ron917

The front sway bar on my '99 broke in the same place. Although the Outback was redesigned between '99 and '00, the replacement procedure is the same.

See the following article regarding the Briliance BS6 crash test. http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/22/brilliance-bs6s-adac-crash-test-is-anything-but/ Also, follow the links in the article to the youtube videos of the Jiangling Motors' Landwind SUV crash test. Scary stuff.

Advance Auto stocks Wearever front rotors at $41 and change. That's what I bought (I needed them right away), and they stop the car as well as anything else I've ever used. Advance also sells some really cheap ones for like $24, but those weren't in stock.

No kidding! When I replaced the cabin air filter in our Pontiac Montana, I found that some critter (mouse?) had built a nest in it! That explained the funny smell in the car. I wish my '99 Outback had a cabin air filter. It really helps me the pollen count is high.

The FSM will show you how to measure to ensure that the torque converter is fully seated (it's in the tranny section). That info may not be in Haynes. I always buy the FSM for every car I own, and it always pays for itself. Between the FSM and advice from this forum, I had no trouble with my engine swap. My torque converter didn't move when I pulled the engine out, so I was lucky. Apparently, the flex plate and TC sometimes stick together. After removing the TC bolts, I pushed/pried the TC away from the flex plate to make sure they were separated.

The TCU uses information from many of the same sensors as the ECU. I don't know if it uses the O2 sensor directly, but the Engine Control and Transmission Conrol units talk to each other. If one has incorrect input, the other will also have incorrect input. I hope you put antisieze on them. Stainless steel nuts and bolts don't corrode, but they gall badly even under pressure of normal tightening. They end pretty much welded together, and you'll have to cut/grind/break them off anyway.

I second the suggestion for a rebuilt engine from CCR. Mine was much less than $5000, but I don't know what they would charge for your engine. I installed it myself, but having it done by shop should be 10 hours of labor. The CCR engines are complete, nothing extra to buy except gaskets (they sell gasket kits at a good price) to swap over your intake, water pipe, oil filler, etc. I wouldn't trust a used engine. There are too many out there that were overheated due to headgasket problems.

The ATF dipstick on Subarus is very hard to read. Part of the problem is the lack of checkering on the stick to hold the fluid so you can read it. When the fluid is hot, it is very thin and runs off easily. I find it easiear to check the ATF when it is not fully warmed up. Drive the car a short distance from cold (maybe 2km at most), make sure it shifts through all the gears, then come back to your driveway to check it. The ATF will stick on the dipstick, and it will be easier to read. Use the cold marks instead of the hot marks.

Some codes require multiple cycles without the fault before the code will clear. Have you started, run, and stopped the car at least 3 times after you repared the wiring? Are you still getting the same code, or are you just looking at the CEL?

A valve can have a chunk burned out of it. See http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=59287&highlight=burnt+valve

Keep the 2005 headrests in case you are unhappy with the correct ones. Newer headrests in many cars (not just Subaru) are further forward for better crash test scores, and many people don't like them. Maybe the previous owner had them changed out for the older style.

The TCU will go into a "sport" mode when you do things like that. It also does it when you are climbing a hill, and it has to stay in 3rd the whole way - you crest the top, and it will wait an annoyingly long time before upshifting. In that mode, it will hold lower gears longer and downshift sooner. After a while, it will figure that you are done playing (or climbing hills) and go back into its normal mode of upshifting too early and downshifting too slow And then there's the wonderful "slope mode" in my '99 - you start down a hill, lift your foot off the gas, and the thing "helpfully" downshifts just as you hit the brake. :Flame:the guy who programmed that one.

The plate is called an "oil separator cover". Yours is probably plastic, and all of the plastic ones leak. New ones from Subaru are metal, and do not leak. The fix is to get a new one from the Subaru dealer or one of the discount Subaru parts sources online. The below is from subarupartsforyou.com, your cost would be $19. 11831AA210 800406140X5 800406150X1 Legacy 1990-2007 Engine Parts, Oil Seals COVER OIL SEPERATOR KIT with bolts FOR 1990-2007 LEGACYS $23 $19

The methods for calculating both HP and fuel economy have changed. This applies to all vehicles, not just Subaru. I thought the HP calculation was changed for the 2007 model year, but I could be wrong on that. I know that the 2008 model year begins the new fuel economy ratings. They are supposed to be closer to real life averages. Still, your mileage may vary.

I know about current limiting resistors and such, so no issue there. I'm more curious about what size LEDs and resistors would fit best in there, and how to mount them. This will be yet another project to go on the list of things to do after I redo the upstairs bathroom, new garage doors, rebuild the deck, paint the house, etc.

Some guys are brave enought to rebuild the front diff.... http://subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8718 Not for the feint of heart. I agree that it's probably not the best course of action unless you know the the rest of the unit is in good shape. The fact that the FWD fuse was in for 40-50 K due to other problems is troubling.

Has anyone tried fitting LEDs into the switches? I have enough switch bulbs out now so that it's becoming an annoyance - fog lamp switch, hazard flasher switch, both seat heaters. The HVAC control lamps were out for a while, but came back to life on thier own Mine's a '99 Outback, if it matters.

Did you check for stray chickens under the hood?

They tied at the last air show I saw that truck at. That thing is freakin' LOUD! It feels like someone punched you in the chest when he gooses the throttle.

Oh, missed that bit of info. Cut a bolt short and bore hole through it, then weld as in the nut trick. A short piece of tubing followed by a nut welded on might work as well.

Like grossgary said, that trick always works. But, I use a nut instead of a bolt. Hold the nut over the remains of the bolt with a pair of pliers, and feed your MIG or flux core wire into the hole. This is an old trick, and works even with badly corroded fasteners (the heat helps break the corrosion). Your bolt is not corroded, so it should come right out. If the nut breaks off because your weld wasn't good, no big deal - just try again. As others have said, stay away from the ez-outs! They are brittle, and harder than any drill bit. When they break, you can sometimes get the pieces out with the "weld a nut on it" trick, but if not, you need to spend hours with a Dremel and diamond bits. Or, hire a machinist with an EDM machine which will probably require removing the crank. It sucks that the bolt broke. It had to be damaged or weakened from previous stress. It should not have broken with 125 lb-ft.

Loctite makes a product called "Form-A-Thread" for exactly this type of situation. It is very different from the normal Loctite used to keep fasteners from rattling loose. I've used it on valve cover fasteners on a VW and a Volvo.

I happened to have the FSM for my '99 Outback open in Acrobat, so I looked at the tranny section. Andyjo, you're asking about the thing on the main transmission housing that connects to the transfer clutch pack, right? That's called the Reduction Drive Shaft. The FSM shows that the part in your picture is one piece with the shaft behind it. The gear and bearing behind it are pressed on. The FSM calls for a strange looking puller to remove the assembly. Hope the picture helps, as I don't really know any more about it. I've never opened a tranny.

In old Volvo 240s, the belt and sprockets changed when they went to 100K mile belts. The teeth on the belt had a different shape - one trapezoidal, and one half-round (I think the round ones are the new ones). The sprockets changed to match, although nothing else changed. Mismatching the belt and sprocket teeth would surely tear up the belt, if you could get it to fit at all. Just something to watch out for - don't assume that nothing but the belt changed. Maybe check the part numbers for cam and crank sockets also, or see if you can get a look at the two belts at a dealer parts dept.

xistor = transistor Used as an electronic switch in the ignition system, it pulses the primary side of the coil. I think the car manufactuerers usually call the device an ignitor.