99obw

Basically ALL gasoline pumped from underground tanks contains water. When the fuel is drawn out, atmospheric air is drawn in through the vents, the air cools (underground=~55°F) and the moisture condenses. The gas pickups in the tanks are set up off of the bottom for this reason, but when it's all being disturbed by an inrush of gasoline, the water is most likely no longer only on the bottom.

I avoid gas stations when the tanker is present. I am most worried about the layer of water sitting on the bottom of the tank. It's a virtual certainty that this will be disturbed and could get into the car's tank. I change my fuel filters regularly so I am not terribly worried about the particulate contamination.

I coat the threads and hex portion of the screw with never-sieze after it is tightened down. That way the fluid doesn't get contaminated and the screw is protected from corrosion.

You might try www.1stsubaruparts.com. I think they have Subaru rebuilt alternators for the legacy for less than $100.

How many miles on the current sensor? I would fix the light first before doing anything. Sounds like it may be the coolant temp sensor ("choke" is always on).

Legacy777 might know the details about your car, but it sounds like you have the right idea.

That is bad news for me. I better not tell the wife. If either of us want one any more we might just buy one! I really want to wait and buy a used '06 in about 3 years, after the beta testers have fully tested the '05's and what they have learned has been incorporated into the '06's.

The instrument cluster is easy to get out of the gen 1 outbacks, provided a tilt steering wheel is equipped. Other models I am not sure about. Haynes sucks a little, chiltons sucks a whole bunch IMNSHO. The FSM is the only trustworthy source of information for any make of car. What model car?

For the brakes on the outback I use a combination of box end wrenches and sockets on one of these... http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=00944815000&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&cs=e5 I do remember some bolts on the rear brakes being impossible to remove with sockets, at least the limited assortment of sockets I have. I always resort to a wrench and a hammer.

My experience with my Jeep is that the rather noisy rear diff is quieter on 75w-90 than it was on 75w-140. I have heard that the thinner lube lubricates the bearings better. I think the higher viscosity fluid is intended for diffs used for towing, where the temps will be higher and the operating viscosity will be about the same. The metal particles are definately normal, nothing to worry about. Any chance it could be a rear wheel bearing? Rear bearing problems seem to be relatively common on late model subies. Diff problems seem to be rare on these cars. I have never ridden in one with a loud diff nor heard of someone having that problem. Regardless of cause I would pester the dealer to have them fix it. Reproducing the problem and making them know that it isn't normal nor acceptable will be the key.

The reason I originally asked if you had removed the pump is because sometimes these symptoms occur after this kind of repair because sealant gets into the oil passages. I would be tempted to remove the pump, look for sealant that got loose, and put a new o-ring in it. Putting a mechanical oil pressure guage on it to find out what the oil pressure really is probably isn't a bad idea regardless of what else you do. I'm not sure if one can really tell by belt tension when the tensioner has gone bad, I just don't know. Fram filters are notorious for startup noise (and other deficiencies). I would throw a Napa gold or purolator on there just for giggles.

I used the OEM KYB's on our '99 when I did them. Most of the folks on this board seem to prefer the KYB GR2, a firmer strut than OEM. If you are doing only the rear I would use the OEM replacements, as going to a firmer strut in the rear only will definately affect handling. I did the rears only and the car still handles great. I recommend replacing the springs at the same time.

If it does last for 5 minutes then it is most likely piston slap, or perhaps a bad timing belt tensioner. The timing belt tensioner is on the driver's side, assuming you have an EJ22 like the ones I have worked on. What brand and viscosity of oil were you using before and after the repair? What brand of oil filter? Sometimes poorly constructed oil filters can cause a bad startup noise but usually it only lasts a few seconds.

Sounds like it may be injector or intake valve deposit related. Have you run any injector cleaner through it? If there is a clogged injector or really bad valve deposits it may take an aggressive regimen of cleaners or a professional cleaning to improve things. I suppose you could move the #3 injector to another cylinder to see if the miss follows. Make sure the connector is secure and clean on the #3 injector. Has the fuel filter been changed recently?

Did you change the oil when you did it? How long does it take for the noise to go away? Did you remove the oil pump when you replaced the seal?

Do yourself a favor and replace both sides. The gasket has been revised and the newer gaskets are better. There is no reliable way to tell which gasket it is without dissasembly.

I use my old steel ramps for everything that doesn't require wheel removal.

Excess unburnt fuel kills cats. I have never had a cat fail, and I take my cars to 200k+. The key is keeping the car tuned up. O2 sensor(s), ignition components, filters, PCV valve, injector cleaner. That should keep the cats meowing 'till the cows come home. The API oil thing is only an issue if the car is burning a lot of oil. The API limits the amount of certain metallic additives an oil can have, as the metals can harm the cats. Zinc and phosphorus come to mind. Diesel oils have high concentrations of these additives and can supposedly harm the cats in bad oil burners. Edit: spelling/typos

I made a lift block that goes on the saddle of my 2-ton floor jack to allow lifting of the unibody just like the scissor jack does it. MUCH safer!!! Admittedly I only have two jackstands, and I think every shop needs at least four.

They can be removed on the car by using a hub tamer or a slide hammer.

Has it recently gotten worse? Has it always been 24? I don't know what the forester owners are getting, that may be right on target. What is EPA highway? My first guess as to a culprit would be the front O2 sensor.

As far as it being a free country, I feel I should be free to see other drivers at all times. I should be free to drive to work in the fog without having to share the road with people too dumb to turn their lights on. Letting people chose to endanger my safety by leaving their lights off doesn't speak to my ideal of freedom.

I have never used the Subaru cleaner, but I have used seafoam which is presumably similar. If the product you are using is an aerosol the procedure will be different. With the car warmed up, I connected a small hose to the ported vacuum on the throttle body, then put the other end of the hose into a can of seafoam. I started the car, then as I opened the throttle, the seafoam would be drawn into the intake. It's difficult not to stall the car using this method. After half a can was drawn in, I shut the car off. I then disconnected the hose, reconnected the hose that was supposed to be there, let it sit for about 15 minutes, then started it up and let the smoke begin. The oil must then be changed. MIL illumination is common during this procedure due to misfires.

Neither of our cars have DRL, but we both drive with our lights on all of the time. The statistic I heard when I worked for the company that makes GM's DRL control computers is you are 6 times less likely to get hit head on with DRL. I agree that we should do away with DRL, and make lights on all of the time on all cars. Frankly, people are incapable of making the decision as to when lights are needed. It seems to be the worst when it's foggy, half of the people don't have their lights on! I don't want their lights on to protect them, but to protect me. I see no reason for lights not to be on. Regarding everyone's reaction to your question, you should consider the average subaru driver and why they bought their car, safety.

I posted in this thread earlier but deleted my post until I had a chance to take a closer look. Six-wire stepper motors are of the unipolar variety. http://209.41.165.153/stepper/Tutorials/UniTutor.htm Basically power is supplied to the tap in the center of the winding and the ends of the winding are alternately grounded (via transistors) to move the motor through discrete magnetic steps, allowing precise positioning. Four-wire stepper motors are of the bipolar variety. http://209.41.165.153/stepper/Tutorials/BiTutor.html A bipolar, or h-bridge style driver is typically used to supply current of alternating polarity to the windings, accomplishing the same goal as a unipolar motor. Page 82 of the following document states that only bipolar (4-wire) steppers should be used. http://www.haltech.com.au/downloads/e6kv9man.pdf I think it may be possible to use a bipolar driver circuit to power a unipolar motor by using only the low-side FETs and supplying power to the center of the winding, but doing so would require the Haltech's hardware and firmware to support it, and I'm pretty sure it does not. This may also be a bad idea for other electrical reasons that I am not familiar with, such as back EMF. On page 82 it also says that you can contact Haltech for suitable bipolar steppers. Best of luck,