Kwhistle

Well, they also said that I need a new tie rod end (posted it in another post) and brake light . I'll take the car for a long highway drive about now, hopefully that would be enough for the computer to set everything right. Is there a way to check it before I go to the inspection place? I'm actually a bit concerned because I don't think the cats were ever changed on this car, and it does produce some smoke and water out of the pipe. I don't think smoke is excessive compared to other cars I've seen on the road, but really can't afford to spend a ton of money to repair emissions system now and would rather be sure. Another question, when at the inspection place, they put a large hose on the end of the tailpipe. What is that used for?

Thanks for all the replies and all the advice. Just a few more questions. I'm pretty good with my hands, but I'm no mechanic, not even an amateur one. So just to fill in a few blanks, what exactly is a tie rod/end and why is it crucial to replace it? What could they mean by "bad tie rod end"? I'm just concerned they are making things up just to make some money. Could what I have hold for another month and half + 14-hour highway ride? (Just because I'll be moving to a state that doesn't require inspections, and only want to do this now to avoid $65 tickets. Plus, I'll have a garage where I'll be able to replace it myself for about $100 less and knowing that I did it right). P.S. if anyone knows if a NYC ticket for missing/expired inspection can be dismissed if I get inspection, pls let me know

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I do have to take it to a mechanic. How much should this repair cost? The inspection station people wanted $150 for it, and I don't know if that includes alignment. Does that sound reasonable?

Mine is a 98 OBW, sorry forgot to mention that. Not sure how many times I started it, but I think it was about 3 cold starts, and several times on/off, e.g. when getting gas. Is there any way I can check if it's ready by plugging in a reader? I really don't want to pay another $37 and waste another hour just for them to tell me that I failed.

So another question about my failed NY inspection. They said that the computer cannot be tested because it was blanked. I did disconnect the battery several days ago, but I've driven about 75 miles city/highway afterwards. Is that not enough? Can I get the OBD tested at an autozone to see it shows what it's supposed to show?

I'm trying to pass the damn NY State inspection, and it seems every time something new comes up. A week ago, they claimed brakes were bad, wanted me to pay $200+ to put in new pads. Well, I slapped on new pads myself, went to a different place, and they tell me that the "tie rod end is bad." How hard is it to replace it? If you don't have a garage? And how much should it cost at a shop? As always, thanks in advance for all the responses.

I've gone though this whole ordeal with my EJ25 98 OBW, and what you're describing seems to be just like what I had. You can search for my thread for a more detailed description, but basically I did the following: 5/8 spark plug socket without rubber plug + 3 in extension + flexneck ratchet (husky from homedepot, the one with the flattest pear-shape head) + flexible magnetic pickup (trust me, you'll need it). I inserted each of the pieces in one by one -- first socket, then extension on top of it, then ratchet. Plug #4 was the hardest, took me a good hour. The others went much easier. One of the problems is that once you start unscrewing the plugs, they come out, and you have even less space to work in there. In the end, you'll have to take out the socket before you can take out the plug because there isn't enough space for both to come out together. Suffice to say, it's a mess. My ordeal took me a little over 2 hours, of which about an hour went to just figure out this method, try every extension and flex joint that I had, fish out every little bit that I dropped, etc.

I'm by no means an expert, but I went through the whole spark plug change ordeal not long ago with a 98 OBW I got a couple months ago. The plugs I pulled out of it were the NGK's double platinums, the $12 ones. They were completely worn out. I posted some pictures on here, but just too tired to search for my old posts now. I replaced them with single platinums that were $3 each at autozone. No problems so far, the car runs great for a car this age with ~200k. And the way those plugs looked, I really don't think they last any longer than single platinums, despite costing 4x as much. Heck, if you wanna pay $12/plug, you may as well buy the Pulstars. I heard they work well, and really do improve mileage. And Pep Boys often has coupons on their web site that would knock $5-10 off a $50 purchase. The only thing I found out about platinum is that it doesn't work well with nitrogen in the gasoline. Read somewhere that it corrodes platinum. And apparently Shell now enriches its gas with nitrogen. I'm not about to switch to other brand just because Shell Premium lasts longer than any other in my car, and I've tried them all. But if I were to change my plugs again, would probably go with the $6 NGK Iridium just in case. As far as what platinum and iridium do, it is my understanding that they expand and contract in a way that sheds build up and they are more resistant to wear. Now as a disclaimer, I'm not a pro, and if somebody with more experience corrects me, they're probably right.

I think the OE pressure switch is about $15, but it really doesn't look like the problem. It's all dry around it. The problem is more below the PS fluid tank and the area just to the side of it. Here's a pic, with red arrows where I've noticed the oil before, and blue where I noticed it today.

98 OBW, been having this issue since got the car some 6 weeks ago. There is an oil leak on top of the engine, passenger side. I've been blaming it on the power steering leak, and it did seem like the pump and the fluid tank o-ring were leaking. Finally fixed both yesterday, 1-minute liquid gasket seems to have taken care of it, and no leaks around it today. But I was looking at it outside in good light, and noticed another oil collection that seemed to be around the tip of the head gasket that you can see from the top. I tried to take pics, but they didn't come out well enough to see it, will try more later if needed. I hope that's not the head gasket leak, but really I can't think of anything else that could be leaking oil in there. If I were to estimate, it leaked about an oz a day before, and mostly collected right under the steering fluid reservoir. I haven't noticed any appreciable drops in oil level. I'm pretty sure that it's not the valve cover gasket because those are nice and clean. Also haven't noticed any signs of possible oil/coolant mixing when I changed the oil last week. The only thing that bugs me a bit is a drop of oil on top of the oil pressure sensor. I'm pretty new to the DIY thing and to Subarus, so apologies if my questions are totally off the wall, and really appreciate all the info and advice I get from the experts here. I hope it's not an HG, and that it really was the PS fluid, but want to make sure just in case. Could HG only leak oil and not oil + coolant?

So I hacked in an audio jack to hook up my 1st gen ipod. Just slightly modified instructions found here. I got a 1/8 stereo jack from RadioShack (P/N 274-0246 for those interested) and a small push-button on/off switch. Picture is attached. A bit dusty around there 'cause I took the pic before I cleaned everything up. As for my question, I noticed that there is no power in the lighter outlet. All the wires seem to be intact. I am pretty sure that there used to be power there before, and I didn't do anything to it while wiring the stereo connections. Here's a pic of the wires, for what that's worth: Does that look about right? Is there a fuse I could check for?

Thanks for all the replies. As far as what I meant by "brakets", it's those that you get in "brake hardware kit", the metal inserts that go on top and bottom of the pads. Mine were missing on the driver side (don't know about the passenger, but those don't rattle), which I thought was really strange. What really picked my attention is that the inner diameter rust ring is touching the pad, and leaving a bit of a wear mark on the pad's edge. My only guess is wrong rotor side from a junk yard--these are double calipers and from my research require rotors of larger diameter. Here's a diagram of the outer pad, with red mark being where it started wearing out by the inner rust ring. The inner pad has the same patten only on the outer part of the pad. I don't know if it could by just wrong rotors and they didn't machine them after removing from another car, or if the rotors are just too worn out and to the point where the (reinforced?) inner ring starts to eat into the pads. If I were to estimate, the normal-looking part of the rotor, where the pads are is between .7 and .8 inches.

So my newly (1.5 months) acquired 98 OBW had a rattling driver side front brake pads. Bought hardware kit, took it off to replace it, and brackets just weren't there. My only guess is that whomever had it before was fixing it with junk yard parts. The brakes are as quiet as quiet gets, but... the pads are worn out unevenly, the inside one has about 20% left, the outside about 40%. What I found more concerning is that rotors seemed a bit on a thin side, and there was a ring of rust around that ring on the inside with holes for bolts. That rust ring is about 1/3 inch higher than the rotor surface, and it eats into the pad. The other pad has the same problem with a rust ring around the outside diameter of the rotor. I would really rather not change it just now unless I have to--don't have the $125 or so that it would take for new decent rotors and pads. So how dangerous is it? Could I go 2-3 months with these pads/rotors?

I'm no specialist, but had similar troubles with a different car in the past. Had to replace pads/rotors about 3 times. The reason, as I understand, was a mismatch in parts--cheap, bad quality rotors and pads, semi-metallic pads that killed rotors, etc. Eventually, I found a good mechanic who replaced both rotors and pads with appropriate brand-name parts, and I haven't had any problems with brakes until the car got sold some 6+ years later. I would suggest you simply buy good quality parts, and replace them yourself on a sunny day. It is kinda ghetto, but people in Brooklyn wouldn't mind, and it only takes about 20 mins per wheel if you do your research ahead of time and know all the nuts and bolts you need to loosen. Make sure to get ceramic pads, Akebono is the brand you can't go wrong with. A "premium" brand-name rotor shouldn't be more than $60 a piece, probably less, and I know many come pre-machined, so all you got to do is slap them on. I'm looking to replace my front rotors/pads with Centic brand parts, and it comes out to $125 including shipping from rockauto.com

Thanks for all the replies. I actually already got burned with the bolts breaking off. Replaced them all with new ones just in case. Here's a pic of that little pipe. So if I understand correctly, there is just ATF inside of it, and I don't really have to worry too much about taking it off?

This may be a total noob question, but I really don't know. Is it just the regular radiator fluid that's pumped through the transmission? If I were to remove the pipe just above the tranny oil pan, would it start leaking out? Would it be an ok thing to do to block it with some cork if I wanted to change the oil strainer/filter? I know I shouldn't have gotten into this whole thing, but I pulled the pan off my 98 OBW just to clean it, and put on a rubber gasket that I understand may leak despite me torquing it properly. If that happens, I'm just gonna get back in there and use liquid gasket this time time around. But was thinking that I just may as well change the oil strainer, since it seems like 6 bolts all in all, including the coolant pipe. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Nice pic... I took almost same ones when I did this. About the bolt in the back, it took me a little time to figure it out. It's actually quite simple--you need 1/4 ratchet. It's smaller than the 3/8 and fits very nicely back there.

Now you guys are scarring the hell out of me... I'll keep all that in mind, but really I think it's only the PS fluid. It been leaking really badly for some time--the engine was soaked from the top on the passenger side, and I think it just all leaked down. I tried to trace down any oil leaks, but haven't seen any. Hopefully I wont.

I bought a set of ~10 of different sizes at autozone for about $3. Haven't driven the car long enough yet to tell you how well it worked, but the fluid level in the reservoir haven't dropped down in the past two days it been standing in the garage, and the ring I picked seemed to fit in there perfectly.

After having at it, I gotta say that for a long time I'll be cursing the day I decided to do this. Used a simple narrow and stiff putty knife today, it went in with no problem, cut right through the gasket... now the fun part. Wanted to change the tranny filter, a.k.a. oil strainer, but no such luck, since it's held by the cooling fluid pipe, and I didn't want to mess with that. The old one had some shavings on the screen, but not terribly many, so I just let this one go. Cleaned everything up, put dressing on the gasket, started tightening the bolts, torque to 0.5 m-kg like it says in the book... then 4 bolts just break off. Managed to pull 3 of them out, but the drill bit broke on the last one when I was drilling that hole in the middle. The bit went bat************, and so did the broken screw inside the hole. And I can't even access it half-way without taking the front cat converter off, which is way too much for me. Think I'll drill though that bolt/hole tomorrow and put in a bolt with nut/locking washer on the other side, with some blue threadlocker. Hopefully that will work, and I won't have to get the thing towed to where they'll charge me some insane money to take out the tranny and re-thread that one hole. Anyways, thanks everyone for you suggestions. Hopefully this will be all done by tomorrow.

I just dealt with the same problem a couple days ago. There is one bolt in the back, and another one inside the reservoir. I used a $1 rubber enema thingie (chuckle) to suction out the fluid. The o-ring is roughly 3/4 in in diameter if you wanna start looking for replacement beforehand.

Yeah, I learned that the hard way... gonna get some putty knives at the local megahardware tomorrow morning, and hopefully fix it up. So there is also an external filter or is that some sort of a mod?

What to do you use to pry it off? Can I try and get a putty chizel in there or would that be too much?

Ok, I did something really stupid. And I'm sure gonna get an earful about it tomorrow morning. So was trying to replace tranny filter, drained the fluid (the damn thing was almost black from the previous owner), took out all the bolts, and the damn thing just wouldn't come off. Quick internet search came up with somebody saying you can do it by "gently" hammering a screwdriver in there to loosen the pan. I was stupid enough to do it. The pan still haven't come off, but now there is a leak. Had to just put the bolts back on because it was getting late and I was just super tired and it was family dinner time. Whomever was fixing it before used red liquid gasket, and that thing is stuck there as if that was red thread sealer. Anyway, hope to fix that tomorrow, but would really appreciate any advice on how to get it off.

Thanks:) Actually that was streering fluid... fixed it earlier, the damn o-ring between the canister and pump was missing. At least I hope that's all it was. Where would place those hose clamps? It doesn't seem like there is any room on the "female" pipes.