ron917

To me, the important part of this news is that Toyota is buying GM's stake in Fuji Heavy Industries. That makes Toyota the top shareholder in Subaru. Not sure what that means for Subaru - maybe Subaru will get some hybrid tech in exchange for giving AWD tech to Toyota? Toyota has a good reputation for quality, hopefully Subaru gets some of that as well.

It's NOT a real ad, and it was NOT done by or paid for by VW. It was a demo piece done by an ad agency. VW is suing them for damages. See http://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/vwpolo.asp Back on topic, my teenage son likes the Tribeca ad, and doesn't think the car is ugly. He's never seen an Edsel, either. That's bad for Subaru, because a Tribeca will not fit the car budget of most teenage boys. The music in the ad is fantastic, "Dust in the Wind" has been a favorite of mine since it was released in 1977 (dang, I'm gettin' old!)

Rotors on the '99 OB aren't captive. Just get the caliper out of the way, and they come right off. I used the cheap rotors and pads from Advance Auto (Wear Ever Silver), because they were in stock and I needed them right away. They work just as well as anything else I've used (Brembo, PBR) for my style of driving. Cost was less than $180 for pads and rotors for all four wheels.

I found out a while back that service writers and techs at some shops (dealer and indie) get comission! It's no wonder you get a hard sell for extras at those places.

For what you paid for it, you could drop in a rebuilt engine and still be money ahead. After fixing, you could sell it for $6000 easy here in NJ. Sounds like a keeper, though, if you need/want the car.

That's a good deal! At worst, you'll have to change the headgaskets. Couple of hundred bucks in parts. I read the story in the other thread, sounds like the old lady was looking for an excuse to buy a new car. Congrats!

You can save $100's more by doing all of the work yourself. If you don't DIY, a good independent mechanic will be cheaper than the dealer. There is no reason to have the dealer do any of it., even if your car is still under warranty. If you do have the service done at a shop, read your owner's manual and have them do only the services specified for the 60K service. Shops like to pad the list of services. Examples: compression check at 60K (totally unnecessary, and won't find the comman 2.5L headgasket problem), set timing (can't be done, it's computer controlled), check for fault codes (your Check Engine light would be on). Your owner's manual will show the location of your interior air filter, if equipped. It may also show how to adjust the headlights.

I've heard that it's caused by belts in the tire(s) that aren't in the correct position. That can happen from the factory, or the belts can "slip" later in the tire's life. I'm not an expert, just passing on what I've been told. FWIW, I've had pulling problems from Bridgestone and Firestone tires, but never Michelin.

Dead shocks/struts will do things like you described. I'll bet that LR one has no damping effect anymore. For the hitch cover, get one with some other logo/graphic on it. Grab a Subaru grill emblem from a junkyard. With a bit of epoxy, you'll be all set.

1stsubaruparts.com, it's a Subaru dealer in WA. Best prices, excellent service.

I've had good results from all of the following: RedLine SI-1 Chevron Techron Sea Foam Gumout Regane (not Rogane, that would cause hair to grow on your valves )

Just to put your mind at ease, I've got an old Volvo that's had piston slap for the past 210,000 miles. It sounds like an old school bus on a cold morning, but it runs just fine. It's not something to worry about unless you can't stand the noise.

No need to worry about the small amount of conventional oil left over after switching to synthetic. Just change your oil and filter. Your car is still under warranty, so you must follow the intervals recommended in your owners manual. Also, keep a log of maintenance and all of your receipts. If you don't have your owner's manual, you can find the service intervals at http://www.subaru.com/owners/care/schedules/middle.jsp

For the rear defroster, go to Radio Shack and get a Caig Circuit Writer pen. It's a felt-tipped pen with conductive ink. Patch up the traces on the window as needed. http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=64-4339

Fix 'em both, keep one and sell the other for a profit.

Only the front O2 sensor is used to control the engine, so it may have an effect on your fuel ecomony. The rear one is used to monitor the catalytic converter function, it will have no effect on your fuel economy.

If it's any consolation, I'm fighting the same problem in one of my other cars. ECU keeps saying the O2 sensor is bad, even with a new one. Evidence points to a lean mixture (failed smog test with high NOx). Probably a vacuum leak, but I haven't found it yet. I don't know the specifics of your ECU, but many will throw a bad O2 sensor code if the reading from the sensor doesn't vary enough. In normal operation, the sensor reading varies regurlarly, as the the ECU fine tunes the mixture - it swings between slightly rich and slightly lean. A bad sensor won't vary it's reading. An overly rich or lean condition that is too far out of range for the ECU to correct will cause the same symptom. A rich mixture may also coat the sensor with soot, which will prevent it from working properly. It's highly unlikely that you got two bad, new, O2 sensors. I'd look for vacuum leaks and bad connections first.

The problem is not limited to Subaru engines, I've heard of it happening on other cars, too. As SevenSisters said, it's because the the crank pulley bolt wasn't torqued properly.

Mobil 1 is excellent, and widely available. I'm running Mobil 1 10w-30 in my Outback. I may switch to 0w-40 or 5w-40 to quite the piston slap (Mobil 1 is a little thinner than other oils). Did you change your crank, cam, and oil pump seals with the headgasket? If not, there is a good chance they will start leaking if you switch to synthetic. The sythetic flows through tiny gaps better, and will clean off spooge that may be plugging a worn/cracked seal.

Chain of muffler shops, probably Midas. The quote was spoken by a little old lady, like the "Where's the beef?!" lady in the Wendy's commercials. The same commercial had a stodgy old guy saying "Victory for my Volvo". The point was that they had mufflers that specifically fit all the weird foriegn cars, instead of having to force-fit a generic muffler. Cut to a shot of the competitions shop, mechaninc holding a giant muffler, and even bigger hammer, saying, "I'll make it fit!" I have no idea why I remember that commercial so vividly. It was a long time ago - early '80s, I think. Probably because I've always thought Subarus and Volvos (the old ones) were cool.

Skip, What you said makes sense. The scope will tell all. Is the one you will use a DSO that can dump the captured signals to a computer? I'd love to see them.

The answer is really very simple: the cars simply did not want to leave their warm resting place on a cold morning. I don't blame them, I also prefer to stay in my warm bed in the morning.

Skip, If I understand correctly, for my '99 4EAT, the following conditions exist: 1. DS C at 100% duty cycle for FWD, installing the fuse causes this. 2. DS C at 0% duty cycle for 50/50 split - no power to DS C locks the clutches. Driving with the selecter in 1 or 2 should cause this. 3. DS C at some other, variable, duty cycle, controlled by the TCU for "normal" operation. My plain is to simply wire a switch into the DS C control line for either normal (switch closed) or 4WD (switch open). This would be useful on snowy roads, so the rear wheels remain locked in. I see no point in FWD, except as a "limp home" mode. Not sure what conditions would require a driver-controled, fixed duty cycle as you propose, but it sounds like an interesting project. Do keep us informed!

The Legacy GT looks nice, but the B9 Scrambler Concept has that UGLY grill. That Ferrari I WANT IT!

My brother drives an '03 Jetta TDI. He's got 23,000 miles on it, and has had the brake booster and transmission replaced under warrantee. I owned a '78 Rabbit Diesel and a '86 Golf, no major problems until high mileage (175K plus), but a lot of little things. I'd rather have one big expense (e.g. headgaskets) than be nickle-and-dimed throughout the life of the car.