between the catalytic converter and the axle shaft? Should it? From an inspection of the cracked boot, it appeared that the heat from the catalytic converter really could have made the boot brittle. To be fair, the outer boot was also looking pretty crusty/brittle, but it hadn't yet split. This was an axle I replaced ~6 years ago, and I' a little disappointed that the rubber has degraded. It wouldn't surprise me at all if my dad still has the car six years from now, and if the replacement of a missing heat shield would make the new boot last longer, I'd add it. Or maybe there's a heat shield on the catalytic converter itself? It looks like there are a couple of bolts on the rearward end of the cat...is what I'm thinking of as the catalytic converter really a catalytic converter with a heat shield wrapped around it? BTW, found new (not rebuilt) CV axles in Seattle for $75 each. Seemed like a good price. Parts Plus, 65th and Roosevelt. Thanks!